Brain Teasers
The Trickery of Brother Ben
Mystery
Mystery teasers are little stories where you need to figure out what happened based on the given clues.Mystery
Brother Ben was a brother of the Archdiocese of Puzzles.
Every month at the Archdiocese, a tourist group toured throughout the monastery. One room of particular note was Brother Ben's. The tourists were led in through the only door in and out of the room. It contained a rather dusty desk fully equipped with musty blank scrolls, dried up ink wells, and a quill. There was a trap door that housed Brother Ben's valuables as well, but that remained locked as the tours progressed. Through the only window in the room, which was barred up and only one foot tall by one foot wide, one could see the excellent view of the ocean.
When it was ascertained that all of the tourists were inside the room, the only door was locked until the tourists agreed to pay up money towards the Archdiocese of Puzzles. Yet every time this occurred, Brother Ben was able to escape the room flawlessly.
How is this possible?
Every month at the Archdiocese, a tourist group toured throughout the monastery. One room of particular note was Brother Ben's. The tourists were led in through the only door in and out of the room. It contained a rather dusty desk fully equipped with musty blank scrolls, dried up ink wells, and a quill. There was a trap door that housed Brother Ben's valuables as well, but that remained locked as the tours progressed. Through the only window in the room, which was barred up and only one foot tall by one foot wide, one could see the excellent view of the ocean.
When it was ascertained that all of the tourists were inside the room, the only door was locked until the tourists agreed to pay up money towards the Archdiocese of Puzzles. Yet every time this occurred, Brother Ben was able to escape the room flawlessly.
How is this possible?
Hint
- Brother Ben entered the room before the tourists did, and was inside after the door was locked.- Brother Ben did not ascend nor descend to exit the room.
- Brother Ben valued his room very much. As such, he did not inflict damage upon his own room upon exiting.
- When Brother Ben exited the room, the room got warmer.
- None of the tourists were harmed in his escape.
Answer
Brother Ben is a ghost. The dust, must, and dried up ink should have tipped off that he hasn't been in existence for a while. He simply vanished through the wall after the door was locked, leaving the tourists with no choice but to donate.Hide Hint Show Hint Hide Answer Show Answer
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Comments
that was weird. i did not understand much but the
thing about brother ben being a gost .stttteeeerange. ops
thing about brother ben being a gost .stttteeeerange. ops
i like that goodone
l love it!
I didn't get it.
They didn't stand a ghost of a chance....*sorry*
wow that was out of nowhere
how did that slip my mind?? Great work
I liked the "No tourists were harmed" part of the hint.
*No tourists were harmed in the making of this teaser*
*No tourists were harmed in the making of this teaser*
haha, yeah. I added that along with not damaging his own room so that someone wouldn't answer "He used a brick of C4 and a parachute..."
That was good! I liked it!
Tricky...
i liked that one! that was a pretty good one, even tho i had to read it 6 times to understand it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nice one! Never woulda guessed; I thought it was just being preserved.
The story was great, but it wasn't written very clearly. It was vague and the hints could have been incorporated into the story.
The last paragraph could have been written more like this:
Once all of the tourists were inside the room with Brother Ben, the door was locked and he would demand they leave a $10 donation on the desk. The door was to remain locked until each of the tourists complied. Once the task was complete, the door would be unlocked and the tourists free to exit. Yet by the time the last donation was deposited on the desk, they found Brother Ben had escaped the room before the door opened. The trap door had remained locked. How did Brother Ben escape?
The last paragraph could have been written more like this:
Once all of the tourists were inside the room with Brother Ben, the door was locked and he would demand they leave a $10 donation on the desk. The door was to remain locked until each of the tourists complied. Once the task was complete, the door would be unlocked and the tourists free to exit. Yet by the time the last donation was deposited on the desk, they found Brother Ben had escaped the room before the door opened. The trap door had remained locked. How did Brother Ben escape?
i got it when you said the room got warmer after he left. lol
cool one!
I thought it had something to do with the window
Oh....
I don't understand even a single word.
nice..
at first i did not get it i kept reading it over but i noticed they said the room got warmer when he left i was like oh.
Great teaser! I didn't have a clue what the answer could've been.
That was a good one, but make it a little clearer. It was good though.
Dec 02, 2006
A ghost !! you gotta be kidding me !!
I blew it : I found it much easier to ignore all the clues, have him enter last and and do a quick
step back out.!!
step back out.!!
you almost got me
this one was good
i like this one because you really have to think outside the box
The answer just passed thorugh my mind, even though some could see right through it. Hahahaha. Good teaser, but it was just a tad misleading, but maybe that was because I didn't reread it enough. Oh well
i was thinking the answer to be a lot harder. Anyways, my guess was correct!
*does her infamous dance*
ooo what now, you didnt think I could've gotten that, right?!?!
that was a cool teaser, though
ooo what now, you didnt think I could've gotten that, right?!?!
that was a cool teaser, though
you got me on that one lol
I heard that when there is a ghost it gets colder.
P.S. I don't belive in ghosts.
P.S. I don't belive in ghosts.
ghosts aren't real
well i thought it was the sun cause im laying down and i didnt read it tu good
TOO EASY BUT GREAT JOB ANYWAY!!! LOL!!!!
Haha, another great one.
Okay, whatever! I disagree with the way SourDough rated this!
$D
$D
agree with scallio; since i didn't read the hint, I just thought that Ben wasn't in the group..although the step outside once everyone was in the room was more creative
Big Brother Ben is watching you!
Big Brother Ben is watching you!
Aug 30, 2009
I think I liked this riddle better when I read it in Mensa's "Lateral Thinking" book published in 1998 (page 16).
Entertaining, but lacks pure logic of motivation. I am sleepy, so please excuse me. Its a good teaser, but you can't make a mystery without a trick of the mind or imagination that leads to a sound logically ending. In this case the sound ending would be a logical method of escape, so we the readers can do our oooohs and oooahs. The ghost does not work as a reasonable exist. But, lol, its better than the teaser I wrote. three stars.
How rude. I mean honestly. What kind of person would actually do that?
Still, though, great teaser. Three stars.
Still, though, great teaser. Three stars.
Um.... These are supposed to be logical....
Wow... that was a tough teaser.
Thought bird, until you said they didn't rise or fall, then thought mouse, til you said it got warmer, then I thought....ghost!
I was thinking hard of a possible answer and then gave up. The answer didn't at all satisfy me. One of the worst teasers.
My answer was that he escaped through the window.
Thought bird, until you said they didn't rise or fall, then thought mouse, til you said it got warmer, then I thought....ghost!
I really liked this one.
Also, I now have a new idea for getting tourists to make decent donations!!
Also, I now have a new idea for getting tourists to make decent donations!!
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