Brain Teasers
Hmmmm, Jellybeans
I am a lolly fanatic and love my jelly beans. I have an insatiable appetite for them. There is a jelly bean jar sitting in front of me that has a capacity for 500 jellybeans. If I can eat jelly beans at a rate of 20 jellybeans per 30 seconds (slow, I know, but my jaw is sore at the moment) and require 2 'rests' per 100 jellybeans, how long will it take me to eat the amount of jellybeans in front of me?
Hint
Read it very very carefully, it is a trick after all. The key is in the line about what is in front of me.Answer
Zero seconds. I only claimed there was a jar sitting in front of me, not that it was full, therefore it will take me no time to 'eat the amount of jellybeans in front of me'.Hide Hint Show Hint Hide Answer Show Answer
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Comments
i got half the answer!!!!!!
Bravo! Funny, yet witty and cunning! Great riddle!
quite good, i found it easy tho! when i know to look for a trick i find them easy. good one though!
Good Job DD
NOTE TO OTHER PEOPLE: He made this when he explained how to create a trick, in one of the message boards.
NOTE TO OTHER PEOPLE: He made this when he explained how to create a trick, in one of the message boards.
Fun! My devious mind got it right away, but I just had a great deal of fun tricking my husband and daughter with it!
Jul 02, 2005
dat was iight
I'm no bean counter so i didn't jump right to the calculation. Thanks for the teaser! It left me time to eat a few more nutter bars!
along with not actually telling you there were any beans, you could also tell there was no answer because of the 'rests'--you didn't say how long they were
I agree; I was starting to think about how long but then I saw that there were no time for "rests" so I looked through the whole problem again and got my answer.
Hmmmm Jellybeans.
I dont like jellybeans, but this trick teaser was so easy
I dont like jellybeans, but this trick teaser was so easy
That was a good but easy brain teaser. At first I thouht all that math then I read it over again and saw that it was actually zero.
knew it was a trick (duh, it was in the trick category) when it said two rests, but didn't explain how long a rest was.
Good one
Good one
Man! You made me actually do the problem out!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, I worked out the problem, checked the answer and THEN remembered the category!!
Well, done!!
Well, done!!
Gr8 Teaser! i luved it . it wasn't too hard or too too easy. i like that !
good job
P.s. i also love Jelly Beans !
good job
P.s. i also love Jelly Beans !
its not hmmm jelly beans, its mmm jelly beans! they sound so good! but it was pretty easy. i didnt really take the time to think about it, i just looked at the answer after reading it, but if i thought about it, i probably would have gottenit.
o yea and i forgot to metion that it wasnt too easy and i liked it.
Easy but fun, which I like on occasion...no strain on the brain early in the a.m and makes me feel very smart for the day!
Haha, i love it and am proud i helped you with it, sort of, in a way!
Really elementary, my dear boy, I seen it right off. Boring Alert! Boring Alert!
Thanks Okie, I was beginning to think there wasn't going to be the obligatory negative comment amidst the good ones. Thanks so much for stopping by everyone. Heh, and yes Tricky... all thanks to you for this one
lol good one, but you were too nice giving it all away in the hint
that was a good one! yippee!!! i got it without looking at the hint
Just thought I'd hop in and say hello and that I enjoyed this teaser! (although I, too saw it when SWAFF did) Still a good teaser and obviously enjoyed by all.
i got it within 10 seconds!!! lol.
i got it and really liked it but next time mayby you shouldnt use a hint because it was way obvious once i read the hint
Thanks everyone... oh and Sam, writing hints is a very tricky business but yes I do try and make them helpful whilst not giving away the answer - looks like I got the balance a little wrong on this one... I've got an idea though, maybe try and sit with it for longer before looking at the hint
Ya know. I'm not a math major, and I was sitting here trying to figure it out ! Oh well. you got me, and even when I looked at the hint, I couldn't find it and you told us where it was. CLEVER!
Clever I liked it but I got it right away if you make more make them harder
Thanks for stopping by
maybe i should think less about the problem and more about it being a trick..........
you know me always thinking too much
you know me always thinking too much
im not so good at teasers
i never think of the obvious
i never think of the obvious
I think you would be more correct to say that 'you are getting better at solving teasers' because I think that's what everyone is who solves them regularly.. I know that after a while of solving them you do get much better at picking out the bits to solve them. You watch, I'm sure you'll get better and eventually be solving ones easily that were challenging before. Thanks for stopping by
That one was really funny!! I liked it 'cause it had jelly beans in it!! I'm a freak about jelly beans!! I probally get about 2 bags every week!! MMMM.... JELLY BEANS!!!
That one was really funny!! I liked it 'cause it had jelly beans in it!! I'm a freak about jelly beans!! I probally get about 2 bags every week!! MMMM.... JELLY BEANS!!!
Thanks Gorillaz.
Well that certainly was a trick--since it really depends on how you think about it. You're right in that all you said was the jar was in front of you but you could have had 300 jelly beans in the jar, or 20, or zero, or 500--you didn't specify. I'm not sure what I think about this one!
Thanks for your thoughts Kit. My reply would say that the sentence clearly states "There is a jelly bean jar sitting in front of me that has a capacity for 500 jellybeans". At no point did it state that it is full of jelly beans of any amount, it only says there is a jar i.e. 1 jar, 0 jellybeans. The rest of the teaser is designed to make you think there might be some there. You are right though it is tricky
great one! muy bien! mahalo
Thanks Toxic, though I'd love to know what that last bit says
that was a realy good riddle!
Thanks Jodo
Aug 01, 2005
loved it! rock on!
Great, thanks Cali_gurl
very popular teaser obviously. It was cute.
haha i got it!
Well done... and thanks
pretty easy
Nah... you're just a rocket scientist
easy...but jelly beans totally rawk!
True
True
how could he have jellybeans in while there is none.
haha i had just done (well tried to do) one of your other teasers and failed, but I actually got this one
Well done!
Good one! I had already started adding the numbers up in my head!
Thanks... heh heh heh
deceptive you may be
but you did not fool me
i read all the clues
and counted the chews
where could the jelly beans be?
but you did not fool me
i read all the clues
and counted the chews
where could the jelly beans be?
Don't look at me
Good one. It cures my sweet tooth...
I'm pleased and thanks
Ya know I might have to run to the store!! Thanks
Heh heh, I hope it was a sweet trip
I finally got one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well done!
I got it right away. Although, the answer is kind of stated wrong. It should be an unknown amount of seconds, not zero seconds, as the number of jellybeans is undetermined.
ooohhh. hard teaser
Psychic, the answer is actually correctly stated. The teaser says that there is a jelly bean jar sitting there... no mention of any jelly beans. Therefore to eat no jelly beans would actually take no seconds.
So what happened to the jellybeans? I like jellybeans.
They never made it into the jar of course! Hehehehe
Great teaser!
who knew ..If I were smarter maybe then i could get brain teasers.lol
Simple in more ways than one!!!
Nice trick. And all the comments over the years are worth reading. Fun teaser.Thanks for posting.
A couple people have stated in the comments that the answer should be "unknown" or "undetermined" only to be shot down by the OP by saying it clearly states there are no jelly beans. It NEVER states there are no jelly beans. In the same way that many assumed there were jelly beans, the OP assumes there are no jelly beans. "I have an oil can in front of me" If this is all that is stated people can make MANY assumptions --empty, partially full, full -- none of them are wrong unless their is more supporting evidence.
With all that said it is a good trick teaser, but the OP shouldn't be so particular about the "zero"
With all that said it is a good trick teaser, but the OP shouldn't be so particular about the "zero"
Itoupence is right. The correct answer is "problem insoluble" or "insufficient information given".
I got it right away. I'll do anything to get out of doing arithmetic, and when I tried to find out how many jelly beans there were, I couldn't find the number. So, I knew it couldn't be "solved." So, my answer was "zero."
I enjoyed reading all the old comments, too.
Thanks for a teaser I could get right away.
I enjoyed reading all the old comments, too.
Thanks for a teaser I could get right away.
Feb 01, 2009
The answer didn't even require me to do anything. As I was reading the riddle I noticed that there were 2 rests for every 100 jellybeans with no time per rest.
Therefore that means there is no resting, therefore there are no jellybeans to eat.
Therefore that means there is no resting, therefore there are no jellybeans to eat.
I agree with others, there is never any mention about how many jelly beans there are or aren't. There may be 500 in the jar and more on the table next to it for that matter. Good for demonstrating what a trick puzzle is, but too many unknowns to be solvable.
I agree with jtopence and craniac. It just didn't make sense to me.
I got it right away, but I also concur that it is basically a puzzle with a questionable answer. The jar did not state it was empty and therefore it could have had 40 jellybeans in it... trick or not, it was missing information to make a fully logical answer.
Isn't 'lolly fanatic' a euphamism for 'kiddie porn lover"?
I also have to back up jtoupence on this one. The OP makes no statement about how many jellybeans there actually are. Without that info, saying the answer is zero is as equally inaccurate as giving an answer assuming the jar was full. The only correct answer in this case is 'indeterminate'.
Thought I'd also throw in, there is also the possibility that there are way more than 500 jellybeans in front of you. The question simply asks how long to eat all the jellybeans in front of you. It did not specify that they had to be in the jar.
Not enough info without the duration of the "rests", I thought. Then I re-read it.
Wow, great discussion on this one, a real talk generator. Thanks for all the opinions and thoughts on it. The fact that it is in the 'trick' section along with the way one sentence in particular was worded, along with the ambiguity in the rest of the teaser (i.e. how long does a 'rest' take) hopefully gave enough info to actually get closest to the real answer for it to be the real answer. Giving pure amounts would have meant it would be a 'math' teaser. The key sentence was "There is a jelly bean jar sitting in front of me that has a capacity for 500 jellybeans." The sentence implies there is just a jar, no mention of jelly beans. I can understand the potential for ambiguity though so thanks for discussing it.
Your sentence states there is a jar. It makes no implication as to what else is, or is not, present. To assume there are no jellybeans from all the facts given is as equally wrong as to assume the jar is filled to capacity. The only valid answer is 'indeterminate'. I agree that it is in the right category as it is still tricky. There is no point trying to do the math, because not enough facts are present.
tricky! i figured it out, 7.5 minutes(if it were full!)...am i right?
I understand your point elintir. Tell me, if I tell you there is a cardboard box in front of you - do you assume there is anything in it?
If you told me there is a cardboard box in front of me and nothing else, I cannot make any assumptions about what is or is not in it. There is not enough information available, so any decision I do make about anything other than the box itself has an equal opportunity to be wrong or right. The only thing I can say correctly is I have a cardboard box in front of me. You may already know what you envisioned in that box, but I am not able to read your mind and until you gave further indications about the contents, I have no way of knowing. A lack of information about something does not indicate a lack of that something.
Allow me to present another scenario... if there was also a bag of 50 jellybeans were also on the table, then zero would be a wrong answer. However, does the presence of that bag of jellybeans invalidate anything you stated in the original setup and question?
This is good, we're getting somewhere. You are making assumptions of what might or might not be there as opposed to reading the exact wording. The cardboard box example clearly illustrates this. I have mentioned a cardboard box, nothing else. Therefore with no further information, you only have the facts that a cardboard box is there. Any other thought of implied articles is in your head, not anywhere else - similar to the difference between having hard evidence and drawing conclusions in a murder trial for example. You have provided a great example of wording in your second post - a 'bag of jellybeans' written as such does state there are jellybeans there vs a 'jelly bean jar' only claims that there is a jar there.
You are wrong that I am making an assumption about what might or might not be there. In fact, I specifically stated 'I cannot make any assumptions about what is or is not in it.' This is very much in line with your exact wording. You did not state that the cardboard box is the only thing present, therefore I am stating that I cannot know its contents. By stating there is nothing in the box, or in the jar, you have made the assumption about the contents.
As for my example, I stated there is a bag of jellybeans - 50 to be exact - and not a jellybean bag which has a capacity of 50. My example secifically implies the presence of 50 jellybeans in a container. Whether this bag of jellybeans is there or not does not change a single thing about the condition of the jar, or anything else about your original statement. But its presence does mean your answer of zero is incorrect. Another example - if I stated that your jar was filled to its capacity with jellybeans, that fact doesn't change anything you had already stated, it just added a little more information about its current condition, and still makes the answer of zero incorrect.
As for my example, I stated there is a bag of jellybeans - 50 to be exact - and not a jellybean bag which has a capacity of 50. My example secifically implies the presence of 50 jellybeans in a container. Whether this bag of jellybeans is there or not does not change a single thing about the condition of the jar, or anything else about your original statement. But its presence does mean your answer of zero is incorrect. Another example - if I stated that your jar was filled to its capacity with jellybeans, that fact doesn't change anything you had already stated, it just added a little more information about its current condition, and still makes the answer of zero incorrect.
Hmmm ok, the point is still not coming across. If you are confused or in doubt about what is there or isn't, then you have to fall back to ONLY what you have been told is there - in this scenario as well as with the cardboard box. If you have only been told there is a cardboard box in front of you, then you are making assumptions if you are guessing whether there is anything in it. You have only been told there is a cardboard box in front of you, anything else that you are considering that might be in it, is coming out of your own assumptions or imagination and not from the specific description.
It doesn't work that way. You provided some facts. The facts were not complete. Without the complete facts, one cannot formulate an answer. You stated the jar was there, but asked a question based on the presence of jellybeans. Nowhere did you give any facts about what jellybeans were or were not present. Until that is stated, an answer about those jellybeans cannot be given. You said 'There is a jelly bean jar...' and said nothing about the contents. To say later that it was empty was an assumption made on your part. Those who stated there was insufficient information determined that, from the information given, the jar could have no beans, some beans, or filled with beans... but that was not stated so an answer cannot be formulated.
It's like if I said, I have a pen sitting in front of me, then asked you how many books are in front of me. You cannot give me a correct answer, because I have not provided enough information. Stating that I have a pen is no less incorrect by the presence or lack thereof the books, but it is irrelevant information.
It's like if I said, I have a pen sitting in front of me, then asked you how many books are in front of me. You cannot give me a correct answer, because I have not provided enough information. Stating that I have a pen is no less incorrect by the presence or lack thereof the books, but it is irrelevant information.
If you told me that you had a pen in front of you with no further information, then asked me how many books are there, the answer is 0 as you have not stated that there are any books there. Just because you have asked me how many books are there, doesn't make them materialise if they are not presented with the facts as actually being present - great example to illustrate the point.
That is wrong. I actually have 5 books in front of me. I did not state that I 'only' had a pen in front of me. There was no exclusivity implied. My statement was not false by any means, just incomplete. Just because all of the facts are not presented, does not mean one can assume they were.
For another analogy (and this one is a little weak but it may illustrate the point), imagine you're on a road with deer crossing signs (I'm not sure if they have those in Australia but they are put up on roads where deer typically cross). If you turn onto another road without any signs, you can still occasionally have deer crossing that road. Just because the signs were not present to warn of the fact does not mean that the deer are not present.
Back to your jellybean example, you basically set up an equation. I'm going to set aside the 'rest' time for simplicity sake. Assigning B as the number of jellybeans in front of you and T as the time in seconds to eat them, we can construct the algorithm T = 30B/20. Since, nowhere in your statements do you indicate the actual number of jellybeans, one cannot assign a value to B and therefore T is undetermined.
Your statement that a jellybean jar was present does not establish exclusivity. If it did, then not only must we conclude that no jelly beans are present, but that it must also exist in a vacuum and you would not be able to survive. As that is improbable, we must concede that additional items (such as an atmoshphere or even a surface to set the jar on) could very well be present, but you have not stated it. Since the presence of jellybeans, or anything else for that matter, does not invalidate anything you have said in the original statement, their existence is possible - if not probable - and must be accounted for in a response.
Well, while I will look forward to your response, unless you present a new argument, I cannot figure out how to restate this any other way so this will likely be my last post, whether we agree or not. I have enjoyed this discussion either way.
For another analogy (and this one is a little weak but it may illustrate the point), imagine you're on a road with deer crossing signs (I'm not sure if they have those in Australia but they are put up on roads where deer typically cross). If you turn onto another road without any signs, you can still occasionally have deer crossing that road. Just because the signs were not present to warn of the fact does not mean that the deer are not present.
Back to your jellybean example, you basically set up an equation. I'm going to set aside the 'rest' time for simplicity sake. Assigning B as the number of jellybeans in front of you and T as the time in seconds to eat them, we can construct the algorithm T = 30B/20. Since, nowhere in your statements do you indicate the actual number of jellybeans, one cannot assign a value to B and therefore T is undetermined.
Your statement that a jellybean jar was present does not establish exclusivity. If it did, then not only must we conclude that no jelly beans are present, but that it must also exist in a vacuum and you would not be able to survive. As that is improbable, we must concede that additional items (such as an atmoshphere or even a surface to set the jar on) could very well be present, but you have not stated it. Since the presence of jellybeans, or anything else for that matter, does not invalidate anything you have said in the original statement, their existence is possible - if not probable - and must be accounted for in a response.
Well, while I will look forward to your response, unless you present a new argument, I cannot figure out how to restate this any other way so this will likely be my last post, whether we agree or not. I have enjoyed this discussion either way.
Sorry, I mistook these tiny flags... change Australia to New Zealand.
i got that
Too ezy!
Also, I am with "Elentir" on this one; the answer cannot be (zero), as this would involve an assumption?
Also, I am with "Elentir" on this one; the answer cannot be (zero), as this would involve an assumption?
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