Brain Teasers
The Magnificent Manus
Situation
Situation puzzles (sometimes called lateral thinking puzzles) are ones where you need to ask lots of yes or no questions to figure out what happened in the situation. These are good puzzles for groups where one person knows the puzzle and answers the questions.Situation
Manus the Magnificent has an extraordinary skill. Armed with his 1000 year old sword, he can cut in half anything brought to him. And I do mean ANYTHING. People have brought him things you would never think could be cut in half. Manus always finds a way to do it though. Of course, Manus has a few rules. You can't bring him anything dead, nor anything breathing. Also, it must be able to fit inside his Special Box, which is a 4'x2' box, constructed from transparent fiberglass, which Manus amazingly has every time he does this trick. It's been said that someone almost stumped Manus by bringing him a hair from their head. But, Manus put the single hair in the box, raised his sword, brought it down on the box, and gave it back to the individual; 2 hairs, cut in half. He really did earn the title 'Manus the MAGNIFICENT.' Lastly, Manus insists that you allow him up to 2 minutes to pull it off. Once, Manus allowed a person to hold what they brought in their hands instead of the box, and cut it in half while they held it. Although successful he said to the roaring crowd who were utterly amazed: "Thank you, thank you. However, I'll never do that again. I realize that this might be too dangerous. I never had anyone's blood on my hands in the 50 or so years doing this trick, and I never will. I'll stick to the box from now on ladies and gentlemen."
So, at his appearance at Saturday's Carnival he made the same invitation. This time though, he added: "If you can bring me something that I can't cut in half, that isn't dead, and isn't breathing, I'll give you half of all my earnings over the 50 years I've been doing this. (Manus has made himself rich with this one amazing gig and was about to retire). A man approaches Manus and says to him:
"Sir, Manus. I think I've got your number! I can bring you something to put in your little box that cannot be cut in half, isn't dead, nor will it be breathing. It might even change its hue for you good sir!" Manus, very much intrigued, replied: "There isn't a thing I haven't been successful with in over 50 years. But, challenge accepted. Turn colors too you say? Ok. Put it in the Box."
When everything was said and done, Manus asked the man: "Do you want your half in cash or do you take checks?"
What did the man put in Manus' Box that, according to Manus' words and conditions, could not be cut in half?
So, at his appearance at Saturday's Carnival he made the same invitation. This time though, he added: "If you can bring me something that I can't cut in half, that isn't dead, and isn't breathing, I'll give you half of all my earnings over the 50 years I've been doing this. (Manus has made himself rich with this one amazing gig and was about to retire). A man approaches Manus and says to him:
"Sir, Manus. I think I've got your number! I can bring you something to put in your little box that cannot be cut in half, isn't dead, nor will it be breathing. It might even change its hue for you good sir!" Manus, very much intrigued, replied: "There isn't a thing I haven't been successful with in over 50 years. But, challenge accepted. Turn colors too you say? Ok. Put it in the Box."
When everything was said and done, Manus asked the man: "Do you want your half in cash or do you take checks?"
What did the man put in Manus' Box that, according to Manus' words and conditions, could not be cut in half?
Answer
The man accepting Manus' challenge is what you might call a 'little person.' (He stands at 4' 11" tall). Like Manus, he has an extraordinary skill: He can hold his breath for up to three minutes! He therefore put himself in the 4'x2' fiberglass box. He held his breath while in the box to meet Manus' requirement of 'not breathing.' (Note that Manus said "not breathing" but he didn't say it couldn't be alive). Of course, he wasn't dead either, so he met that requirement. The man happened to be there on the occasion he heard Manus say that he never had anyone's blood on his hands as a result of this act. Thus, he knew Manus wouldn't even attempt the trick this time. He put himself on the line, and won. Oh, and as for changing color: The last time the man held his breath 2 minutes, he turned BLUE. Fortunately, it didn't go that far this time.Hide Answer Show Answer
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