Brain Teasers
Two Blind Men
Fun: (2.94)
Difficulty: (2.33)
Puzzle ID: #13871
Submitted By: missperfectgrl Corrected By: keosborne
Submitted By: missperfectgrl Corrected By: keosborne
Other
Other brain teasers don't fit into any other category, so they can be unique and challenging.Other
There was a man who went to the mall and he bought 3 pairs of red socks and 3 pairs of white socks. Another man who already bought 3 pairs of red socks and 3 pairs of white socks came back to return his 3 pairs of red socks and 3 pairs of white socks. They are both blind. As they were walking they bumped into each other. All the socks scattered around the floor, but each pair remained held together by a rubber band. Nobody helped them pick it up except each other, but in 3 minutes they both put them back altogether. Each man ended up with the same colors of socks he started with: six red and six white. How is that possible if they are blind?
Hint
They split the work.Answer
One man took all the socks and pulled the pairs apart. As he pulled them apart, he kept one sock for himself and gave the other to the other man so that each man ended up with the same colors of socks he started with: six red and six white.Hide Hint Show Hint Hide Answer Show Answer
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Comments
Perhaps you should say, the socks are all of the same seize.
I like this one!
Its one of the best little riddles, and I immediately added it to my favorites.
I like this one!
Its one of the best little riddles, and I immediately added it to my favorites.
#1: How did they know what colors the socks were?
#2:How do you know they wre blind?
#2:How do you know they wre blind?
Are you sure they weren't blind in only one eye?
This is the best puzzles I have come across in a very long time. Very elegant solution.
Then the one guy can't return them
creative answer
D'oh! did'nt think of that! Great teaser, though...
That one was way to easy!!!! All you have to do is know that one blind man returned his sox so the other man gets all of the sox.... DUH!!!!
I like it, a lot, thanks for the fun.
I was thinking too hard. I like the solution. good teaser!
That was way too cool, I did'nt see that one coming. Good work #138712. Keep them coming!
The puzzle never says the socks are identical -- eg, the white ones could have been ankle length and the red ones knee length, making it easy to tell them apart by touch
Jan 06, 2005
that was creative i would have never thought of that
great teaser! i thought of the answer right away!
I love that!!!
That is so cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That is so cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
nice teaser!
2 e z... just my way of saying I got it in just a little more then a moment.
although the answer eluded me, it is an Awesome teaser
This one made no sense at all. It would only make sense if they both knew beforehand that there were only two colors of socks involved, and that each had an equal number of each color. How did they know that one fellow didn't have a blue pair in the mix and the other a black pair?
On a related note- Q - why did the blind man wear yellow socks?
A- because his dog was blind too.
On a related note- Q - why did the blind man wear yellow socks?
A- because his dog was blind too.
Could someone please explain the answer? I'm still not getting it. If there are 12 pair of socks on the floor and they split them up and start handing socks to each other, how do they each end up with 3 pair red and 3 pair white? Why separate the pairs? My brain must not be working this morning. Thanks for the help anyone can offer
I have seen similiar ones. So this came easy. But still a good one.
I understand the answer but didn't get it. Perhaps I didn't think it over long enough.
Karen-they split each pair of socks exactly in half, so they each received an identical pile.
.....yellow socks, funny.
Have a wonderful day!
Karen-they split each pair of socks exactly in half, so they each received an identical pile.
.....yellow socks, funny.
Have a wonderful day!
@karenokupniak:
The socks are paired by color, e.g. RR, WW, RR, WW, etc., for a total of 12 red socks and 12 white socks (6 pairs of each). As each blind man picks up a pair, he gives one sock of the pair to his companion. Therefore if blind man #1 picks up a pair of red socks, one red sock goes to him and one red sock to his cohort. Once each pair is split up, each man winds up with 6 red socks and 6 white socks, or 3 pairs of each.
Of course, this doesn't allow for the fact that the second blind man probably wore his socks, so half of the batch was possibly smelly and dirty.
In all, great teaser! Adding to favorites now.
The socks are paired by color, e.g. RR, WW, RR, WW, etc., for a total of 12 red socks and 12 white socks (6 pairs of each). As each blind man picks up a pair, he gives one sock of the pair to his companion. Therefore if blind man #1 picks up a pair of red socks, one red sock goes to him and one red sock to his cohort. Once each pair is split up, each man winds up with 6 red socks and 6 white socks, or 3 pairs of each.
Of course, this doesn't allow for the fact that the second blind man probably wore his socks, so half of the batch was possibly smelly and dirty.
In all, great teaser! Adding to favorites now.
That was a very good puzzle!
For those who haven't got the sense, let's label the socks as
RR WW RR WW RR WW
WW RR WW RR WW RR
If the blind men took one sock from the pair, both of them would have gotten:
Man 1:
R W R W R W \ Six red and
W R W R W R / white socks
Man 2:
R W R W R W \ Six red and
W R W R W R / white socks
The final statement was ...
"They got 6 red and 6 white socks"
... and not 3 pairs of red and white socks. No loopholes found, case solved!
For those who haven't got the sense, let's label the socks as
RR WW RR WW RR WW
WW RR WW RR WW RR
If the blind men took one sock from the pair, both of them would have gotten:
Man 1:
R W R W R W \ Six red and
W R W R W R / white socks
Man 2:
R W R W R W \ Six red and
W R W R W R / white socks
The final statement was ...
"They got 6 red and 6 white socks"
... and not 3 pairs of red and white socks. No loopholes found, case solved!
What is it with blind people and not asking for help?
Since they were both blind, how do they even know they had red and white socks? These two don't seem to like to ask for help!
Good teaser!
Good teaser!
Good solution. Not one I thought of or ever would have thought of. Good teaser. Thanks for posting.
Wonderful quiz!
Also - interesting variety of comments.
Also - interesting variety of comments.
Very easy - got it instantly; but fun. They should put more difficult ones like these on here to get my brain going in the morning.
Am I missing something? No where in the puzzle does it specify that they each picked up six pairs. Wouldn't it make a difference if one of them picked up 7 pair and the other one 5?
Bestgirl, if one picked up 7 pairs and the other picked up 5, the one with 7 could give one of his pairs to the other one. Then they would both have 6, and they could use the solution given.
Smart.
I am missing something as the answer doesn't make sense. I was thinking there was a mirror image of the first guy and he bumped into the mirror image.
Odd, didn't it say one guy had returned his socks. So, all the socks left belonged only to one blind man.
Nowhere in this teaser does it say they were mute. So I'm assuming that they talked to each other, and that is how they found out they each had the same number & color of socks. From there it follows that they could divide them up, but why would they care what color their socks were anyway.
THAT MAKES SENCE!
Good one! I was thinking it was something stupid like the socks were different lengths or the tags were all taken off the ones that belonged to the guy on the way back or something, so I didn't give it much thought. But it hit me right away when I read the hint It was actually very clever. Though I might add that if they took them all apart like that it's unlikely the store would take them back
Awesome. It reminds me of another teaser I heard once. I can't believe I didn't get this one, too!
it didn't say he HAD returned his socks...it said he came BACK to return his socks. One leaving one entering met in the doorway. And what kind of person leaves after making a purchase and takes the commercial tags and wrapping off of his socks and rewraps them with rubberbands, leaves without a bag carrying them loosely in his hands. I'm sorry, but six pairs would be difficult to carry in one hand and either a seeing eye dog's leash, a cane, or someone's elbow in the other. The same goes for the other guy bringing them back in. Were they just walking without any support. Talk about the blind leading the blind...no wonder they bumped into each other. Not a big fan of this one...not very logical.
Very good. I thought for a while but that never came to me.
Clearly the idea of this teaser is to find a logical way to match the socks without being able to see them. Why get so bogged down by all these other little details and spoil the fun of the whole thing?
I think loudude had a lot of true statements in his analysis, but , in the end, none of those things had anything to do with solving the teaser. The story is just there to make the whole thing more interesting. I didn't even think about all that other stuff--I was too busy trying to figure out the answer!
I think loudude had a lot of true statements in his analysis, but , in the end, none of those things had anything to do with solving the teaser. The story is just there to make the whole thing more interesting. I didn't even think about all that other stuff--I was too busy trying to figure out the answer!
I didn't get this answer, my answer was that the material between red and white socks feel different. (Women mostly know this, that the socks don't feel quite the same). LOL
I like your answer too!
Good job.
~Z
I like your answer too!
Good job.
~Z
Personally, I'd be upset because I bought 6 pairs of new socks, and now I have to wear this other guys used socks. Thats probably why he was returning them in the first place. Blind man sock scam...
this is weird....
Had me stumped for exactly three minutes.
It was a good teaser! Why all the analyzing? If it said they were blindfolded and how did they get the right ones together, you would say,"Why didn't they take the blind fold off?" That is not the idea. It is a fun and cute teaser if you just stop ananlyzing and try to figure out how they managed
it.
it.
My answer: Since dark colors absorb infrared light better than dark colors, and because blind people have an extra-sensitive sense of touch, they simply asked for, and went to, the nearest service, like a watch repair counter or display counter,,put the socks under the light for a minute or two, and sorted them by warmth - red being the warmer socks, of course.
I do like the other solution more, though.
I do like the other solution more, though.
AROB A to GiMi
I thought it was a great puzzle - I didn't get it but I liked the solution. And, as usual, I LOVED everyones' comments! Have a great day! 'K
As someone who is legally blind, and a techno-geek, I have ALL the adaptive toys (as do most blind ppl I know). I would have simply used my colour detector. you hold it up to any item, press the button and it announces "Light Olive Green", "Dark Cherry Red" etc.
I didn't get this one - I usually do get these ones - but I had a blast working on it. I love the solution, too. Had I paid more attention to the last line (stating they wound up with 12 socks, not 6 pairs), I'd have probably figured it out, but I was more intent on solving how they sorted the PAIRS. (My guesses involved using heighten senses to smell the dye, feel differences in texture/weight, braile on the labels etc.)
Great puzzle - these are my favourites!
Great puzzle - these are my favourites!
This is an old one and I commented on it in 2011 so no need to try again. I see Gaylewolf and Habs and doehead did also. Boo!
I am actually somewhat insulted by some of the early comments. Blind does not equal stupid.
As well, the puzzle just says "blind" perhaps they were merely colour blind.
And even if they were blind. Over 90 per cnet of "blind" people have some rane of vision. You are considered blind if your sight is less than 20/200. I can see about 10 feet ahead of me and while I also lost a lot of colour perception when I lost my vision (some reds and oranges look alike, depending on the shade blue and green can confuse me etc) but I would be able tell red from white.
In any event, the solution as given makes perfect sense and would work equally well until the one guy tried to retun a pile of socks instead of intact pairs.
As well, the puzzle just says "blind" perhaps they were merely colour blind.
And even if they were blind. Over 90 per cnet of "blind" people have some rane of vision. You are considered blind if your sight is less than 20/200. I can see about 10 feet ahead of me and while I also lost a lot of colour perception when I lost my vision (some reds and oranges look alike, depending on the shade blue and green can confuse me etc) but I would be able tell red from white.
In any event, the solution as given makes perfect sense and would work equally well until the one guy tried to retun a pile of socks instead of intact pairs.
Waaay too early for me fo this one. *staggers out for coffee*
Got me! very logical, liked it.
Heard this one many years ago.
My answer was "Blind Luck". But their solution works also.
Loved this one and also the solution! The comments are as good as the teaser itself. Thanks, Catmom, for your "staggers out for coffee." That was me this morning, too!
Still loved this quiz; still didn't get it; and still staggering out for coffee!! Have a great day, everyone!
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