Hagaon Hacham Mordechai Eliyahu z.s.l.

Riddle: Meat or Potatoes

Submitted by: David Cohen

Eddie comes to the appetizer table at a party and sees three platters of kibbes. Each platter has a different variety – potato, mushroom or meat – but it is impossible to tell which is which just by looking at them. Eddie’s brother placed the following claims in front of each platter:

First platter: “The second platter does not have meat kibbes.”

Second platter: “This platter does not have meat kibbes.”

Third platter: “This platter has meat kibbes.”

But Eddie knows that at least one of the claims is true and at least one is false. How can Eddie be assured to choose a meat kibbe?

Last Month’s Riddle: The Broken Scale

Mrs. Abadi, Mrs. Beyda and Mrs. Cohen come into the doctor’s office, each with her own pair of identical twin babies. The nurse wants to weigh the babies, but her regular scale is broken and she only has a balance scale with which she can compare the weight of two or more babies. Mrs. Cohen tells the nurse that she is sure that her lighter baby weighs exactly the same as one of the Abadis and one of the Beydas. Mrs. Beyda is also sure that her heavier baby weighs exactly the same as one of the Cohens and one of the Abadis. How can the nurse determine which baby in each set of twins are the lighter ones by using the balance scale only twice?

Solution: On one side of the scale, put one of the Abadis and one of the Beydas. On the other side, put the other Abadi and a Cohen baby. If they are equal, then for the second weighing, simply put one Abadi on each side to see which is lighter. The baby who was on the same side of the scale as the heavier Abadi is the lighter of that pair, and the twin of the baby who was on the side of the lighter Abadi is also the lighter baby.

If in the first weighing one side was heavier, then put the already-weighed Beyda baby on one side and the not-yet-weighed Cohen baby on the other side. Based on the outcome, you should be able to identify all the lighter babies.

Solved by:

Junior Riddle: A Pair of Pears

Submitted by: Shaare Torah Girls (going into) 7^th Grade

Ten pears hanging high, five men came passing by. Each took two pears and left eight hanging there.

How can this be?

Last Month’s Junior Riddle: Bizarro Olympics

In which sport do winners move backwards and losers move forwards?

Solution: Tug of war

Solved by:

Trivia: Food for Thought

$160,406: Amount paid by Gordon Wu of Hong Kong for a 3.3lb Italian White Alba truffle in 2006. (Source: Associated Press)

1,758: Number of starving or malnourished children around the world who could be fed this year for the price of the rare giant fungus described above. (Source: World Food Programme)