Hatrack River Forum: Riddle

This is topic Riddle in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by Sid Meier (Member # 6965) on :

If you can fill a bucket only half way and there are 10 buckets to fill how many buckets can you fill in total?

Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :

Haa...you can still only fill a single bucket half way.

Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :

0

Posted by Sopwith (Member # 4640) on :

If all of the buckets are circular and the same size, but will fit one in another (think of stacking them for sale)... then you could fill five of them completely by placing one inside each one and then turning them so that the holes don't line up. That would effectively block the holes in half of them, allowing them to be filled.

If the buckets are a variety of sizes... well, you should check your buckets better before using them...

Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :

Thats the thing though, the question doesn't give enough information.

Why can't you fill the bucket more than halfway up? Because you don't have enough water? Because there's a hole halfway up? Because its against your religion? Because someone is going to break your arms if you do? Because the buckets can't handle the weight of that much water?

Seems impossible to figure out with such poor wording and info.

Edit: The poor wording refers to the "a bucket" as opposed to "each bucket". Plus, the "in total" could be referring to the volume of the water you can place total measured in "buckets", or how many buckets are completely full.

Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :

Also fails to mention if one must pick up the buckets after filling them, and how far one must carry them.

Posted by breyerchic04 (Member # 6423) on :

you can't fill a bucket in total, you can only fill a bucket half way

Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :

If you have a hole, and fill it half way up, you still have a whole hole.

Posted by Sid Meier (Member # 6965) on :

talk about making a question more confusing sheesh.

Okay lemme reclarify:

You have 10 buckets all the same size, you can only fill a bucket halway becuas ethe tap is too low to the ground. How many of the buckets can you fill up in total? I can't give any more info else it would give away the anwser.

Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :

Nine full, one half full?

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

Nine and a half.

[Addit: Dangit, Pop! [Mad]

]

Posted by Sid Meier (Member # 6965) on :

DING DING DING! Papa Moose wins!

Posted by Sid Meier (Member # 6965) on :

You see in my book, if you don't have enough parameters to the question you can have creative answers

Posted by Valentine014 (Member # 5981) on :

I don't know about that answer. Why can't you cup water in your hands and fill the last half that way? Plus the question doesn't say anything about not having a cup, or a cup being illegal. Plus the question doesn't say anything about it having to be filled with water, so you could just get handfulls of sand.

This is why puzzles have so many constraints on them. That way you get the "clever" answer you were thinking of.

Edit: This was Xavier forgetting to log out of Niki's screen name.

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Valentine014:

Edit: This was Xavier forgetting to log out of Niki's screen name.

*giggle* Before I saw the edit, I was thinking, "Wow, he's really rubbed off on her!" [Big Grin]

Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :

You can fill all ten. It just takes longer, and it may not be pure water you fill the with.

Fill 9.5 buckets.

Drink the .5 bucket.

Refill it from faucet 1/2 way.

When nature calls, just, um top it off naturally.

Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :

I was going to add that to my list of possible workarounds too Dan [Smile]

.

Edit: and rivka [Smile]

.

I hope that doesn't mean that I was being a jerk, I know I sometimes come off that way. Am I nit-picking too much?

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

*shakes head* No, you just have a distinctive thought pattern. Niki's is quite different.

Posted by CaySedai (Member # 6459) on :

You need a hose, then it doesn't matter how low to the ground the faucet is. [Wink]

Posted by alluvion (Member # 7462) on :

Did anyone bother to try to fill the bucket more than halfway?

*hey, howcome my shoes are getting wet?*