Solution:

17 mins

The initial solution most people will think of is to use the fastest person as an usher to guide everyone across. How long would that take? 10 + 1 + 7 + 1 + 2 = 21 mins. Is that it? No. That would make this question too simple even as a warm up question.

Let’s brainstorm a little further. To reduce the amount of time, we should find a way for 10 and 7 to go together. If they cross together, then we need one of them to come back to get the others. That would not be ideal. How do we get around that? Maybe we can have 1 waiting on the other side to bring the torch back. Ahaa, we are getting closer. The fastest way to get 1 across and be back is to use 2 to usher 1 across. So let’s put all this together.

1 and 2 go cross
2 comes back
7 and 10 go across
1 comes back
1 and 2 go across (done)

Total time = 2 + 2 + 10 + 1 + 2 = 17 mins

Solution:

So that the following plan can be followed, let us number the coins from 1 to 12. For the first weighing let us put on the left pan coins 1,2,3,4 and on the right pan coins 5,6,7,8.

There are two possibilities. Either they balance, or they don't. If they balance, then the different coin is in the group 9,10,11,12. So for our second one possibility is to weigh 9,10,11 against 1,2,3

(1) They balance, in which case you know 12 is the different coin, and you just weigh it against any other to determine whether it is heavy or light.
(2) 9,10,11 is heavy. In this case, you know that the different coin is 9, 10, or 11, and that that coin is heavy. Simply weigh 9 against 10; if they balance, 11 is the heavy coin. If not, the heavier one is the heavy coin.
(3) 9,10,11 is light. Proceed as in the step above, but the coin you're looking for is the light one.

That was the easy part.

What if the first weighing 1,2,3,4 vs 5,6,7,8 does not balance? Then any one of these coins could be the different coin. Now, in order to proceed, we must keep track of which side is heavy for each of the following weighings.

Suppose that 5,6,7,8 is the heavy side. We now weigh 1,5,6 against 2,7,8. If they balance, then the different coin is either 3 or 4. Weigh 4 against 9, a known good coin. If they balance then the different coin is 3, otherwise it is 4. The direction of the tilts can tell us whwther the offending coin is heavier or lighter.

Now, if 1,5,6 vs 2,7,8 does not balance, and 2,7,8 is the heavy side, then either 7 or 8 is a different, heavy coin, or 1 is a different, light coin.

For the third weighing, weigh 7 against 8. Whichever side is heavy is the different coin. If they balance, then 1 is the different coin. Should the weighing of 1,5, 6 vs 2,7,8 show 1,5,6 to be the heavy side, then either 5 or 6 is a different heavy coin or 2 is a light different coin. Weigh 5 against 6. The heavier one is the different coin. If they balance, then 2 is a different light coin.

Solution:

Hockey Stick $49.50 & ball $0.50

Solution:

13 x 3 + 1 = 40

The number of decks is absolutely not relevant here which means whether we mix 5 or 500 cards still results would be same.
Any card drawn will be a Ace,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,Jack,Queen or King, so there are 13 possibilities each time a card is drawn.
If you are lucky just 5 cards of the same kind can be obtained in 4 steps

The unluckiest(worst) way is our solution as we need to guarantee a four of a kind.
Draw 3 of each kind =>now we have 39 cards. Next card will guarantee 4 of a kind.

Solution:

The driver is actually the wife and mother.

Solution:

LOTTO

Explanation:
Just flip the two rows 1 and 2 vertically, you will find the word "Lotto".

Solution:

Fifteen minutes can easily be measure using these two hour glasses.

Step 1: He will start both the hourglass.

Step 2: The moment the eleven minute hourglass is empty, he will invert it.

Step 3: When the thirteen minutes hourglass is empty, he will invert the eleven minute hourglass.
In step 3, we will have counted thirteen minutes. Since we inverted the eleven minute hourglass in step 2, it started from fresh and was inverted just for two minutes (13-11=2). In this manner when it is reversed when the thirteen minute hourglass is finished, it will have two minutes of sand left. This time when the sand finishes, he will have measured fifteen minutes. (13+2=15)

Solution:

Just 2

Day One: You make your first cut at the 1/7th mark and give that to the worker.
Day Two: You cut 2/7ths and pay that to the worker and receive the original 1/7th in change.
Day three: You give the worker the 1/7th you received as change on the previous day.
Day four: You give the worker 4/7ths and he returns his 1/7th cut and his 2/7th cut as change.
Day Five: You give the worker back the 1/7th cut of gold.
Day Six: You give the worker the 2/7th cut and receive the 1/7th cut back in change.
Day Seven: You pay the worker his final 1/7th.

Solution:

It is not possible to guess only three fruits correctly: the fourth fruit is then correct too! So nobody has guessed three fruits correctly and 123-43-39-31 = 10 people have guessed four fruits correctly.

Solution:

The code word is TIE.

Let us assume that the word is MOD. Now if you are told one character of this word, you would not be able to identify the number of vowels in the word. For example if you are told M, then the word can be MOD or AIM but they both have different number of vowels. If you are told about O, then there are two words MOD and OAT which again have different number of vowels. If you are told about D, there are two words again MOD and DUE which have different numbers of vowels again.

In such manner, all the words that have M, O or D in them can be excluded. Then only word that remains is TIE.
If you are told about T, there are two words OAT and TIE which both have two vowels.
If you are told about I, there are two words AIM and TIE which both have two vowels.
If you are told about E, there are two words DUE and TIE which both have two vowels.

Thus TIE is the code word.

Solution:

He askes the god to beat him half to death.