Solution:

1 (shown in the diagram below)

Explanation:
At every step number of joint goes down by 1.
i.e
8 have 6 joints
9 have 5 joints
5 have 4 joints
3 have 3 joints
7 have 2 joints
1 has 1 joint... the answer.

Solution:

You will ask, I have a number in my mind that i.e. either 2 or 3. Is the number that I have in my mind smaller or equal to the number that you are thinking of?

If Alan replies with no, he is thinking of the number 1.
If Alan replies with yes, he is thinking of the number 3.
If Alan replies with don't know, he is thinking of the number 2.

Solution:

David to play second

Explanation:
Let's suppose that David plays first and he picks 9. Then Albert will definitely pick 8. Now, David will have to pick 7 or Albert will pick 7 in his turn. But if David picks up 7, then he will score 16 that is beyond 15 and will lose. So one thing is for sure, no one will be willing to start with the highest digits.

Suppose David plays first and picks up 1, Albert will pick 2. Then David will pick 3 and Albert will pick 4. Now David will be forced to pick 9. The score is 6 to 13 and thus David will have no chance of winning.

If David Picks 9 after Albert has picked up 2, then Albert will pick 8 and the score will become 10 to 10. Thus David will pick 3 as picking 7 will send him past 15. Now Albert will pick 4 and David has nothing to pick for winning. Thus Albert wins.

Therefore, you should suggest David to play second.

Solution:

Yes, you should switch the envelope. In the beginning when you picked up the envelope, you had a 1/3 probability of finding an offer letter in the envelope. There was 2/3 chance that the letter was there in the two envelopes on the table.

If you keep your selected envelope, you still have a 1/3 chance of finding an offer letter in that. However, since the interviewer has removed one empty envelope from the table, if you switch, you have a probability of 2/3 that the offer letter is inside that.

Solution:

The Bangladeshi seaman is the thief. This is because the Japanese flag cannot be identified as upside down as it is the same both ways. Thus he is just trying to escape the situation.

Solution:

f the last elf is taking some time to answer the question then it shall mean that the elf's before him are all wearing distinct coloured hats. However sufficient time shall be given to the last elf to give the answer.
If he views the similar coloured hats in front of him , he shall quickly tell the answer

Solution:

The three errors are as follows:
a) fynd is spelled wrong. The correct spelling is 'find'.
b) that is not appropriate to use here. It should be 'this'.
c) There are only two errors in the question and that is the third error because the questions asks us to find three.

Solution:

Now there can be two solutions to the given situation because there can be two situations:
Suppose if B and C have same colors, A will know that his color is the other one and he will be able to speak up the first.
Now if B and C do not have same colors, A will stay silent. This will tell B that his and C's colors are different. Thus he will speak up first.

So either A or B will speak up first depending on the situation.

Solution:

40 balls

Solution:

Move the coins as given in the figure and you will get the required result.

Solution:

16-days

In 15-days, he will climb 15-inch and when he climbs 5 inch more, he will be out of the well :-)