Tuesday 13 July 2010

Solving fun puzzles



Many people find solving fun puzzles as a way to relax, and take a break from the pressures of work. With lateral puzzles all you need is an active mind.

Most of you must have heard about the below mentioned lateral puzzle. It used to be one of the commonly asked interview questions at Microsoft. I don’t know whether they have changed the format now, but it still is a nice puzzle. It is about a bear. It may still be in the list of interview questions as not many (I guess) people have heard about it…

Okay, here goes…

If a bear proceeds to walk one mile south, then makes a turn to his left and further proceeds to walks another one mile towards the east, and then he turns once again to the left and proceeds to walks one mile towards the north and finds out that he has arrived at its original position, what is the color of this bear?

Uh oh! I was thinking of a triangle, but instead they asked about the color.

Okay, it is clear from the onset of this lateral puzzle that we are at the north poles and that it is evident that the bear is a polar bear, and which would obviously be white in color. Besides, there are no bears at the South Pole. So that answers our question.

Now, taking this a step further, one can argue that anyone who is positioned at the North Pole and who is walking the same path will reach its original starting position. So, the question was just extended to confuse the person being interviewed.

Let me have your comments…..

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