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Consulting Finance
Consulting Finance

Get Ready for Brainteasers of Any Kind

The bathroom
Brainteaser: The bathroom
You are in a bathroom with stone walls and no windows. You start to run a bath when the handles come off and there is no way of turning the tap off. You can’t escape because the door is locked and there are no windows. The room will flood and you will drown. How can you save yourself?
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Switch
Brainteaser: Switch
You’re in a room with 3 light switches. Next to your room is another room with the door closed. Inside that room are 3 bulbs. You do not know which switch controls which bulb. How can you figure out which switch controls which light? You can only enter the room with the bulbs once, but you are not in a hurry.
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Primates
Brainteaser: Primates
You walk into a room where there are three primates held in their respective cages: 1) A lion that is eating the flesh of a goat. 2) An orangutan that is playing with blocks. 3) A donkey that is sitting idle. Who is the most intelligent primate in the room?
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Call the zoo
Brainteaser: Call the zoo
Three girls are taking a bull to the zoo when their car breakes down. They wave for a guy to pull over. They ask to use his phone to call the zoo. He agrees, but says it would cost them $1 for every word. They only have $1 dollar. They pay the man and five minutes later the zoo is there. What was the one word used?
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Brainteasers are a helpful exercise to train your logical thinking.
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The rain drop
Brainteaser: The rain drop
A rain drop fell from one leaf to another leaf and lost 1/4th of its volume. It then fell to another leaf and lost 1/5th of the volume. It again fell on another leaf and lost 1/5th of the volume. This process kept repeating till it fell on the last leaf losing 1/75th of its volume. Can you calculate the total percentage of loss from the initial volume when the drop has fallen to the last leaf accurate up to two decimal places?
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The Cork
Brainteaser: The Cork
How do you get the cork out of the empty wine bottle? You can choose one of the four items for help: - Quick match - Plastic bag - Rope - Clothes hanger
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What time is it?
Brainteaser: What time is it?
You are on your way to your current project in Boston. Your flight is leaving at 08:30 pm. You are taking a look at your watch that shows 10:00 pm already. After a first shock you remember that your watch is adding 12 minutes each hour automatically and that you set the watch at midnight for the last time. What time is it actually?
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Up and Down
Brainteaser: Up and Down
What goes up but never comes down?
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What becomes longer?
Brainteaser: What becomes longer?
Which 7 letter word becomes longer when the third letter is removed?
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Is it possible to reach the stadium on time?
Brainteaser: Is it possible to reach the stadium on time?
Messi, Neymar, C. Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos have a football game that starts in just 34 minutes and all of them must pass through the tunnel to be in the stadium on time. The four players begin on the same side of the tunnel and you must help them to pass through to the stadium. Due to the fact that the tunnel is small, a maximum of two people can pass through at one time. To make matters worse, the light in the tunnel is not working and there is only one candle. The candle is always required when passing through the tunnel and the candle must be walked back, it cannot be thrown, etc. Each player runs at a different speed and a pair must run together at the rate of the slower one: - Messi takes 2 minutes to cross. - Christiano Ronaldo takes 4 minutes to cross. - Neymar takes 10 minutes to cross. - Sergio Ramos takes 20 minutes to cross. Are the four going to make it to the football game in time and how?
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The spirit
Brainteaser: The spirit
You are an expert on paranormal activity and have been hired to locate a spirit haunting an old resort hotel where the French national team stays. Strong signs indicate that the spirit lies behind one of four doors. The inscriptions on each door read as follows: Door A: It's behind B or C Door B: It's behind A or D Door C: It's in here Door D: It's not in here Your psychic powers have told you three of the inscriptions are false, and one is true. Behind which door will you find the spirit? The players are counting on you so that they can focus on the upcoming game against Ecuador.
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For miles and miles
Brainteaser: For miles and miles
After visiting my Great Aunt Annie, I travelled home in her old jalopy. The car was old and battered, it had a leak from the petrol tank, and I was stuck in second gear. This meant that I could only travel along at a steady 30 miles per hour and managed a paltry 20 miles per gallon of fuel. At the start of the journey I had placed exactly 10 gallons of fuel into the tank. I knew though, that the fuel tank lost fuel at the rate of half a gallon per hour. Just as I arrived home, the car stopped because it had run out of fuel and I had only just made it. How far was it from my Great Aunt's to my home?
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Wordplay
Brainteaser: Wordplay
If you throw me from a window, I will leave a grieving wife. Bring me back, but in the door, and you'll see someone generous! What am I?
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Hourglasses
Brainteaser: Hourglasses
There are two hourglasses filled with sand. The small one takes 5 hours and the large takes 7 hours to run. How can we tell 16 hours have passed using these hourglasses?
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Running
Brainteaser: Running
You are running in a street marathon and you overtake the person in 2nd place. Which place are you now?
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Lifetime
Brainteaser: Lifetime
Women do it once a year after they turn 29 but men get to do it only once in a lifetime. What is it?
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The ants
Brainteaser: The ants
What's smaller than an ant's mouth?
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What are they?
Brainteaser: What are they?
What are they? They do not possess flesh or feathers or scales or bone. But still they are blessed with fingers and thumbs of their own.
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Carnival
Brainteaser: Carnival
A boy is walking around in a carnival and he sees a single man in a booth. He walks up to the man and asks what the booth is for. "Well," says the man, "If I can't write your exact weight on this slip of paper, I pay you $20. If I get it right, you pay me $20." The boy looks around, and seeing no scales, agrees. 5 minutes later, the man has gotten $20 from the boy. How?
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Letter word
Brainteaser: Letter word
What five letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?
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Argentina vs. Netherlands
Brainteaser: Argentina vs. Netherlands
Which team will face Germany in the finals? Argentina or perhaps the Netherlands? Van Gaal, the dutch coach, is confident and takes his team out for lunch to relax. They head to a fish restaurant in Sao Paulo and as the players gather around the table, only half of them are able to get their hands on a menu. Instead of showing the prices to the rest of the team, they decide to make a game out of it by only giving out the following information: 1. A portion of salmon and a portion of bass are $12. 2. A portion of bass and a portion of swordfish are $10. 3. A portion of salmon and a portion of swordfish are $8. 4. A portion of swordfish and a portion of catfish are $5. Each price per portion is a whole-dollar amount. How much is the price per portion for each kind of fish?
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1 5 9 12 13 14 15
1 5 9 11 12 13 14 15

Questions

Frequently Asked Questions
We are happy to answer the most frequently asked questions.

Brain teasers in the form of math problems and logic puzzles can still appear in interviews, but they are quite rare. More common now are market sizing guesstimates, such as “How many tennis balls can fit into a smart car?” These questions may also be referred to as brain teasers. In general, brain teasers test your creativity and ability to think outside the box.

Brain teasers are uncommon in interviews, and there is no specific rule regarding when an interviewer may choose to use one. However, they are more typical in final rounds and can be asked either before or after the main case discussion.

Market sizing guesstimates are often referred to as brain teasers as well. They are more common in interviews and consist of questions that ask you to determine a specific quantity, such as “How many golf balls can you fit into a passenger Boeing 747?” These questions test your ability to define a problem, break it down into assumptions, and use math to solve it.

Always prioritize case studies and the personal fit portion in your interview preparation, as these are the crucial aspects of your interview! Once you feel more comfortable with those, you can integrate some brain teaser practice into your preparation. This may give you the advantage you need to stand out among other candidates! You can use our brain teaser library to challenge your creative thinking. Have fun!

Brain Teaser – Challenge Your Logical and Numerical Thinking

A brain teaser is a riddle or puzzle designed to challenge your logical thinking. In interviews, interviewers may use them to gain insights into your logical and creative thinking skills, which are valuable in various careers. The most important aspect here is not just the answer but how you approach the problem. Practice our brain teasers to prepare yourself for any interview situation!

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