Friday, March 8, 2013

New House Puzzle

A man just finished painting his house and needs something more.
At the hardware store the clerk shows him what he wants and says, "one is $1."
"Fine," says the man, "I took 600, so here's $3."
What had he bought?


image by Padre MarianOne, distributed under CCL.

this nerve-wrecking puzzle is from The Mensa Genius Quiz Book but you don't need to be a genius to solve it. The House painting is a hint. Stand in front of your front house/apartment door and think what possibly can cost one for $1 and $3 for 600.

Your answers are accepted any time until midnight Eastern Time on Sunday, on our Family Puzzle Marathon.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Number of digits on the door

Dennis (of Dennis and Katrina) said...

I had to think about this for a few minutes, but I think I've got it...

He bought house numbers! He literally bought 600 - a "6", a "0", and another "0". One number is $1 and he bought three numbers when be "bought" 600, so he paid $3!

thelittlebird said...

I'm happy to say this one only took me a minute! The number 600 is a house number and the man purchased 3 numbers at $1 a piece, a "6" and two "0"s for $3 total.

Tom said...

Yes of course, the House Numbers, the digits.

Annie said...

His house number is "600". Each number cost $1.... $1. for the "6", $1. for the "0", and $1. for the second "0"....$3.

Ilya said...

Good one! The hint helped. He was buying three digits for his house number.

Katrina said...

He purchased new house numbers at $1 per number. 1 #6 and 2 #0.

Anonymous said...

The man took the house number 600 to put up on the outside his house (one digit costs $1, three digits cost $3).

(at first I was thinking about something related to house projects such as 1 box of nails (200 nails) costing $1, and 600 nails (3 boxes) costing $3... but I think the answer above is what you were looking for... )

Fun!
TracyZ

Jerome said...

House identification numbers.
1 has only 1 digit and costs 1 dollar
600 is 3 digits and therefore costs 3 dollars.

Thad said...

He bought the digits 6, 0, & 0 for a dollar each. 600 is his house number.

Alin Grin said...

He bought 3 digits (e.g brass) to make up his house number 600.
He bought a six and two zeros 1 dollar each.

anne-marie said...

My husband was quicker than me on this one. I was still trying to figure out the units and what could be missing after the painting...The focus on the painting is not a good hint, I think the apartment door is.
So, $1 for each number in "600" makes $3

SteveGoodman18 said...

He bought numbers for his address. 600 is 3 digits, and each digit costs $1.

TyYann said...

He bought the digits 6, 0, 0 to put on his house.

Anonymous said...


He bought house numbers! A 6 and two 0's. $3 at $1 each.

-Kim

Anonymous said...

Seeds for flowers in a flower box?

Gurubandhu

Maria said...

Perhaps you all ARE geniuses. You had to think outside of the box to solve this one. It is really not trivial to solve this one without hearing it before. House numbers. Puzzle point for all who did it.

Anonymous said...

I KNOW! He bought his house number! Because he bought 600, three digits so he pays 3 pounds because 1 digit is 1 pound! I can't believe that was soooooo easy peasy lemon squeezy

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