Think you're smart? Try to solve this....




                        
Generally I don't like puzzles and rarely do I play games like Chess. Why? Because they cause my brain to hurt!!! However, I liked this puzzle so much. A guy at Microsoft Corporation asked it to me during an interview. It took me 20 minutes to solve (seems like a miracle). Here it is, try to solve it without cheating. If you give up, email me and I will send you the solution.

Once upon a time a king wanted to hire the best Mathematician in his kingdom to work in his palace. His servants brought to him the best two mathematicians, one of them was blind. The king told both mathematicians that he can't hire both so he will ask a question and whoever answers gets the job.

The king said: "I have three sons, whoever guesses their ages will be hired." The king told them that if they multiply the ages of his sons the result will be 36. Both mathematicians told the king that this information is not enough. The king then said: "The number of windows in the building across the street is equal to the sum of the ages of my sons." The first mathematician (who can see) counted the windows, and told the king that he still could not figure it out. The Blind mathematician (who could not count the windows) told the king that he does not have an answer. The king then said: "My oldest son has red hair." Right away the blind mathematician gave the correct answer and got hired.

The question is: How did the Blind guy know the answer and what is the answer?

See It is a good puzzle..I told you!!!! (There are no tricks in this puzzle; you just have to think logically. Assume the ages are whole numbers)

William Sunna, Dec-28-2003, All rights reserved