The Riddle Thread

Post your own riddles, and answer other peoples' riddles. I'll start:

A man condemned to be hanged was sentenced on Saturday. "The hanging will take place at noon," said the judge to the prisoner, "on one of the seven days of next week. But you will not know which day it is until you are so informed on the morning of the day of the hanging."

The judge was known to be a man who always kept his word. The prisoner, accompanied by his lawyer, went back to his cell. As soon as the two men were alone, the lawyer broke into a grin. "Don't you see?" he exclaimed. "The judge's sentence cannot possibly be carried out!"

Why not?

Sorta like tomorrow never comes

It's more of a paradox. Start with the premise that if the prisoner survives past noon on Friday then he knows then that he dies on Saturday which negates the judge telling him that he won't know until the morning of the hanging he's to be hanged. In a likewise manner, all days can be canceled out so he won't be hanged. However, because now that he's feeling pretty safe about all 7 days, the judge could pick any day to go ahead and hang him.

TlalocW

why can't it be monday?

It can't be Saturday because if he's alive Friday afternoon, he knows.
It can't be Friday because if he's alive Thursday, he knows before Friday morning, and Saturday is already ruled out.
Can't be Thursday because if he's alive Wednesday, he knows before Thursday morning, and Friday and Saturday are already ruled out.
Etc.

TlalocW

Or are you just saying that. My head is spinning trying to figure it out

The judge basically said that he won't be executed on any given day if he's not informed of it on that day's morning.

So, the different cases:
1. He makes it to Friday, 12:00 p.m. He now knows that the only day left that he can be killed is Saturday, but because he knows about it before Saturday morning, so he can't be killed on Saturday.
2. He makes it to Thursday, 12:00 p.m. Saturday is ruled out by the previous logic so that leaves only Friday to be killed, but he know about it before Friday morning, so he can't be killed then either.
Each day is the same - previous days are ruled out as above, and since that leaves the next day as the only time to be killed, he knows about it before the morning comes, and it's added to the list until all days are in the list.

TlalocW

1. In a street there are five houses, painted five different colours.
2. In each house lives a person of different nationality
3. These five homeowners each drink a different kind of beverage, smoke a different brand of cigar and keep a different pet.

The question: who owns the fish?

Hints:

1. The Brit lives in a red house.
2. The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
3. The Dane drinks tea.
4. The Green house is on the left of the White house.
5. The owner of the Green house drinks coffee.
6. The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
7. The owner of the Yellow house smokes Dunhill.
8. The man living in the centre house drinks milk.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
10. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
11. The man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
12. The man who smokes Blue Master drinks beer.
13. The German smokes Prince.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
15. The man who smokes Blends has a neighbour who drinks water.

PM me if you think you have the answer. It took me an hour and a half with pen and paper to figure it out. :dunce:

One word in the English language changes its pronunciation and meaning when the 1st letter is capitalized. What is it?