language, but then require a specific interpretation to get to the "right" answer. Something like this resulted in one of the meanest things I ever did to someone. In HS, we had an extended substitute teacher in one of my classes. She had a bunch of these brain teasers that she called "mini mysteries." She would start the class with one every day and said anyone who could solve it could leave class early. I don't remember anyone ever solving one of them and she came across as super smug about how smart she was for knowing the answers.

One mystery pushed me over the edge. It was, "A man is found murdered in a room with 53 bicycles, why was he killed and by whom?" The answer was that he was cheating at cards and his card partner was the murderer (get it? Bicycle brand cards and one too many cards). I vociferously argued that there weren't any bicycles in the room so the whole premise was a lie from the start, plus the jokers still would have probably been in the room so it meant a card was missing, not to mention that most Bicycle cards have two bicycles on them anyway. Also, without knowing who was playing with the victim, we couldn't know who killed him. I more or less got the whole class to turn on her over her "scam" of pretending that she'd let someone leave early. She started crying and ran out. Looking back, I now realize that she was a 30-something, single, frumpy woman who probably didn't have a lot of self-esteem and these little brain teasers brought her joy. I still feel bad about that.