Pirate Pete had been captured by a Spanish general and sentenced to death by firing squad. The fifty-man squad were infamous for their terrible aim, and often failed to kill their victim immediately. The general's habit was to leave the prisoner to die -- slowly and painfully -- when this happened. Knowing this, Pete finally begged for mercy.

"Very well," said the general, "I have some compassion. You may choose where the men stand when ...

Inside each set of the following words, there are a pair of smaller words. By putting & between them, lo & behold, you'll make a familiar phrase. For example, "Thighbone/Swallowtail" conceals "High & Low."

1. Skyrocketing/Trolleyman
2. Thermometer/Apoplexy
3. Delaware/Bordering
4. Surprised/Trashiness
5. Throughout/Stumblebum

During a visit to a mental asylum, a visitor asked the Director what the criteria is that defines if a patient should be institutionalized.

"Well," said the Director, "we fill up a bathtub. Then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup, and a bucket to the patient and ask the patient to empty the bathtub."

Okay, here's your test:
1. Would you use the spoon?
2. Would you use the teacup?
3. Would you use the bucket?

"Oh, I understand,"...

Handel has been killed and Beethoven is on the case. He has interviewed the four suspects and their statements are shown below. Each suspect has said two sentences...one sentence of each suspect is a lie and one sentence is the truth. Help Beethoven figure out who the killer is.

Joplin: I did not kill Handel. Either Grieg is the killer or none of us is.
Grieg: I did not kill Handel. Gershwin is the killer.
Strauss...

Imagine a world in which the colors of things have changed from what we consider normal. Assume the following changes:

Snow is now red.
Grass is now black.
The sky is now brown.
Blood is now white.
Soot is now green.

In such a world, what is the color of dirt?

In the following code, each symbol stands for one of five letters.

^ stands for M, O, I, U, or W
V stands for Y, U, F, E, or L
< stands for H, E, B, K, or T
> stands for J, A, G, N, or P

The four letter code word, <^>V, can be translated into two English words that are opposites. What are the two words?