$30.00 adds up to $29.00

Because you are terribly, terribly confused.

Each man paid $9.

3x9=27

The room cost $25.

The innkeeper received $2.

25+2=27

9x3=27 27+2 is 29
9.00 for one guy
9.00 for another
9.00 for another then the
2.00 in the inn keepers pockt
only adds up to 29.00

It's actually 9x3=27 MINUS 2 = 25

not plus

ok i dont know why its confusing to everyone but me im tryin to figure out if there was $30.00 in the beginning of this all and each guy originally paid 10 dollars each but the innkeeper gave them 1 dollar each back so that means they only paid 9 dollars each so 9x3 is....27 right the innkeeper kept two in his pocket right...sooo if you add alll the money back up there is only 29.00 that is what i am trying to figure out

ummm...

25+1+1+1+2=30.

Room cost $25.00. Innkeeper kept an extra $2.00. Room cost is now $27.00. Each of three men got $1.00 rebate. Total of $30.00 I don't understand the problem.

Tiptoetulips,

The question is deliberately worded to be confusing.

There isn't $27 plus two in the innkeeper's pocket. The $2 in the inkeeper's pocket came out of the $27.


Each man pays the innkeeper $10. Total of $30. The innkeeper refunds three dollars. That leaves the innkeeper with $27. He puts $25 dollars in the cash register, and keeps $2 for himself.

ok i know you can add it up differently and all but if you do the math as i am which is still all the same...each guy paid 10 dollars but the innkeeper gave them all a dollar discount so they paid 9 dollars each..innkeeper kept 2 so just think of it this way 9x3 is 27 plus 2 is only 29.00 but there was 30.00 in the beginning i dont know its just if ppl were in this room it would be easier to explain just not a riddle to put on the net i guess...but everyone in my house is stumped including me...we know we can do the math different but why cant we get the same amount the way i explained?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXCbAtkgNMw

same riddle....
http://able2know.org/topic/90588-1

And how can this be? For you ARE the Kwisatz Haderach

Try this:

Take 30 pennies (or M&Ms, or matchsticks, or pebbles), and act it out. Then come back and tell us the results.

Over the past three or four years, this exact same very simple math problem has been posted on at least three different threads. Get a life.

The math described in the riddle is wrong, though. The riddle deliberately misleads you. Since it's in English, instead of mathematical symbols, the riddle maker makes you add two unlike things. Money that the men paid is NOT the same as the money in the innkeeper's pocket, so they should not be added together.

Money paid: 9+9+9 = 27

Money received: 25 +2 = 27