27 replies to this topic

[rookie1ja]

The Barbershop Puzzle - Back to the River Crossing Puzzles
A traveler arrives in a small town and decides he wants to get a haircut. There are only two barbershops in town - one on East Street and one on West Street. The East Street barbershop is a mess, and the barber has the worst haircut the traveler has ever seen. The West Street barbershop is neat and clean, its barber's hair looks as good as a movie star's.
Which barbershop does the traveler go to for his haircut, and why?

This old topic is locked since it was answered many times. You can check solution in the Spoiler below.
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Spoiler for Solution

The Barbershop Puzzle - solution
The traveler goes to have his hair cut at the barbershop on East Street. He figures that since there are only two barbershops in town the East Street barber must have his hair cut by the West Street barber and vice versa. So if the traveler wants to look as good as the West Street barber (the one with the good haircut), he'd better go to the man who cuts the West Street barber's hair - the East Street barber.
By the way, the reason the West Street barbershop is so clean and neat is that it seldom gets customers.

[Nimrod3663]

He goes to the messy barbershop. One cannot give oneself his own haircut so the clean barber must have gone to the messy barber hence the messy barber gives the best haircuts.

[Gaeel]

A slight variation on this one is this :
Bob and Tom go out and play in the garden.
After a while their mother calls for them to go to bed.
Bob's face is very dirty, wheras Tom's managed to play without dirtying himself.
However Tom goes to wash and Bob goes straight to bed. They are both as aware about hygene and usually behave the same way in a given situation.

Why does the clean boy go and wash and the dirty one ignore his muddy face?

[N1ZTR]

The boys are twins. Tom thinks his face ia as dirty as BOb's, nad Bob thinks his face is as clean as Tom's.

[Gaeel]

exactly...
A nice easy one really... but I like it...

[buzzbuzz]

He should go to the one that has bad hair cut done. Since, other guy came to cut his hair to this one.

[soccergirl]

That was funny!

[soccergirl]

The one about Tom and Bob was a good one!

[sanju_gates]

the western shop is neat and clean so he ll think that no one comes to his shop so he ll move to eastern babershop;)

[Kathleen]

Why is the messy haircut barbershop have a messy floor? Is he so busy, he can't clean up?