Futility Closet

An idler's miscellany of compendious amusements

  • About
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Contact

“The Difficult Case of Wine”

A gentleman had a bottle containing 12 pints of wine, 6 of which he was desirous of giving to a friend; but he had nothing to measure it, except two other bottles, one of 7 pints, and the other of 5. How did he contrive to put 6 pints into the 7-pint bottle?

SelectClick for Answer

https://books.google.com/books?id=kbI_AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA224

From George Arnold et al., The Magician’s Own Book, 1857.

October 8, 2025October 8, 2025 | Puzzles

Post navigation

← A Perpetual Motion Device

Explore

Random Post

Archives

Categories

  • Art
  • Crime
  • Death
  • Entertainment
  • History
  • Hoaxes
  • Humor
  • Language
  • Literature
  • Oddities
  • Podcast
  • Poems
  • Puzzles
  • Quotations
  • Religion
  • Science & Math
  • Society
  • Technology
  • Trivia
  • Uncategorized

Follow

Subscribe by Email

Enter your email address to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

Site Admin

  • Log in

Info

  • About Futility Closet
  • Podcast
  • Books
  • Store
  • Chess notation
  • Contact/Submissions

ABOUT

Futility Closet is a collection of entertaining curiosities in history, literature, language, art, philosophy, and mathematics, designed to help you waste time as enjoyably as possible.

You can read Futility Closet on the web, subscribe by RSS, or sign up to receive a free daily email — see “Subscribe by Email” in the sidebar.

CREDITS

© Futility Closet 2005-2025