Brainteasers Interview Questions
Classic brainteasers test structured problem-solving under pressure. These cover the logic, estimation, and lateral-thinking puzzles that recur in trading interviews.
This area collects the logic puzzles, estimation ('Fermi') questions, weighing-and-measuring problems, and lateral-thinking riddles that recur across trading interviews.
Interviewers care less about whether you've seen the puzzle and more about how you reason aloud: stating assumptions, breaking the problem down, and checking your answer.
137 brainteasers questions · 107 free to practise now.
By format:Market MakerHedge Fund QuantNumerical Reasoning TestsTrading Aptitude TestsBetting Game RoundsProp TradingSystematic & Data-Driven TradingOptions TradingETF Trading
- A factorial ratio that's a factorialEasyBrainteasersView →
- A hundred days of compoundingEasyBrainteasersFinance & DerivativesView →
- A mile with no windEasyBrainteasersView →
- A multiple of 15 in ones and zerosEasyBrainteasersView →
- A ratio of Fibonacci sumsEasyBrainteasersView →
- A root of a product plus oneEasyBrainteasersView →
- A sum of three cubesEasyBrainteasersView →
- Age in a square yearEasyBrainteasersView →
- All the squares on a chessboardEasyCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- An alternating sum of squaresEasyBrainteasersView →
- An infinite nested radicalEasyBrainteasersView →
- An old man's life in fractionsEasyBrainteasersView →
- Ants on a squareEasyProbabilityBrainteasersView →
- Average speed over three lapsEasyBrainteasersView →
- Bacteria doubling on a clockEasyBrainteasersView →
- Clock angle at 3:15EasyBrainteasersView →
- Coin rolling around a coinEasyBrainteasersView →
- Counting legs at the meetupEasyBrainteasersView →
- Counting nines to 1000EasyCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- Finding the light coinEasyBrainteasersView →
- Guessing a number with high-low hintsEasyBrainteasersProgramming & DSAView →
- Hands directly oppositeEasyBrainteasersView →
- Handshakes at four couplesEasyCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- How many sixes on the die?EasyExpected ValueBrainteasersView →
- Integers that contain a zeroEasyCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- Lapping on the trackEasyBrainteasersView →
- Matching locks to keysEasyBrainteasersView →
- Polygons with integer anglesEasyBrainteasersView →
- Rope lifted off the EarthEasyBrainteasersView →
- Smallest multiple of 77 past 700000EasyBrainteasersView →
- Socks for a matching trioEasyCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- Solving a linear Diophantine equationEasyBrainteasersView →
- The clock that runs fastEasyBrainteasersView →
- The largest unmakeable postageEasyBrainteasersView →
- The price of a triangular gardenEasyBrainteasersView →
- The weight of the fishEasyBrainteasersView →
- Three raids on the flockEasyBrainteasersView →
- Three switches, one bulbEasyBrainteasersView →
- Timing the revolverEasyBrainteasersView →
- Unchanged after ten swingsEasyProbabilityBrainteasersView →
- When the clock hands next meetEasyBrainteasersView →
- When the colony outgrows its life supportEasyBrainteasersCalculusView →
- Winning by a growing marginEasyProbabilityBrainteasersView →
- 1000 bottles, one poisonedMediumBrainteasersView →
- 25 horses, 5 tracksMediumBrainteasersView →
- A cube ending in elevenMediumProbabilityBrainteasersView →
- Adults before the busMediumBrainteasersView →
- Age a fraction of the birth yearMediumBrainteasersView →
- Average salary, kept privateMediumBrainteasersStatisticsView →
- Balancing six- and eight-sided diceMediumExpected ValueBrainteasersView →
- Bridge and torchMediumBrainteasersView →
- Cats and dogs on the streetMediumBrainteasersView →
- Clock hands overlapMediumBrainteasersView →
- Coin-pile NimMediumBrainteasersMarket Making & Betting GamesView →
- Cutting a cube into 27MediumBrainteasersView →
- Deleting every other number on a circleMediumCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- Digits multiplying to half the numberMediumBrainteasersView →
- Digits of concatenated powersMediumBrainteasersView →
- Distinct die labelingsMediumCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- Enlarging a square orchardMediumBrainteasersView →
- Filling a pool with the drain openMediumBrainteasersView →
- Fox, goose, beans crossingMediumBrainteasersView →
- Grandmother's age from the digitsMediumBrainteasersView →
- Largest circle in a triangleMediumBrainteasersView →
- Odd multiples of threeMediumCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- One hundred animals for a thousand dollarsMediumBrainteasersView →
- One hundred light bulbsMediumBrainteasersView →
- Rebuilding a tower of ten ringsMediumBrainteasersProgramming & DSAView →
- Regions from ten linesMediumCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- Smallest simulable probabilityMediumProbabilityBrainteasersView →
- Sum of multiples of 3 or 5MediumBrainteasersView →
- Sum of the pandigital numbersMediumCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- Summing digits to a millionMediumCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- The bridge crossingMediumBrainteasersView →
- The largest unmakeable totalMediumCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- The most balanced factorizationMediumBrainteasersView →
- Three-four-five in Pascal's triangleMediumCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- Three-jug measuringMediumBrainteasersView →
- Two guards, two doorsMediumBrainteasersView →
- Two ropes, 45 minutesMediumBrainteasersView →
- A Fibonacci power sumHardBrainteasersView →
- A coin thick enough to land on its sideHardProbabilityBrainteasersView →
- A flea's shortest escape across a boxHardBrainteasersCalculusView →
- A geometric series that sums to a squareHardBrainteasersView →
- A triangle of consecutive integersHardBrainteasersView →
- A weighted sum of binomialsHardCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- Average of near-diagonal numbersHardCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- Cats and miceHardBrainteasersView →
- Cubes over the terminating denominatorsHardBrainteasersCalculusView →
- Digits with distinct pairwise sumsHardCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- Doors toggled by primesHardCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- Largest pairwise-coprime subset sumHardCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- Locks for a four-of-seven safeHardCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- Measuring two pintsHardBrainteasersView →
- Pairing with a difference of 1 or 11HardCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- Rotations divisible by 37HardCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- Shuffles to restore the deckHardCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- Smallest number with digit product 10000HardCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- Sum of repeating decimalsHardCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- Sums of fours and fivesHardCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- The number with no new digitsHardBrainteasersView →
- The survivor in the circleHardBrainteasersView →
- Three eggs, nine dropsHardCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- Triangle with equal side sumsHardCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- Twelve balls, one oddHardBrainteasersView →
- Weighings for the odd beanHardBrainteasersView →
- When k-to-the-k is a squareHardCombinatoricsBrainteasersView →
- Return speed for a target averageEasyBrainteasers Premium
- Ants on a stickMediumBrainteasers Premium
- Cutting a cubeMediumBrainteasers Premium
- Eight coins, one lightMediumCombinatoricsBrainteasers Premium
- Frog in the wellMediumBrainteasers Premium
- Last two digits of a powerMediumCombinatoricsBrainteasers Premium
- Regression to the meanMediumBrainteasersStatistics Premium
- Right angles in 12 hoursMediumBrainteasers Premium
- Squares on a chessboardMediumCombinatoricsBrainteasers Premium
- The gold chainMediumBrainteasers Premium
- The missing dollarMediumBrainteasers Premium
- The painted cubeMediumBrainteasers Premium
- The pile that always leaves oneMediumBrainteasers Premium
- Three mislabeled jarsMediumBrainteasers Premium
- Two trains and a flyMediumBrainteasers Premium
- Weighing 1 to 40MediumBrainteasers Premium
- Wine and waterMediumBrainteasers Premium
- Ages from product and sumHardCombinatoricsBrainteasers Premium
- Bertrand's chordHardProbabilityBrainteasers Premium
- Blue-eyed islandersHardBrainteasers Premium
- Defective stack of coinsHardCombinatoricsBrainteasers Premium
- Handshakes at a dinner partyHardCombinatoricsBrainteasers Premium
- Hats in a lineHardBrainteasers Premium
- Hats with 100 colorsHardBrainteasers Premium
- Last one standingHardCombinatoricsBrainteasers Premium
- Prisoners and the boxesHardProbabilityBrainteasers Premium
- Prisoners and the light switchHardBrainteasers Premium
- The racing camelsHardBrainteasers Premium
- Triangle that swallows the centerHardProbabilityBrainteasers Premium
- Two eggs, 100 floorsHardBrainteasers Premium
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Frequently asked questions
- What types of brainteasers are common in quant interviews?
- Logic and deduction puzzles, estimation questions ('how many … fit in a city?'), weighing and measuring problems, and lateral-thinking riddles. The point is to watch your reasoning, not just the final number.
- How should I approach a brainteaser I have never seen?
- Think out loud, state your assumptions, break it into smaller cases, and sanity-check the result. A clear, structured attempt often scores better than a lucky silent guess.
- Can you actually prepare for brainteasers?
- Yes - exposure to the common patterns (invariants, parity, extremal cases, working backwards) makes new puzzles far less intimidating. Practising a variety builds the toolkit.