Fingers on One Hand
I gave the following problem as part of the entrance test for my STEP program.
Puzzle. What word would you use to describe a man who does not have all his fingers on one hand?
The test had 17 questions, and this one was the only trick question. My goal was to check whether the students were paying attention.
The standard answer is normal, or something equivalent: regular, average, two-handed, or just a man. Most people do not have all their fingers on one hand; they have some fingers on one hand and some on the other.
Some students gave correct answers with extra flair.
- A cautious answer: A regular person, as to my knowledge, has fingers on both hands.
- A logical answer: A person with multiple hands, if they don’t have all fingers on one hand, then they must have multiple hands. For example, a human would work in this case.
- A funny answer: The man who puts his eggs in two baskets.
I also got answers from people who fallen right into my trap: fingerless, handicapped, genetically-mutated, alien, asymmetrical, injured, one-handed, resourceful, five-fingered, disabilitized, and mono-hand.
Some students sympathized with the man and called him frugal, determined, and a super-hero.
One student misread the problem, but gave a technically correct answer.
- Human, because I don’t see any difference in the man whether he has fingers or not.
This is not the first time I have used this problem on a test. But this year, the variety of answers was awesome. Still, the funniest answer in the misreadings category was:
- A chef.
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Ed:
Oh – for me (UK, English as first language) this question has an ambiguity. One reading is the one you intended. But the other is that the man has at least one hand which does not have all its fingers. It’s not a twisted reading, it’s straightforward – indeed I just did a field test, sample size one, and got the answer ‘a digital amputee’ which is pretty much the ‘chef’ answer but less funny.
So… maybe find a different wording?
27 June 2026, 5:23 pm