Poisoned Iced Tea

Question

Two girls went to dinner together and both ordered iced tea. One girl pounded down five of them in about a minute, and the other took her time drinking one.

The girl who drank one died, while the girl who drank five survived. However, all of the drinks that were served turned out to contain poison.

Why did the girl that drank more iced tea survive?

Fun variant: this time, the girl who drank one survived, while the girl who drank five died. Why? — Lopsy, Oct 17 '14 at 15:43
@Lopsy Not really; it could simply be that the poison wasn't strong enough to kill with just one iced tea. — Dennis Meng, Oct 17 '14 at 15:52
I was thinking of Bozman's answer. (Thanks, Dennis -- I should have reworded it so that they each drink one glass, just at different speeds) — Lopsy, Oct 17 '14 at 17:39
The drinks were poisoned, but not enough. The girl didn't die of poisoning but was run over by a car. — Florian F, Oct 18 '14 at 11:07
There's an episode of Monk featuring a murder that has the same answer. — DaoWen, Oct 18 '14 at 16:06
Couldn't she have immunitized herself like in the Princess Bride? — markasoftware, Oct 19 '14 at 02:57
On a side note I have seen this puzzle in the episode 190 of the cartoon detective Conan. There is cyanide inside a little cap that's in the ice. Wikipedia link, and here's a link to the specific manga page. — TheNaturalTanuki, Oct 20 '14 at 02:37
The girl who drank five was the poisoner, and took antidote before and after drinking? — Desty, Oct 20 '14 at 10:08

score 108 · Accepted Answer · edited Sep 25 '18 at 12:44

108

Because...

...the poison was in the ice. She drank them before the Ice melted to the point where it would kill her.

edited Sep 25 '18 at 12:44

Mr Pie

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answered Oct 17 '14 at 15:00

Bozman

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Indeed. No iocane powder needed. – generalcrispy Oct 17 '14 at 15:02
that was clever +1 – Rafe Oct 17 '14 at 19:10
4

This only works if she wasn't provided all 5 to begin. Otherwise, when she finished drink 5, the other finished drink 1. Both would have the same melted status. – Xrylite Oct 17 '14 at 20:53
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Surely the ice would have melted in her stomach and then killed her. Is there a better alternative solution? – Oct 17 '14 at 22:06
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@Mathias Foster but she left the ice cubes in the glasses, so they never got into her stomach to begin with. – Sumyrda - remember Monica Oct 17 '14 at 22:19
Surely she would have consumed the same amount of molten ice-water. If anything, she should have consumed more since at the beginning the surface area of the ice is bigger and the temperature difference between the iced tea is bigger. – overactor Oct 18 '14 at 07:02
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@overactor: interesting point. If the ice is below freezing when it goes into the drink, then you could argue that in time T, somewhat more of the dead girl's ice will have melted compared with the living girl's ice, since the living girl got 4 "extra" chunks of however much heat it takes to raise the ice to melting point before melting it. Experiment needed! Alternatively perhaps you could take "pounded down" to mean that the living girl necked every iced tea as soon as it arrived, with gaps of T/4 or T/5 in between them, during which ice was melting harmlessly in her finished drink. – Steve Jessop Oct 20 '14 at 11:40
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Oh, or we could go for "the poison was near the centre of the ice cubes", so that a little bit of melting releases no poison, but drinking slowly enough to let it melt near-completely does. Doesn't work with crushed ice... – Steve Jessop Oct 20 '14 at 11:44
One can be served iced tea that has no ice in the glass. We call it iced tea because it's not hot tea. It's common to have a pitcher of iced tea in the refrigerator and to serve it cold with no ice. – Fred Nov 07 '14 at 17:09
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@Fred: one can also be served iced tea with no poison, but that's apparently not what happened in this riddle ;-) – Steve Jessop Nov 10 '14 at 00:38
@SteveJessop: True, however the puzzle states that the drinks were poisoned while it is not stated that there was ice in the glasses. I was just making the point that the puzzle does not have enough information find the answer given. – Fred Dec 31 '14 at 17:53

score 73 · Answer 2 · edited Sep 25 '18 at 12:52

73

Because...

...they were Long Island Iced Teas.

The first girl drank so much so fast she couldn't hold her liquor and (fortunately) threw them up before her body absorbed the poison.

edited Sep 25 '18 at 12:52

Mr Pie

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answered Oct 17 '14 at 17:13

lc.

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This is a great deal more plausible ;) – nneonneo Oct 17 '14 at 20:00
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Given what's in a Long Island Iced Tea, you'd die of alcohol poisoning after 5 if they're done right. – generalcrispy Oct 17 '14 at 20:39
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@generalcrispy Not if you throw up all the five afterwards... – Alexander Oct 18 '14 at 10:36
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For all we know, alcohol was the only 'poison' in it, and the other girl just died from choking when she tried to drink as fast as her friend, who was busy throwing up. – Zibbobz Oct 18 '14 at 12:43
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Was there somebody in history who supposedly did this with hemlock or similar? I've searched for it in the past, but couldn't find which historical character it is. (Or indeed, if I've just imagined it!) – James Webster May 27 '15 at 21:34

score 14 · Answer 3 · edited Sep 25 '18 at 12:51

14

Because...

...the girl who only drank one was allergic to the tea. They were all 'poisoned', but were only meant to kill her, not the other girl.

edited Sep 25 '18 at 12:51

Mr Pie

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answered Oct 17 '14 at 19:27

Zibbobz

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There was a great Castle episode that used that trick - a guy was killed by adulterating his drink with vinegar (which interacted with a medicine he was taking). No reason that would show up on a routine tox screen. :) – neminem Oct 20 '14 at 17:38

score 8 · Answer 4 · edited Sep 25 '18 at 12:51

8

The girl who drank one drank it slower, as it took her the time for one. The girl who drank five got a fresh glass each time.

THE POISON IS IN THE ICE

edited Sep 25 '18 at 12:51

Mr Pie

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answered Oct 17 '14 at 21:08

Alex Vermillion

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score 8 · Answer 5 · edited Sep 25 '18 at 12:56

8

Alternatively:

Before the event, the surviving girl had prepared herself by increasing her body's tolerance of the poison: she dosed herself with it, in small then gradually increasing quantities (mithridatism).

If

the girls were in a murder mystery novel

then this would definitely be the answer! :)

edited Sep 25 '18 at 12:56

Mr Pie

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answered Oct 20 '14 at 14:56

A E

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score 7 · Answer 6 · edited Sep 25 '18 at 12:48

7

Because...

...the girl who drank one glass was a small child, while the girl who drank five was an adult. The poison was of such a low concentration that it only killed the child.

edited Sep 25 '18 at 12:48

Mr Pie

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answered Oct 19 '14 at 16:21

Yamikuronue

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score 4 · Answer 7 · edited Sep 25 '18 at 12:45

4

Because...

...Drink 1 was only poison, and Drinks 2+ also contained the antidote. Who is the better (repeat) customer?

edited Sep 25 '18 at 12:45

Mr Pie

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answered Oct 20 '14 at 19:40

Jacob

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score 2 · Answer 8 · edited Sep 25 '18 at 12:52

2

Because...

...the girl who drank five, had drank more than enough to the point of puking.

edited Sep 25 '18 at 12:52

Mr Pie

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answered Oct 17 '14 at 19:10

Rafe

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score 2 · Answer 9 · edited Sep 25 '18 at 12:50

One thing that occurs to me might be...

...eye drops in the tea.

Visine is one example, which contains tetrahydrozoline hydrochloride which derivates from naphazoline. She could be unlucky and have diabetes. Used in enough dosage and with some spoons of sugar, the smell and taste would go away (hopefully). The slowness to drink one could be her not feeling that well, but still keeping drinking.

score 1 · Answer 10 · edited Sep 25 '18 at 12:48

1

Because...

...the girl who drank 5 might have drank enough other fluids to dilute the effects of the poison.

edited Sep 25 '18 at 12:48

Mr Pie

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answered Oct 17 '14 at 20:56

Abraxas

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From the question: "All of the drinks were poisoned." – Mat Oct 18 '14 at 14:54
I don't recall seeing that from when I originally posted. I have removed that contingency :) – Abraxas Oct 20 '14 at 15:03

score -2 · Answer 11 · edited Sep 25 '18 at 12:47

-2

Because...

...the poison was in ICE. so for the girl who drank slowly there was enough time for the ice to get it dissolved in tea while the one which drank the 5 tea rapidly, for her there was not enough time for the poison in the ice to dissolve and hence she survived.

edited Sep 25 '18 at 12:47

Mr Pie

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answered Oct 20 '14 at 09:26

Sumit

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How do you think that this answer is different from the accepted answer – skv Oct 20 '14 at 11:49

Poisoned Iced Tea

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