A man went into a party and drank some of the fruit punch. He then left early. Everyone at the party who drunk the fruit punch subsequently died of poisoning. Why did the man not die?
The poison from the punch came from the ice cubes. When the man drank the punch, the ice was still fully frozen. Gradually, as the ice cubes melted the poison was released into the punch.
Why this works
This riddle plays with the timing of when the poison is released. The man didn't die because he drank the fruit punch before the ice cubes had melted enough to release the poison into the drink. While everyone else consumed the punch after the ice had melted, he was safe because he drank it while the ice was still solid, preventing any poisoning. The clever twist hinges on the sequence of events and the state of the ice!