Smoke Over Water

Ingredients: 1 glass, a matchbook, six quarters, and an
ashtray with water.

Objective: Get a free drink (or 3).

Situation: Bet your friends one drink that you can get the
water from the ashtray into the glass using only the
ingredients mentioned and without moving or tilting the
ashtray.

Solution: Make sure ashtray is filled with at most a
quarter inch of water. Stack the quarters in the center of
the ashtray so the top two quarters are above the water.
Place four unlit matches on top of the quarters. Light the
matches and immediately cover the flame and quarters with
the glass. The water will be drawn into the glass.

You win!

Hint: hang the matches over the edge of the coins just
enough, or bend them 90 degrees (sticking up) so that they
will burn longer. A longer burn means all of the water will
get sucked up into the glass.