Riddles, Puzzlers, Brain-teasers

Riddles, Puzzlers, & Brain-teasers v1.1.2 Page 1 of 24 Riddles, Puzzlers, & Brain-teasers For the answers move your mouse over the box after each riddle (only in Internet Explorer 5+), or select the box in Mozilla (blank space in Netscape) after each riddle with your mouse, or PRESS Ctrl+A to reveal all answers. There is a dead man in the center of a field. He carried with him an unopened package. As he neared the center of the field, he knew he was going to die. How did he know he was going to die? The man's parachute did not open! What is so special about this sequence below? 8 5 4 9 1 7 6 10 3 2 0 The numbers are in alphabetical order. What do these three things have in common? Dogs, Diamonds, Double Plays. They are all someone’s best friend. Dogs:Man, Diamonds:Girls, Double Plays:Baseball Pitchers What is the only English word for a number that when spelled, it's letters are in alphabetical order? Forty Follow these instructions : Take one full cup of coffee and drink 1/6 of it. Replace what you drank with milk. Now, drink 1/3 of the coffee/milk mixture. Again, replace what you drank with more milk. Now, drink 1/2 of what is in the cup. Once again, replace what you drank with milk. Now drink the entire cup of mixed coffee/milk. The questions are: Have you had more milk or more coffee? How much of each have you had? You have had the same amount of milk as you have had coffee. The cup originally held a cup of coffee (one-sixth plus one -third plus one - http://personal.vsnl.com/viveknayak/riddles.htm 8/5/2005 Riddles, Puzzlers, & Brain-teasers v1.1.2 half), and you have poured in the same amount of milk Page 2 of 24 What are three possible responses that correctly fill the blank in the following sentence? "This sentence has _____ letters." Three possible responses are: "22", "thirty-one", and "thirty-three". Explanation: "22" if the numerals are inserted -22 letters.Now, if you spell out any number, the answer will be the 22 letters and however many letters are in the number spelled. Thirty-one and thirty-three are examples If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter "A"? One thousand Name 10 Body Parts-no profane words-with 3 letters each 1 ear 2 lip 3 gum 4 rib 5 hip 6 arm 7 leg 8 toe 9 jaw 10 eye In almost every language, this word begins with the "m" sound. The word for Mother What word or expression is represented below? GIVE, GIVE, GIVE, GIVE, GET, GET, GET, GET Forgive and forget (4 -give and 4 -get) These words all have something in common : committed, successful, address, millennium. Which of the following words would most likely belong to the same group above? ... And why? Silly, ancestor, millstone, needless. Needless would belong because each word has two pairs of double http://personal.vsnl.com/viveknayak/riddles.htm 8/5/2005 Riddles, Puzzlers, & Brain-teasers v1.1.2 letters Page 3 of 24 A murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose between three rooms. The first is full of raging fires, the second is full of assassins with loaded guns, and the third is full of lions that haven't eaten in 3 years. Which room is safest for him? The room with the lions - if they have not eaten in 3 years, they would be dead and thus not be a danger to anyone! What English word has three consecutive double letters? Bookkeeper Rearrange the letters of NOR DO WE to make one word. ONE WORD :) What are the 2 longest words in the English language that can be typed using only your left hand on the keyboard. 1: Stewardesses 2: Reverberated What letter is next in this sequence? O T T F F S S E _ N for the number 9. The letters represent the first letter of each number...1,2,3...etc. Each morning I appear To join you, All day I stick on, No matter how fast you move, Yet I nearly perish in the midday sun. What am I? A Shadow A Father, son and grandson are walking in the park. A man approaches them and http://personal.vsnl.com/viveknayak/riddles.htm 8/5/2005 Riddles, Puzzlers, & Brain-teasers v1.1.2 Page 4 of 24 asks for their age. The Father replies, "My son is as many weeks as my grandson is in days, and my grandson is as many months old as I am in years. We are all 100 years together." How old were each? 60-35-5 Translate the following into a meaningful phrase : If a large solid -hoofed mammal becomes available to you without compensation, refrain from casting your faculty for seeing into the oral cavity of such a creature. Don't look a gift-horse in the mouth. Foward I am heavy, but backward I am not. What am I? Ton You own a tractor with a broken steering wheel that cannot turn right. You need to drive around a square patch of cabbages in the middle of your field. How can you drive in a clockwise direction around the patch without ever turning right? Drive along the first side in a clockwise direction. When you get to the first corner, do a 270 degree turn to the left. Continue driving along the next side and follow the same pattern at each corner, until you get back to the origin. In 1990, a person is 15 years old. In 1995 that same person is 10 years old. How is this possible? If the years are "B.C."... not A.D. If you have two hourglasses - one four -minute timer and one seven -minute timer, how can you measure nine minutes? Turn over both hourglasses at once. When the four-minute hourglass runs out, turn it over. When the seven-minute hourglass runs out, turn it over. When the four-minute timer runs out this time (eight minutes have elapsed), the seven-minute hourglass has been running for one http://personal.vsnl.com/viveknayak/riddles.htm 8/5/2005 Riddles, Puzzlers, & Brain-teasers v1.1.2 minute. Now turn over the seven minute timer back over. When the timer runs out, nine minutes have elapsed. Page 5 of 24 An egg salesman was asked how many eggs he had sold that day. He replied, "My first customer said, 'I'll buy half your eggs and half an egg more'. My second and third customers said the same thing. When I had filled all three orders, I sold out of eggs without having to break a single egg the whole day." How many eggs were sold in all? Seven A boy goes and buys a fishing pole that is 6' 3" long. As he goes to get on the bus, the bus driver tells him that he can't take anything on the bus longer than 6'. The boy goes back to town, buys one more thing, and the bus driver allows him on the bus. What did he buy, and what did he do with it? The boy bought a 6' long box and he put the fishing pole in it diagonally. In olden days, you are a clever thief charged with treason against the king and sentenced to death. But the king decides to be a little lenient and lets you choose your own way to die. What would you choose? Remember, you're clever! You would choose to die of "old age" Six glasses are in a row. The first three are full of juice; the second three are empty. By moving only one glass, can you arrange empty and full glasses alternate? Pour the juice from the 2nd glass into the 5th glass What is black when you buy it, red when you use it and gray when you throw it away? Charcoal If a grasshopper halves the distance to a wall on every jump, how many jumps will he need to reach the wall if he starts from ten feet away? http://personal.vsnl.com/viveknayak/riddles.htm 8/5/2005 Riddles, Puzzlers, & Brain-teasers v1.1.2 Page 6 of 24 He will never reach the wall. If each jump only goes half the distance, the grasshopper will get closer and closer to the wall but never actually get there. How can you spell brandy in three letters? B, r and y This is an unusual paragraph. I'm curious to how quickly you can find out what is so unusual about it? It looks so plain you would think nothing was wrong with it! In fact, nothing is wrong with it, though unusual. Study it, and think about it, but you still may not find anything odd. But, if you work at it a bit, you might find out! Try to do so without any coaching! The letter "e", which is the most common letter in English language, does not appear even once in the long paragraph 30 men with ladies two gathered for a festive do dressed quite formal, black and white yet movement turned to nasty fight. What's going on? A CHESS match!!! Mr Bojangles likes to smoke cigars. He cannot afford cigars so he puts five (5) stubs (which he finds) together to make one full cigar. One day Mr Bojangles was lucky to get 25 stubs. How many cigars could he smoke (maximum number)? He was able to smoke six because he found 25 stubs to smoke 5 cigars, then with the five stubs that he just smoked, he was able to make another. The person of average intelligence would say 5, but they would be wrong though... There are several English words that contain all the 5 vowels. Can you name some of them? Education, Euphoria, Precarious, Pneumonia, Ambidextrous, http://personal.vsnl.com/viveknayak/riddles.htm 8/5/2005 Riddles, Puzzlers, & Brain-teasers v1.1.2 Adventitious and Unequivocal Page 7 of 24 Two vertical 750 ft posts have a 1000 ft rope stretched between their top most points. The rope sags to within 250 ft from the ground. How far apart are the posts? 0 ft Assume that you have just heard of a scandal and that you are the first one to know. You pass it on to 4 persons in a matter of 30 minutes. Each of these 4 persons in turn passes it to 4 other persons in the next 30 minutes and so on. Assume that no one hears it more than once and that the world population is 5.6 billion. How long will it take for everybody in the world to get to know the scandal? Scandals travel FAST ... 8 hours What is the smallest number which when divided by 10 leaves a remainder of 9, when divided by 9 leaves a remainder of 8, when divided by 8 leaves a remainder of 7, when divided by 7 leaves a remainder of 6, and so on until when divided by 2 leaves a remainder of 1? The least common multiple of 2,3,4,5,6,7,8, and 9 is given by 2520. Hence the number is 2519 Which word in the English language becomes shorter when it is lengthened? Short I know a word of letters three. Add two, and fewer there will be. Few What three letter word best completes the below words? ...EW B...ET FL... http://personal.vsnl.com/viveknayak/riddles.htm 8/5/2005 Riddles, Puzzlers, & Brain-teasers v1.1.2 C...ET M... Page 8 of 24 ask - askEW,BaskET,FLask,CaskET,Mask I start with the letter e, I end with the letter e. I contain only one letter, Yet I am not the letter e! What am I? An envelope with one letter in it ready to mail Tell me now, if you can, Who is that highly favored man, Who though he has married many a wife, May still be single all his life? A priest, minister, clergyman, judge Why is a baseball game like a cake? Its success depends on the batter. What letter is nine inches long? Y - it is one fourth of YARD. What word is always spelled wrong? The word would be "wrong". You are presented with three envelopes. Each envelope has two statements written on it, the statements on one envelope are both true, the statements on another are both false, and the remaining envelope has one statement that is true and one that is false. Envelope 1: 1. The formula is not in here 2. The formula is in envelope 2 http://personal.vsnl.com/viveknayak/riddles.htm 8/5/2005 Riddles, Puzzlers, & Brain-teasers v1.1.2 Envelope 2: 1. The formula is not in envelope 1 2. The formula is in envelope 3 Envelope 3. 1. The formula is not here 2. The formula is in envelope 1. Which envelope contains the formula? Page 9 of 24 Envelope #3 A 10 foot rope ladder hangs over the side of a boat with the bottom rung at the surface of the water. There is one foot between rungs and the tide goes up at the rate of 6 inches per hour. How long until three rungs are covered? The rungs will never be covered because the boat rises with the tide A large truck is crossing a bridge 1 mile long. The bridge can only hold 14000 lbs, which is the exact weight of the truck. The truck makes it half way across the bridge and stops. A bird lands on the truck. Does the bridge collapse? Give a reason. No it does not collapse. Because it has driven a half mile - you would subtract the gas used from the total weight of the truck A soldier has been captured by the enemy. He has been so brave that they offer to let him choose how he wants to be killed. They tell him, "if you tell a lie, you will be shot, and if you tell the truth, you will be hanged." He can make only one statement. He makes the statement and goes free. What did he say? He said I will be shot. If he were shot it would be the truth and if he were to be hanged it would be a lie so they set him free There are 2 policemen parked along a one -way street looking for traffic violations. They spot a taxi driver going in the wrong direction, yet they do nothing. Why? The taxi driver was walking There are 20 people surrounding the perimeter of a square room. Each person has full sight of the entire room and everyone in it without turning his head or body, or moving in any way (other than the eyes). Where can you place an apple so that http://personal.vsnl.com/viveknayak/riddles.htm 8/5/2005 Riddles, Puzzlers, & Brain-teasers v1.1.2 all but one person can see it? Page 10 of 24 Place the apple on one person's head What is significant about 3661 seconds past midnight on January 1st, 2001? The time and date will be 01:01:01 on 01/01/01 What's the least number of chairs you would you need around a table to seat four fathers, two grandfathers, and four sons? Four. The four fathers could be grandfathers and are definitely sons already Find the missing words for this sentence. The catch is that the words are anagrams of each other. At the school recently, only the _____ students could solve the _____ equation. Reserved and Reversed will work; also Brainy and Binary; there may be others What rock is also a food? Salt is the only rock that is consumed A man left an inheritance of $10,000 to three relatives and their wives. Together the wives received $3960. Janet received $100 more than Carol, and Mary received $100 more than Janet. John Smith received the same amount as his wife, Harold Saunders got half as much again as his wife, and Tom Clancy received twice as much as his wife. What was the first name of each man's wife? John Smith is married to Carol Harold Saunder is married to Janet Tom Clancy is married to Mary The wives received $3960 Mary received $1420 http://personal.vsnl.com/viveknayak/riddles.htm 8/5/2005 Riddles, Puzzlers, & Brain-teasers v1.1.2 Janet received $1320 Carol received $1220 Page 11 of 24 Who moves without a leg and carries his house on his back? A Snail Different lights do make me strange, thus into different sizes I will change. What am I? I am the pupil of an eye A man gave his young son the following challenge: He offered his son $1000 if the son could accomplish the following task : The father gave his son ten envelopes and a thousand dollars, all in one dollar bills. He told his son, "Place the money in the envelopes in such a manner that no matter what number of dollars I ask for, you can give me one or more of the envelopes, containing the exact amount I asked for without having to open any of the envelopes. If you can do this, you will keep the $1000. When the father asked for a sum of money, the son was able to give him envelopes containing the exact amount of money asked for. How did the son distribute the money among the ten envelopes? The contents of the ten envelopes (in dollar bills) should be as follows: $1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 489. Now, no matter what sum of money the father asks for, the son will be able to give him the exact amount using the appropriate envelopes. What common chemical compound is represented by the following: HIJKLMNO Water - H 2 O What is so special about this sequence below? 8 5 4 9 1 7 6 10 3 2 0 The numbers are in alphabetical order http://personal.vsnl.com/viveknayak/riddles.htm 8/5/2005 Riddles, Puzzlers, & Brain-teasers v1.1.2 What is the unique characteristic of the following words: coughing, thirsty, defiant Page 12 of 24 Each word has 3 consecutive letters of the alphabet- couGHIng, thiRSTy, DEFiant Some months have 30 days, some have 31; how many months have 28 days? 12 - they all have at least 28 days I have two fruit in my basket. When I rearrange the name of one, I get the other. What are the fruits? Melon and lemon What happened in 1961 that will not happen again for over 4000 years? The year's date reads the same when turned upside down. That will not happen again until 6009 I have as many brothers as sisters. My brothers have twice as many sisters as brothers. How many of us are there? 7 children, 4 girls, 3 boys, the person speaking is a girl. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. It can cause excessive sweating and vomiting. It is a major component in acid rain. It can cause severe burns in its gaseous state. Accidental inhalation can kill you. It contributes to erosion. It decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes. It has been found in tumors of terminal cancer patients. A dangerous compound. What is it? Water Lost in the woods, you finally happen upon a rickety old bridge across a deep http://personal.vsnl.com/viveknayak/riddles.htm 8/5/2005 Riddles, Puzzlers, & Brain-teasers v1.1.2 Page 13 of 24 ravine. The ravine is too steep to go down and climb back up. You need to know if the bridge is safe. As luck would have it, you recognize that on the other side of the bridge is that dreadful town, "Truth and Liarsville". Everyone who lives there either ALWAYS tells the truth or ALWAYS lies. You are tired and you've been lost in Truth and Liarsville before. You see three men on the other side of the bridge. You shout out: "Are you truth-tellers?" The first man says something, but you can't hear what he said. The second man shouts, "He said he was a truth -teller." The third man shouts, "No, he didn't. He said he was a liar." Which man do you ask to find out whether or not the bridge is safe? The first man would always say he is a truth-teller. If he is a truthteller, of course he would say so. If he is a liar, he would still say he is a truth-teller. This means that the second man told the truth. Ask the second man whether or not the bridge is safe.(Of course, you could always ask the third man, as long as you realize he is lying.) The higher I climb, the hotter I gauge, I can not escape my crystal cage. What am I? Mercury in a Thermometer Four men and four women are in love with other members of the group. Each person is in love with one other, and is himself loved by one person. No two people are in love with each other. David is in love with the woman who is in love with Daniel. Jerry loves the woman who loves the man who is in love with Ellen. Lorraine is loved by the man who is loved by the woman who is loved by Bruce. Elizabeth hates Bruce and is hated by the man whom Julie loves. Who is in love with Jerry? Elizabeth is in love with Jerry. (This was the breakdown for each person, which "proved" the above answer. David loves Lorraine. Lorraine loves Daniel. Daniel loves Elizabeth. Elizabeth loves Jerry. Jerry loves Julie. Julie loves Bruce. Bruce loves Ellen. Ellen loves David.) Nine Coins You have nine coins. One of the nine is counterfeit. The counterfeit coin can only be distinguished by weight---it is heavier than the rest. Using a balance scale only twice, find the counterfeit coin. Create three groups of three coins. Groups 1, 2 and 3. Balance Group 1 http://personal.vsnl.com/viveknayak/riddles.htm 8/5/2005 Riddles, Puzzlers, & Brain-teasers v1.1.2 against Group 2. If the two groups balance, the bad coin is in Group 3. If one group of coins weighs more than the other, the bad coin is in the heavier group. Once you have determined which group contains the counterfeit coin, take any two coins from the bad group and weigh them against each other. If they weigh the same, the bad coin is the third coin. Otherwise the bad coin is the heavier coin of the two. Page 14 of 24 Hair Color Of the three women lunching together, Melanie is older than the woman with black hair, but younger than the bookkeeper. The computer operator is the doctor's younger sister. Rebecca is younger than the brunette, and Debbie is older than the blonde What color is each woman's hair and what is her profession? Melanie is the blonde doctor. Rebecca is the black-haired computer operator and is the youngest. Debbie is the brunette bookkeeper and the oldest. Three Lights In a cellar there are three light switches in the OFF position. Each switch controls 1 of 3 light bulbs on floor above. You may move any of the switches but you may only go upstairs to inspect the bulbs one time. How can you determine the switch for each bulb with only one inspection? Turn switch 1 on for five or ten minutes, and then turn it off. Turn switch 2 on go check out the bulbs. The hot bulb is controlled by switch 1. The lit bulb is controlled by switch 2. The unlit and cold bulb is controlled by switch 3 A man wanted to enter an exclusive club but did not know the password that was required. He waited by the door and listened. A club member knocked on the door and the doorman said, "twelve." The member replied, "six " and was let in. A second member came to the door and the doorman said, "six." The member replied, "three" and was let in. The man thought he had heard enough and walked up to the door. The doorman said ,"ten" and the man replied, "five." But he was not let in. What should have he said? Three. The doorman lets in those who answer with the number of http://personal.vsnl.com/viveknayak/riddles.htm 8/5/2005 Riddles, Puzzlers, & Brain-teasers v1.1.2 letters in the word the doorman says. Page 15 of 24 Hildegarde was taken to the dungeon and presented with two doors, each protected by a single guard. One door led to freedom and the other door to a hungry lion. Hildegarde was allowed to ask one question of one guard of her choice. The question was limited to a yes/no answer. Hildegarde knew that this was a tricky pair of guards: one would always lie and the other would always tell the truth. The guards knew behind which door lay freedom and which door led to the lions, and knew who was the liar and who was the truth sayer. But how was Hildegarde to know the difference? Hildegarde devised a way and went happily on her way. What was the question? Will the other guard say YOU have the door to freedom? And if the guard answered yes Hildegarde knew she was at the door to the lion and if the guard replied no, she knew she was standing in front of freedom. After two years Tom was stepping down from being the secretary of a group of animal rights activists. To show him their appreciation a bunch of them took him out one sunny afternoon. Tom shot an eagle and everyone congratulated him. Where had they gone? To play golf, an eagle is when you get 2 under par on a single hole. What do the poor have that the rich want, and is bigger than space but longer than time? Nothing! The poor have nothing, the rich want nothing, Nothing is bigger than space, and nothing is longer than time. What two words have the most letters in it? Post Office What can fill a room but takes up no space. Light http://personal.vsnl.com/viveknayak/riddles.htm 8/5/2005 Riddles, Puzzlers, & Brain-teasers v1.1.2 The more you take the more you leave behind. Page 16 of 24 Footsteps What's the beginning of eternity, the end of time and space, the beginning of the end, and the end of every place? The letter 'e' What kind of room has no windows? Mushroom I have holes on the top and bottom. I have holes on my left and on my right. And I have holes in the middle, yet I still hold water. What am I? A sponge A cowboy rides into town on Friday. only stays 3 days and leaves on Friday. How is this possible? Friday is the name of the horse. Three eyes I have, all in a row; when the red one opens, all freeze. What am I? A traffic light A boy leaves home in the morning to go to school. At the moment he leaves the house he looks at the clock in the mirror. The clock has no number indication and for this reason the boy makes a mistake in interpreting the time (mirror-image). Just assuming the clock must be out of order, the boy cycles to school, where he arrives after twenty minutes. At that moment the clock at school shows a time that is two and a half hours later than the time that the boy saw on the clock at home. At what time did he reach school? http://personal.vsnl.com/viveknayak/riddles.htm 8/5/2005 Riddles, Puzzlers, & Brain-teasers v1.1.2 Page 17 of 24 The difference between the real time and the time of the mirror image is two hours and ten minutes (two and a half hours, minus the twenty minutes of cycling). Therefore the original time on the clock at home that morning, could only have been five minutes past seven: The boy reaches school at five minutes past seven plus twenty minutes of cycling, is twenty-five minutes past seven. I have rivers without water, Forests without trees, Mountains without rocks Towns without houses. What am I? A map I begin eternity, And end space, At the end of time, And in every place, Last in life, Second to death, Never alone, Found in breath, Contained by earth, Water or flame, My grandeur so awesome, Wind dare not tame, Not in your mind, Am in your dreams, Vacant to Kings, Present to Queens. The letter "E" I turn my head and you may go where you want. I turn it again, you will stay till you rot. I have no face, but I live or die by my crooked teeth Who am I? A key http://personal.vsnl.com/viveknayak/riddles.htm 8/5/2005 Riddles, Puzzlers, & Brain-teasers v1.1.2 Page 18 of 24 You are working in a dairy and have two pots to hold milk. One holds 5 gallons, and one holds 3 gallons. Two customers have ordered 4 gallons each. They will bring their own containers which hold more than 4 gallons. Can you measure out 4 gallons using your 5, and 3 gallon pots? Fill the 5 gallon jug with milk. Fill the 3 gallon jug from the 5. You are now left with 2 gallons of milk in the 5. Empty the 3 gallon jug. Now,pour the 2 gallons you have in the five gallon jug into the 3 gallon jug there is now one gallon left to be filled in the 3 gallon jug. Now, refill the 5 gallon jug. Pour the 5 gallon jug until the 3 gallon jug is now topped off (will take 1 gallon). You now have 4 gallons of milk left in the 5 gallon jug for your customer A doctor gives you three pills and tells you to take one every half an hour. How long will the pills last? One hour. If you take the first pill at 1:00, the second at 1:30, and the third at 2:00, the pills have run out and only an hour has passed. A butcher in the market is 5' -10" tall. What does he weigh? Meat What was the President's name in 1960? George W. Bush (or anyone else for that matter), as far as we know, he hasn't changed his name There is a man that lives on the top floor of an 11 storey building. Everyday he gets the elevator down to the ground floor to leave the building to go to work. Upon returning from work though, he always travels on the elevator only up to the 7th floor and walks the stairs the rest of the way. unless it is raining. Why does he do this (it is not because he needs the exercise)? He is a midget and cannot reach his button. When it is raining, he has his umbrella to push the button. A man and his son are in a car accident. The father dies on the scene, but the http://personal.vsnl.com/viveknayak/riddles.htm 8/5/2005 Riddles, Puzzlers, & Brain-teasers v1.1.2 Page 19 of 24 child is rushed to the hospital. When he arrives the surgeon says "I can't operate on this boy, he is my son!" How can this be? The surgeon is the boy's mother A man is wearing black. Black shoes, socks, trousers, jumper, and gloves. He is walking down a black street with all the street lamps off. A black car is coming towards him with its light off too but some how manages to stop in time. How did the driver see the man? It was daytime! Guess this riddle now you must: Stone is fire, and fire is dust, Black is red, and red is white, Come and view the wondrous sight. Coal Four people are sitting around a campfire after a long day of recreation, when one man comments: "Do you realize that around this campfire, the four of us include a mother, father, brother, sister, son, daughter, niece, nephew, aunt, uncle and a couple cousins"?. If everyone is related by blood (with no unusual marriages) how is this possible? The campfire circle includes a woman and her brother. The woman's daughter and the man's son are also present. As a whole, I am both safe and secure. Behead me, and I become a place of work. Behead me again, and I am the partner of ready. Restore me, and I become the domain of beasts. What am I? Stable What two words, formed from different arrangements of the same six letters, can be used to complete the sentence below? http://personal.vsnl.com/viveknayak/riddles.htm 8/5/2005 Riddles, Puzzlers, & Brain-teasers v1.1.2 "Judging from its climate records, Murmansk may be one of the ---- ---- in the world." Page 20 of 24 iciest, cities A group of campers have been on vacation so long, that they've forgotten the day of the week. The following conversation ensues. Darryl: What's the day? I don't think it is Thursday, Friday or Saturday. Tracy: Well that doesn't narrow it down much. Yesterday was Sunday. Melissa: Yesterday wasn't Sunday, tomorrow is Sunday. Ben: The day after tomorrow is Saturday. Adrienne: The day before yesterday was Thursday. Susie: Tomorrow is Saturday. David: I know that the day after tomorrow is not Friday. If only one person's statement is true, what day of the week is it? It is Wednesday. If it was any other day of the week, more than one statement would be true. To solve the riddle, evaluate each person's statement and write down what day it could be according to the statement. David's statement indicates it could be any day of the week except for Wednesday. When you list the days that it could be according to everyone's statement, it turns out Wednesday is the day mentioned only one time. Darryl: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday Tracy: Monday Melissa: Saturday Ben: Thursday Adrienne: Saturday Susie: Friday David: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday Five hundred begins it, five hundred ends it, Five in the middle is seen; The first of all letters, the first of all figures, Take up their stations between. Join all together, and then you will bring Before you the name of an eminent king. DAVID (Roman numerals) I have joy in bringing two together, But darn my existence! http://personal.vsnl.com/viveknayak/riddles.htm 8/5/2005 Riddles, Puzzlers, & Brain-teasers v1.1.2 My life hangs by a thread, And is filled with ups and downs Page 21 of 24 Sewing Machine Of the words listed below, one is "odd man out." This has nothing to do with the number of vowels, consonants or syllables. Can you find the misfit? LUMP REAM SAGA PALM Saga, the only word that cannot be anagrammed into another word, such as PLUM, MARE and LAMP We are very little creatures; all of us have different features. One of us in glass is set; one of us you'll find in jet. Another you may see in tin, and a fourth is boxed within. If the fifth you should pursue, it can never fly from you. What are we? A,E,I,O,U If you break me, I'll not stop working. If you can touch me, your work is done. I may be made of iron, but you can pull me with a string. What am I? The Human Heart I am just a small letter, you see, As irrational as I can be, Though it sounds quite insane, When I'm squared, you'll obtain, The negative of little me. i, i is the mathematical symbol for the square root of -1 An old parchment describes the location of buried treasure: "On the island there are only two trees, A and B, and the remains of a gallows. http://personal.vsnl.com/viveknayak/riddles.htm 8/5/2005 Riddles, Puzzlers, & Brain-teasers v1.1.2 Page 22 of 24 Start at the gallows and count the steps required to walk in a straight line to tree A. At the tree turn 90 degrees to the left and then walk forward the same number of steps. At the point where you stop drive a spike into the ground. Now return to the gallows and walk in a straight line, counting your steps, to tree B. When you reach the tree, turn 90 degrees to the right and take the same number of steps forward, placing another spike at the point where you stop. Dig at the point exactly halfway between the spikes and you will find the treasure." However, our hero when he gets to the island finds the gallows missing. Is there any way he can still get to the treasure? A simple experiment with a ruler and paper shows that any position for the gallows leads to the same point What has six faces But does not wear makeup. It also has twenty-one eyes, But cannot see? DICE Inside a gumball machine with red, yellow, and blue gum balls. All but four are red and all but four are blue. How many gun balls are in the machine all together? 6 (2 red, 2 yellow, 2 blue) Two hunters leave their camp and are headed for bear hunting. They walk 10 km south, then 10 km east. They kill a bear. Then they walk 10 km north and get back at their camp, exactly where they left. Question is... what was the color of the bear? The directions are true, only if it happened in the North Pole. So the color of the bear is Polar Bear's color - white. The same five letters can be anagrammed into four different words that fill in the blanks in the sentence to make (somewhat) good sense. What are the missing words if the sentence is … ‘T h e f a r m e r w i t h h u n d r e d s o f _ _ _ _ _ o f l a n d , d e e p l y _ _ _ _ _ a b o u t t h e a m o u n t of rainfall, and _ _ _ _ _ around with artificial watering systems when the ground is dry enough to _ _ _ _ _ him about the possibility of crop failure. ’ Acres, Cares, Races, Scare http://personal.vsnl.com/viveknayak/riddles.htm 8/5/2005 Riddles, Puzzlers, & Brain-teasers v1.1.2 Page 23 of 24 There is a common English word that is nine letters long. Each time you remove a letter from it, it still remains an English word - from nine letters right down to a single letter. What is the original word, and what are the words that it becomes after removing one letter at a time? Startling starting staring string sting sing sin in I He starts and ends 2 common English words. One painful in love, One painful in everyday matter. Do you know what 2 letters must he be? Heartache and Headache. Why is tennis such a romantic sport? Because every game starts with love. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have six daughters and each daughter has one brother. How many people are there in the family? 9 family members total - 6 daughters, 1 brother, Mr. Smith and Mrs. Smith I have keys that open no locks, I have space, but there is no room, You can enter, but you can't go in. and I am... A computer keyboard Real fast now, do this math: What is 111,111,111 multiplied by 111,111,111 ? 111,111,111 multiplied by 111,111,111 equals 12,345,678,987,654,321 What is the only word in the English language that when capitalized is changed from a noun or a verb to a nationality? polish, when capitalized is Polish, a nationality http://personal.vsnl.com/viveknayak/riddles.htm 8/5/2005 Riddles, Puzzlers, & Brain-teasers v1.1.2 Page 24 of 24 You can print the riddles with the answers using Internet Explorer 5+ or Mozilla 1.0 | Page best viewed using Internet Explorer @ 800x600 | Think It Over | Antique Indian Coins | Email | Home Page Page created January 3, 2001.... Page updated 05:28 Saturday, December 14, 2002 http://personal.vsnl.com/viveknayak/riddles.htm 8/5/2005