Brain Teasers
How can you add one item to the number one to make it disappear?
Add the letter 'g' to make it gone.
COPS CLOSE CELLAR CORPSE CASE + COLLAR -------- RECTOR
2730 29704 249918 278304 2104 + 279918 -------- 842678
I am your mother's brother's only brother-in-law. Who am I?
I am your Father.
All my pets are dogs, but one, and all my pets are cats, but one. How many pets do I have?
two
Find rhymes for each set of words so the first is a category and the rest are items in the category. For example, LOYALTY: spring, clean, rinse → ROYALTY: king, queen, prince 1. LOIN: mortar, climb, pickle 2. SQUISH: famine, search, doubt 3. GILDING: radium, Bose, hassle 4. THYME: surgery, girder, scrutiny
1. COIN: quarter, dime, nickel 2. FISH: salmon, perch, trout 3. BUILDING: stadium, mosque, castle 4. CRIME: perjury, murder, mutiny
There is a three digit number. The second digit is four times as big as the third digit, while the first digit is three less than the second digit. What is the number?
141
Two bikes are traveling toward each other at a constant speed of 10 mph. When the bikes are 20 miles apart, a bee flies from the front wheel of one of the bikes toward the other bike at a constant speed of 25 mph. As soon as it reaches the front wheel of the other bike, it immediately turns around and flies at 25 mph toward the first bike. It continues this pattern until the two bikes smash the bee between the two front tires. How far did the bee travel?
25 miles. The easiest way to think about this is to consider the time. The bikes will take 1 hour to touch, given that they start 20 miles apart and are each traveling toward each other at 10 mph. Therefore the bee is buzzing back and forth at 25 mph for 1 hour.
Hester goes out for an afternoon bicycle ride. She rides for one hour at five miles an hour, then three hours at four miles an hour and finally two hours at seven miles an hour. How many miles did she ride in total?
31 miles. 1 hour at 5 mph = 5 miles 3 hours at 4 mph = 12 miles 2 hours at 7 mph = 14 miles 5 + 12 + 14 = 31 miles
Using only addition, how do you add eight 8's and get the number 1000?
888 + 88 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 1000
How is it possible to make libraries bigger without building anything?
Add more stories to the library!
Two girls were born to the same mother, at the same time, on the same day, in the same month and in the same year and yet somehow they're not twins. Why not?
Because there was a third girl, which makes them triplets!
You are a prisoner in a room with 2 doors and 2 guards. One of the doors will guide you to freedom and behind the other is a hangman --you don't know which is which. One of the guards always tells the truth and the other always lies. You don't know which one is the truth-teller or the liar either. You have to choose and open one of these doors, but you can only ask a single question to one of the guards. What do you ask so you can pick the door to freedom?
If you asked the truth-guard, the truth-guard would tell you that the liar-guard would point to the door that leads to death. If you asked the liar-guard, the liar-guard would tell you that the truth-guard would point to the door that leads to death. Therefore, no matter who you ask, the guards tell you which door leads to death, and therefore you can pick the other door.
Sam, Kevin, Nick, Henry and Brian were all taking a walk around a big lake while they were on vacation during the rainy season. Brian was wearing a waterproof cap and a raincoat. Henry and Kevin both were comfortable with the umbrellas they were carrying. Henry gave his umbrella to Sam. However, no one gave poor Nick anything to protect himself from the rain. However Nick did not get wet. How is this possible?
It was not raining when Sam, Kevin, Nick, Henry and Brian were walking around the lake.
How can you make an egg roll?
Push the egg!
A rooster is laying eggs on the rooftop. Which way do those eggs roll?
Roosters don't lay eggs
I am an odd number. Take away one letter and I become even. What number am I?
Seven (take away the 's' and it becomes 'even').
You are running a marathon. As you are running, you finally overtake the person who is in second place. What place are you currently in?
You are in second place!
my top and bottom both have holes. I have holes in the middle and on the sides too. However, I can still hold water. Can you guess what i am?
a sponge
What item can allow you to see through walls?
a window
Some months have as many as 31 days while others have 30 days. How many months have 28 days?
all months have 28 days!
When is it possible to turn off the light in your room and get to your bed on the other side of the room before it gets dark?
during the day
What can you break by saying it's name?
silence
You are falling. Then you suddenly start falling up! Where are you?
the core
You have one match. You walk into a room and you have a wood burning stove, an oil burner and an oil lamp. what do you light first?
the match
A man lives in a four-sided house with a window on each side. If they all face south, where does he live?
the north pole
If two fish are in front of a fish, two fish are behind a fish, and a fish is between two fish, what is the lowest number of fish there can be?
three
An electric train is traveling north. the wind is blowing from the south-west. which way is the smoke from the train blowing?
There is no smoke because it is an electric train.
If five dollars are on the table and I take three dollars away how many dollars will I have?
Three dollars because, two dollars are left on the table.
What is special about 3,661 seconds past midnight on January 1, 2001?
At the 3,661st second, the time and date can be written 01:01:01 01/01/01
Farmer Dan has 10 sheep. all but eight died. How many sheep does Farmer Dan have left?
Farmer Dan has eight sheep left.
Jimmy has two U.S. coins. The two coins total fifty-five cents. One is not a nickel. What coins does Jimmy have?
Jimmy has half a dollar and a nickel. Remember, it says that only ONE wasn't a nickel.
What word is always spelled wrong?
Wrong
If one is five cents, and ten is ten cents, how much is one-hundred?
fifteen cents
How many animals did Moses take on the ark?
zero
Which 3 numbers have the same answer whether they're added or multiplied together?
1, 2 and 3.
Debbie starts driving her dragster from rest and constantly accelerates to 60 mph in 10 seconds. How far does she travel in those 10 seconds?
1/12 mile Ten seconds is 1/6 of a minute and 1 minute is 1/60 of an hour, so 10 seconds is 1/360 of an hour. If you graph her trip with the speed on the y-axis and the time on the x-axis, you get a triangle with height of 60 mph and width of 1/360 of an hour. To calculate the area of the triangle, you multiply 1/2 × 1/360 × 60 = 1/12.
What is the square root of 1234 squared?
1234
Barry is 67 years old. His daughter is 43. When was she 1/3 as old as him?
31 years ago. Here's one way to solve it. Let x = how many years ago We get this equation: 67 - x = 3 × (43 - x) Solving for x gives us 31.
There is a basket containing 5 apples, how do you divide the apples among 5 children so that each child has 1 apple while 1 apple remains in the basket?
4 children get 1 apple each while the fifth child gets the basket with the remaining apple still in it.
Sally is 54 years old and her mother is 80, how many years ago was Sally's mother three times her age?
41 years ago, when Sally was 13 and her mother was 39.
What does this represent? 8 = S O A S S
8 = Sides of a stop sign
The letters A through H can be assigned the following values to make all the equations true. Find the right combination of letter values. Values: 1, 4, 5, 7, 9, 14, 16, 21 C + F = G A + C = F B + G = D B + E = H D + F = H
A = 1 B = 7 C = 4 D = 16 E = 14 F = 5 G = 9 H = 21
You can catch it but you cannot throw it. What is it?
A cold
Frederick takes half of CONNIE, part of NESTA, part of NELLIE and part of AUNTIE to create something new. What does he call his new creation?
Constantine
What animals has the best education?
Fish. Fish travel in schools
Jack tells Jill, "This isn't the $5 bill you left on the the table. I found it between pages 15 and 16 of Harry Potter." Jill retorts, "You're lying and I can prove it." How did Jill know?
Harry Potter, like all other books, has odd-numbered pages on the right. Therefore, pages 15 and 16 are the front and back of a single page, and nothing could have been found between them.
Before Mount Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain in the world?
Mount Everest
The Barber of Seville shaves all men living in Seville. No man living in Seville is allowed to shave himself. The Barber of Seville lives in Seville. Who shaves the Barber of Seville?
Nobody. The Barber of Seville is a woman. Female barbers are rare, but they exist. And for more fun with barbers, check out the Barber paradox.
Penguins can move as fast as five miles per hour. How long will it take a penguin to fly 80 miles?
Penguins can not fly!
A fire broke out in a fifteen story building. A woman gets scared and panics, Jumping out of the window to escape the fire. she survives, how?
She is on the first story!
A barrel is filled with water and it weighs 120 pounds. A man puts something into the barrel and now it weighs less then 120 pounds. What did the man put in the barrel?
The man put a hole in the barrel, letting the water drain out so the barrel weighed less.
Two men are playing checkers. They each play seven complete games. Both men win the same number of checkers games. No ties occur. How is this possible?
The men are not playing checkers against each other.
A father and a son were driving and they ended up in a car accident. They were taken to two separate hospitals. The son was ready for an operation when the surgeon suddenly said, "I cannot operate on him. He is my son!" Who was the surgeon?
The surgeon was his Mother.
A ship anchored in a port has a ladder which hangs over the side. The length of the ladder is 200cm, the distance between each rung is 20cm and the bottom rung touches the water. The tide rises at a rate of 10cm an hour. When will the water reach the fifth rung?
The tide raises both the water and the boat so the water will never reach the fifth rung.
What is two days after the day after the day before yesterday?
Tomorrow. The day before yesterday is two days ago. The day after the day before yesterday (2 days ago) is yesterday. And two days after yesterday is tomorrow
What do you get when you multiply all of the numbers on a phone's number pad?
Zero
When I'm young I'm tall When I'm old I'm short When I'm alive I glow Because of your breath I die What am I?
a candle
I travel around the world but never leave the corner. What am I?
a stamp
On a winter day, a pure white dog crosses the street. It has been storming for hours and no one has plowed the road. People can easily see the dog. How?
its raining, not snowing!
A plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean, where were the survivors buried?
nowhere
You throw a ball, it reverses direction in midair and comes back to you. In which direction did you throw it?
straight up
What is unable to run even though it has three feet
a yard stick
When you take my skin off I do not cry, however you may cry. What am I?
An onion.
If this - set of cards - had a phone number, I would want it to be 743-3537. Why?
Because the numbers on a phone would spell the word RIDDLES
Which row is the odd one out? A. K N Q T W Z B. B F J N R V C. A F K P V Z D. 3 6 9 12 15 18 E. 7 11 15 19 23 27 F. 13 18 23 28 33 38
C is the odd row out. In A two letters are skipped between each letter. In B three letters are skipped between each letter. In C four letters are skipped between each letter except V, which should be U. The numbers in rows D, E and F follow the same pattern.
The Pharoah asked, "Who is the greatest god?" "I am not," said Horus. "Anubis is," said Isis. "Isis is lying," said Anubis. Only one god was telling the truth and the other two were lying. Who really is the greatest god?
Horus is the greatest "I am not," said Horus = LIE "Anubis is," said Isis = LIE "Isis is lying," said Anubis = TRUE
What word looks the same backwards and upside down?
SWIMS
