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?
Think about the relationship between the numbers the doorman says and the numbers the members respond with...
Three. The doorman lets in those who answer with the number of letters in the word the doorman says.
Spencer wakes up in the middle of a forest. A few seconds later, a witch and three magic tunnels–a red, a yellow, and a blue–appear in front of the guy. The witch tells Spencer, "Two of these tunnels will make you disappear forever, and the other one will send you back to your house. Listen to these clues VERY carefully,". Clue 1: Choose the red tunnel, and you won't not disappear. Clue 2: It's a lie to say that the yellow tunnel isn't dissimilar. Clue 3: The blue tunnel doesn't have less in common with the red than with the yellow. Which tunnel should Spencer choose?
Think about the clues as statements about the tunnels, and consider what would be true if a tunnel led to Spencer's house versus if it made him disappear forever. Pay close attention to the use of double negatives and words like "dissimilar" to help you decipher the witch's tricky clues.
Spencer should choose the yellow tunnel. If he chooses the red tunnel, he will not NOT disappear; in other words, Spencer WILL disappear if he enters the red tunnel. We can therefore exclude the red tunnel. If he chooses the blue tunnel, he will also disappear; this is because the blue tunnel doesn't have less in common with red than yellow. In other words, the blue tunnel has more in common with red than yellow, so the blue tunnel will also make Spencer disappear. Choosing the yellow tunnel is the safest option because if it's a lie to say that yellow isn't dissimilar, the truth is that yellow IS different from the red and blue tunnels.
A bus driver goes the wrong way on a one-way street. He passes two stop signs without stopping, and he even ignores all of the traffic signs. The driver passes the cops, but they don't arrest him. Why?
Think about the driver's occupation and the circumstances under which he is operating the bus...
Nowhere in this riddle did I say that the bus driver was actually driving a bus; after all, he was walking!
Your grandma baked three cupcakes for you, and she's letting you eat one of them. She knows that you don't like strawberries, so she lines the cupcakes in a row and tells you, "The orange cupcake is not in the middle. And the apple cupcake is not next to the orange cupcake,". Which cupcake is strawberry-flavored?
Think about the process of elimination and the clues your grandma gave you. Focus on the apple cupcake's position...
The orange cupcake is not in the middle, and the apple cupcake can't be in the middle either because it would contradict your grandma's second statement. Therefore, the orange and apple cupcakes are on the ends, and the strawberry cupcake is in the middle.
In the home where Mabel resides, she has a reputation for walking very slowly, even though she is only 40 years old. Her slowness doesn't appear to be related to arthritis or to other medical ailments, but is more likely due to heredity, as her parents both had the same condition. Mabel does not use a walker or a cane to move about, and a wheelchair would be out of the question. Mabel is an extreme introvert who basically stays in her home 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Although it sounds a bit strange, you could say, even when Mabel leaves her home --- she stays at home. Although she frequently leaves the front door to her home open, she is easily frightened, causing her to immediately shut that front door when she feels threatened in any way. Mabel's caretakers frequently laugh at her and sometimes point their fingers at her as she struggles to move along. The caretakers allow Mabel only small rations of food and water each day, and they never give her a shower. Where are the abuse investigators? Where is the justice? Or are things not as bad as they appear to be for Mabel?
Think about a "home" that's not a traditional house or building, and consider what kind of "caretakers" might be responsible for Mabel's well-being.
Mabel is a Box Turtle who is the house pet of a family with several children. She is well cared for, but instinctively closes the front door of her shell and pulls her legs in if she senses danger, which includes inquisitive children.
A famous magician and his assistant were performing for a small crowd at a local mall. As part of their act, they both disappeared behind a small curtained area where they each picked up a wooden cross-shaped object. Suddenly, a small boy and girl appeared on stage in front of the audience. The magician waved his cross over the boy's head as he whispered, so only his assistant could hear him, "You are now hypnotized, and must do exactly as I tell you. I order you to strike the little girl on the top of her head." The little boy quickly complied, and the audience gasped. "I'm no hypnotist," whispered the assistant back to the magician, so only he could hear her, "but my intuition tells me the little girl is about to strike back." Sure enough, the girl kicked the little boy in the knee. The audience again gasped, as the magician simultaneously yelled, "Ouch!" At that point, the magician whispered to the assistant, "You win. Back to the script now." Was this some sick, twisted, abusive presentation, or was there some harmless explanation for these events? Just exactly what was going on here?
Think about the shapes they picked up...
As part of their magic show, the magician and his assistant went behind a curtain, and each picked up a wooden cross-shaped controller, so they could manipulate their puppets for their puppet show which was part of their act. However, the magician got a bit mischievous, and used his puppet to bonk the assistant’s puppet on the head. The assistant wasn’t amused however, and not only retaliated with her girl puppet, but also kicked the magician in his knee at the same time. That was enough to make the magician return to the actual script of the puppet show.
Hidden in the poem below, a female's name you'll seek; just read and listen to the rhyme, but please, don't take a week! MYSTERY POEM: A camel is accustomed to dry and arid places; but since it has no social skills, it spits in people's faces! What is the female name you hear?
Pay close attention to the words that rhyme in the poem, especially the last words of each sentence.
Two dogs are sitting on a porch - a fat dog and a thin dog. The little dog is the son of the fat dog, but the fat dog is not the father of the thin dog. Can you explain?
Think about the possibilities of canine family relationships beyond just "father"!
The marathon man timed himself and found out that if he wore a bright white outfit he ran 20 miles in 80 minutes, but when he wore a dark outfit, he ran 20 miles in one hour and twenty minutes. What does this mean for his next race?
Think about how the marathon man's outfit might be affecting his running time, and it's not because of the physical properties of the outfit itself...
Absolutely nothing, as 80 minutes equals an hour and twenty minutes.
One day an alchemist brought a king a bottle holding a strange liquid. The alchemist said, "This liquid I discovered will dissolve anything it touches." How did the king know that he was lying?
Think about the alchemist's claim... how did he bring the liquid to the king?
The king knew if what he said was true the bottle would get dissolved!
There are 2 cops 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?
Think about the situation from a different perspective... Are the cops really "looking" at the taxi driver?
The taxi driver wasn't driving at the time, he was walking.
I have three envelopes, into one of them I put a $20 note. I lay the envelopes out on a table in front of me and allow you to pick one envelope. You hold but do not open this envelope. I then take one of the envelopes from the table, demonstrate to you that it was empty, screw it up and throw it away. The question is would you rather stick with the envelope you have selected or exchange it for the one on the table. Why? What would be the expected value to you of the exchange?
Hint: Think about the probability of the $20 note being in each envelope initially, and how that probability changes when one envelope is eliminated. It's not 50/50!
The answer might seem a little counter intuitive at first but we'll see... The short answer is that it is in your advantage to exchange. But why? Well initially there was a 1/3 chance that you were holding the envelope with the note in it and a 2/3 chance that the note was on the table. This is still the case after one of the envelopes on the table has been removed, there is still a 1/3 chance that you have the note and a 2/3 chance of it being on the table. If this is confusing then it may help to think that the questioner knows which envelope the $20 note is in, though in practice it doesn't actually matter. The questioner would always be able to demonstrate that the note was not in one of the envelopes on the table regardless of where the note was, so the fact that he was able to do this changes nothing. Consider a different example.... Say there are a 1000 envelopes on the table, 1 with a note inside. You pick 1 envelope, the chance that this has the note in it is clearly 1/1000, where as the chance that it is still on the table is 999/1000. Odds are its on the table. Now the questioner could, assuming he can remember where the note is demonstrate to you that the note is not in 998 of the envelopes on the table. In this case nothing would have happened to change the fact that there is only a 1/1000 chance of you having the note. That is why you exchange. What is the value of the exchange? Simply before the exchange you have 1/3 of $20 and afterwards you will have 2/3 of $20, ie the advantage to you is about $6.66
There is a barrel with no lid and some wine in it. "This barrel of wine is more than half full," said Curly. "No it's not," says Mo. "It's less than half full." Without any measuring implements and without removing any wine from the barrel, how can they easily determine who is correct?
"Think about the shape of the barrel..."
Tilt the barrel until the wine barely touches the lip of the barrel. If the bottom of the barrel is visible then it is less than half full. If the barrel bottom is still completely covered by the wine, then it is more than half full.
In a pond, there are some flowers with some bees hovering over them. If both the following statements are true: 1. If each bee lands on a flower, one bee doesn't get a flower. 2. If two bees share each flower, there is one flower left out. How many flowers and bees are there?
Think about the concept of "odd" and "even" numbers in relation to the bees and flowers...
You are given a set of scales and 12 marbles. The scales are of the old balance variety. That is, a small dish hangs from each end of a rod that is balanced in the middle. The device enables you to conclude either that the contents of the dishes weigh the same or that the dish that falls lower has heavier contents than the other. The 12 marbles appear to be identical. In fact, 11 of them are identical, and one is of different weight. Your task is to identify the unusual marble and discard it. You are allowed to use the scales three times if you wish, but no more. Note that the unusual marble may be heavier or lighter than the others. How can you identify it and determine whether it is heavy or light?
Here's a hint:
For your first weighing, try to create a situation where you're comparing a group of marbles against another group of the same size. Think about how you can use this weighing to divide the 12 marbles into three groups of 4, and what information you can gain from this weighing...
Number the marbles from 1 to 12. For the first weighing put marbles 1,2,3 and 4 on one side and marbles 5,6,7 and 8 on the other. The marbles will either they balance or not. If they balance, then the different marble is in group 9,10,11,12. Thus, we would put 1 and 2 on one side and 9 and 10 on the other. If these balance then the different marble is either 11 or 12. Weigh marble 1 against 11. If they balance, the different marble is number 12. If they do not balance, then 11 is the different marble. If 1 and 2 vs 9 and 10 do not balance, then the different marble is either 9 or 10. Again, weigh 1 against 9. If they balance, the different marble is number 10, otherwise, it is number 9. That was the easy part. What if the first weighing 1,2,3,4 vs 5,6,7,8 does not balance? Then any one of these marbles could be a different marble. Now, in order to proceed, keep track of which side is heavy for each of the following weighings. Suppose that 5,6,7 and 8 is the heavy side. We now weigh 1,5 and 6 against 2,7 and 8. If they balance, then the different marble is either 3 or 4. Weigh 4 against 9, a known good marble. If they balance then the different marble is 3 or 4. Then, if 1,5 and 6 vs 2,7 and 8 do not balance, and 2,7,8 is the heavy side, then either 7 or 8 is a different, heavy marble, or 1 is a different, light marble. For the third weighing, weigh 7 against 8. Whichever side is heavy is the different marble. If they balance, then 1 is the different marble. Should the weighing of 1,5 and 6 vs 2,7 and 8 show 1,5,6 to be the heavy side, then either 5 or 6 is a different heavy marble or 2 is a light different marble. Weigh 5 against 6. The heavier one is the different marble. If they balance, then 2 is a different light marble.
A young, meek woman travels to a foreign land but accidentally kills an older woman when she arrives there. The young woman is very surprised to hear only cheers and praise from the large group of witnesses to the older woman's death ------ in fact, the entire group honors and thanks her for the killing. But the story doesn't end there, as the young woman later teams up with three males who agree to assist her in attempting to murder the sister of the dead woman. Having developed a taste for blood, the young woman, with the help of her gang of three males, manages to murder the second sister, much to the delight of an oddly dressed battalion of soldiers. This young woman is never tried for either of the killings and eventually, she returns home. What kind of warped justice is this? Two killings ------ one a definite murder, and not even an indictment? What in the world is going on here?
Think about a game, not a real-life scenario...
Your questions will all be answered by watching the classic movie, "The Wizard of Oz".
You don't have me when you're born, but you have me after. But a few years later, I leave again, and you don't have me anymore. But I don't stay away permanently, and I come back in different form. What am I?
Think about a part of your life that changes as you grow up...
I may be simple, I may be complex; I may have a name, but no gender or sex; I am often a question, or statement as a setup; I tend to have an answer, 'til you find it I won't let up. What am I?
Think about something that can be either straightforward or multi-layered, and is often used to prompt a response or spark curiosity...
I have a big mouth and I am also quite loud! I am NOT a gossip but I do get involved with everyone's dirty business. What am I?
Think about something that's often found in a busy, crowded area, and is used by many people, but also has a reputation for being "dirty" or "grimy"...
I am free yet priceless, you can't own me but you can use me, you can't keep me but you can spend me. Once you lost me you can never have me back. What am I?
Think about something that is intangible, yet extremely valuable, and is often associated with time...
With pointed fangs, I sit in wait, With piercing force, I dole out fate, Over bloodless victims proclaiming its might, Eternally joining in a single bite. What am I?
"Think about a common object that is often used to 'join' things together, and has a 'bite' that can be quite strong..."
I'm fatherless and motherless and born without sin. Roaring when entering the world, I never speak again.
What am I?
Think about something that makes a loud noise when it's "born" or appears, but then remains silent afterwards. It's not a living thing, but it's often associated with a dramatic entrance...
I am a food that explodes. But long before I explode, I am already dead. I can be small, I can be big, and I can be fragrant. My name is literal. What am I?
Think about a type of food that is often associated with a strong, pungent smell, and whose name is a literal description of its eventual fate...
The rich people want me, the poor people have me, if you eat me you die. What am I?
Think about something that's often associated with wealth and luxury, yet is also commonly found among those who are less fortunate. And be careful what you "consume" - it might just be deadly!
I like to roam but I'll always stay home,
I leave a silver track,
If you carried what I could carry with the way I moved,
You'd break your neck and back.
What am I?
Think about something that can move freely, but remains in one place, and leaves a shiny trail behind...
I can be anything I want to be, yet known to many as just one, but if things don't work out, I will be known by hardly anyone. What am I?
Think about something that can take on many roles or identities, but is often associated with a single, well-known persona... and consider how its reputation might change depending on its success or failure.
I'm first found in caves, now prolific online; I'm a depiction, a drawing, a symbol, or sign. I'll convey whichever mood you could wish; or for that matter, a fist, flask, or fish. What am I?
Think about ancient forms of communication that have evolved into modern digital expressions, and consider the versatility of a particular representation that can convey a wide range of emotions and objects.
You get many of me, but never enough. After the last one, your life soon will snuff. You may have one of me but one day a year, When the last one is gone, your life disappears.
What am I?
Think about the passage of time and how it relates to our lives...
I am hewn from Earth and Fire; But to the sky, I aspire. I am nothing but contented; Until my patient rage is vented. What am I?
Think about something that's created through geological processes, involving heat and pressure, and is often associated with calmness, yet can unleash tremendous power when provoked...
Sometimes I shine, sometimes I’m dull, sometimes I am big, and sometimes I am small. I can be pointy, I can be curved, and don't ask me questions because even though I'm sharp, I’m not smart enough to answer you. What am I?
Think about something you might find in a pencil case or a desk drawer...
I am a window, I am a lamp, I am clouded, I am shining, and I am colored; set in white, I fill with water and overflow. I say much, but I have no words. What am I?
Not only am I powerful enough to hurt like no other, I also have the power to heal like no other, but just like everything else, I can break. Life would be impossible without me, but it's already near impossible to find me. What am I?
Think about something that can have a profound impact on our well-being, both positively and negatively, and is essential for human survival, yet is increasingly scarce in today's world...
Take two numbers, such that the square of the first, plus the square of the second, shall equal 8; while the first, plus the product of the first and second, shall equal 6. What are the two numbers?
Think algebraically, and consider a system of equations involving x and y, where x and y are the two numbers. Pay close attention to the relationships between x, y, x^2, and y^2.
When you don't know what I am, I am something. When you know what I am, I am nothing.
What Am I?
Think about a situation where your understanding or knowledge of something changes its significance or existence...
The answer was what that question was! The answer would be a riddle! a riddle would be nothing if you knew it and if you dunt know the answer to the riddle, it's still something.
I want everything within sight. The impossible will not flee my plight. I will take it all by any means. To have is my heart's very need. A bottomless pit that nothing will fill. I have even led humans to kill. What am I?
I exist, but have no material form. I am made of numbers, but appear square. I build upon other of my own, but do not topple down. I sit still and do nothing, but I'm still useful. What am I?
Think about something you might find in a math textbook or a calculator, and consider the multiple meanings of the word "square"...
They are scenes of madness, grief, gaiety, seeming purpose, confusion and queerness often appearing in the dark hours of night. They stretch through time, seeming only but a few moments, yet when reality is not as kind. When appearing they are logical, but when reminiscing they are strange and odd. What is it?
Half of me will mend, the other half will imprison. When I am together, I will poison. Who am I?
Think about something that has two distinct parts, where one part is associated with healing or fixing, and the other part is associated with confinement or restriction...
Once upon a time there was a happy family in a dome-shaped house the family consisted of a mother, a father, a chef, a maid, a brother, a sister, and a little kitty named Bubbles. The mother and father went out one night and remembered to lock the doors. When they came home the cat had sadly passed. They questioned everyone. The boy said he was playing video games with the girl, the girl also said they were playing video games. The maid said she was dusting the corners in the house and the chef said he was sharpening the knife to cut the freshly baked apple pie. Who killed bubbles?
Pay close attention to the shape of the house...
The maid! There are no corners in a dome shaped house. Mew!
Serena made a cake for her husband's birthday. She wanted to save it for the evening, but at that time, Serena found that someone had eaten the cake! The woman concluded that it must have been one of her kids–either Justin, Theodore, or Mia–so she questions them. Justin says, "It was Theodore!". Theodore says, "It was Mia!". And Mia says, "Theodore is lying!". Assuming that only the culprit lies, and that the innocent kids tell the truth, who ate the cake?
Think about who's accusing whom, and what would happen if each child was telling the truth...
Theodore ate the cake. If Justin was the thief, then he and Theodore would be lying, and Mia would be telling the truth, which contradicts the conditions. And if Mia was the thief, then she and Justin would be lying, and Theodore would be telling the truth; this also goes against the rules. Therefore, Justin and Mia are telling the truth, and Theodore is lying, which means that Theodore is the thief.
The owner of a Lost-and-Found faced a big argument between a man and a blind woman. The two of them were arguing over car keys that they came across simultaneously. The owner decided to tell the two of them to stop arguing because he knew who the car keys belonged to. Who?
Think about the fact that the woman is blind... how would she know what she came across?
The car keys belong to the man. Remember that the woman is blind? Well, you can't drive safely if you're blind!