Favorite Use Is Attached To A String

A three-letter word I’m sure you know,
I can be on a boat or a sleigh in the snow,
I’m pals with the rain and honor a king,
But my favorite use is attached to a string.

What am I?

A bow. It has three letters, the bow of a boat is the front, bows are found on the presents on Santa’s sleigh, rainbows come with the rain, one bows before a king and a bow and arrow requires a string.

Posted in Riddles

Word Party

You watch a group of words going to a party. A word either enters through one of two doors or is turned away by the guards. ‘HIM’ goes through door number one and ‘BUG’ goes through door number two. ‘HER’ is turned away. ‘MINT’ and ‘WEAVE’ go in through door one, ‘DOOR’ and ‘CORD’ take door two and ‘THIS’ and ‘That’ aren’t allowed in.

What determines whether a word can enter and which door they must use?

Door number one is for words composed entirely of capital letters written using only straight lines, such as A, E, F, H, and I. The entire set of letters allowed through door number one are AEFHIKLMNTVWXYZ. Door number two, as might be expected, is for words with capital letters that have a curve, including BCDGJOPQRSU. Any words composed of both straight and curved letters (or lowercase letters) are not allowed in. The word ‘THAT’ would have been sent through door number one, if the letters had been capitalized.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Wily Winifred and the Case of the Odd Numbers

Mrs. Shine was having a rough day and wanted a break. So she asked her class to calculate the sum of the first 50 odd numbers. In a few moments, Winifred was at her desk with the correct answer of 2,500. Stunned, Mrs. Shine figured she must have gotten lucky, and sent precocious Winifred back to her seat with the task of finding the sum of the first 75 odd numbers. Again, Winifred returned in seconds with the correct answer (5,625).

How did Winifred find the answer so quickly?

Winifred, being the precocious child she is, realized there was a pattern when computing smaller sums of odd numbers.

First 3: 1 + 3 + 5 = 9
First 4: 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 = 16
First 5: 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 = 25

Do you see the pattern like our dear friend Winnie?

For the first n odd numbers, the sum is equal to n2. Thus the first 50 is 502, or 2,500, and the first 75 is 752, or 5,625.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Different Sizes, Colors and Shapes

What comes in different sizes, colors and shapes but creates a larger whole?

A jigsaw puzzle piece.

Posted in Riddles

Green House And Lots of Babies

There was a green house. Inside the green house there was a white house. Inside the white house there was a red house. Inside the red house there were lots of babies. What is it?

A watermelon.

Posted in Riddles

Stocking the Shelves

Alfred and Bill are clerks at the local grocery store. Alfred can stock a shelf in 20 minutes, but Bill is new and takes 30 minutes. How long would it take for them to stock a shelf together?

Working together they can stock a shelf at a rate of 1/20 + 1/30 (or 5/60) per minute. They’ll finish in 12 minutes

Posted in Brain Teasers

Planting Trees on Arbor Day

On Arbor Day the fourth grade class began planting trees. They finished planting five trees before the fifth grade class arrived. But they accidentally planted them on the fifth grade side of the street.

The fourth-graders crossed the street to start over, and the fifth-graders planted the remaining trees. They finished first and felt bad for the fourth-graders, so they crossed the street and planted five trees. They planted another five trees at which point all of the trees had been planted.

By how many trees were the fifth-graders ahead of the fourth-graders?

Ten. The fifth-graders planted five more trees than they were assigned, and the fourth-graders planted five fewer than their assignment.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Reaching Stiffly For The Sky

Reaching stiffly for the sky,
I bare my fingers when it’s cold
In warmth I wear an emerald glove
And in between I dress in gold

A deciduous tree.

Posted in Riddles

It Has No Eye

If a man made it, it has an eye.
If a tree made it, it has no eyes.

What is it?

A needle.

By Sef Daystrom

Posted in Riddles

Growing Tall But Never Fat

This on this.
That on that.
Growing tall,
but never fat.

What am I?

A stack.

By Sef Daystrom

Posted in Riddles
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