Riddles and Brain Teasers

Surf, School, Room

What word can be added before or after these words to make a new word or phrase?

Surf, School, Room

Board. Surf board, school board (or maybe boarding school), board room.

Posted in Riddles

Penny, Cork and A Bottle

Given a corked bottle with only a penny inside, how can you remove the penny without pulling out the cork, breaking the bottle and leaving the cork intact?

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Push the cork into the bottle, then shake the penny out.

Posted in Brain Teasers

I Move Quickly

Physicists have built devices to make me move quickly. My last eight letters can be commonly found in newspapers, magazines, and journals.

What am I?

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Particles. Physicists use particle accelerators and newspapers, magazines and journals have articles.

Posted in Riddles

Tagged with What am I?

Progressive Countdown

If you’re given a number, subtract 1, then 2 from the result, then 3 from that result and so on until you reach 0 or a negative number.

For example, if you’re given 15:

15 – 1 = 14
14 – 2 = 12
12 – 3 = 9
9 – 4 = 5
5 – 5 = 0

Which of these numbers will finish exactly at zero?

102 103 104 105 106

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105105 – 1 = 104
104 – 2 = 102
102 – 3 = 99
99 – 4 = 95
95 – 5 = 90
90 – 6 = 84
84 – 7 = 77
77 – 8 = 69
69 – 9 = 60
60 – 10 = 50
50 – 11 = 39
39 – 12 = 27
27 – 13 = 14
14 – 14 = 0

105

105 – 1 = 104
104 – 2 = 102
102 – 3 = 99
99 – 4 = 95
95 – 5 = 90
90 – 6 = 84
84 – 7 = 77
77 – 8 = 69
69 – 9 = 60
60 – 10 = 50
50 – 11 = 39
39 – 12 = 27
27 – 13 = 14
14 – 14 = 0

Posted in Brain Teasers

Shoe Door Sticks Straight

Shoe, door, sticks, straight.

What word comes next?

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Hen. The words are the last in each phrase from the children’s nursery rhyme.One, two, buckle my shoe;
Three, four, Shut the door;
Five, six, Pick up sticks;
Seven, eight, Lay them straight:
Nine, ten, A big, fat hen;

Hen. The words are the last in each phrase from the children’s nursery rhyme.

One, two, buckle my shoe;
Three, four, Shut the door;
Five, six, Pick up sticks;
Seven, eight, Lay them straight:
Nine, ten, A big, fat hen;

Posted in Brain Teasers

The Old Man’s Book

Milton shuffled slowly along the shelves browsing books. He finally walked up to the counter and handed the girl a book. She looked at the inside cover and told him it would be $3.75. Milton handed her the money and walked away without the book. The girl watched him leave empty-handed but didn’t try to stop him. Why?

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Milton was a forgetful and naughty fellow. He was summoning his courage to approach the counter to return his overdue book. The kindly lass at the counter saw the book was 15 days overdue and had accrued the egregious late fee of $3.75 (25 cents a day). Lesson learned, Milton never returned a book late again.

Posted in Brain Teasers

I Stretch The Length of A Football Field

I stretch as far as a football field,
Yet I fit in the palm of your hand.
I will make you bleed if you don’t use me often.
You put me in your mouth but don’t eat me,
Then you throw me away.

What am I?

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Floss. It typically comes in 100 yard packs, which fit easily in your hand. If you don’t floss regularly, your gums will bleed. You use floss in your mouth then throw it away when you’re done.

Posted in Riddles

Tagged with What am I?

Presidents and Parents

How could the 22nd and the 24th U.S. Presidents have the same parents, but not be brothers?

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The 22nd and 24th U.S. presidents were both the same person – Grover Cleveland.

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An Answer With No Questions

You answer me, although I never ask you questions. What am I?

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A phone.

Posted in Riddles

Peggy’s Shy Parrot

Peggy wanted to buy a talking parrot and went down to the pet shop. She bought a parrot after being assured it would repeat any word or phrase it heard. Peggy bought the parrot and took it home, but it still hadn’t said a word after a few weeks. She returned to the shop to complain, but discovered the original assurances were still accurate. Why didn’t the parrot talk?

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It was deaf so it couldn’t hear a phrase to repeat it.

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