Frederick’s Epitaph

Frederick died after a long and productive life of 87 years, but this epitaph was written on his headstone:

Frederick lived a good long life,
He loved his children and his wife,

He was honest, kind and deserved nothing but praise,
Even if he only had twenty-one birthdays.

How is this possible?

He was born on February 29th in a leap year. Consequently, in his 87 years, he only witnessed twenty-one of his actual birthdays. The other years there was no February 29th.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Colored As A Maiden Tweaked

Colored as a maiden tweaked,
Time was naught when I began;
Through the garden I was sneaked,
I alone am the fall of man.

What am I?

An apple.

Posted in Riddles

The Blanks of UND

Fill in the blanks:

U N D _ _ _ _ _ U N D

UNDERGROUND

Posted in Brain Teasers

The Bikes and The Bee

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 smush 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.

Posted in Brain Teasers

A Perfect Counterfeit

A man can make perfect counterfeit bills. They look exactly like real ones, they’re made of exactly the same materials, made the same way, everything. So perfect, one could pretty much call them real bills. One day he successfully makes a perfect copy of another bill. However, he gets caught when he tries to use the copy. How is this possible?

As a counterfeiter, he had lots of counterfeit bills around and he accidentally used one of them as his original. So he made a perfect copy of a counterfeit bill.

Posted in Brain Teasers

What Everleigh Likes

Everleigh likes knights but not batteries, writing but not typing and to listen but not to sing. Does she like an unknown or a famous author?

Unknown. Everleigh likes words with silent letters.

Posted in Brain Teasers

777, 888 and 999

You are given the numbers 777, 888 and 999. Using the numbers once and adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing, how can you make 999?

(7 x 7 x 7) + (9 x 9 x 8) + ((9 – 8) x 8) = 999
(77 + 7) + 888 + (9 + 9 + 9) = 999

If other operators were allowed, another solution would be 999 modulo (888 x 777). I’m sure there are more solutions.

Posted in Brain Teasers

If I Can I Can

If I can, I can,
If I can’t, I freeze.

What am I?

Someone preserving food. The two most common ways of preserving food are canning and freezing. So when you preserve food, if you can can it, you do, otherwise you freeze it.

Posted in Riddles

Five Pigeons on a Fence

Five pigeons are sitting on a fence. The farmer comes out and shoots one. How many are left?

None, the rest flew away at the sound of the gunshot. Or one (the dead pigeon).

Posted in Brain Teasers

Who May Enter?

A green glass door admits only certain objects. Apples and balls are allowed, but pears and bats aren’t. What determines whether an item can enter?

All words with a repeated letter are allowed. Green glass door, apple and ball.

Posted in Brain Teasers