Phil asks his friend Stan when his birthday is. Stan replies that he was 32 the day before yesterday and next year he’ll be 35. When is his birthday and how is this possible?
Today is Jan 1st and his birthday is on December 31st. He was 32, then turned 33 on Dec 31st, and this year on Dec 31st he’ll turn 34, so next year he’ll be 35.
A man gets off the bus looking for an address and approaches a couple walking in the same direction for directions. The woman says they’re going that way and take him. Along the way the man asks if they’re related. The woman grins and says, “We’re not strangers. This man’s mother is my mother’s mother-in-law.” The man is confused but doesn’t say anything. When he gets back home he tells his wife about the conversation and she can’t figure it out either. They decide to ask their lawyer and he eventually works it out with pen and paper. How are the couple related?
A penguin. If all four walls face north the house must be at the southernmost point of the earth. Really, any native antarctic bird would work.
This brain teaser is quite similar to the guy whose house walls face south and sees a bear, then you’re asked the color of the bear. The bear would be white (a polar bear) as they’re the only bears indigenous to the north pole. A lawyer would claim it’s all circumstantial evidence and the bear could be an imported brown bear. The lawyer makes a valid point.
9pm (or 21:00). There are 12 hours between 1pm and 1am, so 6 hours after 1am is halfway. 6 hours + 1pm equals 7pm. In order for 7pm to be 2 hours behind the current time, it must be 9pm.
A dad offered to pay his son $5 for every correct answer on his math test. His son said he would pay his Dad $8 for every incorrect answer. There were 26 questions on the test and no money was exchanged.
The son got 16 questions correct and missed 10. This means he owed his Dad 10 * $8 = $80, but his Dad owed him 16 * $5 = $80, so it was a wash. Two math equations to solve it are x + y = 26 and 5x = 8y.
The 17 items in your shopping cart weigh 8 pounds. But when your daughter puts in a ball, poster board and yo-yo the shopping cart weighs less. How is that possible?