Aunts and Large Families

Dina comes from a large family and has over 20 cousins. How is it possible that all of her cousins have an aunt who is not her aunt?

The aunt of all of her cousins is Dina’s own mother.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Starts and Ends with E

What starts with “e”, ends with “e” and has one letter in it?

Envelope. Eye is a potential alternative. When spoken out loud it sounds like a single letter (I).

Posted in Riddles

Ex-Spouse’s Former Daughter-In-Law

What do you call your ex-spouse’s former daughter-in-law’s first husband’s daughter?

You can call them whatever you want, but they have no familial relationship to you.

Posted in Brain Teasers

A Game of Cards

In a game of cards, GEORGE partnered with MARY, while TED had to choose a partner. He could have chosen ANN, EDNA, JOAN or ANGELA. Whom did he choose and why?

ANN. If you give each letter a number according to its position in the alphabet:
TED = 20 + 5 + 4 = 29
ANN = 1 + 14 + 14 = 29

(George and Mary each add to 57)

Posted in Brain Teasers

Represent The Alphabet

What word or expression does this represent?

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTVWXYZ

Missing you (U).

Posted in Brain Teasers

Not Flesh, Feather, Scales Nor Bone

We are not flesh, feather, scales nor bone;
Yet we still have fingers and thumbs of our own.

What are we?

Gloves. They’re not made of flesh, feather, scales or bone, but have fingers and thumbs.

Posted in Riddles

Remote Cooking

You are a cook in a remote area with no clocks or other way of keeping time other than a four-minute and a seven-minute hourglass. On the stove is a pot of boiling water. Jill asks you to cook a nine-minute egg in exactly 9 minutes, and you know she is a perfectionist and can tell if you under cook or overcook the egg by even a few seconds. How can you cook the egg for exactly 9 minutes?

1. Flip both hourglasses over and drop the egg into the water.
2. When the 4-minute timer runs out, flip it over (4 minutes elapsed, 3 remaining on the 7-minute timer).
3. When the 7-minute timer runs out, flip it over. (7 minutes elapsed, 1 remaining in the 4-minute timer)
4. When the 4-minute timer runs out, flip the 7-minute timer over. (8 minutes elapsed. 6 minutes remained in the 7-minute timer, but flipping it over leaves one minute’s worth of sand on top. When it runs out exactly nine minutes will have elapsed.)

Posted in Brain Teasers

Where do the Numbers Belong?

Three numbers, 16, 14 and 38, need to be assigned to one of the rows of numbers below. Where do the numbers belong?

A06893
B1527211019
C71471117

Hint: This is not a mathematical problem. The numerical values are irrelevant.

The rows indicate the shape of the number. Row A is rounded, B is mixed and C is linear. Thus, 16 belongs in row B, 14 in row C and 38 in row A.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Teams Assembling Bikes

If 6 bike makers can assemble 9 bikes in a day and a half, how many of them would it take to assemble 270 bikes in 30 days?

9. Each bike maker can assemble one bike a day.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Buckets of Coins

Which would be worth more, a bucket full of nickels or a half bucket of dimes?

The half bucket of dimes. It might be tempting to say they’d be worth the same, since a nickel is worth half as much as a dime. This would be accurate if they were the same size, but the dime is smaller. Thus more dimes would fit in the same space, resulting in more value for you, you lucky dog.

Posted in Brain Teasers