How Old is Lilly?

Two days ago Lilly was 7 years old. Next year she will turn 10. How can this be?

Her birthday is December 31st. Today is January 1st so she was 7 two days ago, and turned 7 last year. Now she’s 8 and will turn 9 this year. And next year she’ll turn 10.

For example, if today is 01 Jan 2015:

30 Dec 2014 = age 7 (two days ago)
01 Jan 2015 = age 8 (today, she turned 8 on 31 Dec 2014, which was last year)
31 Dec 2015 = age 9 (her birthday this year)
31 Dec 2016 = age 10 (her birthday next year)

Posted in Brain Teasers

Grow In Trees and Have No Teeth

I grow in trees, eat living things but have no teeth and give birth to something that looks nothing like me. What am I?

A bird. They are hatched and raised in trees (nests), don’t have teeth in the traditional meaning of teeth and they lay eggs, which look nothing like a bird.

A butterfly / caterpillar could also work.

Posted in Riddles
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Only Hides in the Unwound

What can be seen but never found that only hides in the unwound?

Relaxation. You can see when someone is relaxing, but no one can remain completely relaxed forever. You can relax more easily as you learn to unwind.

Posted in Riddles

Jump When I Walk

I jump when I walk, can’t go backward and sit when I stand. What am I?

A kangaroo.

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Eight Eights For A Thousand

How can you add 8 eights to equal 1,000?

888 + 88 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 1,000

Posted in Brain Teasers

Reading Hexadecimal

How many people can read hexadecimal if only you and dead people can read it?

57006

The trick is that the word “dead” represents a number in hexadecimal. That number in base 10 is 57005, and adding one more to include yourself gives you: 57005 + 1 = 57006.

Posted in Brain Teasers

It Scares Animals

A seven letter word that has T as the second letter, A as the fourth letter and S as the sixth letter. Girls love it, boys use it, parents hate it and it scares animals. Hint: It’s a German word.

A persistent puzzle solver will discover that no English word satisfies the letter requirements, to say nothing of the loving, using, hating or being scared requirements. I found three German words that work:

1) strafst
2) strapse
3) strauss

1 and 3 mean punish and bouquet respectively. I couldn’t find a definition for strapse. Punish is the likely answer. Girls love to punish boys, boys use punishment as well, a good parent hates to use punishment and animals are scared of it. I don’t know of any animals that are scared of a bouquet, though a bouquet fits as something girls love and boys use.

Posted in Riddles

Garlic or Spice

Before any changes I’m a garlic or spice. My first is altered and I’m a hand-warming device. My second is changed and I’m trees in full bloom. The next letter change makes a deathly old tomb. Change the fourth to make a fruit of the vine. Change the last for a chart plotted with lines. What was I? What did I become? What did I turn out to be?

clove
glove
grove
grave
grape
graph

Posted in Riddles

Never Was, Always To Be

I never was, am always to be. No one ever saw me, nor ever will. And yet I am the confidence of all, To live and breathe on this terrestrial ball. What am I?

Tomorrow or the future.

Posted in Riddles

I Go In Hard

I go in hard.
I come out soft.
You blow me hard.
What am I?

Note: This may not be appropriate for younger ages.

Gum. What? You had another guess?

Posted in Riddles
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