By Odin’s Beard

Some came from the Sun and Moon,
Others from Thor and his hammer are hewn,

By Odin’s beard, and Frigg and Tiw,
The last is Saturn, from which we grew.

What are we?

They are the origins of the names of each day of the week.

Sunday – Sun day.
Monday – Moon day.
Tuesday – Tiw’s or Týr’s day, the god of single combat, son of Odin.
Wednesday – Woden’s or Odin’s day, god of poetry and of the dead.
Thursday – Thor’s day, god of thunder, son of Odin.
Friday – Frigg’s day, goddess of the clouds, wife of Odin.
Saturday – Saturn’s day, god of fertility and agriculture.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Remove My Middle And Still I Remain

Begin with a word, five letters to my name,
Remove the first and last but I am the same
Take out my middle and still I remain.

What word am I?

Empty. (mpt, emty or mt depending on your interpretation)

Posted in Riddles

In A Dark Room with a Rope and a Pencil

Imagine you are in a dark room with a locked door. All you have with you is a rope and a pencil. You can hear the rain outside, but there
are no windows. How do you get out?

Stop imagining.

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A Seemingly Simple Math Problem

What is the answer to this problem?

1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1
1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1
1 + 1 × 0 + 1 = ?

30.

There are two tricks to this one. The first is 1 × 0. But it’s mostly there as a distraction. Yes, 1 × 0 is 0, but that doesn’t affect anything else in the equation. The second, far trickier element is that the lines ending with 1 don’t have a + sign next to them. That means they should be combined with the following line.

Let’s put the equation all on one line, shall we?

1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 11 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 11 + 1 × 0 + 1 = ?

And the answer to that equation is 30.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Pleased With Their Death

Beulah died in the Appalachians while Craig died at sea. Everyone was much happier with Craig’s death. Why?

Beulah and Craig were hurricanes.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Nine Matchbox Sticks To Ten

I have nine matchbox sticks and would like to make ten. How do I do it?

Arrange the nine matchbox sticks like so to make the shape of the number ten:

        _
    /| | |
     | |_|
Posted in Brain Teasers

Cannot Be Seen, Captured or Held

All about, but cannot be seen,
Can be captured, cannot be held,
No throat, but can be heard.

The wind.

Posted in Riddles

I Never Even Touch the Ground

For some, I am used to get around.
I never even touch the ground.
Sometimes I fall and sometimes I float,
If I’m in the air, then take note.

What am I?

A boat. Boats are used to get around, they aren’t on the ground, but in the water. They rise and fall with the waves, and if they’re in the air, it may be due to rough seas and you should be careful.

Another possible answer is a blimp.

Posted in Riddles
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Three Kinds of Apples

Three kinds of apples are mixed randomly in a box. How many apples must you take out to be sure of having at least two apples of one kind?

Four. If the apples are A, B, and C, it’s possible that you could take out one A, one B and one C with three apples, but the fourth apple must be one of the three kinds.

Posted in Brain Teasers

A Hidden Message

44 33 555 555 666 9 666 777 555 3

What is the message in this code?

Pressing these digits in sequence will produce HELLO WORLD on a cell phone (for an SMS text message).

Posted in Brain Teasers