Short Black Dress

In the day I stand tall in a white petticoat. By evening I’m in my short black dress. What am I?

The wick of a candle.

Posted in Riddles

Longer With a Letter Removed

What 7-letter word becomes longer when you remove a letter?

Lounger (remove the ‘u’ to make the word longer).

Posted in Riddles

Five Letters But One Left When Two Removed

What word of five letters has only one left when two letters are removed?

Any 5-letter word with the word ‘one’ somewhere in it. Examples include shone, stone, alone, money, loner, phone or ornery. Note it doesn’t say there is only one letter left, but only ‘one’ left. Tricky tricky.

Posted in Riddles

The Mystery Six-Digit Number

Find a six-digit number containing no zeros and no repeated digits that satisfies the following conditions:

1. The first and fourth digits sum to the last digit, as do the third and fifth digits.
2. The first and second digits when read as a two-digit number equal one quarter the fourth and fifth digits.
3. The last digit is four times the third digit.

192768.

If you call the number ABCDEF, then you get the following equations.

1. A + D = F and C + E = F
2. AB = DE / 4
3. F = 4 × C

The only numbers that work for C and E are 2 and 6 or 4 and 8, and in order to make F a single-digit number, we can deduce that C = 2, E = 6 and F = 8.

So far, our number is AB2D68.

We know A + D = 8 so A and D are both odd numbers. The only odd number less than 8 that we can use for D to make one-quarter of two-digit number D6 also be a two-digit number is 7, so D = 7 and A is 1. This makes the two-digit number AB 19.

Posted in Brain Teasers

What Comes Next I S I T

What comes next in this series?

I S I T P N A A D L I I Y N ___

The letter A.

There are three separate series

1. Starting with the first letter and taking every third letter you get ITALY.
2. Starting with the second letter and taking every third letter you get SPAIN.
3. Starting with the third letter and taking every third letter you get INDIA.

Posted in Brain Teasers

The Correct Name

Donald and Regan are married with four children, named Michael, Farley, Solomon and Larry. They just had a baby girl and are picking the name. It’s down to Olivia, Tiffany and Jasmine. Donald’s brother, a piano teacher, tells them only one of the names would be correct. Which name is it?

Tiffany. The rest of the family’s names start with solfège syllables: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La. The last syllable is Ti, for Tiffany.

Posted in Brain Teasers

A Black Dog Sleeping

A black dog is sleeping in the middle of a black road that has no streetlights and there is no moon. A car coming down the road with its lights off steers around the dog. How did the driver know the dog was there?

It was daytime.

Posted in Riddles

If You Break Me, I Don’t Stop Working

If you break me
I do not stop working,
If you touch me
I may be snared,
If you lose me
Nothing will matter.

Your heart.

Posted in Riddles

One Tooth To Bite

One tooth to bite,
He’s the forest’s foe.
One tooth to fight,
As all Norse know.

What is it?

An axe.

Posted in Riddles

What House Weighs The Least?

What type of house weighs the least?

A lighthouse.

Posted in Riddles