Six One Seven and Nine to Make Twenty Four

How can the numbers 6, 1, 7 and 9 be arranged to make 24?

91 – 67 = 24
(9 – 6) × (1 + 7) = 3 × 8 = 24

Posted in Brain Teasers

Lending Money to Darlene

Franklin lent Darlene as much money as she already had, then she spent $10. The next day, Franklin lent her as much money as she now had and again, she spent $10. On the third day Franklin once again lent her as much money as she now had and she spent $10, leaving her broke. How much money did Darlene start with?

$8.75
You may have been tempted to guess $30 because $10 is spent three times, but that would mean she would have had $60 ($30 lent plus the $30 she already had), and $50 after spending $10. The rest of the numbers end up at higher than zero, so we know it has to be less than $30. Even starting at $10 leaves Darlene with $10 on the third day. Starting with $8.75 works out as follows.

Day 1: $8.75 (lent) + $8.75 (already had) – $10 (spent) = $7.50 (remaining)
Day 2: $7.50 + $7.50 – $10 = $5
Day 3: $5 + $5 – $10 = $0

Posted in Brain Teasers

I Go Around In Circles

I go around in circles,
But always straight ahead
Never complain,
No matter where I am led.

A wheel.

Posted in Riddles

I Climb Higher When Hot

I climb higher when hot,
But beware my rage,
I’ll kill with a breath,
If I can escape my cage.

Mercury. It rises when encased in a thermometer when it’s hot and mercury poisoning results from inhaling mercury.

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Has Wings But Cannot Fly

What has wings but can not fly.
Is enclosed, but can outside also lie.
Can open itself up or close itself away.
Is the place of kings and queens,
And doggerel of every means.
What is it upon which I stand,
Which can lead us to different lands?

A stage.

Posted in Riddles

A House With No Doors

I am in a house with no doors. There are people inside but give no reply. Who am I?

A fish. A fish bowl or aquarium is the fish’s house and the people inside are the decorative divers that offer no reply (one might ask how the fish knows, given that they aren’t a talkative bunch themselves).

Posted in Riddles

Serve Many But They Forget About Me

I serve many, confirmed by how healthy those I serve are. Yet after they’re successful they forget about me. It’s true, sometimes I hit them and they’re often bloody, but they don’t mind.

What am I?

A doctor (more specifically, an obstetrician) or a midwife. They deliver thousands of healthy babies but they are soon forgotten. Sometimes they smack the baby on the butt to clear the airway, and newborn babies can have blood on them from the placenta being pulled from the walls of the uterus or from an episiotomy.

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PINE Rebus

 P
INE

Pine cone (pine in the shape of a cone).

Posted in Riddles
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What Work is Never Finished?

What work can one never finish?

An autobiography. Unless you’re writing it in your death bed I suppose, but even then, how will you be able to record the time of death?

Posted in Riddles

Choose Your Own Death

A prisoner was brought before the King to be executed. The King was in a peppy mood and asked the prisoner how he would like to die. The prisoner told him and the King laughed heartily. The prisoner was released and sent on his way, alive.

What did the prisoner say?

He asked to die of old age.

Posted in Brain Teasers