Two Sisters Give Birth to the Other

They are two sisters. One gives birth to the other, who in turn gives birth to the first. What are the two sisters?

Night and day. When night is over, the day breaks, and when the day ends, night is born anew.

Posted in Riddles

Cats and Kittens But No Mittens

Six men are carrying boxes holding six cats and each cat has 6 kittens. How many legs are there in total?

1020. There are 6 men with 2 legs each, for a total of 12 legs.
There are 36 cats with 4 legs each for a total of 144 legs.
There are 216 kittens with 4 legs each for a total of 864 legs
12 + 144 + 864 = 1020.

Posted in Brain Teasers

The Potato Paradox

Fred brings home 100 pounds of potatoes, which (being purely mathematical potatoes) consist of 99 percent water. He then leaves them outside overnight so that they consist of 98 percent water. What is their new weight?

50 pounds.

100 lb of potatoes with 99% water weight means there’s 99 lb of water and 1 lb of solids, a 1:99 ratio.

If the water decreases to 98%, then the solids account for 2% of the weight. The 2:98 ratio reduces to 1:49. Since the solids still weigh 1 lb, the water must weigh 49 lb for a total of 50 lbs for the answer.

Read more at the Potato Paradox wikipedia page.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Up a Drainpipe Down but Not Down a Drainpipe Up

What can go up a drainpipe down but not down a drainpipe up?

An umbrella.

Posted in Riddles
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Every Dawn Begins With Me

Every dawn begins with me
At dusk I’ll be the first you see
And daybreak couldn’t come without
What midday centers all about
Daises grow from me, I’m told
And when I come, I end all cold
But in the sun I won’t be found
Yet still, each day I’ll be around

The letter “d”.

Posted in Riddles

What One One One Represents

What do the following numerals represent?

11111121113122223222

The number of syllables in the numbers from one to twenty.

Posted in Brain Teasers

How Many Legs?

You walk into a room and see a bed. On the bed there are two dogs, four cats, a giraffe, five cows and a duck. There are also three chickens flying above the bed. How many legs are on the floor?

Since all of the animals are on the bed and no other furniture is mentioned in the room, there are six legs on the floor. Four legs from the bed and your own two legs as you stand in the room, amazed that someone managed to get so many animals onto a bed. And the ceiling must be vaulted to fit a giraffe. Also, who’s on cleanup duty?

Posted in Brain Teasers

Soft and Transparent

I am soft and transparent.
I am so small that I can sit on your finger.
I have no light but I help you to see the beautiful world.

What am I?

A contact lens.

Posted in Riddles
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None There’ll Be

There is a word of letters three,
Add one letter to it and none there’ll be.

What is the word?

One. Add an ‘n’ to get none.

Posted in Riddles

Jim and Wanda’s Apples

Jim and Wanda both have some apples. If Jim gives Wanda an apple, they will both have the same number of apples. However, if Wanda gives Jim an apple, Jim will have twice as many as Wanda. How many apples do Jim and Wanda each have?

Jim has 7 apples and Wanda has 5 apples.

Posted in Brain Teasers