One Six Seven Nine to Twenty Four

Given the numbers 1, 6, 7 and 9, find an equation that equals 24. You may only use each digit once.

91 – 67 = 24 or
(9 – 6) x (7 + 1) = 3 x 8 = 24 or
6 x √9 + 7 – 1 = 18 + 6 = 24

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Slice My Head

You use a knife to slice my head and weep beside me when I’m dead.

An onion.

Posted in Riddles

The Hand of the Princess

A wise king devised a contest to see who would receive the Princess’ hand in marriage. The Princess was put in a 50 x 50 foot carpeted room. Each of her four suitors were put in one corner of the room with a small box to stand on. The first one to touch the Princess’ hand would be the winner and become the new King.

The rules were the contestants could not walk over the carpet, cross the plane of the carpet, or hang from anything; nor could they use anything but their body and wits (i.e. no magic, telepathy, nor any items such as ladders, block and tackles etc). One suitor figured out a way and married the Princess and became the new King. What did he do?

Asked the princess to touch his hand.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Soldiers Line Up Spaced With Pride

Soldiers line up, spaced with pride,
Two long rows lined side by side,
One sole unit can decide,
If the rows will unite or divide.

What am I?

A zipper.

Posted in Riddles
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A King and Device of Measure

I am a king but also a common device of measure. What am I?

A ruler. A king is a ruler of people, a ruler is a device to measure distance.

Posted in Riddles

I Am Here, I Am There

I am here, I am there
I am burned into the mind of none
I walk on fire and live on ice
My words are meaningless for I talk not
I hate everyone yet fear no one
I have lived for centuries
Yet I have never existed
What am I?

Nothingness.

Posted in Riddles

Alfred’s Tough Cash Request

Alfred is at the bank to cash his $200 check. He tells the cashier he would like some one dollar bills, ten times as many two dollar bills and the rest in fives.

How many of each denomination does the cashier need to give Alfred?

Five $1 bills, 50 $2 bills and 19 $5 bills.

We know that in order to give the rest of the amount in fives, the sum of the one and two dollar bills needs to be divisible by five (i.e. end in 0 or 5).

If we start with a single one dollar bill, we’d need ten two dollar bills to satisfy the request, making $21. But we need a sum that is divisible by 5. So we keep going up, like so:

$1 + $2 * 10 = $21
$2 + $2 * 20 = $42
$3 + $2 * 30 = $63
$4 + $2 * 40 = $84
$5 + $2 * 50 = $105 (Aha! It’s divisible by 5)
$6 + $2 * 60 = $126
$7 + $2 * 70 = $147
$8 + $2 * 80 = $168
$9 + $2 * 90 = $189

So the only option that works is 5 $1 bills and 50 $2 bills, leaving $95 (95 / 5 = 19) to be paid out in 19 fives.

Alfred is one tough customer.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Cannot Keep Until Given

You cannot keep me until you have given me. What am I?

Your word.

Posted in Riddles
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How Many Letters In the Alphabet

How many letters are there in the alphabet?

Hint: Not 26

11. The phrase “the alphabet” has 11 letters.

Posted in Riddles

Complete This GPPAP Series

What are the next four letters in this series?

GPPAP KTGAMTC WTBCOTP ????

GPRA – Georgie Porgie ran away.

Here’s the whole nursery rhyme:

Georgie Porgie, pudding, and pie,
Kissed the girls, and made them cry.
When the boys came out to play,
Georgie Porgie ran away.

Posted in Brain Teasers