Made of Five Letters and Seven Letters

I’m made out of five letters,
And I’m made out of seven letters;
I have keys but I don’t have locks,
I’m concerned with time, but not with clocks.

What am I?

A piano. The word piano has five letters, and the scale on the piano is A through G, seven letters. The piano keys don’t have locks and playing piano requires you to keep time (but with a metronome, not a clock).

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I Don’t Exist Unless You Cut Me

I don’t exist unless you cut me, but if you stab me I won’t bleed. I hate no one yet am abhorred by all. What am I?

A fart.

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Two Bodies Joined in One

Two bodies have I, though both joined in one,
The more I stand still the faster I run.

What am I?

An hourglass.

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Four Cards

Four cards are placed in front of you on the table, each with a number on one side and a color on the other. The visible cards show 3, 8, red and brown. Which cards should you turn over in order to test the truth of the statement that if a card shows an even number on one face, then its opposite face is red?

four-cards

You’d need to turn over only the 8 and brown card. Only a card with an even number on one face and which is not red on the other face can invalidate the stated rule. If you turn over the 3 card and it’s not red, it doesn’t invalidate the rule, nor does turning over the red card and finding it has the label 3.

This test was devised by Peter Cathcart Wason and is known as the Wason selection task. Less than 10% of test subjects got it correct in two separate studies.

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.

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Special Strengths

What’s special about the word “strengths”?

It has a record nine letters but only one vowel, and it’s one of the longest one-syllable words in English.

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The Answer Isn’t 6

What goes in place of the question mark?

1 3 5
2 4 ?

(It’s not 6)

R. It’s a representation of a stick shift, where 1-5 are gears and R represents reverse.

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Alter By a Single Stroke

How can you alter the following equation by a single stroke to make it correct?

5 + 5 + 5 = 550

5 4 5 + 5 = 550

Add a diagonal line on the top left of the first plus sign to convert + into a 4. You could also put a slash through the equal sign to make ≠ (not equal) but that’s not as cool.

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Tall in Morning, Short at Noon

Tall in the morning, short at noon, gone at night but I’ll be back soon. What am I?

A shadow.

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One Strand Dangles

One strand dangles.
Two strands twist.
Three or more can
fashion this.

Braids

By Sef Daystrom

Posted in Riddles