Special Two Letter Combinations

What do these three letter combinations have in common?

DE
HI
MN

Hint: These combinations don’t have it in common.

AK
IN
WY

They are the only three US state abbreviations whose two letters are next to each other in the alphabet.

DE – Delaware
HI – Hawaii
MN – Minnesota

Posted in Brain Teasers

Border Plane Crash

A plane crashed on the border or US and Canada. Where do they bury the survivors?

Nowhere, you don’t bury survivors.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Kevin’s School Supplies

Kevin brings his school supplies to the counter. The cashier rings up his purchase for a total of $1.70. Kevin is puzzled, and says, “I bought 2 pencils at 2 cents each, 5 pencils at 4 cents each and 8 notebooks and 12 sheets of colored paper. I don’t remember the prices of the latter two, but the total can’t be $1.70.”

How did Kevin know?

Because 4 cents, 20 cents, 8 notebooks and 12 sheets of colored paper are all divisible by 4, but 170 cents isn’t.

Posted in Brain Teasers

The Japanese IQ Test

Supposedly this is given as a test in Japan. I have no idea if that’s accurate.

There are 8 people who have to cross the river on a raft.

1. Policeman
2. Thief
3. Father
4. Boy 1
5. Boy 2
6. Mother
7. Girl 1
8. Girl 2

The rules are:

Only two people can cross at a time.
Only the adults can operate the raft.
The father can’t be with the girls unless the mother is there.
The mother can’t be with the boys unless the father is there.
The thief can’t remain with anyone unless the policeman is present.

How do you get them all across?

Instead of working it out by hand, here’s a flash version.

Click on the circle to start. Click on a person to put them on the raft and click on the lever to make the raft cross.

Here’s how I did it in 17 steps. Can you do it faster? Let me know in the comments.

1. Policeman (P)
2. Thief (T)
3. Father (F)
4. Boy 1 (B1)
5. Boy 2 (B2)
6. Mother (M)
7. Girl 1 (G1)
8. Girl 2 (G2)

1. P, T →
2. ← P

3. P, B1 →
4. ← P T

5. F, B2 →
6. ← F

7. F, M →
8. ← M

9. P, T →
10. ← F

11. M, F →
12. ← M

13. M, G1 →
14. ← P T

15. P, G2 →
16. ← P

17. P, T →

Posted in Brain Teasers

A City in the Twilight

Half-way up the hill, I see thee at last, lying beneath me with thy sounds and sights — A city in the twilight, dim and vast, with smoking roofs, soft bells, and gleaming lights.

The Past (Longfellow).

Posted in Riddles

A Slight Inclination of the Cranium

A slight inclination of the cranium is as adequate as a spasmodic movement of one optic to an equine quadruped utterly devoid of any visionary capacity.

Translate this rather strange sentence into one that is more sensible.

A nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Sharing Apples

How do you share 15 apples evenly with 16 people?

Make applesauce.

Posted in Brain Teasers

The Letters of Man

Using only the letters in MAN to fill in the blanks, make normal, uncapitalized words.

1. _ _ O _ G
2. R _ _ D O _
3. _ _ R I _ _
4. E _ P _ _ _ D _
5. C I _ _ _ _ O _
6. P _ _ O R _ _ _
7. _ _ I _ L _ _ D
8. _ R _ _ _ E _ T

1. AMONG
2. RANDOM
3. MARINA
4. EMPANADA
5. CINNAMON
6. PANORAMA
7. MAINLAND
8. ARMAMENT

Posted in Brain Teasers

Door Body and Knot

A door, a body, and a knot can be this.

Double. Double doors, a stunt double (for an actor) and a double knot. And there’s also the double rainbow :)

By Sef Daystrom

Posted in Brain Teasers

Favorite Use Is Attached To A String

A three-letter word I’m sure you know,
I can be on a boat or a sleigh in the snow,
I’m pals with the rain and honor a king,
But my favorite use is attached to a string.

What am I?

A bow. It has three letters, the bow of a boat is the front, bows are found on the presents on Santa’s sleigh, rainbows come with the rain, one bows before a king and a bow and arrow requires a string.

Posted in Riddles