Decorating With Tiles

You are decorating for spring and you’ve found a bargain. A huge box of beautifully decorated tiles, enough to provide a border in two rooms. You really can’t figure out how to arrange them. If you set a border of two tiles all around, there’s one left over. If you set three tiles all around or four or five or six there’s still one tile left over. Finally you try a block of seven tiles for each corner and you come out even. What is the smallest number of tiles you could have to get this result?

301. This is the smallest number that even divides by 7, but when divided by 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 gives you one left over.

Posted in Brain Teasers

A Special Something Shared

The numbers 3, 7, 8, 40, 50 and 60 all share something that no other whole number does. What is it?

When spelled out in English they each have exactly five letters.

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A Four Word Admonition

What four word admonition makes the happy person sad and the sad person happy?

The phrase, “This too shall pass.” According to Wikipedia, the well-known phrase is often attached to a fable of a great king who is humbled by these words, and to someone who is experiencing something wonderful, it can be saddening. But to one who is in the pits of despair, it is a phrase that brings relief and hope.

In other words, if a happy person is told, “This too shall pass” it will make them sad. But to a person on hard times, hearing, “This too shall pass” will cheer them up.

Posted in Riddles

Square Root Equations

Arrange the digits 1 through 9 into an equation so that the first number is the square root of the second number. (Two possible variations)

5672 = 321,489

OR

8542 = 729,316

Posted in Brain Teasers

Words Ending in GRY

Think of words ending in -GRY. Angry and hungry are two of them. There are only three words in the English language. What is the third word? The word is something that everyone uses every day. If you have listened carefully, I have already told you what it is.

The riddle states, “There are only three words in the English language. What is the third word?” The third word of the phrase “the English language” is of course “language.” Don’t get angry at me, I didn’t make it up :)

xkcd’s take on this riddle

Posted in Riddles

Reaching Stiffly For The Sky

Reaching stiffly for the sky,
I bare my fingers when it’s cold
In warmth I wear an emerald glove
And in between I dress in gold

A deciduous tree.

Posted in Riddles

Kings And Lords And Christians Raised Them

Kings and lords and christians raised them
Since they stand for higher powers
Yet few of them would stand, I’m certain,
If women ruled this world of ours.

A tower.

Posted in Riddles

I Always Tell the Truth

You see me quite often,
But don’t really care.
If you pass by me,
You’ll often stop and stare.

I can’t speak or see,
But don’t think me uncouth,
Because no matter what,
I always tell the truth.

What am I?

A mirror.

Posted in Riddles
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Lines in the Rebus

What does this represent?

| R | E | A | D | I | N | G |

Reading between the lines

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I’m Easy To Give Yet Few Will Take

I’m easy to give yet few will take,
I’m shared with a bride and can be seen at a wake,
I have a monopoly on the young,
And at times, it’s true, I may have stung.

What am I?

Advice. It’s easy to give it out but advice is often ignored. Brides are frequently given advice on their wedding day and you’ll even hear life advice at a funeral. Advice is frequently given to young people and some advice can be hard to stomach (like you should lose a few pounds).

Posted in Riddles