A Perfect Counterfeit

A man can make perfect counterfeit bills. They look exactly like real ones, they’re made of exactly the same materials, made the same way, everything. So perfect, one could pretty much call them real bills. One day he successfully makes a perfect copy of another bill. However, he gets caught when he tries to use the copy. How is this possible?

As a counterfeiter, he had lots of counterfeit bills around and he accidentally used one of them as his original. So he made a perfect copy of a counterfeit bill.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Jim’s Canoeing Adventure

Jim was canoeing on a lake when a sudden thunderstorm blew in tipped his boat. He swam to a rocky island about a mile from his family’s cottage and found a small, abandoned shack. Inside was an old kerosene lamp and a few matches. All the wood on the island was too damp to burn and the lamp was his only means of signaling for help but it only held an inch of kerosene, not enough to reach its short wick. How did he get the lamp burning to summon help?

Knowing kerosene and water wouldn’t mix and kerosene is less dense than water, he dipped the lamp in the lake and filled it with enough water so the kerosene rose to the top to cover the wick. The lamp was still burning an hour later when a motorboat rescued him.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Word Value Of 52

If every letter of the alphabet is worth its numerical value (A=1, B=2, C=3), what’s a common 11-letter word whose letter values total only 52?

Abracadabra

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A Woman Shoots Her Husband

A woman shoots her husband, then holds him under water for five minutes. Finally, she hangs him. Five minutes later they enjoy a wonderful dinner together. How can this be?

She took a photo of him and developed it in the dark room.

Posted in Riddles

Rhonda At the Ballet

Rhonda will go see ballet but not the opera. Her favorite number is eight and she doesn’t like nine. She likes salmon but not trout. She hates Mondays and likes Wednesdays. Does she use a comb or a brush?

A comb. Rhonda likes words with silent letters, like her name.

Posted in Brain Teasers

The 22nd and 24th Presidents of the U.S.

The 22nd and 24th presidents of the United States of America had the same parents, but were not brothers. How is this possible?

It was the same guy! Grover Cleveland is the only president in history to serve two, non-consecutive terms.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Aft to Fore and Fore to Aft

I run fore to aft on one side of a ship and aft to fore on the other. What am I?

The name of the ship.

Posted in Riddles
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A Cabin in the Woods

In a small cabin in the woods, two men lay dead. The cabin itself is not burned, but the forest all around is burned to cinders. How did the men die?

It’s the cabin of a plane and the plane crashed.

Posted in Brain Teasers

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

The Age of Three Daughters

I was visiting a friend one evening and remembered that he had three daughters. I asked him how old they were. “The product of their ages is 72,” he answered. Quizzically, I asked, “Is there anything else you can tell me?” “Yes,” he replied, “the sum of their ages is equal to the number of my house.” I stepped outside to see what the house number was. Upon returning inside, I said to my host, “I’m sorry, but I still can’t figure out their ages.” He responded apologetically, “I’m sorry, I forgot to mention that my oldest daughter likes strawberry shortcake.” With this information, I was able to determine all three of their ages. How old is each daughter?

3, 3, and 8. The only groups of 3 factors of 72 to have non-unique sums are “2 6 6” and “3 3 8” (with a sum of 14). The rest have unique sums:

2 + 2 + 18 = 22
2 + 3 + 12 = 18
2 + 4 + 9 = 15
3 + 4 + 6 = 13

The house number alone would have identified any of these groups. Since more information was required, we know the sum left the answer unknown. The presence of a single oldest child eliminates “2 6 6”, leaving “3 3 8” as the only possible answer.

Posted in Brain Teasers