Reverse to Equal Ten

Which two of these rows can be reversed so the total of each row, across and down, equals 10?

A. 5 4 1
B. 6 1 3
C. 3 5 2

Rows B and C, becoming:

A. 5 4 1
B. 3 1 6
C. 2 5 3

Posted in Brain Teasers

Penny, Cork and A Bottle

Given a corked bottle with only a penny inside, how can you remove the penny without pulling out the cork, breaking the bottle and leaving the cork intact?

Push the cork into the bottle, then shake the penny out.

Posted in Brain Teasers

The Old Man’s Book

Milton shuffled slowly along the shelves browsing books. He finally walked up to the counter and handed the girl a book. She looked at the inside cover and told him it would be $3.75. Milton handed her the money and walked away without the book. The girl watched him leave empty-handed but didn’t try to stop him. Why?

Milton was a forgetful and naughty fellow. He was summoning his courage to approach the counter to return his overdue book. The kindly lass at the counter saw the book was 15 days overdue and had accrued the egregious late fee of $3.75 (25 cents a day). Lesson learned, Milton never returned a book late again.

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Cowboy Corral

Two cowboys live next door to each other and both have a corral for their cows in the back. One day they meet at the back of their homes, standing next to a wall dividing their corrals. The first cowboy gets to thinking and asks his neighbor for a cow so he can double his herd. The other cowboys replies, “That’s fine by me partner, cuz then we’ll have the same number of cows?” How many cows does each cowboy own?

We’ll use A to represent the first cowboy and B for the second cowboy.

A + 1 = 2A, so A = 1.
A + 1 = B – 1, so B = 3.

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One Two Six Sequence

What is the next number in this series?

1, 2, 6, 42, 1806, ___

To get the next number, multiply the previous number in the series by itself plus one:

n × (n + 1).

For example, to get 6, multiply 2 × (2 + 1)
To get 42 multiply 6 × (6 + 1)

Thus, 1806 × 1807 = 3263442

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Don’t Speak But No Word I Cannot Make

I don’t speak but there is no word I cannot make. What am I?

The alphabet.

Posted in Riddles

Evianna’s New Love Interest

Evianna meets a man while attending her mother’s funeral. She becomes infatuated with him and he reciprocates the interest, but he leaves the funeral without giving her any contact information. She tries to locate him but is unsuccessful. Several days later she kills her sister.

Why did she do it?

Because she’s a psychopath. She killed her sister because she hoped the man would attend the funeral and she would get to see him again. This is one brain teaser that is probably best that you don’t get the correct answer. If you knew the answer right away and thought it was obvious, you may want to talk to someone.

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Finding Rhymes in Categories

Find rhymes for each set of words so the first is a category and the rest are items in the category.

For example, LOYALTY: spring, clean, rinse → ROYALTY: king, queen, prince

1. LOIN: mortar, climb, pickle
2. SQUISH: famine, search, doubt
3. GILDING: radium, Bose, hassle
4. THYME: surgery, girder, scrutiny

1. COIN: quarter, dime, nickel
2. FISH: salmon, perch, trout
3. BUILDING: stadium, mosque, castle
4. CRIME: perjury, murder, mutiny

Posted in Brain Teasers

A Red Drum

A red drum which sounds
Without being touched,
And grows silent,
When it is touched.

What is it?

Your heart.

Posted in Riddles

Kevlar, Fire Escapes and Wipers, Oh My!

What do computer compilers, kevlar, fire escapes and windshield wipers all have in common?

They were all invented by women.

A variation of this brain teaser includes laser printers (they were invented by Gary Starkweather) and bulletproof vests (invented by Casimir Zeglen using silk, though modern vests use Kevlar, so it’s halfway right).

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