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

I Look Like a Pearl

I look like a pearl,
Clouds are my ancestors,
I am very delicate,
I die when I’m touched.

What am I?

Dew.

Posted in Riddles
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All Words From Nine Letters to One

What 9-letter word can have a letter removed to make a new word and repeat the process until a single letter remains?

startling
starting
staring
string
sting
sing
sin
in
i

Posted in Brain Teasers

The Bookworm

A bookworm eats from the first page of an encyclopedia to the last page in a straight line. The encyclopedia consists of ten 1000-page volumes and is sitting on a bookshelf in the usual order. Not counting covers, title pages, etc., how many pages does the bookworm eat through?

        __                             __
      B|  |                           |  |F
      A|1 |...........................|10|R
      C|  |                           |  |O
      K|  |                           |  |N
       |__|                           |__|T
      -------------------------------------

On a book shelf the first page of the first volume is on the “inside”, so the bookworm eats only through the cover of the first volume, then 8 times 1000 pages of Volumes 2 – 9, then through the cover to the 1st page of Vol 10 for a total of 8,000 pages.

Note: The question asks how many pages, not how many sheets of paper.

Posted in Brain Teasers

If My Hand Is Forced I Can Sink Ships

I move quickly with hurried steps,
If my hand is forced I can sink ships,
I’ll cause you to shudder when driving your car,
And haul your fuel to where you are,
I’ll watch you bleed from a cut,
Add a rear and I’ll tell you what’s what.

What am I?

Scuttle. To scuttle is to scurry or run hurriedly. Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of your own ship. Scuttle shake is felt in convertibles where the passengers feel a distinct shudder. A coal scuttle is a bucket-like container to haul coal. A shaving scuttle holds hot water when you’re shaving. And adding a “rear” forms scuttlebutt, or rumors and gossip.

Posted in Riddles

Divisible By One To Ten

What is the smallest number that is evenly divisible by 1 through 10?

2520.

2520/1 = 2520
2520/2 = 1260
2520/3 = 840
2520/4 = 630
2520/5 = 504
2520/6 = 420
2520/7 = 360
2520/8 = 315
2520/9 = 280
2520/10 = 252

Posted in Brain Teasers

What Looks Like Food

What looks like food, tastes like food, smells like food, sounds like food when you cook it, is grown in dirt like food, fills up your stomach like food, but is not food?

A poisonous mushroom. Since some types of mushrooms are edible, it can be very hard to distinguish between a safe mushroom and one that will kill you. Food is defined as a substance consumed to provide nutrition, therefore a poisonous mushroom that kills you doesn’t qualify as food, even though it shares all of the traits of a regular mushroom.

Other valid answers include anything that’s edible, resembles food, but is poisonous.

Posted in Riddles

A Mouth On My Head And Eat Everything

I have a mouth on my head and eat everything.

What am I?

A backpack.

Posted in Riddles

Breaks in the Water

What breaks on the water but never on land?

A wave.

Posted in Riddles

Graphical Rebus Two

What does this rebus represent?

Rebus

Castle on a Cloud

Posted in Riddles
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