Word Party

You watch a group of words going to a party. A word either enters through one of two doors or is turned away by the guards. ‘HIM’ goes through door number one and ‘BUG’ goes through door number two. ‘HER’ is turned away. ‘MINT’ and ‘WEAVE’ go in through door one, ‘DOOR’ and ‘CORD’ take door two and ‘THIS’ and ‘That’ aren’t allowed in.

What determines whether a word can enter and which door they must use?

Door number one is for words composed entirely of capital letters written using only straight lines, such as A, E, F, H, and I. The entire set of letters allowed through door number one are AEFHIKLMNTVWXYZ. Door number two, as might be expected, is for words with capital letters that have a curve, including BCDGJOPQRSU. Any words composed of both straight and curved letters (or lowercase letters) are not allowed in. The word ‘THAT’ would have been sent through door number one, if the letters had been capitalized.

Posted in Brain Teasers

I Stand Like A Sentry

I stand like a sentry
And am barred by the gentry,
The first month and its god oft slip
Between my hard, dun colored lip.

What am I?

Sentries are posted at borders, gates, or doors.
The gentry (in this case to referring to the general populace) bar their doors at night.
The first month is January, named after the Roman god Janus, the double-faced God of doorways, passages and thresholds.
You pass through the doorway (hence the slip), and dun is a brown color, referencing the color of wood, which most doors are made of. Though it’s not commonly referred to, the “lip of the door” is the part of the door that fits into the doorframe on the handle/knob side, particularly if the door is lipped or ridged in order to fit the door frame better.

Thanks to Helena for creating this and sending it in.

Posted in Riddles
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After the Tenth One

After the tenth one it didn’t matter that he came from an ethnic minority. Who was it?

Moses from the Bible. The Pharaoh wouldn’t release the ill-treated Israelites (an ethnic minority) from slavery until being visited by ten plagues.

Posted in Riddles

What Does a Cow Have Four Of?

What does a cow have four of, a dog has eight of and you only have two of that can be used standing up or sitting down?

Nipples or teats. Cows have four of them, dogs usually have eight and a human (assuming that’s who’s reading this) has two. Cows milk standing up, dogs often lie down and women usually sit when breastfeeding.

Posted in Riddles

Shared Birthdays

In 2012 a class was divided into 2 groups. Their assignment was to find the names of at least 3 children who were born on the same day from 5 different months of 2011. These were the results:

Group 1
August 20: Oliver, William, and Adam.
January 3: John, Alice, and Ken.
September 7: Bruce, Shane, and Peter.
June 11: April, Patrick, and Bobby.
July 19: Trent, Julie, and Charles.

Group 2
March 1: Karl, Willie, and Patty.
February 29: Blake, Kobe, and Wayne.
December 24: Kyle, Chad, and Zoe.
May 12: Matthew, Manny, and Adrian.
November 20: Greg, Fiona, and Elizabeth.

The members of group 2 got an F on the assignment. Why?

Group 2 failed because 2011 wasn’t a leap year, meaning there was no February 29th.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Four Times Every Week

What happens four times in every week, twice in every month and once in a year?

The letter ‘e’. There are four ‘e’s in ‘every week’, two ‘e’s in ‘every month’ and one ‘e’ in ‘year’.

Posted in Riddles

Three Philosophers Under a Tree

Three philosophers are taking a nap under a tree. While they’re asleep, a small boy smears their noses with red berries. When they awake, they each begin to laugh, thinking the other two are laughing at each other.

But then one philosopher stops laughing, realizing his nose is red too. How did he come to this conclusion?

Let’s call the philosopher’s A, B and C. A reasoned that B was confident his nose wasn’t red. If B saw A’s nose wasn’t red, he would be surprised that C was laughing, because C would have nothing to laugh at. But B wasn’t surprised, therefore, A correctly reasoned his nose was smeared.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Lots of Eggs

The number of eggs in a basket doubles every minute. If it’s full of eggs in an hour, when was the basket half full?

At 59 minutes. The eggs double every minute, so half full would be a minute before it was full.

Posted in Brain Teasers

A Mile From End To End

A mile from end to end, yet as close to as a friend. A precious commodity, freely given. Seen on the dead and on the living. Found on the rich, poor, short and tall, but shared among children most of all. What is it?

A smile.

Posted in Riddles

Turning the Years Upside Down

What years from the 1900s and 1800s are the same year when read upside down?

1961 and 1881.

Posted in Brain Teasers