Take It And You Will Lose

Take it and you will lose or gain more than all others.

Risk.

(found in The Copper Gauntlet by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare)

Posted in Riddles

False Positive HIV Test

Imagine an HIV test that is 95% accurate (false positive rate of 5%) and around 2% of the tested population is infected with HIV. What is the probability that you actually have HIV when your test comes back positive?

29%

To read more about this, see the False Positive Paradox page on Wikipedia.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Poor Sheep

A farmer had 17 sheep. All but 9 died. How many live sheep does he have left?

9. If all but 9 died, there are 9 remaining live sheep.

Posted in Brain Teasers

On My Own I’m Twenty-Fourth

On my own I’m 24th,
Two of us and I’m 20,
Three of us and I’m 18.

What am I?

The letter X. It is the 24th letter of the alphabet, two Xs in Roman numerals equals twenty and triple x represents adult content, and adulthood is eighteen by law in most countries.

Posted in Riddles

Move Your Digits

By moving one of the following digits, make the equation correct.

62 – 63 = 1

26 – 63 = 1
(26 = 2x2x2x2x2x2 = 64, ∴ 64 – 63 = 1)

Posted in Brain Teasers
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Son of Water

You eat something you neither plant nor plow.
It is the son of water, but if water touches it, it dies.

Salt. It comes from saltwater but salt melts ice (the solid form of water).

Posted in Riddles

Slayer of Regrets

Slayer of regrets
old and new,
sought by many,
found by few.

Redemption. It can get rid of regrets, many people seek it but few find it.

By Sef Daystrom

Posted in Riddles

Measured But Not Seen

What can be measured but not seen?

Time. Or my toes when I’ve had one too many donuts…

Posted in Riddles

Fill in the Blank and Discover the Event

Fill in the missing words to make a phrase with both the left and right hand sides. For instance, if you were given GRAPE __________ FLY, the missing word could be FRUIT, making GRAPEFRUIT and FRUIT FLY.

1. TOP __________ AGENT
2. PROXY __________ OF NO CONFIDENCE
3. SECOND-HAND __________ DETECTOR
4. THE SACK OF __________ APPLE
5. ST. LOUIS __________ SIN

Once you have the words, what event does it represent?

1. SECRET
2. VOTE
3. SMOKE
4. ROME
5. CARDINAL

The event is a Papal conclave, when a new Pope is chosen.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Downward Grows the Root

Downward grows the root.
Outward grows the skin.
Upward grows the shoot.
What way blows the wind?

Wayward.

By Sef Daystrom

Posted in Riddles