Embarrassing List

A woman gave a man a list of things she needed to buy at the store. The man gave the list back to the woman and she turned red with embarrassment. Why?

The man was a checkout clerk at the grocery store. The list was for items to get at a lingerie store.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Toss Me Out the Window

Toss me out of the window,
You’ll find a grieving wife,
Pull me back but through the door, and
Watch someone give life!

What am I?

The letter “n”. (widow, donor).

Posted in Riddles

At Least One is a Boy

A couple has two children. At least one of them is a boy. Assuming the probability of having a boy or girl is 50%, what is the probability that both children are boys?

If you answered 1/2, you’re not without comrades, but the generally accepted answer by statisticians (though not without debate) is 1/3. This is because there are four possible combinations: boy-boy, boy-girl, girl-boy and girl-girl. Since we are told one of the children is a boy (but we don’t know if it’s the first or second child), we can rule out the girl-girl combination, leaving three remaining options. Only one out of 3 is boy-boy, so we get a 1/3 chance.

This is a well-known problem known as the Boy or Girl paradox. The other variation is this brain teaser.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Three Lives Have I

Three lives have I.
Gentle enough to soothe the skin,
Light enough to caress the sky,
Hard enough to crack rocks.

Water.

Posted in Riddles

Colored Houses

A red-house is made of red bricks, has a red wooden door and a red roof. A yellow-house is made of yellow bricks, has a yellow wooden door and a yellow roof. What is a green-house made of?

Glass.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Three Brothers Share A Family Sport

Three brothers share a family sport:
A non-stop marathon
The oldest one is fat and short
And trudges slowly on
The middle brother’s tall and slim
And keeps a steady pace
The youngest runs just like the wind,
A-speeding through the race
“He’s young in years, we let him run,”
The other brothers say
“‘Cause though he’s surely number one,
He’s second, in a way.”

The hands on a clock (hour, minute, second).

Posted in Riddles

Next in the Sequence

Here is a series of numbers. What is the next number in the sequence?

1
11
21
1211
111221
312211

13112221

The next number in the series counts the previous numbers. Thus the first number is 1, which is one 1, or 11. To describe 11, you have two 1’s, or 21. Now you have one 2 and one 1, so the next number is 1211. The solution is to continue describing the previous number using only numbers.

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The Dead Bring Forth the Living

I saw the dead bring forth the living. I saw the living bring forth the dead. Who or what did I see?

A funeral. Someone’s death caused the living to come to the funeral, and during the funeral the living carry the casket of the deceased.

Posted in Riddles

2, 3, 6

What number comes next in this series?

2 3 6 7 1 9 4 5 ___

8. The numbers are in reverse alphabetical order.

Two, three, six, seven, one, nine, four, five, eight.

Posted in Brain Teasers

How Old is Malcolm, His Dad and Grandfather?

Malcolm is the number of weeks of his father’s age treated as days and his grandfather’s age in months. All three of their ages add up to 120 years. How old is Malcolm, his father and his grandfather?

Malcolm is 6.
The father is 42. 42 days = 6 weeks.
The grandfather is 72. 72 months = 6 years.

Posted in Brain Teasers