The Sheep’s Will

A farmer dies leaving a will dividing his flock of nineteen sheep with the following ratios:

Half to his oldest son, a quarter to the middle son and one fifth to his youngest son.

Without cutting any sheep up, how did the executor of the will fulfill the farmer’s wishes?

The executor went to the neighbouring farm and asked to borrow a sheep for a few minutes. Then he returned to the sons and said, “Half of the (now) twenty sheep is 10. A quarter of the twenty sheep is 5. A fifth of the twenty sheep is 4. 10 + 5 + 4 = 19. Then the executor took the borrowed 20th sheep back to the neighbour.

Thanks to Annette for sending this in.

Posted in Brain Teasers

It Stalks the Countryside

It stalks the countryside,
with ears that cannot hear.

What is it?

Corn.

Posted in Riddles

The Age of Three Daughters

I was visiting a friend one evening and remembered that he had three daughters. I asked him how old they were. “The product of their ages is 72,” he answered. Quizzically, I asked, “Is there anything else you can tell me?” “Yes,” he replied, “the sum of their ages is equal to the number of my house.” I stepped outside to see what the house number was. Upon returning inside, I said to my host, “I’m sorry, but I still can’t figure out their ages.” He responded apologetically, “I’m sorry, I forgot to mention that my oldest daughter likes strawberry shortcake.” With this information, I was able to determine all three of their ages. How old is each daughter?

3, 3, and 8. The only groups of 3 factors of 72 to have non-unique sums are “2 6 6” and “3 3 8” (with a sum of 14). The rest have unique sums:

2 + 2 + 18 = 22
2 + 3 + 12 = 18
2 + 4 + 9 = 15
3 + 4 + 6 = 13

The house number alone would have identified any of these groups. Since more information was required, we know the sum left the answer unknown. The presence of a single oldest child eliminates “2 6 6”, leaving “3 3 8” as the only possible answer.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Cracked, Made, Told and Played

It can be cracked,
It can be made,
It can be told,
It can be played.

What is it?

A joke.

Posted in Riddles

Answer This Honestly

What question can you never honestly answer yes to?

Are you asleep? (or dead, or conscious, or being silent).

Posted in Riddles

What Can You Catch But Not Throw?

What can you catch but not throw?

Your breath or an illness (a cold, virus, the flu etc).

Posted in Riddles

What Can You Break But Not Touch?

What can you break but not touch?

A promise.

Posted in Riddles

Not Many People Understand Me

My first three letters stores things. Not many people understand me. What am I?

Binary. Bin is a storage container and binary just 1s and 0s.

Posted in Riddles
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A Cloth Poorly Dyed

A cloth poorly dyed
And an early morning sky
How are they the same?

Their color both change easily.

Posted in Riddles

T is Like an Island

How is the letter T like an island?

It’s in the middle of waTer.

Posted in Riddles