Name That Song

James makes a bet with Laura that he can use any name she can think of in a song she will recognize with the original lyrics. Laura takes him up on the bet and loses. What song did James sing to win?

Happy Birthday. When you sing Happy Birthday, you say the person’s name as part of the song.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Lending Money to Darlene

Franklin lent Darlene as much money as she already had, then she spent $10. The next day, Franklin lent her as much money as she now had and again, she spent $10. On the third day Franklin once again lent her as much money as she now had and she spent $10, leaving her broke. How much money did Darlene start with?

$8.75
You may have been tempted to guess $30 because $10 is spent three times, but that would mean she would have had $60 ($30 lent plus the $30 she already had), and $50 after spending $10. The rest of the numbers end up at higher than zero, so we know it has to be less than $30. Even starting at $10 leaves Darlene with $10 on the third day. Starting with $8.75 works out as follows.

Day 1: $8.75 (lent) + $8.75 (already had) – $10 (spent) = $7.50 (remaining)
Day 2: $7.50 + $7.50 – $10 = $5
Day 3: $5 + $5 – $10 = $0

Posted in Brain Teasers

Asks No Questions

What asks no questions but receives lots of answers?

A phone or doorbell.

Posted in Riddles

Mountain at Night, Morning a Meadow

In the night a mountain in the morning a meadow. What am I?

A bed.

Posted in Riddles

Shortest Word With All the Vowels

What is the shortest word in the English language to contain all of the vowels?

Sequoia, eulogia or miaoued are all good options, but there’s an even shorter (and more obscure) word with all the vowels and not a single consonant: Iouea. It’s not the kind of word you’d use at the dinner table, but it’s listed in the Wikipedia dictionary as a genus of Cretaceous fossil sponges.

If you got really tricky and tried to find a word that contained the letters in the phrase ‘all of the vowels’, you probably found, like I did, that there isn’t one. But it was still worth checking.

Posted in Brain Teasers

B C D E I K O X Series

What other letter fits in the following series

B C D E I K O X ?

The letter H. It completes the list of letters that are vertically symmetrical. In other words, you can fold the top half of the letter over the bottom half and everything lines up.

Posted in Riddles

Four Letters and a Fruit or Vegetable

I have four letters in my name,
I am a fruit or a vegetable,
I look like a giant green onion,
I end with the letter k.

What am I?

The leek. It has four letters, has been considered both a fruit and a vegetable, looks like a green onion and ends with the letter k.

Posted in Riddles

To Be Gold Is Good

To be gold is to be good,
To be stone is to be nothing,
To be glass is to be fragile,
To be cold is to be cruel.

What am I?

A heart.

Posted in Riddles
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A Smiling Guard

Two guards were on duty outside a barracks. One faced up the road to watch for anyone approaching from the North. The other looked down the road to see if anyone approached from the South. Suddenly one of them said to the other, “Why are you smiling?”

How did he know his companion was smiling?

They were facing each other. As to why his companion was smiling, the world may never know.

Posted in Brain Teasers

What Goes Up But Never Comes Down?

What goes up but never comes down?

Your age.

Posted in Riddles