amid eerie nighed won spawn

What phrase do these words sound like when rearranged?

amid eerie nighed won spawn

“Won spawn amid nighed eerie” sounds like, “Once upon a midnight dreary”, from The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe.

Posted in Brain Teasers

A Woman Shoots Her Husband

A woman shoots her husband, then holds him under water for five minutes. Finally, she hangs him. Five minutes later they enjoy a wonderful dinner together. How can this be?

She took a photo of him and developed it in the dark room.

Posted in Riddles

The Barber of Seville

The Barber of Seville shaves all men living in Seville.
No man living in Seville is allowed to shave himself.
The Barber of Seville lives in Seville.

Who shaves the Barber of Seville?

Nobody. The Barber of Seville is a woman. Female barbers are rare, but they exist.

And for more fun with barbers, check out the Barber paradox.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Silent Military Communication

How could a member of the military communicate silently and without light?

By using braille.

Braille was based on a tactile military code called night writing, developed by Charles Barbier in response to Napoleon’s demand for a means for soldiers to communicate silently at night and without light. In Barbier’s system, sets of 12 embossed dots encoded 36 different sounds. It proved to be too difficult for soldiers to recognize by touch and was rejected by the military.

Posted in Brain Teasers

What Do These Dates Have In Common?

What do these dates have in common?

15 February 1984
2 July 1983
16 December 1983

They all fall in the middle.
15 February was the middle of February (1984 being a leap year).
2 July was the middle day of the year 1983.
And 16 December was the middle of December.

Posted in Brain Teasers

esroh gnidir

What does this represent?

esroh gnidir

Horse back riding. The words are horse and riding spelled backwards.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Ever Rising Then Gone Away

Ever rising then gone away,
I send messages or help some pray,
I’ll make you cry, but flavor meat,
But If I’m heavy, use your feet.

What am I?

Smoke. It rises then slowly dissipates in the air. Smoke signals send messages and incense is used in religious ceremonies. Anyone who’s sat at a bonfire knows smoke in your eyes can make you cry when the wind changes direction. Smoked meats are a tasty treat, but if you see heavy smoke (i.e. from a fire) then run. Or stop drop and roll if the fire already caught you.

Posted in Riddles
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Alone I’m Unknown

Alone I’m unknown,
With my twin I’m twenty,
And triplets make me a warning.

What am I?

The letter ‘X’. A single x is often used in math as an unknown, along with Mr. X. Two together (XX) make the Roman numeral 20, and three signifies a warning for adult only content, or a warning to other programmers of a problem in source code.

Posted in Riddles
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Abraham Encoding

The name ABRAHAM can be changed into a word for a primitive musical instrument by replacing each letter with a different letter. The repeated letters (A is this case) must be replaced with the same replacement letter in the new word.

What is the musical instrument?

PANPIPE

Posted in Brain Teasers

All Those Legs

Two legs sat upon three legs with one leg in his lap.
In comes four legs, grabs one leg, and runs off with him.
Up jumps two legs, grabs up three legs, throws it after four legs,
and makes him bring back one leg.

Who are we?

One leg is a leg of mutton. Two legs is a person. Three legs is a stool. Four legs is a dog.

Posted in Riddles