I Change Stature As I Age

I change stature as I age, but my importance does not differ by age. My importance is manifested mostly when with my boss. When we part, I am of no importance.

What am I?

A pencil. It gets shorter with use, but is no less important. Its impact is from the person using the pencil to write or draw. Without them, the pencil is just an idle tool.

Thanks Keller!

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Has a Mouth But Cannot Drink

Has a mouth but cannot drink.
Has a head but cannot think.
Has a tongue but not a lung.
Some are held and some are hung.

A bell.

By Sef Daystrom

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I Can Sound a Gong

I’m in bowling and baseball,
For better or for worse,
On a match (but not the sporting kind),
I can sound a gong,
And I’m gone.

What am I?

Strike.

A strike in bowling is good. In baseball it’s good for the pitcher but not for the batter. You can strike a match to light it. When the clock strikes one a gong sounds and when you strike a paragraph, it’s gone.

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I Am Worthless

I am worthless, yet when added to others I add worth.
I confounded the ancient Greeks, yet I changed men’s understanding.

What am I?

0 (Zero).

Zero is nothing, yet when you add zeroes to a number like 1, it becomes 10, 100 or 1,000.

The ancient Greeks did not have a name for zero and did not use a placeholder. They seemed unsure about the status of zero as a number, philosophizing about how nothing could be something. Once zero was added, it allowed for more mathematical understanding.

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I Can Be Broken Yet I Hold On

I am a word with two meanings. With one I can be broken, with the second I hold on. What am I?

Tie. A tie score can be broken, but when you tie a knot (as in a necktie) it holds together.

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The Websters’ Busy Day

Mr. and Mrs. Webster were on a holiday shopping excursion. On their way to the car after leaving the store, Mr. Webster complained he was tired from carrying so many packages. Mrs. Webster, the kindly thing that she was, replied, “Quit your complaining Walter! If you gave me just one of your packages, I’d have twice as many as you. And if I gave you one of mine, we’d have the same.”

How many packages were Mr. and Mrs. Webster each carrying?

Mrs. Webster was carrying 7 packages and poor old Mr. Webster was laden with 5.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Mysterious Math

This problem can be solved by preschool children in five to ten minutes, by programmers in an hour and by people with higher education…well, check it yourself.

8809 = 6
7111 = 0
2172 = 0
6666 = 4
1111 = 0
3213 = 0
7662 = 2
9313 = 1
0000 = 4
2222 = 0
3333 = 0
5555 = 0
8193 = 3
8096 = 5
1012 = 1
7777 = 0
9999 = 4
7756 = 1
6855 = 3
9881 = 5
5531 = 0
2581 = ?

What is the missing number and why?

Two. The number is how many closed circles there are in the 4 digits. 0, 6 and 9 each have one, 8 has 2.

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Blow for Blow They Matched Each Other

Blow for blow,
they matched each other.
Neither would fall to the other.
In the eyes of the crowd,
they were this.

Equal.

By Sef Daystrom

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Losing Ten Minutes An Hour

A clock loses exactly ten minutes every hour. If the clock is set correctly at noon, what is the correct time when the clock reads 3:00pm?

3:36pm. For every 60 minutes of real time, the clock moves 50 minutes. Put another way, 60/50 = 1.2 real minutes per slow-clock minute.

In order for the clock to show 3:00pm, 180 of its slow minutes have to pass. 1.2 * 180 clock minutes = 216 real minutes or 3 hours and 36 minutes.

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Harvest Though No Grain

I harvest you, though you’ve no grain,
I reap you in the wind and rain,
You bleed not but your soft meat
And nectar makes a sweetest treat.
What am I?

A clam or oyster. You harvest clams or oysters on the beach or go diving, and the beach is often windy and rainy. Neither bleeds but are known for having, soft, slimy meat, and people often drink the “clam nectar” or “oyster juice”.

Thanks to Helena for this submission

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