Remote Cooking

You are a cook in a remote area with no clocks or other way of keeping time other than a four-minute and a seven-minute hourglass. On the stove is a pot of boiling water. Jill asks you to cook a nine-minute egg in exactly 9 minutes, and you know she is a perfectionist and can tell if you under cook or overcook the egg by even a few seconds. How can you cook the egg for exactly 9 minutes?

1. Flip both hourglasses over and drop the egg into the water.
2. When the 4-minute timer runs out, flip it over (4 minutes elapsed, 3 remaining on the 7-minute timer).
3. When the 7-minute timer runs out, flip it over. (7 minutes elapsed, 1 remaining in the 4-minute timer)
4. When the 4-minute timer runs out, flip the 7-minute timer over. (8 minutes elapsed. 6 minutes remained in the 7-minute timer, but flipping it over leaves one minute’s worth of sand on top. When it runs out exactly nine minutes will have elapsed.)

Posted in Brain Teasers

Come For a Ride

I go up, but at the same time go down,
Up toward the sky and down toward the ground,
I’m present tense and past tense too,
Come for a ride, just me and you.

What am I?

A see-saw.

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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

Turn Into a Car, Building or Robot

I can turn into a car, building or even a robot. I’m man made and my siblings and I outnumber you sixty-two to one. My name means, “Play well” in my creator’s native tongue. What am I?

Legos. They can be turned into all sorts of things, including cars, building and robots. If you divided up all the legos ever made, each person on the planet would get 62. Lego is based on the Danish phrase leg godt which means, “play well”.

Posted in Riddles

Another Name for Shiva

My first three is another name for the Hindu god Shiva.
My last four create something to wear.
Together I might use a scythe.

What am I?

Harvest.

Har is another name for Shiva.
A vest is something you wear.
And a harvest might use a scythe.

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Books By Charles Dickens

Pair these words to make nine titles of books by Charles Dickens:

A LITTLE    1 RUDGE
B PICKWICK  2 COPPERFIELD
C EDWIN     3 TIMES
D BARNABY   4 CHUZZLEWIT
E NICHOLAS  5 PAPERS
F HARD      6 HOUSE
G BLEAK     7 DROOD
H DAVID     8 DORRIT
I MARTIN    9 NICKLEBY

A 8 = LITTLE DORRIT
B 5 = PICKWICK PAPERS
C 7 = EDWIN DROOD
D 1 = BARNABY RUDGE
E 9 = NICHOLAS NICKLEBY
F 3 = HARD TIMES
G 6 = BLEAK HOUSE
H 2 = DAVID COPPERFIELD
I 4 = MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT

Posted in Brain Teasers

What Has Feet But No Legs?

What has feet but no legs?

A snail or a measuring device (like a yard stick or tape measure). A snail’s foot is a muscle that allows it to move, and measuring devices have feet on them to measure distance.

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Sum of Consecutives

What is the sum of the numbers in the following list which are consecutive?

15  5 10 28
24  7 18 26
11 21 17 13
22  9  1 20

The consecutive numbers are: 9, 10, 11; 17, 18; and 20, 21, 22.

The sum of those numbers is 128.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Never Was, Always To Be

I never was, am always to be. No one ever saw me, nor ever will. And yet I am the confidence of all, To live and breathe on this terrestrial ball. What am I?

Tomorrow or the future.

Posted in Riddles

If I’m Ever Gone, Beware

Sometimes you’ll find me hard and cold,
Other times I’m hard to hold,
Always present in the air,
If I’m ever gone, beware.

What am I?

Water. As ice I’m hard and cold, as water vapor I’m hard to hold and I’m always present in the air as humidity (aka water vapor). If the earth ever runs out of water, we’re toast.

Posted in Riddles