Sisters and Brothers

My daughter has as many sisters as she has brothers. Each of her brothers has twice as many sisters as brothers. How many sons and daughters do I have?

Four daughters and three sons. Each daughter has 3 sisters and 3 brothers, and each brother has 2 brothers and 4 sisters.

To figure it out mathematically, you could use the following two equations where G = the number of girls and B = the number of boys:
G – 1 = B
2(B – 1) = G

Solving for G gives you 4 and plugging that in to G – 1 = B gives you a B of 3.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Two In A Whole And Four In A Pair

Two in a whole and four in a pair
And six in a trio you see
And eight’s a quartet but what you must get
Is the name that fits just one of me?

A half.

Posted in Riddles

Loud Linda

Linda is 31 years old, single, outspoken, and very bright. She majored in philosophy. As a student, she was deeply concerned with issues of discrimination and social justice, and also participated in anti-nuclear demonstrations.

Which is more probable?

1) Linda is a bank teller.
2) Linda is a bank teller and is active in the feminist movement.

1) Linda is a bank teller.

Most people guess number two, but the probability of two events occurring together is always less than or equal to the probability of either one occurring alone. This problem is known as the Conjunction Fallacy.

Posted in Riddles

Alive Without Breath

Alive without breath,
As cold as death,
Clad in mail never clinking,
Never thirsty, ever drinking

A fish.

Posted in Riddles

An Ancient Invention

What ancient invention allows people to see through walls?

A window.

Posted in Riddles

A Secret From Everyone

I am eight letters long and am kept a secret from everyone. Letters two through four spell an animal, letters four to the end make a weapon, letters one, two and eight make what you use in an exam and my third and fourth letters are the same.

What am I?

A password. You should keep your password a secret from everyone, letters two through four spell ass, an animal also known as a donkey. Letters four to the end spell sword, which is a deadly weapon and the letters one, two and eight make pad, which is used for writing during an exam. Lastly, the third and fourth letters are both ‘s’

Posted in Riddles

A Laugh A Cry

A laugh, a cry,
A moan, a sigh.

What am I?

Emotions

Posted in Riddles

Word Pairs to Create a New Word

One letter can be used to replace the first letter of each word pair below to create two new English words. The new letters can then be combined to spell a word. What is that word?

MAIL ____ PINK
CART ____ SAID
GRID ____ RIMLESS
LINK ____ BOUND
ROWED ____ RIPPLE

SMART

SAIL – SINK
MART – MAID
ARID – AIMLESS
RINK – ROUND
TOWED – TIPPLE

Posted in Brain Teasers

How Are These Countries Ordered?

How are these countries ordered?

1. Canada
2. Indonesia
3. Russia
4. Philippines
5. Japan
6. Australia
7. Norway
8. United States
9. New Zealand
10. China

By kilometers of coastline (according to the CIA World Factbook).

1. Canada – 202,080 km / 125,567 mi
2. Indonesia – 54,716 km / 33,998 mi
3. Russia – 37,653 km / 23,396 mi
4. Philippines – 36,289 km / 22548 mi
5. Japan – 29,751 km / 18,486 mi
6. Australia – 25,760 km / 16,006 mi
7. Norway – 25,148 km / 15,626 mi
8. United States – 19,924 km / 12,380 mi
9. New Zealand – 15,134 km / 9403 mi
10. China – 14,500 km / 9009 mi

Note: Greenland has 44,087 km of coastline but it is not yet a fully independent country.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Longer With a Letter Removed

What 7-letter word becomes longer when you remove a letter?

Lounger (remove the ‘u’ to make the word longer).

Posted in Riddles