Dead At The End of An Alley

A man is found dead at the end of an alley. A detective who enters the scene sees the letter X and immediately knows who killed the man and why. What did the detective conclude?

The alley is a bowling alley. The man who was killed was a pin spotter (an old profession where they would reset the pins by hand). The X was the marking on the score sheet for a strike. The detective saw the letter X and knew that the person bowled last, got a strike, and was due to bowl again. But they bowled before the pin spotter could get out of the way.

Submitted by Dennis

Posted in Riddles

Seemingly Simple Math

What is the answer to this math problem:

8 ÷ 2 (2 + 2)

16 or 1, depending.

According to PEMDAS, parentheses come first: 8 ÷ 2 (4)

Then, even though multiplication is first in PEMDAS, you go left to right: 4 (4) = 16

If you got 1, you’re in good company. That’s what I got at first too but most calculators I’ve tried get 16.

I found this at Popular Mechanics and the debate continues online.

Posted in Brain Teasers

The Empty Pocket

How can your pants pocket be empty but still have something in it?

It has a hole. The hole is the thing (although it could be argued a pocket has air, darkness or dust and so on).

Posted in Brain Teasers

Keys to Unlock Your Soul

I am a box that holds keys without locks, yet they can unlock your soul. What am I?

A piano.

Posted in Riddles

Sweet Tooth

Sweet tooth, ah shoot,
All gone, we all long,
For another piece.

Candy

Posted in Riddles

A Date With No Numbers

How can you write a date in 5 letters without using any numbers?

The most popular answer for this teaser is ‘today’. Of course this only works if you’re reading it on that particular date or if the date is not specified. Another option is to respond literally with ‘a date’. Lastly, certain dates could be squeezed into letters using Roman numerals if you abbreviate the year to 2 numerals. For example, January 20th, 2011 would be I XX XI.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Turning the Years Upside Down

What years from the 1900s and 1800s are the same year when read upside down?

1961 and 1881.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Sentca

Four words can be made from the letters below. What are the words?

S E N T C A

1. ENACTS
2. ASCENT
3. STANCE
4. SECANT

Posted in Brain Teasers

I Am Pronounced As One Letter But Written As Three

I am pronounced as one letter but written as three,
There are two of me, I am single, I am double,
I can be blue, brown, black or green.
I can be read from right to left or left to right and am still the same.

What am I?

Eye.

Posted in Riddles

What Holds Two People Together?

What holds two people together but touches only one?

A wedding ring.

Posted in Riddles