The Sheep’s Will

A farmer dies leaving a will dividing his flock of nineteen sheep with the following ratios:

Half to his oldest son, a quarter to the middle son and one fifth to his youngest son.

Without cutting any sheep up, how did the executor of the will fulfill the farmer’s wishes?

The executor went to the neighbouring farm and asked to borrow a sheep for a few minutes. Then he returned to the sons and said, “Half of the (now) twenty sheep is 10. A quarter of the twenty sheep is 5. A fifth of the twenty sheep is 4. 10 + 5 + 4 = 19. Then the executor took the borrowed 20th sheep back to the neighbour.

Thanks to Annette for sending this in.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Weight In My Belly

Weight in my belly;
trees on my back;
nails in my ribs;
feet I do lack.

A ship.

Posted in Riddles

The Shortest Sentence In the World

What is the shortest sentence in the English language?

Jelly donuts (ice cream is better)

The typical answer to this is “I am,” but some argue that it’s not a complete sentence. However, if someone asked a man named Rupert if he was Rupert, he could reply, “I am” and it would make a complete sentence in my book.

But that’s not the whole answer. There is an even shorter sentence using an imperative with an implied subject (how’s that for an English terminology-filled sentence?) With “Go,” the “you” is implied. For example, if your wife wanted you to go with her to pick up some donuts and you were busy, she might say, “I really want to get some donuts, I’m starving!” and you might reply, “Go!” The implication being you never wanted to get donuts in the first place because you like ice cream more anyway and if you’re busy you’re probably doing something worthwhile and important and can’t be disturbed for such trivial matters as acquiring sweet pastries with holes in them, no matter how much of a waste of time your wife says your pursuits are. In short, “Go” is the shortest sentence in the English language that also has the longest implied meaning. Do you want to get get some ice cream? Go!

Ava pointed out in the comments that No is another viable alternative.

Posted in Brain Teasers

If You Have Three, You Have Three

If you have three, you have three.
If you have two, you have two.
But if you have one, you have none.

What am I?

Choices.

Posted in Riddles
Tagged with

LEWL GUNEB SI FLAH ENDO

Rearrange the letters of each word in this phrase to form a well-known saying.

LEWL GUNEB SI FLAH ENDO

Well begun is half done.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Four of Us In Your Field

Four of us are in your field
But our differences keep us at yield

First, a one that is no fool
Though he resembles a gardener’s tool

Next, one difficult to split in two
And a girl once had one as big as her shoe

Then, to the mind, one’s a lovely bonder
And truancy makes it grow fonder

Last, a stem connecting dots of three
Knowing all this, what are we?

The four suits in a deck of standard playing cards

The Spade is a gardener’s tool.

The Diamond is the hardest gem to break. “Little Girl and Queen” is a Mother Goose rhyme, in which the Queen gave the girl a large diamond for picking the Queen some roses.

The Heart bonds with the mind to form love. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

The Club, or Clover, is three dots connected around a stem.

Posted in Riddles

A C F H K ?

What is the next letter in this sequence and why? A C F H K _

M. Skip 1 letter then 2 letters, alternating.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Yesterday and the Day After Tomorrow

When the day before yesterday was referred to as the day after tomorrow, the day that was then called yesterday was as far away from the day we now call tomorrow as yesterday is from the day which we shall now be able to speak of last Monday as a week ago yesterday. What day is it?

Thursday.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Five Letters and People Eat Me

I have five letters and people eat me. When you remove my first letter I become a crime. Remove my first two letters and I am an animal. If you remove my first and last letters I’m a form of music.

What am I?

Grape

Grape = a fruit people eat
rape = a crime
ape = an animal
rap = a category of music

Posted in Riddles

A Name Kebab

A Name Kebab (something I made up) is a series of first and last names that fit together like a delicious Shish Kebab.

For example, the names Benjamin Franklin, Franklin Pierce and Pierce Brosnan form a tasty three-name kebab.

What is a five-name kebab that starts with Chris and ends with Berlin?

1. Chris Paul
2. Paul George
3. George Washington
4. Washington Irving
5. Irving Berlin

Feel free to share others in the comments.

Posted in Brain Teasers