A Third As Old

Barry is 67 years old. His daughter is 43. When was she 1/3 as old as him?

31 years ago.

Here’s one way to solve it.

Let x = how many years ago

We get this equation: 67 – x = 3 × (43 – x)

Solving for x gives us 31.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Feet on the Hike

A man hiked through the woods with his dog and saw three coyotes, six wolf cubs, seven bunnies, nine squirrels and thirteen chipmunks. How many total feet were there?

Two. The man has two feet. The rest of the animals have paws.

Posted in Brain Teasers

A Trail of Silver

If you carried my burden, you would be crushed.
Though not rich, I leave a trail of silver.

What am I?

A snail. They carry their homes on their back, and a house would crush a person (even the tiny houses). And the trail of silver is a bit of a stretch, but it’s the slimy, gooey substance snails leave behind them.

Posted in Riddles
Tagged with

Wolves and Owls

You are in the woods with owls and wolves. There are 22 eyes and 32 legs. How many owls and wolves are there?

5 owls and 5 wolves, (not 6 owls because 2 of the eyes and legs are yours).

2 * owls + 2 * wolves = 20 eyes
2 * owls + 4 * wolves = 30 legs
owls + wolves = 10 eyes → owls = 10 – wolves
owls + 2 * wolves = 15 → 10 – wolves + 2 * wolves = 15 → wolves = 5
owls + 5 = 10 → owls = 5

Posted in Brain Teasers

Tall in Morning, Short at Noon

Tall in the morning, short at noon, gone at night but I’ll be back soon. What am I?

A shadow.

Posted in Riddles

Cut One Off And I Become Stronger

I have three letters. Cut one off and I become stronger. Cut two off and I become ten. What am I?

A fox. Removing the f leaves ox, a strong animal. Cutting off the fo leaves X, the roman numeral for 10.

Posted in Riddles
Tagged with

I Can Kill People

I can kill people, or cause great pain.
You eat me.
I can mean you’re crazy.
I hold things together.
I help climbers stay safe.
I can replace a swear.
And I’m on a violin.

What am I?

Nuts.

People with nut allergies can die from eating nuts. Being hit in the nuts hurts (I speak from experience. Painful, painful experience). You eat nuts (unless you’re allergic, in which case you should run away). If someone says you’re nuts, it doesn’t mean you’re a peanut or an almond. Nuts and bolts hold things together. A climber’s nut or chock wedges into a rock. Instead of swearing, you can say, “Aww nuts!”. And finally, the nut on a violin is a small piece of hard material that supports the strings.

Posted in Riddles
Tagged with

Turn Nine Into Six

Here is the Roman numeral for nine: IX

By adding only one line or symbol, how can you turn it into six?

SIX.

Posted in Brain Teasers

A Shorter Word

What word becomes shorter when you add letters to it?

Short. Adding ‘er’ to short gives you shorter.

Posted in Riddles

Cowboy Corral

Two cowboys live next door to each other and both have a corral for their cows in the back. One day they meet at the back of their homes, standing next to a wall dividing their corrals. The first cowboy gets to thinking and asks his neighbor for a cow so he can double his herd. The other cowboys replies, “That’s fine by me partner, cuz then we’ll have the same number of cows?” How many cows does each cowboy own?

We’ll use A to represent the first cowboy and B for the second cowboy.

A + 1 = 2A, so A = 1.
A + 1 = B – 1, so B = 3.

Posted in Brain Teasers