Travel a Lot Meet Both Rich and Poor

I travel a lot and meet both the rich and the poor, but nobody knows where I am going next. I’m invisible but you can see what I do. Who or what am I?

Wind (or anything blown by the wind). It moves all over, reaches the rich and the poor equally and no one knows exactly which way the next gust of wind will blow. You can’t see the wind, but you can see what it blows, like leaves or dust.

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What Can You Catch But Not Throw?

What can you catch but not throw?

Your breath or an illness (a cold, virus, the flu etc).

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The Tail of a Dragon

What animal can be created from the head of a lamb, the body of a pig, the hind quarters of a buffalo and the tail of a dragon?

A lion.

Head of a lamb = L
Body of a pig = I
Hind quarters of a buffalo = O
Tail of a dragon = N

Posted in Brain Teasers

Stars Awash in a Sheen of Light

Stars awash in a sheen of light
It calls out loud in vile delight.
Listeners endure in fright.
Vicious brute that reigns at night,
Evil whelped of heinous bite,
Renewed by wax, it regains might.
A leading way to slay the beast,
Get the hidden weapon thus released.

What is this describing?
Hint: The first letter of each line has a clue

A werewolf (vulnerable to silver bullets).

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

Twice As Many Women As Children

At a party of thirty-five people there are twice as many women as children and twice as many children as men. How many of each are there?

20 women, 10 children and 5 men.

To figure it out, let m be the number of men and you get this equation:

4m + 2m + m = 35
7m = 35
m = 35 ÷ 7
m = 5

Posted in Brain Teasers

I’ll Always Smile Back

If you drop me I’m sure to crack but give me a smile and I’ll always smile back

A mirror.

Posted in Riddles

Travel Far Before You Turn It Over

You have to travel far before you turn it over. What is it?

An odometer.

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An Alphabetical Rebus

What does this represent?

abcdefghijkmnopqrstuvwxyz

Noel (more literally no “l”).

I hope you have a great holiday season!

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The Japanese IQ Test

Supposedly this is given as a test in Japan. I have no idea if that’s accurate.

There are 8 people who have to cross the river on a raft.

1. Policeman
2. Thief
3. Father
4. Boy 1
5. Boy 2
6. Mother
7. Girl 1
8. Girl 2

The rules are:

Only two people can cross at a time.
Only the adults can operate the raft.
The father can’t be with the girls unless the mother is there.
The mother can’t be with the boys unless the father is there.
The thief can’t remain with anyone unless the policeman is present.

How do you get them all across?

Instead of working it out by hand, here’s a flash version.

Click on the circle to start. Click on a person to put them on the raft and click on the lever to make the raft cross.

Here’s how I did it in 17 steps. Can you do it faster? Let me know in the comments.

1. Policeman (P)
2. Thief (T)
3. Father (F)
4. Boy 1 (B1)
5. Boy 2 (B2)
6. Mother (M)
7. Girl 1 (G1)
8. Girl 2 (G2)

1. P, T →
2. ← P

3. P, B1 →
4. ← P T

5. F, B2 →
6. ← F

7. F, M →
8. ← M

9. P, T →
10. ← F

11. M, F →
12. ← M

13. M, G1 →
14. ← P T

15. P, G2 →
16. ← P

17. P, T →

Posted in Brain Teasers