My Thunder, Lightning and Rain

My thunder comes before the lightning.
My lightning comes before the clouds.
My rain dries all the land it touches.

What am I?

A volcano.

(via Reddit)

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Always Hungry, Must Be Fed

I am always hungry,
I must always be fed,
The finger I touch,
Will soon turn red

Fire

Posted in Riddles

Amber Knits and Fauna Worry

Find a single letter that replaces the first letter in the two words of each row to make two new words. What word is formed by combining the new letter of each row?

For example: PLANK _ BRISK

The new letter is F, making FLANK and FRISK. And F would be the first letter of the answer.

AMBER _ KNITS
FAUNA _ WORRY
WARNS _ AERIE
FEMUR _ GAILY

1. U – UMBER and UNITS
2. S – SAUNA and SORRY
3. E – EARNS and EERIE
4. D – DEMUR and DAILY

The new word is USED.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Sometimes I’m a Sphere

Sometimes I’m a sphere,
Sometimes I’m a banana,
And sometimes I’m not there at all.

What am I?

The moon. A full moon is a sphere, a crescent moon looks like a banana, and sometimes the moon is not visible at all.

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Right Behind You Creeps on the Ground

It’s right behind you,
And creeps on the ground,
It follows you home,
But does not make a sound.
Careful when you turn around.

What is it?

Your shadow.

Posted in Riddles

Kings And Lords And Christians Raised Them

Kings and lords and christians raised them
Since they stand for higher powers
Yet few of them would stand, I’m certain,
If women ruled this world of ours.

A tower.

Posted in Riddles

I Stand Like A Sentry

I stand like a sentry
And am barred by the gentry,
The first month and its god oft slip
Between my hard, dun colored lip.

What am I?

Sentries are posted at borders, gates, or doors.
The gentry (in this case to referring to the general populace) bar their doors at night.
The first month is January, named after the Roman god Janus, the double-faced God of doorways, passages and thresholds.
You pass through the doorway (hence the slip), and dun is a brown color, referencing the color of wood, which most doors are made of. Though it’s not commonly referred to, the “lip of the door” is the part of the door that fits into the doorframe on the handle/knob side, particularly if the door is lipped or ridged in order to fit the door frame better.

Thanks to Helena for creating this and sending it in.

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How Old is Lilly?

Two days ago Lilly was 7 years old. Next year she will turn 10. How can this be?

Her birthday is December 31st. Today is January 1st so she was 7 two days ago, and turned 7 last year. Now she’s 8 and will turn 9 this year. And next year she’ll turn 10.

For example, if today is 01 Jan 2015:

30 Dec 2014 = age 7 (two days ago)
01 Jan 2015 = age 8 (today, she turned 8 on 31 Dec 2014, which was last year)
31 Dec 2015 = age 9 (her birthday this year)
31 Dec 2016 = age 10 (her birthday next year)

Posted in Brain Teasers

24 from 9, 6, 11 and 3

How do you get 24 from 9, 6, 11 and 3 using addition, subtraction, multiplication or division?

There are multiple solutions.

(6 – 3) × 11 – 9

(11 – 6) × 3 + 9

(9 – 6) × (11 – 3)

Posted in Brain Teasers

Four Chains in One Loop

You have four chains. Each chain has three links in it. Although it is difficult to cut the links, you wish to make a single loop with all 12 links. What is the fewest number of cuts you must make to accomplish this task?

Three cuts. Cut each link in one chain. Separate them, and use the links to join the ends of the three intact chains.

Posted in Brain Teasers