Decorating With Tiles

You are decorating for spring and you’ve found a bargain. A huge box of beautifully decorated tiles, enough to provide a border in two rooms. You really can’t figure out how to arrange them. If you set a border of two tiles all around, there’s one left over. If you set three tiles all around or four or five or six there’s still one tile left over. Finally you try a block of seven tiles for each corner and you come out even. What is the smallest number of tiles you could have to get this result?

301. This is the smallest number that even divides by 7, but when divided by 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 gives you one left over.

Posted in Brain Teasers

I Appear In The Morning But Am Always There

I appear in the morning but am always there.
You can never see me though I am everywhere.
By night I am gone, though I sometimes never was.
Nothing can defeat me but I am easily gone.

What am I?

Sunlight.

Posted in Riddles

White, Round Not Always Around

I’m white, I’m round, but not always around. Sometimes you see me, sometimes you don’t. What am I?

The moon.

Posted in Riddles

Sharpshooter

A sharpshooter hangs up his hat, turns around and walks 5000 meters in one direction, then turns around and shoots his gun, putting a hole right through his hat. How did he do it?

He hung the hat up on his gun.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Two Common English Words

“H-e” starts and ends two common English words. One painful in love, one painful in everyday matters.

What are the two words?

Heartache and headache.

Posted in Riddles

Plum Taking

A man without eyes saw plums on a tree.
He neither took them nor left them, how can this be?

The man had only one eye and took one plum. (note singular versus plural)

Posted in Brain Teasers

Growing Tall But Never Fat

This on this.
That on that.
Growing tall,
but never fat.

What am I?

A stack.

By Sef Daystrom

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Alphonso and Sadie

Alphonso and his sister Sadie are entering the airport to meet their mother when Sadie gasps in surprise and says to her brother, “You see that man in the crowd over there?”

Alphonso replies, “It’s Bernie. I don’t believe it. Let’s go introduce ourselves.”

Neither of them had ever met Bernie before. They’d never seen a picture or painting of him, nor was he a famous celebrity.

How was this possible?

Alphonso was born as a twin, but he was separated from his twin brother at birth. Bernie is Alphonso’s identical twin, which is how Sadie was able to recognize him in the crowd.

This is kind of a cheat, because there are probably other possible explanations. But we can’t have everything :)

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.

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Calm and Cool Among Tumult and Fury

I remain calm and cool among tumult and fury,
I hide treasures and creatures you could hardly fathom,
I will crush those I welcome in deeply,
I am dark yet beautiful.

What am I?

Underwater in the deep ocean. Even when storms brew, the water deep below the surface is calm and cool. Thousands of treasures have been lost in sunken ships, and amazing creatures live at deep depths of the ocean. At extreme depths, the pressure is crushing. It is extremely dark deep in the ocean, yet also beautiful.

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