More You Take Away, The Bigger I Get

The more you take from me, the bigger I get. What am I?

A hole.

This is quite similar to It Cannot Be Seen and Weighs Nothing.

Posted in Riddles

Words With Many Faces

My letters become three faces,
One has gone to far away places,
Another sets a standard high,
The third can never be a guy.

What are the three words?

Sailed, ideals and ladies.

Posted in Brain Teasers

A City in the Twilight

Half-way up the hill, I see thee at last, lying beneath me with thy sounds and sights — A city in the twilight, dim and vast, with smoking roofs, soft bells, and gleaming lights.

The Past (Longfellow).

Posted in Riddles

A Woman Without All Her Fingers On One Hand

What do you call a woman who doesn’t have all her fingers on one hand?

Normal. Women (and men for that matter) have half of their fingers on one hand and half of them on the other.

Posted in Riddles

The Secret of the Chalk Emerald

A dear old relative passed away recently and her family gathered for the reading of the will. The final item was the Chalk Emerald, a priceless gem. The will bequeathed it to whoever determined where it was hidden. The only clue was it was in a cylinder surrounded by a thousand squares. A young lass of barely six immediately piped up saying she knew where it was hidden and she was correct. Where was the hiding place?

In a roll of toilet paper.

Mark suggested two alternative solutions: A cylindrical chimney or a well, the squares being the bricks. Although most bricks aren’t square, it’s conceivable I guess.

Posted in Brain Teasers

What Times Seven Is All Fours?

What is the smallest integer that is all 4s when multiplied by 7?

63,492 × 7 = 444,444

Posted in Brain Teasers

Fill in the Missing Element

Here is a series of numbers:

16 06 68 88 ___ 98

What belongs in the blank spot?

87 is the common answer to this, but it has to be flipped upside down, so I consider L8 more correct.

If you flip the numbers horizontally by 180 degrees:

86 87 88 89 90 91

You see that the blank spot is 87, counting from 86 to 91. However, you need to flip it around, so it becomes L8.

Posted in Brain Teasers

From Diner to Menus

How can you go from DINER to MENUS, changing one letter at a time and forming another English word in each step?

DINER
MINER
MINES
MINUS
MENUS

Another option is:
DINER
DINES
MINES
MINUS
MENUS

Posted in Brain Teasers

Ground Not For Thy Daily Bread

Ground not for thy daily bread,
Leave me in my scented bed,
Ignore me not, lest I doth wither,
My name I leave you to consider.

A flower. The soil they grow in is not used for food, like wheat to make bread, but for their smell. A neglected flower will wither.

Posted in Riddles

When Is The Equation Correct?

When is the following equation correct?

14 + 1 = 3

When dealing with 24-hour time, 1400 hours plus 1 hour is 1500 hours, also known as 3 o’clock.

Posted in Brain Teasers