How Are These Countries Ordered?

How are these countries ordered?

1. Canada
2. Indonesia
3. Russia
4. Philippines
5. Japan
6. Australia
7. Norway
8. United States
9. New Zealand
10. China

By kilometers of coastline (according to the CIA World Factbook).

1. Canada – 202,080 km / 125,567 mi
2. Indonesia – 54,716 km / 33,998 mi
3. Russia – 37,653 km / 23,396 mi
4. Philippines – 36,289 km / 22548 mi
5. Japan – 29,751 km / 18,486 mi
6. Australia – 25,760 km / 16,006 mi
7. Norway – 25,148 km / 15,626 mi
8. United States – 19,924 km / 12,380 mi
9. New Zealand – 15,134 km / 9403 mi
10. China – 14,500 km / 9009 mi

Note: Greenland has 44,087 km of coastline but it is not yet a fully independent country.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Rodents and Owls

Find the two palindromes described below. (A palindrome is a word or phrase that’s spelled the same backwards as forwards, such as Was it a bat I saw?)
Question asked by a person afraid of rodents:

___ __ _ ___ _ ___

Said by an owl on a muggy day:

___ ___ __ ____

Was it a rat I saw?
Too hot to hoot

Posted in Brain Teasers

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

Rarely Touched, Often Held

I’m rarely touched but often held and if you’re wise you’ll use me well. What am I?

Your tongue.

Posted in Riddles
Tagged with

What is HIJKLMNO?

HIJKLMNO

What 5-letter word does this represent?

Water. Or literally, H to O, which sounds the same as H2O.

Posted in Brain Teasers
Tagged with

Only At Rest Do They Touch the Ground

Two legs I have and this will confound, only at rest do they touch the ground. What am I?

A wheelbarrow.

Posted in Riddles
Tagged with

One Three Five

What word comes next?

one three five four ______

Four. Each word is the number of letters in the previous word. And since four has four letters, it would continue with four forever after.

Posted in Brain Teasers

I’m On A Horse

You’re riding a horse. To the right of you is a cliff and in front of you is an elephant moving at the same pace and you can’t overtake it. To the left of you is a hippo running at the same speed and a lion is chasing you. How do you get to safety?

Get off the merry-go-round.

Posted in Brain Teasers

I Turn Polar Bears White

I turn polar bears white
and I will make you cry.
I make guys have to pee
and girls comb their hair.
I make celebrities look stupid
and normal people look like celebrities.
I turn pancakes brown
and make your champagne bubble.
If you squeeze me, I’ll pop.
If you look at me, you’ll pop.
Can you guess the riddle?

The answer to this admittedly lame riddle is, “No.” The reason is that the question at the very end asks if you can guess the riddle and there is nothing that satisfies all of the riddles’ requirements.

Some say that pressure is the answer, but they can’t explain how it turns polar bears white or pancakes brown. Nothing turns polar bears white, any more than something turns a snowflake white and heat makes pancakes brown, not pressure.

Posted in Riddles

Starts With T

What starts with a T, ends with a T, and has “T” in it?

A teapot.

Posted in Riddles