A Bottle and a Cork

A bottle and cork cost $1.10. If the bottle costs a dollar more than the cork, how much does the cork cost?

Most people guess 10 cents, but $1 more than 10 cents is $1.10, which would mean the total cost would be $1.20, not $1.10.

The correct answer is 5 cents. If the cork costs 5 cents, then the bottle costs a dollar more, or $1.05, making the total cost $1.10.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Pronounced Right or Wrong

What word when pronounced wrong is right but when pronounced right is wrong?

The answer is the word “wrong”. When it’s pronounced “wrong” (rhyming with song) that’s the correct pronunciation. However, if you were to pronounce the word as “right” (rhyming with night) that would be an incorrect pronunciation and be wrong.

Posted in Riddles

Presidents and Parents

How could the 22nd and the 24th U.S. Presidents have the same parents, but not be brothers?

The 22nd and 24th U.S. presidents were both the same person – Grover Cleveland.

Posted in Brain Teasers

You Heard Me Before

You heard me before,
Yet you hear me again,
Then I die,
‘Till you call me again.

An echo.

Posted in Riddles

I Live In A Busy Place In The City

I live in a busy place in the city,
I’ll let you stay with me for awhile,
If you don’t feed me, I can get you into trouble.

What am I?

A parking meter.

Posted in Riddles

Painting a Bigger Room

A painter needed 3 days to paint a room. How long would it take him, working at the same rate, to paint a room twice as large (twice the width and twice the height)?

12 days because the walls would be four times as big as the first room.

If the walls are 10 ft x 10 ft, then each wall has 100 square feet. Adding the four walls makes 400 square feet to paint. Doubling the width and height of the walls to 20 ft x 20 ft means each wall is now 400 square feet, for a total of 1600 square feet to paint. 1600 ft is four times 400 square feet, thus if it took him 3 days to paint 400 square feet, it will take 12 days (or four times as much) to paint 1600 square feet.

Posted in Brain Teasers

A Cowboy Rides Into Town On Friday

A cowboy rides into town on Friday, stays for three days and leaves on Friday. How did he do it?

The horse’s name is Friday

Posted in Riddles

Hold In Your Left Hand

What can you hold in your left hand and not in your right?

Your right elbow. You can try it yourself if you’re not convinced, but unless you have a broken arm or an incredibly flexible ulna, you won’t reach it.

Posted in Brain Teasers

I Am And Yet Cannot

I am and yet cannot,
I’m an idea, yet can rot,
I’m two but none,
On land but on sea.

What am I?

A paradox / pair of docks.

Posted in Riddles

How Many Letters In the Alphabet

How many letters are there in the alphabet?

Hint: Not 26

11. The phrase “the alphabet” has 11 letters.

Posted in Riddles