Bird Flying Over the Ocean

When a bird flies over the ocean a part of the body touches the water but doesn’t get wet. What part is it?

The shadow

Posted in Riddles

Half of Eight

What is half of 8?

Hint: It’s not 4

3 (if you slice vertically) or 0 (if you slice horizontally)

Posted in Brain Teasers

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

Three Philosophers Under a Tree

Three philosophers are taking a nap under a tree. While they’re asleep, a small boy smears their noses with red berries. When they awake, they each begin to laugh, thinking the other two are laughing at each other.

But then one philosopher stops laughing, realizing his nose is red too. How did he come to this conclusion?

Let’s call the philosopher’s A, B and C. A reasoned that B was confident his nose wasn’t red. If B saw A’s nose wasn’t red, he would be surprised that C was laughing, because C would have nothing to laugh at. But B wasn’t surprised, therefore, A correctly reasoned his nose was smeared.

Posted in Brain Teasers

One Way I’m Feeling Normal

One way I’m feeling normal,
Another I’m extremely thin,
I could be a punishment,
Or the type who always wins.

I’m free from all impurity,
And you may have divined,
I have a keen edge,
But of course I am refined.

Fine.

The riddle refers to a variety of meanings of the word fine.

Feeling normal refers to when you feel fine.
Extremely thin refers to a fine thread.
A punishment refers to being charged a fee.
The one who wins refers to an athlete who is physically trained and hardened close to the limit of efficiency.
Free from impurity refers to measuring the fineness of precious metals.
A keen edge refers to a knife with a fine edge.
Refined refers to fine manners or elegance.

Posted in Riddles

Even Seven

How can you make seven even?

Remove the letter “s”, turning it into the word “even”.

Posted in Brain Teasers

The Honest and Dishonest Guards

You’re in a room with two doors. There’s a guard at each door. One door is the exit, but behind the other door is something that will kill you. You’re told that one guard always tells the truth and the other guard always lies. You don’t know which guard is which. You are allowed to ask one question to either of the guards to determine which door is the exit.

What question should you ask?

Ask either guard what door the other guard would say is the exit, then choose the opposite door.

If you ask the guard who always tells the truth, he knows the other guard would lie, so he’ll point you to the door leading to death. If you ask the guard who always lies, he knows the other guard would truthfully show you the exit, so he’ll lie and point you to the door leading to death.

An alternate solution is to ask a guard what they would answer if you were to ask them which door was the exit, then choose that door. The truthful guard will point to the correct exit, but the lying guard will too. Here’s why. If you asked him what door was the exit, he would normally lie and point to the death door, but you asked him what he would say if you asked what door was the exit, and in order to lie to that question, he will point you to the exit.

Posted in Brain Teasers

A Cloth Poorly Dyed

A cloth poorly dyed
And an early morning sky
How are they the same?

Their color both change easily.

Posted in Riddles

Dark As Midnight

What is dark as midnight but is still night?
The word has 7 letters, starts with a B and ends with an E.

Bedtime

Posted in Riddles

What Binds These?

What word binds all of these together?

Burglar
Fat
Copy
Bag
Nap

Cat.

Cat burglar
Fat cat
Copy cat
Let the cat out of the bag
Cat nap

Posted in Riddles