The Person Who Makes It Sells It

The person who makes it, sells it.
The person who buys it never uses it.
The person who uses it doesn’t know it.

What is it?

A coffin.

Posted in Riddles

Son of Water

You eat something you neither plant nor plow.
It is the son of water, but if water touches it, it dies.

Salt. It comes from saltwater but salt melts ice (the solid form of water).

Posted in Riddles

The Sheep’s Will

A farmer dies leaving a will dividing his flock of nineteen sheep with the following ratios:

Half to his oldest son, a quarter to the middle son and one fifth to his youngest son.

Without cutting any sheep up, how did the executor of the will fulfill the farmer’s wishes?

The executor went to the neighbouring farm and asked to borrow a sheep for a few minutes. Then he returned to the sons and said, “Half of the (now) twenty sheep is 10. A quarter of the twenty sheep is 5. A fifth of the twenty sheep is 4. 10 + 5 + 4 = 19. Then the executor took the borrowed 20th sheep back to the neighbour.

Thanks to Annette for sending this in.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Glittering Points Downward Thrust

Glittering points
That downward thrust,
Sparkling spears
That never rust.

An icicle.

Posted in Riddles

Longest Words With Letters in Alphabetical Order

What is the longest, non-scientific word to have all of its letters in alphabetical order?

Billowy.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Wench and Warrior

Round and round and round it goes,
The source but not the birth of clothes,
Wench and warrior, child and crone,
Without it dressed near barer bone.

A spinning wheel. It goes around in circles and makes the thread that is used in clothing and anyone who isn’t wearing clothes would be barer boned.

Posted in Riddles

Having and Sharing

If you have it, you want to share it.
If you share it, you don’t have it.

What is it?

A secret.

Posted in Riddles

Which Switch?

You are standing outside a closed door. On the other side of the door is a room that has three light bulbs in it. The room is completely sealed off from the outside. It has no windows and nothing can get in or out except through the door. On the outside of the room there are three light switches that control each of the respective light bulbs on the other side of the door.

Your assignment is to determine which light switch controls which light bulb. You are allowed to enter the room only once, and once you come out, you must be able to state with 100% certainty which light switch controls which light bulb.

Turn one light switch on, wait a few minutes, then turn it off and turn another light switch on. Go into the room and feel the light bulbs. The one that’s still warm is connected to the switch that you first turned on, the one that is on was the second switch you turned on, and the last bulb is controlled by the switch that you didn’t touch.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Important Rebus

What does this represent?

IMPORTANT = IMPORTANT

Equally important.

Posted in Riddles
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The Japanese IQ Test

Supposedly this is given as a test in Japan. I have no idea if that’s accurate.

There are 8 people who have to cross the river on a raft.

1. Policeman
2. Thief
3. Father
4. Boy 1
5. Boy 2
6. Mother
7. Girl 1
8. Girl 2

The rules are:

Only two people can cross at a time.
Only the adults can operate the raft.
The father can’t be with the girls unless the mother is there.
The mother can’t be with the boys unless the father is there.
The thief can’t remain with anyone unless the policeman is present.

How do you get them all across?

Instead of working it out by hand, here’s a flash version.

Click on the circle to start. Click on a person to put them on the raft and click on the lever to make the raft cross.

Here’s how I did it in 17 steps. Can you do it faster? Let me know in the comments.

1. Policeman (P)
2. Thief (T)
3. Father (F)
4. Boy 1 (B1)
5. Boy 2 (B2)
6. Mother (M)
7. Girl 1 (G1)
8. Girl 2 (G2)

1. P, T →
2. ← P

3. P, B1 →
4. ← P T

5. F, B2 →
6. ← F

7. F, M →
8. ← M

9. P, T →
10. ← F

11. M, F →
12. ← M

13. M, G1 →
14. ← P T

15. P, G2 →
16. ← P

17. P, T →

Posted in Brain Teasers