Walks on Graves at Night

This walks on graves at night yet in homes during the day,
Men are scared of it, women like it, children play with it,
It lives on dates and salt,
It is covered in hair,
Its name starts with ‘M’ and it is mentioned in the Quran.

What is it?

Moths.
Most species of moths are nocturnal, yet they are attracted to light and can be found in homes. Men, in the most generic sense, can be scared of moths (see Mottephobia) as well as the damage they can cause as pests to bee hives, grain, flour, trees and agriculture. Women like moths because of the silk they produce. Children frequently chase and play with moths. Moths are attracted to salt and love to eat rotting fruit (such as dates). Some species of moths are densely covered with tiny hairs and of course it starts with the letter ‘m’. Lastly, moths are mentioned in the Quran (101:4 (Asad) [It will occur] on the Day when men will be like moths swarming in confusion)

Posted in Riddles

Debbie’s Dragster

Debbie starts driving her dragster from rest and constantly accelerates to 60 mph in 10 seconds. How far does she travel in those 10 seconds?

1/12 mile

Ten seconds is 1/6 of a minute and 1 minute is 1/60 of an hour, so 10 seconds is 1/360 of an hour.

If you graph her trip with the speed on the y-axis and the time on the x-axis, you get a triangle with height of 60 mph and width of 1/360 of an hour. To calculate the area of the triangle, you multiply 1/2 × 1/360 × 60 = 1/12.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Horses, Sleep and Dreams

What do horses, sleep and dreams have in common?

Nightmares.

Posted in Riddles

A Sunday Morning Murder

A man was killed on Sunday morning. His wife found the body and called the police. The police arrived and questioned the chef, maid, butler, and gardener. Their alibis were:

Chef – making breakfast
Maid – getting mail
Butler – setting table
Gardener – watering plants

The police immediately arrested the criminal. Who was it and how did they know?

The maid. Mail isn’t delivered on Sunday.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Sisters and Brothers

My daughter has as many sisters as she has brothers. Each of her brothers has twice as many sisters as brothers. How many sons and daughters do I have?

Four daughters and three sons. Each daughter has 3 sisters and 3 brothers, and each brother has 2 brothers and 4 sisters.

To figure it out mathematically, you could use the following two equations where G = the number of girls and B = the number of boys:
G – 1 = B
2(B – 1) = G

Solving for G gives you 4 and plugging that in to G – 1 = B gives you a B of 3.

Posted in Brain Teasers

What is the Chance That You’ll Be Correct?

If you choose an answer to this question at random, what is the chance that you will be correct?

a) 25%
b) 50%
c) 60%
d) 25%

This is becomes a self-referential paradox. Both A and D would be correct if there were four unique answers, but since A and D are the same answer, the chance that you would choose a correct answer is 50%, which makes B correct. But if there’s only one correct answer, the odds of choosing the correct one at random goes back to 25%. And around and round you go.

There’s a lot of discussion at Richard Wiseman’s blog and more at Lifehacker, where I first saw this.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Something To Everybody And Nothing To Everyone Else

What is something to everybody and nothing to everyone else?

Your mind.

Posted in Riddles

Hickory Dickory Dock

Hickory dickory dock!
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one
and down I come.
The man will never talk.

What am I?

A guillotine.

Posted in Riddles

Stocking the Shelves

Alfred and Bill are clerks at the local grocery store. Alfred can stock a shelf in 20 minutes, but Bill is new and takes 30 minutes. How long would it take for them to stock a shelf together?

Working together they can stock a shelf at a rate of 1/20 + 1/30 (or 5/60) per minute. They’ll finish in 12 minutes

Posted in Brain Teasers

What Gives Life and Love

What gives life and love, and is there till they die?
What can hide you and find you, heal you and feed you but should never give up on you?

A mother.

Posted in Riddles
Tagged with