A Duck

There are two ducks in front of a duck, two ducks behind a duck and a duck in the middle. How many ducks are there in total?

Three. They’re all in a row, so ducks 1 and 2 are in front of duck 3, ducks 2 and 3 are behind duck 1 and duck 2 is in the middle.

Posted in Brain Teasers

I Go Around In Circles

I go around in circles,
But always straight ahead
Never complain,
No matter where I am led.

A wheel.

Posted in Riddles

What Are The Next Three Numbers in the Series?

What are the next three numbers in this series?

4
6
12
18
30
42
60
72
102
108
?
?
?

Each number is surrounded by a prime number.

4 – 3 and 5 are prime
6 – 5 and 7 are prime
etc.

The next three numbers after 108 that have primes before and after them are:

138, 150 and 180.

Posted in Brain Teasers

What Surrounds The World

What surrounds the world, yet dwells within a thimble?

Space.

Posted in Riddles

What Looks Like Food

What looks like food, tastes like food, smells like food, sounds like food when you cook it, is grown in dirt like food, fills up your stomach like food, but is not food?

A poisonous mushroom. Since some types of mushrooms are edible, it can be very hard to distinguish between a safe mushroom and one that will kill you. Food is defined as a substance consumed to provide nutrition, therefore a poisonous mushroom that kills you doesn’t qualify as food, even though it shares all of the traits of a regular mushroom.

Other valid answers include anything that’s edible, resembles food, but is poisonous.

Posted in Riddles

The More You Have, The Less You See

The more you have of it, the less you see. What is it?

Darkness.

Posted in Riddles

I Belong To Everyone

I belong to everyone. Sometimes I make you happy, sometimes I make you sad. I will never end until the day you do.

Your thoughts.

Posted in Riddles
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Seasons, Seconds, Centuries and Minutes

What is in seasons, seconds, centuries and minutes but not in decades, years or days?

The letter “n”.

Posted in Riddles

Run Smoother Than Any Rhyme

What runs smoother than any rhyme, loves to fall but cannot climb?

Water

Posted in Riddles

Counterfeit Accounting

Early one morning Hal, the owner of a hardware store, sells a mailbox for $25 to Courtney that cost him $20 wholesale. Courtney pays with a $100 bill and Hal discovers he doesn’t have enough change. He runs to the jewelry shop next door, where Jack, the owner, gives him change in exchange for the $100. Later that afternoon, Jack discovers the $100 bill is a counterfeit and Hal pays him $100 to make it right.

What was Hal’s total loss?

The total loss was $95.
-$20 = The wholesale cost of the mailbox
$100 = The money from Jack
-$75 = The change paid to Courtney
-$100 = To pay Jack back
-$20 + $100 – $75 – $100 = -$95

It’s easy to think Hal lost $195 but that fails to account for the $100 used to make the change, which came from Jack, not Hal. Jack paid $100 in exchange for a worthless piece of paper, so the $100 was initially Jack’s loss. Hal had made a $5 profit until Jack’s discovery. If you guessed $100, that’s arguably correct, but not making $5 in profit isn’t a loss in the strictest sense of the word.

Posted in Brain Teasers