Jump Dog Jump

A man says his dog can jump over his house. No one believes him but he is right. How is that possible?

The dog can jump over his dog house.

Posted in Brain Teasers

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

What Runs Around the Yard

What runs around the yard without moving?

A fence.

Posted in Riddles
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Four Cards

Four cards are placed in front of you on the table, each with a number on one side and a color on the other. The visible cards show 3, 8, red and brown. Which cards should you turn over in order to test the truth of the statement that if a card shows an even number on one face, then its opposite face is red?

four-cards

You’d need to turn over only the 8 and brown card. Only a card with an even number on one face and which is not red on the other face can invalidate the stated rule. If you turn over the 3 card and it’s not red, it doesn’t invalidate the rule, nor does turning over the red card and finding it has the label 3.

This test was devised by Peter Cathcart Wason and is known as the Wason selection task. Less than 10% of test subjects got it correct in two separate studies.

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I Hide In A Dark Tunnel

I hide in a dark tunnel awaiting my time.
I can only be released by pulling back.
Once released, I may do unspeakable damage.

A bullet.

Posted in Riddles
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Apples for Leather

Apples for leather,
leather for silk,
silk for tobacco,
all to get milk.

Bartering.

By Sef Daystrom

Posted in Riddles

O S C Sequence

O, S, C, Y, S, B, T, D, ?

What is the next letter in the sequence?

E. Oh say can you see, by the dawn’s early light.

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A Blade of Jagged Cut

Has a blade of jagged cut.
Keeps the quickest hand out shut.
Goes in darkness. Wears a ring.
One is quiet. Many sing.

A key. It has a jagged cut in order to fit the lock. A locked door keeps people out and the keyhole is dark. Key rings are a common way to hold a set of keys, and when you’re using a key that one is quiet, but the rest jingle and jangle.

By Sef Daystrom

Posted in Riddles

Going Down to the River

A zebra was going to the river. On the way the zebra encountered five giraffes. Each giraffe had five monkeys on their neck. How many animals were going to the river?

Just one – the zebra. The other 30 animals (5 giraffes and 25 monkeys) were going the other way.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Canaries in the Cage

I am the owner of a pet store. If I put in one canary per cage, I have one bird too many. If I put in two canaries per cage, I have one cage too many. How many cages and canaries do I have?

Four canaries and three cages.

If you put one canary in each cage, you have an extra bird without a cage. However, if you put two canaries in each cage then you have two canaries in the first cage, two canaries in the second cage and an extra cage.

Posted in Brain Teasers