Sometimes I Get Stronger From The Sun

I can help you have some fun,
Sometimes I get stronger from the sun,
If you never give me a break,
You will find I never wake,
I am optimistic on one side,
I can be short, fat, tall or wide,
Rectangle and cylinder are two of my shapes,
And I can even help you make video tapes,
Sometimes you must wait for me to get ready,
Just hold on for a few hours and be steady,
I can help you get around the mall,
Or help you make a telephone call.

What am I?

A battery. Games and other entertainment devices run on batteries. Batteries can be charged using solar power, which is from the sun. If you use a battery-powered device long enough, the battery will die. Batteries have a plus side and can be all shapes and sizes. They can power scooters and Segways commonly used in malls and your cell phone requires a battery to function.

Posted in Riddles

A Four Word Admonition

What four word admonition makes the happy person sad and the sad person happy?

The phrase, “This too shall pass.” According to Wikipedia, the well-known phrase is often attached to a fable of a great king who is humbled by these words, and to someone who is experiencing something wonderful, it can be saddening. But to one who is in the pits of despair, it is a phrase that brings relief and hope.

In other words, if a happy person is told, “This too shall pass” it will make them sad. But to a person on hard times, hearing, “This too shall pass” will cheer them up.

Posted in Riddles

Abraham Encoding

The name ABRAHAM can be changed into a word for a primitive musical instrument by replacing each letter with a different letter. The repeated letters (A is this case) must be replaced with the same replacement letter in the new word.

What is the musical instrument?

PANPIPE

Posted in Brain Teasers

A Red Robe and Staff In Hand

I wear a red robe,
With staff in hand,
And a stone in my throat.
Cut me and I weep red tears

What am I?

A cherry

There are a few other variations of this one:

As I went through the garden gap,
Who should I meet but Dick Red-cap!
A stick in his hand, a stone in his throat,
If you’ll tell me this riddle, I’ll give you a groat.
(Said to be the lyrics to A Cherry)

I slipped down a slippery gap,
Found a man with a red cap,
He had a stick in his back and a stone in his belly,
Riddle me this and I’ll give you a penny.

Posted in Riddles

Plane Crash

A plane with 50 passengers crashes and everyone is killed, but there were only 49 bodies. How is this possible?

Two of the passengers were siamese twins.

Posted in Brain Teasers

I Always Tell the Truth

You see me quite often,
But don’t really care.
If you pass by me,
You’ll often stop and stare.

I can’t speak or see,
But don’t think me uncouth,
Because no matter what,
I always tell the truth.

What am I?

A mirror.

Posted in Riddles
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Nine-Letter Word, Common as Air

A nine-letter word, common as air,
When each letter’s cut, a new word to pare,
Take a letter each round and continue to one.
Name the word and the path and then you’ll be done.

Surprisingly, there are several nine-letter words that can have one letter removed in each round to make a new word all the way to one letter, which must be ‘a’ or ‘i’. Startling is the most common answer, but I’ve included the other words I’m aware of. I don’t include plural words, like cleansers, drownings, splatters, starvings, trappings and wrappings because it’s kind of cheating.

startling
Remove the l to make starting (or remove the t to make starling)
Remove the t to make staring
Remove the a to make string
Remove the r to make sting
Remove the t to make sing
Remove the g to make sin
Remove the s to make in
Remove the n to make I

splitting
Remove the l to make spitting
Remove the p to make sitting
Remove a t to make siting
Remove the first i to make sting
Remove the s to make ting
Remove the g to make tin
Remove the t to make in
Remove the n to make I

stringier
Remove the r to make stingier
Remove the i to make stinger
Remove the t to make singer
Remove the r to make singe
Remove the g to make sine
Remove the e to make sin
Remove the s to make in
Remove the n to make I

strapping
Remove the s to make trapping
Remove the t to make rapping
Remove the p to make raping
Remove the r to make aping
Remove the a to make ping
Remove the g to make pin
Remove the p to make in
Remove the n to make I

Posted in Riddles

Jim and Wanda’s Apples

Jim and Wanda both have some apples. If Jim gives Wanda an apple, they will both have the same number of apples. However, if Wanda gives Jim an apple, Jim will have twice as many as Wanda. How many apples do Jim and Wanda each have?

Jim has 7 apples and Wanda has 5 apples.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Has Teeth But Can’t Bite

What has teeth but can’t bite?

A comb. Other inanimate objects with teeth like a saw, zipper or a gear can “bite” you. Many people can affirm from painful experience in regards to zippers and saws, and the unfortunate factory worker who is missing a finger can attest to gears. It’s a rare event that anyone would be injured by a comb.

Another grim option is a dead animal or person.

Posted in Riddles
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One Strand Dangles

One strand dangles.
Two strands twist.
Three or more can
fashion this.

Braids

By Sef Daystrom

Posted in Riddles