Two Fuses

You have a lighter and two fuses that take exactly one hour to burn, but they don’t burn at a steady rate. For example, one fuse could take 59 minutes to burn the first inch and then burn the rest of the fuse in the last minute.

How would you use these two fuses to measure 45 minutes?

Light the first fuse on both ends and the second fuse at only one end. When the first fuse burns out you know 30 minutes have passed. Light the other end of the second fuse and when it burns out, 45 minutes have passed.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Marcus’ Strange Age

Marcus was 15 years old in 2010. In 2015 he was only 10 years old. How is this possible?

The years are B.C., so 2015 came before 2010.

Posted in Brain Teasers

For Our Ambrosia

For our ambrosia we were blessed,
By Jupiter, with a sting of death.
Though our might, to some is jest,
We have quelled the dragon’s breath.

Who are we?

Bees.

Posted in Riddles

Ex-Spouse’s Former Daughter-In-Law

What do you call your ex-spouse’s former daughter-in-law’s first husband’s daughter?

You can call them whatever you want, but they have no familial relationship to you.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Round Like An Apple

Round like an apple, deep like a cup,
yet all the king’s horses cannot pull it up.

A well.

Posted in Riddles

I Can Be Broken Yet I Hold On

I am a word with two meanings. With one I can be broken, with the second I hold on. What am I?

Tie. A tie score can be broken, but when you tie a knot (as in a necktie) it holds together.

Posted in Riddles
Tagged with

NDOLA

What does “NDOLA, PAMODZI” mean?

Thanks to the comments, it doesn’t mean anything per se, but it’s a location in Zambia. If that’s all it is, it’s not really a brain teaser, but since we’ve already worked on it, I’m marking it as solved leaving it up for posterity.

Below are former attempts to solve it.

I have yet to figure this one out. NDOLA could mean And lo, or An old, among other things. Pamodzi on the other hand didn’t have any particularly meaningful anagrams. Both words together had over 1,000 anagrams.

I haven’t come up with any other possible meanings.

Posted in Brain Teasers

A Blarmy Bridge

A boat full of people goes under a bridge and when it comes out the other side not a single person is on it. How can this be?

All the passengers are married.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Too Much For One

I am too much for one, enough for two, but nothing to three. What am I?

A secret.

Posted in Riddles

I Know of Word of Letters Three

I know a word of letters three. Add two, and fewer there will be

Few.

Posted in Riddles