Finding Rhymes in Categories

Find rhymes for each set of words so the first is a category and the rest are items in the category.

For example, LOYALTY: spring, clean, rinse → ROYALTY: king, queen, prince

1. LOIN: mortar, climb, pickle
2. SQUISH: famine, search, doubt
3. GILDING: radium, Bose, hassle
4. THYME: surgery, girder, scrutiny

1. COIN: quarter, dime, nickel
2. FISH: salmon, perch, trout
3. BUILDING: stadium, mosque, castle
4. CRIME: perjury, murder, mutiny

Posted in Brain Teasers

Go in Dry, Come Out Wet

I go in dry and come out wet,
The longer I’m in, the stronger it will get.

What am I?

A tea bag or cement.

Posted in Riddles

Four Against the Masses

We are four against the masses. We are trying to find the one who is the whole package. We sigh, we laugh, we frown while we hope that the next one will be the one. Who are we?

Four orphaned siblings. It seems like there may be a better answer than this. If you have one, please add a comment.

Posted in Riddles

Three Brothers Share A Family Sport

Three brothers share a family sport:
A non-stop marathon
The oldest one is fat and short
And trudges slowly on
The middle brother’s tall and slim
And keeps a steady pace
The youngest runs just like the wind,
A-speeding through the race
“He’s young in years, we let him run,”
The other brothers say
“‘Cause though he’s surely number one,
He’s second, in a way.”

The hands on a clock (hour, minute, second).

Posted in Riddles

The Letters of Man

Using only the letters in MAN to fill in the blanks, make normal, uncapitalized words.

1. _ _ O _ G
2. R _ _ D O _
3. _ _ R I _ _
4. E _ P _ _ _ D _
5. C I _ _ _ _ O _
6. P _ _ O R _ _ _
7. _ _ I _ L _ _ D
8. _ R _ _ _ E _ T

1. AMONG
2. RANDOM
3. MARINA
4. EMPANADA
5. CINNAMON
6. PANORAMA
7. MAINLAND
8. ARMAMENT

Posted in Brain Teasers

Two Common English Words

“H-e” starts and ends two common English words. One painful in love, one painful in everyday matters.

What are the two words?

Heartache and headache.

Posted in Riddles

Largest Product

Using all the digits from 1 to 7, what two numbers have the largest product? For example, 1234 x 567 = 699678 but you can do much better than that.

742 x 6531 = 4,846,002.

A similar problem can be found in L.A. Graham’s Ingenious Mathematical Problems and Methods with a range of 1 to 9, but the principle remains the same – the numbers with the smallest difference produce the largest product. You start out with the highest two digits, 7 and 6, then attach 5 and 4, putting the smaller of the two digits with the larger number, giving you 74 and 65. The next two highest digits are 3 and 2, giving you 742 and 653. Finally, you add the 1 to the lower number. Page 80 has the details of that solution.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Keys to Unlock Your Soul

I am a box that holds keys without locks, yet they can unlock your soul. What am I?

A piano.

Posted in Riddles

Only At Rest Do They Touch the Ground

Two legs I have and this will confound, only at rest do they touch the ground. What am I?

A wheelbarrow.

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Green You Eat It

What is one word that, when it’s green you eat it and when it’s blue you wear it?

Bell. You eat a green bell pepper and you were a blue bell (a flower).

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