A Sunday Morning Murder

A man was killed on Sunday morning. His wife found the body and called the police. The police arrived and questioned the chef, maid, butler, and gardener. Their alibis were:

Chef – making breakfast
Maid – getting mail
Butler – setting table
Gardener – watering plants

The police immediately arrested the criminal. Who was it and how did they know?

The maid. Mail isn’t delivered on Sunday.

Posted in Brain Teasers

A Lady’s Delight

Lovely and round,
I shine with pale light,
Grown in the darkness,
A lady’s delight.

What am I?

A pearl. They’re formed in clams, which are of course dark.

Posted in Riddles

Odd Word Out

One of these words does not belong, one of these words is not the same. What is it about the words that does not belong? It is more apparent than the first letter not being the same.

Selflessness
Selfishness
Strengthlessness
Defencelessness

Selfishness. The rest have only one of the vowels.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Eight Letter Word With KST

What eight letter word has kst inside, in the beginning, and at the end?

Inkstand.

The letters “kst” are in the word, “in” is at the beginning, with “and” at the end. I know, it’s awkwardly worded but otherwise it wouldn’t be a riddle.

Posted in Riddles

Four Chains in One Loop

You have four chains. Each chain has three links in it. Although it is difficult to cut the links, you wish to make a single loop with all 12 links. What is the fewest number of cuts you must make to accomplish this task?

Three cuts. Cut each link in one chain. Separate them, and use the links to join the ends of the three intact chains.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Shoe Door Sticks Straight

Shoe, door, sticks, straight.

What word comes next?

Hen. The words are the last in each phrase from the children’s nursery rhyme.

One, two, buckle my shoe;
Three, four, Shut the door;
Five, six, Pick up sticks;
Seven, eight, Lay them straight:
Nine, ten, A big, fat hen;

Posted in Brain Teasers

The Hand of the Princess

A wise king devised a contest to see who would receive the Princess’ hand in marriage. The Princess was put in a 50 x 50 foot carpeted room. Each of her four suitors were put in one corner of the room with a small box to stand on. The first one to touch the Princess’ hand would be the winner and become the new King.

The rules were the contestants could not walk over the carpet, cross the plane of the carpet, or hang from anything; nor could they use anything but their body and wits (i.e. no magic, telepathy, nor any items such as ladders, block and tackles etc). One suitor figured out a way and married the Princess and became the new King. What did he do?

Asked the princess to touch his hand.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Where do the Numbers Belong?

Three numbers, 16, 14 and 38, need to be assigned to one of the rows of numbers below. Where do the numbers belong?

A06893
B1527211019
C71471117

Hint: This is not a mathematical problem. The numerical values are irrelevant.

The rows indicate the shape of the number. Row A is rounded, B is mixed and C is linear. Thus, 16 belongs in row B, 14 in row C and 38 in row A.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Two Identical Women

Two women apply for a job. They are identical and have the same mother, father and birthday. The interviewer asks, “Are you twins?” to which they honestly reply, “No”.

How is this possible?

They are triplets.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Buckets of Coins

Which would be worth more, a bucket full of nickels or a half bucket of dimes?

The half bucket of dimes. It might be tempting to say they’d be worth the same, since a nickel is worth half as much as a dime. This would be accurate if they were the same size, but the dime is smaller. Thus more dimes would fit in the same space, resulting in more value for you, you lucky dog.

Posted in Brain Teasers