Cut One Off And I Become Stronger

I have three letters. Cut one off and I become stronger. Cut two off and I become ten. What am I?

A fox. Removing the f leaves ox, a strong animal. Cutting off the fo leaves X, the roman numeral for 10.

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The Shortest Sentence In the World

What is the shortest sentence in the English language?

Jelly donuts (ice cream is better)

The typical answer to this is “I am,” but some argue that it’s not a complete sentence. However, if someone asked a man named Rupert if he was Rupert, he could reply, “I am” and it would make a complete sentence in my book.

But that’s not the whole answer. There is an even shorter sentence using an imperative with an implied subject (how’s that for an English terminology-filled sentence?) With “Go,” the “you” is implied. For example, if your wife wanted you to go with her to pick up some donuts and you were busy, she might say, “I really want to get some donuts, I’m starving!” and you might reply, “Go!” The implication being you never wanted to get donuts in the first place because you like ice cream more anyway and if you’re busy you’re probably doing something worthwhile and important and can’t be disturbed for such trivial matters as acquiring sweet pastries with holes in them, no matter how much of a waste of time your wife says your pursuits are. In short, “Go” is the shortest sentence in the English language that also has the longest implied meaning. Do you want to get get some ice cream? Go!

Ava pointed out in the comments that No is another viable alternative.

Posted in Brain Teasers

One Tooth To Bite

One tooth to bite,
He’s the forest’s foe.
One tooth to fight,
As all Norse know.

What is it?

An axe.

Posted in Riddles

The 500 Mile Race

Mike, Jimmy, Nader, Kevin, and Larry were the top five finishers in the regional 500-mile race. They drove yellow, orange, green, red and blue cars but not necessarily in that order.

Neither Kevin nor Larry drove the green car.
Kevin finished faster than Mike and Larry.
The blue car finished earlier than Larry’s and Nader’s car.
The yellow car finished faster than the green car and the orange car.
Mike’s and Larry’s car finished ahead of the orange car.
Jimmy’s car finished before the blue and the yellow car.

Who drove what color car and what place did each driver finish?

1st – Jimmy, red car
2nd – Kevin, blue car
3rd – Larry, yellow car
4th – Mike, green car
5th – Nader, orange car

Posted in Brain Teasers

Fly In The Ear

One evening a man is walking home from work and an insect flies into his ear. He tries to pry it out but it doesn’t work. Shaking his head isn’t successful either. Finally he managed to get it out. How did he do it?

As soon as he got home, he shined a flashlight close to his ear and the insect, attracted by the light, flew toward it.

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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.

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Take Away All My Letters

Take away my first letter and I remain the same. Take away my last letter and I remain unchanged. Remove all my letters and I’m still me.

What am I?

A mail carrier. Letters in this sense are envelopes rather than the letters of the alphabet.

Posted in Riddles

Finley’s Flaky Friends

Finley’s friends all chipped in to buy her a wedding gift. At first, ten friends agreed to contribute the same amount. Then two “friends” dropped out. The remaining eight had to add another dollar each to cover the cost of the gift. How much did the gift cost?

$40.

Let x be the amount the ten friends initially agreed to pay. We can then make the following equation:

10x = 8x + 8

Solving for x gives us $4, thus the gift cost 10 × $4, or $40.

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How Many Mangoes?

From a basket of mangoes when counted in twos there was one extra,
counted in threes there were two extra,
counted in fours there were three extra,
counted in fives there were four extra,
counted in sixes there were five extra,
but counted in sevens there were no extras.

At least how many mangoes were there in the basket?

119. The number has to be evenly divisible by seven for there to be no extras when counting in sevens, and it has to be odd in order for there to be one extra when counting by twos. It also can’t be evenly divisible by three through six. 119 is the first odd multiple of 7 that satisfies the requirements.

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Ten White Man On A Dirt Road

Ten white men standing on a dirt road.
Killed by three eyes as black as night.

What happened?

Someone bowled a strike. The ten white men are the pins, the dirt road is the bowling alley (it’s not dirt, but it’s the color of dirt, and if it said a smooth wooden alley it wouldn’t be much of a riddle). Three eyes as black as night are the finger holes in the bowling ball.

Posted in Riddles