All About But Can’t Be Seen

All about, but cannot be seen,
Can be captured, cannot be held
No throat, but can be heard.

Sounds / noises. Wind also works.

Posted in Riddles

Bought By the Yard

I am bought by the yard but worn by the foot. What am I?

Carpet. Worn is used in the sense of a well-worn item.

(found on r/riddles)

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Turd Station

At Coney Island (the amusement park in Ohio) over Memorial Day weekend I saw a changing station in the men’s bathroom. A clever fellow had scraped off some letters to make the changing station read, “Turd Station”. What was the original name of the changing station?

sTURDy Station2, by Rubbermaid.

Here’s a picture of one without the letters scratched out.

rubbermaid-changing-station

Posted in Brain Teasers

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

I Stand Like A Sentry

I stand like a sentry
And am barred by the gentry,
The first month and its god oft slip
Between my hard, dun colored lip.

What am I?

Sentries are posted at borders, gates, or doors.
The gentry (in this case to referring to the general populace) bar their doors at night.
The first month is January, named after the Roman god Janus, the double-faced God of doorways, passages and thresholds.
You pass through the doorway (hence the slip), and dun is a brown color, referencing the color of wood, which most doors are made of. Though it’s not commonly referred to, the “lip of the door” is the part of the door that fits into the doorframe on the handle/knob side, particularly if the door is lipped or ridged in order to fit the door frame better.

Thanks to Helena for creating this and sending it in.

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A Hundred Legs But Can’t Stand

I have a hundred legs, but cannot stand.
I have a long neck, but no head.
I cannot see, yet I help keep your house neat and tidy.

A broom.

Posted in Riddles

Hide in Daylight But Prefer the Sun

I hide in the daylight but prefer the sun,
I have no fingers but can hold a gun,
I have three eyes but cannot see,
I live on land but in a tree,
I’m spotted in pink and cannot grow,
When you look away is when I show.

What am I?

Hint: There’s a different answer for each line

This riddle is a compilation of several riddles. The answers for each line are as follows:

1. Shadow
2. Holster
3. Traffic light
4. Bird
5. The letter ‘i’
6. Your side profile

Posted in Riddles

He And She Both Have One Each

He and she both have one each, but every person has two. A citizen has three and a human being has four. A personality has five and an inhabitant of earth has six. What are they?

Syllables.

Posted in Brain Teasers

What is the First Number of the Sequence?

If a number in a numeric sequence is 17 and the second number is 3, what is the first number?

I hesitated to add this because it’s poorly worded, ambiguous and the answer could be almost anything. I prefer teasers with a single answer, but there you go.

If you came up with a different answer and can explain how you did it, don’t think you’re wrong. It’s probably just as valid. Feel free to share yours in the comments.

My answer for the first number is 2.

Here’s how I got it.

The generic rule for a number in the sequence is: 2^(n – 1) + 1, where n is the position in the sequence.

Note: The teaser doesn’t specify the position of 17. In this case, it’s fifth.

Position 1: (so n = 1) is 2^(1 – 1) + 1 = 2

Position 2: 2^(2 – 1) + 1 = 3

Position 3: 2^(3 – 1) + 1 = 5

Position 4: 2^(4 – 1) + 1 = 9

Position 5: 2^(5 – 1) + 1 = 17

For the curious, the next 5 numbers of the sequence would be:

Position 6: 2^(6 – 1) + 1 = 33

Position 7: 2^(7 – 1) + 1 = 65

Position 8: 2^(8 – 1) + 1 = 129

Position 9: 2^(9 – 1) + 1 = 257

Position 10: 2^(10 – 1) + 1 = 513

Posted in Brain Teasers

Mixed Animals for $100

At the market you can buy a cow for $10, a pig for $1 and 8 hens for $1. How many animals would you need to buy to get 100 mixed animals for exactly $100?

7 cows, 21 pigs and 72 hens. The trick to this is finding the combination of cows and hens with the same cost and quantity since pigs are already equal. The magic combination is 7 cows and 72 hens, giving you 79 animals that cost $79 ($70 + $9). Then you just add 21 pigs to get to 100 animals.

Posted in Brain Teasers