The Barber of Seville

The Barber of Seville shaves all men living in Seville.
No man living in Seville is allowed to shave himself.
The Barber of Seville lives in Seville.

Who shaves the Barber of Seville?

Nobody. The Barber of Seville is a woman. Female barbers are rare, but they exist.

And for more fun with barbers, check out the Barber paradox.

Posted in Brain Teasers

At Birth It Can’t Start Nor By Death Is It Ended

More precious than gold, but cannot be bought,
Can never be sold, only earned if it’s sought,
If it is broken it can still can be mended,
At birth it can’t start nor by death is it ended.

Friendship. It is more precious than gold to have a genuine friend, and true friendship cannot be bought or sold, only earned. When a friendship is broken it can be fixed and infants aren’t able to make friends until they’re older, but death can’t end it. Love doesn’t work as an answer because a friendship requires two people to interact, while parents love their children as soon as they’re born.

Posted in Riddles

I Am Like A Witch’s Brew

I am like a witch’s brew,
I make people do what they don’t want to,
At the sound of my voice,
You have no choice,
But to do what’s requested of you.

What am I?

The magic word – please. It makes people do things they otherwise wouldn’t be inclined to do. When parents are teaching children about manners, they call it the magic word and wait to fulfill a request until the child says please. Once the child says it, the parent feels bound to do it to show the child that it works.

Posted in Riddles

Five Pigeons on a Fence

Five pigeons are sitting on a fence. The farmer comes out and shoots one. How many are left?

None, the rest flew away at the sound of the gunshot. Or one (the dead pigeon).

Posted in Brain Teasers

Eternally Joining In A Single Bite

With pointed fangs it sits in wait,
With piercing force it doles out fate,
Over bloodless victims proclaiming its might,
Eternally joining in a single bite

What is it?

A stapler.

Posted in Riddles

Wait 27 Days Or See It Every Day?

You could wait 27 days or you could see it everyday. What is it?

The moon. Even though the true moon cycle is about 29.5 days, it takes 27 days, 7 hours, and 43 minutes for our Moon to complete one full orbit around Earth. Thus you can see the full moon every 27 days or you can moon yourself every day in the mirror. Not that you’d want to. Does anyone moon themselves? Can’t say as I’ve ever had the “pleasure”.

Posted in Riddles

The Mysterious 6th Floor Window

A man was looking through a window on the 6th floor, opened it, thought for a minute then jumped, passing through the open window, but he was not injured. How was this possible?

He was a window washer and he was entering the building.

Posted in Brain Teasers

The Japanese IQ Test

Supposedly this is given as a test in Japan. I have no idea if that’s accurate.

There are 8 people who have to cross the river on a raft.

1. Policeman
2. Thief
3. Father
4. Boy 1
5. Boy 2
6. Mother
7. Girl 1
8. Girl 2

The rules are:

Only two people can cross at a time.
Only the adults can operate the raft.
The father can’t be with the girls unless the mother is there.
The mother can’t be with the boys unless the father is there.
The thief can’t remain with anyone unless the policeman is present.

How do you get them all across?

Instead of working it out by hand, here’s a flash version.

Click on the circle to start. Click on a person to put them on the raft and click on the lever to make the raft cross.

Here’s how I did it in 17 steps. Can you do it faster? Let me know in the comments.

1. Policeman (P)
2. Thief (T)
3. Father (F)
4. Boy 1 (B1)
5. Boy 2 (B2)
6. Mother (M)
7. Girl 1 (G1)
8. Girl 2 (G2)

1. P, T →
2. ← P

3. P, B1 →
4. ← P T

5. F, B2 →
6. ← F

7. F, M →
8. ← M

9. P, T →
10. ← F

11. M, F →
12. ← M

13. M, G1 →
14. ← P T

15. P, G2 →
16. ← P

17. P, T →

Posted in Brain Teasers

24 from 9, 6, 11 and 3

How do you get 24 from 9, 6, 11 and 3 using addition, subtraction, multiplication or division?

There are multiple solutions.

(6 – 3) × 11 – 9

(11 – 6) × 3 + 9

(9 – 6) × (11 – 3)

Posted in Brain Teasers

The Sheep’s Will

A farmer dies leaving a will dividing his flock of nineteen sheep with the following ratios:

Half to his oldest son, a quarter to the middle son and one fifth to his youngest son.

Without cutting any sheep up, how did the executor of the will fulfill the farmer’s wishes?

The executor went to the neighbouring farm and asked to borrow a sheep for a few minutes. Then he returned to the sons and said, “Half of the (now) twenty sheep is 10. A quarter of the twenty sheep is 5. A fifth of the twenty sheep is 4. 10 + 5 + 4 = 19. Then the executor took the borrowed 20th sheep back to the neighbour.

Thanks to Annette for sending this in.

Posted in Brain Teasers