What I Embrace I Destroy

My first two letters say my name.
My last letter asks a question.
What I embrace I destroy.

What am I?

Ivy. IV is pronounced ivy, y is pronounced why and fast growing ivy can smother and kill trees, shrubs and grass.

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What is the Five Digit Number?

What 5-digit number satisfies the following requirements?

1. No zeroes
2. First two digits are the same
3. Fourth digit is twice the first
4. Last digit is twice the third
5. Sum of all digits is 18

33264.

There are several ways of solving this. One way is to represent each spot with a letter, A – E.

Then you have these equations:

A = B
D = 2 * A
E = 2 * C
A + B + C + D + E = 18

By simplifying, you get:

4 * A + 3 * C = 18

Plug in values for A and C to find that A = 3 C = 2.

Posted in Brain Teasers

It’s True I Bring Serenity

It’s true I bring serenity,
And hang around the stars
But yet I live in misery;
You’ll find me behind bars
With thieves and villains I consort
In prison I’ll be found
But I would never go to court,
Unless there’s more than one

The letter “s”.

Posted in Riddles

Brandon at the Carnival

Brandon was walking around at the carnival. A man called out from a booth and said, “If I can write your exact weight on this piece of paper, you have to pay me $50. If I can’t do it, I’ll pay you $50.”

Brandon checked the booth for a scale but saw nothing. He agreed. Since your weight can fluctuate by a pound or two, he decided that no matter what number the man wrote, he would just say he weighed a pound more or less. In the end, the man in the booth won the $50. How did he do it?

The man in the booth wrote the words, “Your exact weight” on the piece of paper. Brandon paid up.

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In Your Body Free the First Two Times

What is in your body for free the first and the second time but the third time you have to buy yourself?

Your teeth. You get baby teeth and adult teeth as part of the life package, but once you lose those you get to pay for dentures (or scare small children with your sunken face).

Posted in Riddles

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.

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Useless Keys

What keys don’t unlock any doors?

Piano keys, keyboard keys, monkey, donkey, turkey, jockey, hockey, doohickey, malarkey and passkey. There may be others, but you get the drift.

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What Times Seven Is All Fours?

What is the smallest integer that is all 4s when multiplied by 7?

63,492 × 7 = 444,444

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Seemingly Simple Math

What is the answer to this math problem:

8 ÷ 2 (2 + 2)

16 or 1, depending.

According to PEMDAS, parentheses come first: 8 ÷ 2 (4)

Then, even though multiplication is first in PEMDAS, you go left to right: 4 (4) = 16

If you got 1, you’re in good company. That’s what I got at first too but most calculators I’ve tried get 16.

I found this at Popular Mechanics and the debate continues online.

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I Run Cold and Hot

I run cold and hot,
I look blue but am red.

What am I?

Blood. People can be referred to as hot blooded, and certain animals are cold-blooded. Your veins look blue, but the blood is actually red.

Posted in Riddles