Making Lots of Shirts

In a textile factory, 5 machines take exactly 5 minutes to make 5 shirts. How many minutes will it take 100 machines to produce 100 shirts?

5 minutes. It takes each machine 5 minutes to make a shirt, so if you have all 100 machines running at the same time, they’ll produce the 100 shirts in 5 minutes.

Posted in Brain Teasers

A Medication of Three Parts

I’m a medication with three parts. The first part is the surname of someone who has been a Mary and a Maria. The second part is a vital organ and the last is plentiful in the ocean.

What am I?

Andrews Liver Salts, an antacid. Julie Andrews played the role of Mary Poppins in the movie of the same name, and Maria in the Sound of Music. It’s tough to live without a liver and a taste of the ocean always includes a touch of salt.

Posted in Riddles

No One Can Reach It

It’s red, blue, purple and green, no one can reach it, not even the queen. What is it?

A rainbow.

Posted in Riddles

Word Pairs to Create a New Word

One letter can be used to replace the first letter of each word pair below to create two new English words. The new letters can then be combined to spell a word. What is that word?

MAIL ____ PINK
CART ____ SAID
GRID ____ RIMLESS
LINK ____ BOUND
ROWED ____ RIPPLE

SMART

SAIL – SINK
MART – MAID
ARID – AIMLESS
RINK – ROUND
TOWED – TIPPLE

Posted in Brain Teasers

A Group of Three

I give you a group of three. One is sitting down, and will never get up. The second eats as much as is given to him, yet is always hungry. The third goes away and never returns.

Stove, fire, smoke.

Posted in Riddles

I Lack Much Reason, But Often Rhyme

I lack much reason, but often rhyme,
And require logic to pass the time,
To get the words to tell your kin,
Look for clues that lie within,
Though all are different, they act the same,
The answer is practically in the name.

What am I?

A riddle.

Posted in Riddles

Reordered Mistake

What reordered word is a mistake?

Errored, which is an anagram of reorder.

Posted in Riddles

Four Legs in the Morning

It walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three legs in the evening. What is it?

Man (or woman). A baby crawls on all fours, then walks on two legs as an adult and uses two legs and a cane when they’re old.

Posted in Riddles

A Promise to the President

Ronald has a rare opportunity to meet the President of the United States. During his visit the president gives him a gift but tells Ronald he is never to sell it unless he sees the president again. Ronald consents, but the president dies later that year. Years later a man offers to buy the President’s gift for $1000. Ronald agrees and exchanges the gift for 20 crisp $50 bills. Did he keep his promise?

Yes. The president was Ulysses S. Grant, who died in 1885 and whose face has been on the $50 bill since 1913. He saw the president on the bills before he made the exchange.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Number Abbreviations

What do these represent?

24 = HiaD
26 = LotA
7 = DotW
9 = LoaC
12 = SotZ
88 = PK

24 hours in a day
26 letters of the alphabet
7 days of the week
9 lives of a cat
12 signs of the Zodiac
88 piano keys

Posted in Brain Teasers