Favorite Use Is Attached To A String

A three-letter word I’m sure you know,
I can be on a boat or a sleigh in the snow,
I’m pals with the rain and honor a king,
But my favorite use is attached to a string.

What am I?

A bow. It has three letters, the bow of a boat is the front, bows are found on the presents on Santa’s sleigh, rainbows come with the rain, one bows before a king and a bow and arrow requires a string.

Posted in Riddles

Something Dark Inside

Comes as wooden as a tree,
Covered in paint, don’t you see,
Makes you laugh, or run and hide,
For it has something dark inside.

A pencil. It’s wooden, is covered in paint and the output of a pencil in the form of writing or art can make you laugh or cry. And graphite is the dark part inside.

Posted in Riddles

Not in Any State

Which letter of the alphabet is the only one that does not appear in any of the names of the 50 United States?

The letter Q.

Posted in Brain Teasers

ABCDE and What?

What comes next in this series?

A B C D E

Hint: It’s not F.

K. The letters represent vitamins, and there is currently no Vitamin F, G, H, I or J.

Posted in Brain Teasers
Tagged with

I Have Four Pairs of Letters

I have four pairs of letters,
Leaving two to stand alone.
You’re often doing the opposite,
When playing on your phone.

I help you get things done,
With one big caveat,
If taken to extremes,
I could make you fat.

What am I?

Efficiency. Being efficient helps you get things done, but if you’re extremely efficient with your tasks you get less exercise.

Posted in Riddles
Tagged with

A Smiling Guard

Two guards were on duty outside a barracks. One faced up the road to watch for anyone approaching from the North. The other looked down the road to see if anyone approached from the South. Suddenly one of them said to the other, “Why are you smiling?”

How did he know his companion was smiling?

They were facing each other. As to why his companion was smiling, the world may never know.

Posted in Brain Teasers

A Trapped Flock of Birds

A flock of birds are trapped in a delivery truck. When would the truck weigh the most?

a) When the birds are resting on the floor
b) When they’re all flying
c) The weight remains the same

c – The weight doesn’t change since it’s a closed system.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Messy Math

What is the answer to this problem?

48 / 2(9 + 3) = ?

It depends. Usually, math has one right answer, but in this case, the order of operations can get a little quirky.

There are two ways to solve this. First, like so:
48 / 2 × (9 + 3) = ?
48 / 2 × (12) = ?
24 × 12 = 288

But another, arguably valid way is:
48 / 2 × (9 + 3) = ?
48 / 2 × (12) = ?
48 / 24 = 2

Thanks to KnowYourMeme for providing a great overview on this one. Math StackExchange has more discussion.

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

Cats Catching Mice

5 cats can catch 5 mice in 5 minutes. How many cats does it take to catch 100 mice in 100 minutes?

5 cats. The same five could keep catching 5 mice every 5 minutes for 100 minutes.

Posted in Brain Teasers