Twice Four and Twenty Blackbirds

Twice four and twenty blackbirds sitting in the rain.
I shot and killed a quarter of them. How many do remain?

After shooting a quarter of the birds, the rest would fly off, so the remaining birds, brutally shot by you, would be:

(2 × (4 + 20)) / 4 = 12

Posted in Brain Teasers

A Seed of Three Letters

I am a seed, three letters in the name,
Take away two and I sound quite the same.

What am I?

Pea.

Posted in Riddles

Liquid Splashes But None Seeps Through

When liquid splashes me, none seeps through,
When I’m moved a lot, liquid I spew,
When I am hit, color I change,
And colors I come in, quite a range,
What I cover is quite complex,
Yet I am very easy to flex.

What am I?

Skin

Posted in Riddles
Tagged with

Colored As A Maiden Tweaked

Colored as a maiden tweaked,
Time was naught when I began;
Through the garden I was sneaked,
I alone am the fall of man.

What am I?

An apple.

Posted in Riddles

Shortest Word With All the Vowels

What is the shortest word in the English language to contain all of the vowels?

Sequoia, eulogia or miaoued are all good options, but there’s an even shorter (and more obscure) word with all the vowels and not a single consonant: Iouea. It’s not the kind of word you’d use at the dinner table, but it’s listed in the Wikipedia dictionary as a genus of Cretaceous fossil sponges.

If you got really tricky and tried to find a word that contained the letters in the phrase ‘all of the vowels’, you probably found, like I did, that there isn’t one. But it was still worth checking.

Posted in Brain Teasers

What Runs Around the Yard

What runs around the yard without moving?

A fence.

Posted in Riddles
Tagged with

No Eyes But Once Could See

I do not have eyes but I once could see. I used to have thoughts but now I’m empty.

A skull.

Posted in Riddles

Many and One

They are many and one,
They wave and they drum,
Used to cover a stare,
They go with you everywhere.

Your hands.

Posted in Riddles

Living to Six

How can you cross out four letters from the word LIVING to leave six remaining?

Cross out LING, leaving you with VI, or 6 in Roman numerals.

Posted in Brain Teasers

The 22nd and 24th Presidents of the U.S.

The 22nd and 24th presidents of the United States of America had the same parents, but were not brothers. How is this possible?

It was the same guy! Grover Cleveland is the only president in history to serve two, non-consecutive terms.

Posted in Brain Teasers