Jack, George and Anne

Jack is looking at Anne, but Anne is looking at George. Jack is married, but George is not. Is a married person looking at an unmarried person?

A) Yes
B) No
C) Cannot be determined

A. If Anne is married, she’s looking at George, who is unmarried. If Anne is unmarried, Jack is looking at her.

Posted in Brain Teasers

I Never Return

What are these three related items? When I am placed somewhere I will never stand up. Whatever you give me I will eat. When I go I never return.

A stove, fire, smoke.

Essentially a duplicate of A Group of Three but I’m keeping it here to avoid broken links.

Posted in Riddles

Destroyer Of The Unbreakable

Destroyer of the unbreakable,
More of me is hidden than seen.

What am I?

An iceberg.

Posted in Riddles

I Am And Yet Cannot

I am and yet cannot,
I’m an idea, yet can rot,
I’m two but none,
On land but on sea.

What am I?

A paradox / pair of docks.

Posted in Riddles

Different Sizes, Colors and Shapes

What comes in different sizes, colors and shapes but creates a larger whole?

A jigsaw puzzle piece.

Posted in Riddles

You’ll Have At Night

You’ll have this six-letter word at night and if you remove the first letter it denotes the top, such as on a train. What is the word?

Supper (upper).

Posted in Riddles

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

Two Fathers and Two Sons

Two fathers and two sons go fishing together in the same boat. They all catch a fish but the total catch for the day is three fish. How is this possible?

There are three men: A grandfather, a father (the grandfather’s son) and the father’s son.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Probability That Both Children Are Girls

Walking down the street one day, I met a woman strolling with her daughter. “What a lovely child,” I remarked. “In fact, I have a younger child as well,” she replied.

What is the probability that both of her children are girls?

1/2 probability. This has been know to cause raging debates and is known as one of the variations of the Boy or Girl paradox. This variation is more straightforward because knowing the position of the child leaves only two possibilities – the other child is a boy or a girl, each of which have a 1/2 probability.

Another variation of this can be found here.

Posted in Brain Teasers

One Sunday to Seven Saturday

1. Sunday
2. Monday
3. Tuesday
4. Wednesday
5. Thursday
6. Friday
7. Saturday

What phrase does this represent?

Days are numbered. Commonly used to say someone or something is going to end soon.

Posted in Brain Teasers
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