Planting Trees on Arbor Day

On Arbor Day the fourth grade class began planting trees. They finished planting five trees before the fifth grade class arrived. But they accidentally planted them on the fifth grade side of the street.

The fourth-graders crossed the street to start over, and the fifth-graders planted the remaining trees. They finished first and felt bad for the fourth-graders, so they crossed the street and planted five trees. They planted another five trees at which point all of the trees had been planted.

By how many trees were the fifth-graders ahead of the fourth-graders?

Ten. The fifth-graders planted five more trees than they were assigned, and the fourth-graders planted five fewer than their assignment.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Always Hungry, Must Be Fed

I am always hungry,
I must always be fed,
The finger I touch,
Will soon turn red

Fire

Posted in Riddles

Why This Particular Order?

Why are these letters grouped in this particular order?

1) DFGHLPRU
2) KSTV
3) CO
4) AIW
8) MN

The letters are grouped by the number of U.S. States beginning with that letter. M and N are tied for each starting eight states.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Nearly Hanging

A prisoner is told, “If you tell a lie we will hang you; if you tell the truth we will shoot you.”

What can he say to save himself?

You will hang me. If they hang him, then the statement was true and they could only hang him for telling a lie. If they shoot him, then it makes the statement a lie and they were only to shoot him for telling the truth. An alternate solution is to say, “You will not shoot me,” leading to the same quandary for the killers.

Posted in Brain Teasers

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

Cornelius and the Flat Tire

Cornelius got a flat tire on a miserable, rainy day. As he was changing it on the side of the road, he placed the four lug nuts in the overturned hub cap. As our dear friend was moving back to put on the spare, he accidentally bumped the hub cap. He watched helplessly as all four lug nuts rolled into a deep sewer and were whisked away. Then our friend had a brilliant solution and within minutes was driving safely away.

What was his solution?

He removed one lug nut from each of the other 3 tires and used them to secure the spare tire, then drove to a tire shop.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Garlic or Spice

Before any changes I’m a garlic or spice. My first is altered and I’m a hand-warming device. My second is changed and I’m trees in full bloom. The next letter change makes a deathly old tomb. Change the fourth to make a fruit of the vine. Change the last for a chart plotted with lines. What was I? What did I become? What did I turn out to be?

clove
glove
grove
grave
grape
graph

Posted in Riddles

If I’m Ever Gone, Beware

Sometimes you’ll find me hard and cold,
Other times I’m hard to hold,
Always present in the air,
If I’m ever gone, beware.

What am I?

Water. As ice I’m hard and cold, as water vapor I’m hard to hold and I’m always present in the air as humidity (aka water vapor). If the earth ever runs out of water, we’re toast.

Posted in Riddles

Glittering Points Downward Thrust

Glittering points
That downward thrust,
Sparkling spears
That never rust.

An icicle.

Posted in Riddles

Aiden and Sofia Buying Candy

Aiden and Sofia were debating a major purchase of candy. They calculated that they could get three bags of jelly beans and two bags of chocolate for 24 cents, which was just under their limit of 25 cents. They found they could also get four bags of chocolate and two bags of jelly beans for the same 24 cents. How much did each bag of candy cost?

Jelly beans are 6 cents and chocolate is 3 cents.

Posted in Brain Teasers