Marcus’ Strange Age

Marcus was 15 years old in 2010. In 2015 he was only 10 years old. How is this possible?

The years are B.C., so 2015 came before 2010.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Always Runs, Never Walks

What always runs but never walks, often murmurs, never talks, has a bed but never sleeps, has a mouth but never eats?

A river.

Posted in Riddles

Fly In The Ear

One evening a man is walking home from work and an insect flies into his ear. He tries to pry it out but it doesn’t work. Shaking his head isn’t successful either. Finally he managed to get it out. How did he do it?

As soon as he got home, he shined a flashlight close to his ear and the insect, attracted by the light, flew toward it.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Head, Tail, Brown and No Legs

What has a head, a tail, is brown, and has no legs?

A penny.

Posted in Riddles

What Does Man Love More Than Life?

What does man love more than life
Fear more than death or mortal strife
What the poor have, the rich require,
and what contented men desire,
What the miser spends and the spendthrift saves
And all men carry to their graves?

Nothing. This one is similar to Greater than God, but different enough to include it here.

Posted in Riddles

Two Identical Women

Two women apply for a job. They are identical and have the same mother, father and birthday. The interviewer asks, “Are you twins?” to which they honestly reply, “No”.

How is this possible?

They are triplets.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Don’t Get a Goat

On a game show there are three closed doors – one hides a car and the other two conceal a goat. The contestant selects a door, which remains closed, and the host, knowing where the car is hidden, reveals a goat behind one of the remaining two doors. The contestant is then given the option to switch doors or stay with the one they originally selected. What should the contestant do to have the best chance of winning the car?

The contestant should switch doors, which doubles the chance of winning the car. Initially there is a 2/3 chance of picking a goat, but once the other goat is revealed, switching to remaining door gives the contestant a better chance of winning the car. This is known as the Monty Hall Problem and can be very unintuitive.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Wait 27 Days Or See It Every Day?

You could wait 27 days or you could see it everyday. What is it?

The moon. Even though the true moon cycle is about 29.5 days, it takes 27 days, 7 hours, and 43 minutes for our Moon to complete one full orbit around Earth. Thus you can see the full moon every 27 days or you can moon yourself every day in the mirror. Not that you’d want to. Does anyone moon themselves? Can’t say as I’ve ever had the “pleasure”.

Posted in Riddles

BEJQXYZ

What is significant about the following set of letters?

BEJQXYZ

They are the only letters in the alphabet that are not found at the beginning of the name of a state in the United States of America. The rest of the letters in the alphabet, namely ACDFGHIKLMNOPRSTUVW, start the name of at least one state. Incidentally, eight different states each start with the letters M and N, tying them for the most states starting with a particular letter. The next highest is a three-way tie between A, I and W with four each.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Mislabeled Boxes of Marbles

Three closed boxes have either white marbles, black marbles or both, and they are labeled white, black and both. However, you’re told that each of the labels are wrong. You may reach into one of the boxes and pull out only one marble. Which box should you remove a marble from to determine the contents of all three boxes?

The one labeled both. Since you know it’s labeled incorrectly, it must have all black marbles or all white marbles. After you determine what it contains, you can identify the other two boxes by the process of elimination.

Posted in Brain Teasers