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

I Come in the Form of a Question

I come in the form of a question. If you don’t know the answers, you will think a lot, but when you know or you are being told the answer it sounds simple that you will think everybody can easily know.

A riddle or brain teaser.

Posted in Riddles
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How Much Time is Left in the Exam?

During a math exam, Willy asks Ms. Matilda, the teacher, how much time is left. Ms. Matilda is known for being obtuse and answers that the amount of time left is 1/5 of the time already completed and that is also how much time is left, in a manner of speaking.

How much time is left?

15 minutes. The total exam time is 90 minutes. If 15 minutes are left, 75 minutes have already passed, and one fifth of 75 is 15. However, if you follow Ms. Matilda’s hint and pay attention to only the numbers in 1/5, you get the answer of 15 minutes as well.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Dead and Bound

Dead and bound,
what once was free.
What made no sound,
Now sings with glee.

What is it?

Any wooden, stringed instrument (guitar, violin, cello, ukulele, etc)

Posted in Riddles

I Stand Like A Sentry

I stand like a sentry
And am barred by the gentry,
The first month and its god oft slip
Between my hard, dun colored lip.

What am I?

Sentries are posted at borders, gates, or doors.
The gentry (in this case to referring to the general populace) bar their doors at night.
The first month is January, named after the Roman god Janus, the double-faced God of doorways, passages and thresholds.
You pass through the doorway (hence the slip), and dun is a brown color, referencing the color of wood, which most doors are made of. Though it’s not commonly referred to, the “lip of the door” is the part of the door that fits into the doorframe on the handle/knob side, particularly if the door is lipped or ridged in order to fit the door frame better.

Thanks to Helena for creating this and sending it in.

Posted in Riddles
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You Heard Me Before

You heard me before,
Yet you hear me again,
Then I die,
‘Till you call me again.

An echo.

Posted in Riddles

What’s So Funny Ethel?

Merle was checking out at the grocery store. Ethel, a friendly cashier, said the total was $63.59. He gave her a $100 bill and she began laughing as she counted out his change. Then she gave him a high five and Merle left the store chuckling.

What was so funny?

The amount of change was $36.41, which meant Ethel handed Merle one of everything in her drawer:

$20 bill
$10 bill
$5 bill
$1 bill
A quarter
A dime
A nickel
A cent
———
$36.41

Good ol’ Ethel.

Posted in Brain Teasers

What Work is Never Finished?

What work can one never finish?

An autobiography. Unless you’re writing it in your death bed I suppose, but even then, how will you be able to record the time of death?

Posted in Riddles

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

Kaitlyn’s Age Plus and Minus Three

Kaitlyn’s age plus three has an integer square root. Three years ago, Kaitlyn’s age was the square root.

How old is Kaitlyn?

Kaitlyn is 6 years old.

6 + 3 = 9, and 9 has an integer square root.

6 – 3 = 3, and 3 is the square root of 9.

Posted in Brain Teasers