Son of Water

You eat something you neither plant nor plow.
It is the son of water, but if water touches it, it dies.

Salt. It comes from saltwater but salt melts ice (the solid form of water).

Posted in Riddles

Measured But Not Seen

What can be measured but not seen?

Time. Or my toes when I’ve had one too many donuts…

Posted in Riddles

First One, Then I Seem None

First I am one, then I seem none,
In death I birth new life.
What’s raised exceeds me,
For on bent knee,
I add to a world that’s rife.

What am I?

A seed. One seed turns into a plant or tree and seemingly disappears. When a plant dies, the seeds can be harvested to create new plants. From a single seed, hundreds more are created, vastly exceeding the original. Gardeners care for plants on bent knee and each new plant helps make the air fresher.

Posted in Riddles

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

Asks No Questions

What asks no questions but receives lots of answers?

A phone or doorbell.

Posted in Riddles

The Barber of Seville

The Barber of Seville shaves all men living in Seville.
No man living in Seville is allowed to shave himself.
The Barber of Seville lives in Seville.

Who shaves the Barber of Seville?

Nobody. The Barber of Seville is a woman. Female barbers are rare, but they exist.

And for more fun with barbers, check out the Barber paradox.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Odd Start, Even Finish

What three letter English word has an odd start, an even finish and an infinitely long middle?

The word vex. “v” is Roman numeral 5, which is odd. “x” is Roman numeral 10, which is even. “e” is the base of the natural logarithm and is irrational (e = 2.718281828…). Its mantissa (the part to the right of the decimal point) is infinitely long.

Posted in Riddles

Lots of Eggs

The number of eggs in a basket doubles every minute. If it’s full of eggs in an hour, when was the basket half full?

At 59 minutes. The eggs double every minute, so half full would be a minute before it was full.

Posted in Brain Teasers

All Words From Nine Letters to One

What 9-letter word can have a letter removed to make a new word and repeat the process until a single letter remains?

startling
starting
staring
string
sting
sing
sin
in
i

Posted in Brain Teasers

Everyone Has It

Everyone has it.
Those who have it least don’t know that they have it.
Those who have it most wish they had less of it,
but not too little or none at all.

Age. Young children don’t even know their age and extremely old folks wish they could turn back the hands of time, but not so much that they’re too young or they no longer have an age at all.

By Sef Daystrom

Posted in Riddles