Riddle:
In the 1950s, two young men, surrounded by a crowd of onlookers, stood on a round piece of wood preparing to do battle. Neither man carried any weapons of any kind, as they were both planning to use their feet to defeat their opponent. Sharp spikes on the bottoms of their boots turned their feet into the tools they would use to dispatch their adversary. One kick to the body or head could cause irreparable damage; but neither man ever struck the other with their spiked boots. In fact, not one physical blow was landed during the contest, and yet, one man was eliminated and sent to a watery grave. I thought these types of barbaric spectacles designed to satisfy the visual lusts of onlooking crowds had stopped after the gladiatorial days of ancient Rome. On the other hand, perhaps this scenario is not as violent as it appears to be. Exactly what was going on here?
Answer: The two combatants were engaged in a log rolling contest during a lumberjack competition. The spiked boots aided them in keeping their footing on the slippery logs.
Riddle:
A young girl is standing on a small hill facing a man and two young boys. The man and one of the two boys are wearing headgear made of leather and metal, and the other young boy is wearing a hard, plastic hat. The man has no special feelings toward the girl on the hill, but the young boy in the special headgear is her close friend. However, the other boy in the plastic hat is the sworn enemy of the girl. As the man and the two boys stare intently at the girl on the hill, she suddenly throws a hard, round object toward the group of three males, striking the boy wearing the plastic hat in the head, knocking his hat off, and sending him sprawling to the ground. The man, after witnessing these events, issues a three-word command to the boy who was struck, and this causes the boy to run away from home. What was the three-word command the man gave to the boy, and why did it cause the boy to run away from home?
Answer: The young girl was the pitcher in a little league game. Her close friend (the young male catcher) called for a fastball, but the girl’s pitch was wild, and it knocked down the young boy who was wearing a protective batting helmet. The adult male umpire subsequently told the batter the appropriate three words, “Take Your Base.” The batter then ran away from home and went to first base.
Riddle:
A woman, who is the executive director of a large and profitable business, has an interesting job description. Among her many duties, she is primarily responsible for the gathering and dispensing of pictures of dead people. In fact, she has a special room within her facility which is specifically designed to hold many thousands of these pictures, and she is assigned the task of securing this room against any and all unscrupulous scoundrels who might try to steal them. Her gang of laborers spend most of the week exchanging these pictures with those who frequent her establishment, sometimes collecting, and sometimes giving these pictures to others at their request. This woman and her employees appear to enjoy their work, as they all carry these pictures of deceased individuals in their purses and wallets outside of work. Is this woman and her gang of laborers morbidly deranged, or are they more normal than they initially appear to be? Just what is this business in which these people are engaged?
Answer: The woman is a bank president, and her gang of laborers are the tellers who work there. The pictures of dead people are the many thousands of bills and coins, each with a picture of a former President or a high ranking official who are now deceased, from our past government.
Riddle:
There was no mention of it in any of the newspapers, but a queen recently moved to a small farm in the state of Iowa. To assist her, a group of about 20 diligent workers was assigned to help the queen with the farm work which needed to be done, as the queen was not accustomed to performing any type of menial, manual labor. It may seem a bit strange, but in her new home, there were no cows or chickens or farm animals of any kind, and the surrounding soil was very sandy, so no crops could be grown there. This really didn’t matter though, as there was no farm machinery for the workers to use anyway. At the queen’s insistence, those diligent workers spend their days digging tunnels all over the farm; but they are not seeking treasure or anything of value. These tunnels sometimes collapse on the workers, killing a few; but the queen shows little concern and these deaths are never reported to the police or to any law enforcement agency. Who does this queen think she is? She must feel she is above the law and has no respect for the lives of those who serve her! Where is the justice for these workers? Or, perhaps, the queen shouldn’t be held responsible after all. What exactly is going on here?
Answer: The queen was an ant which was purchased and added to an ant farm owned by a child in the state of Iowa. About 20 worker ants were added to the ant farm shortly thereafter.
Riddle:
Terry had just returned to Chicago via. American Airlines at 12 midnight. He was extremely tired after having just completed a seven-day bridge tournament in California. After retrieving his single piece of luggage, he immediately hailed a taxi to take him to the nearest Red Roof Inn ------ Terry's favorite hotel. As he instructed the cabbie concerning his desired destination, he could plainly see the Spanish-speaking driver had no idea what was being said to him. Luckily, Terry remembered some of his high school Spanish, so he simply told the driver, "Tejado Rojo," which means "Red Roof" in Spanish. The cabbie immediately nodded to show his understanding, and he began driving to the requested destination. Upon arrival, Terry, who was barely awake by this time, paid the driver and entered the front door of the establishment. When he asked the receptionist for a room, the response he received was, "Are you on drugs? There is no place to sleep here!" Where do you suppose the cab driver had taken Terry?
Answer: The closest Pizza Hut. Almost, if not all of them have red roofs.
Riddle:
A man is standing inside a large, brown circle. Just behind him is a smaller, white rectangle. In full view of many men, women, and even children, the man in the circle openly displays in his hand a small bag full of a white, powdery substance. Immediately, the man spots another man wearing a mask, signaling to him that he wants something the man in the circle has in his possession. The man in the brown circle, who is now standing on only one leg, proceeds to deliver a very small amount of the white powder to the masked man along with a round object. Numerous plainclothes police witness this open exchange, but neither man is arrested for the possession or the trafficking of the white powder. What is wrong with our society today!?! Ignoring crime is never the answer, as it only emboldens the criminals around us; or is the scenario described above more innocent than it appears? Just what is happening here?
Answer: The man in the brown circle is a baseball pitcher who is holding a white rosin bag used to help dry his hand before pitching. The pitcher then sees his catcher (the masked man) giving him the signal for which pitch he is to throw, and the pitcher then delivers the baseball which has a small amount of resin still on it.
Riddle:
Fiona's mother has 12 children. One day, the mother comes home and sees that all 12 children are busy. The first child, January, is reading a book. The second child, February, is cooking dinner. The third child, March, is playing chess. The fourth child, April, is tidying up her room. The fifth child, May, is taking a nap. The sixth child, June, is taking a shower. The seventh child, July, is gardening outside. The eighth child, August, is lighting the fireplace. The ninth child, September, is painting a picture. The 10th child, October, is doing yoga. The 11th child, November, is doing her homework. What is the name of the 12th child, and what is he/she doing?
Answer: The name of the 12th child is Fiona, and she is playing chess with March. Fiona is the name of the 12th child because this is FIONA'S mother. And Fiona is playing chess with March because most of the aforementioned activities require only one person to do, except for playing chess; that activity requires two players.
Riddle:
Jasmine was the worst student in her class. One day, her instructor, Mr. Collins, gave her a chance to stay in her class and not be expelled. He said, "Give me a statement. If the statement is true, you will not be expelled from the class. And if the statement is false, you will be expelled from the class. So, what do you say?". What should Jasmine say to stay in her class?
Answer: Jasmine should say, "I will be expelled from the class,". If we suppose that the statement is true, then Jasmine would not be expelled from the class. But then, it makes the statement false. And if we suppose that the statement is false, then Jasmine would be expelled from the class. But then, it makes the statement true. This phrase creates a paradox, as it cannot be true AND false at the same time.
Riddle:
Jennifer is always late for work. One day, she comes to work late as usual, which angers her boss. But, her boss is more lenient today and gives Jennifer a chance to keep her job. If she solves his rebus puzzle, Jennifer won't be fired. The boss says, "I'm A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T V W X Y Z!". Luckily, Jennifer was a smart girl and managed to keep her job. What did the rebus puzzle say?
Answer: "I'm missing you". "A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T V W X Y Z" is missing the letter "U", which sounds like "I'm missing you (U)".
Riddle:
Harry is in a history competition with two other students–Renèe and Tyler. The rules are as follows: A student will choose another student to target. A history question will be read out, and the student will give his or her answer. If the answer is correct, the target is eliminated. And if the answer is incorrect, the target stays in the game. This will happen until only one student remains. Harry isn't very good in history; his odds of answering correctly are 1/3. Renèe's odds are a little better–2/3. And Tyler is a history ace, with his odds of giving the correct answer being 3/3. Every student knows everyone else's odds. To be fair, Harry will begin; then, the turn will pass to Renèe, then to Tyler, and then to Harry, and so on until one player remains. How can Harry have higher chances to win?
Answer: On Harry's first turn, he should give the incorrect answer on purpose. If he targets Renèe and manages to eliminate her, then it's just Harry and Tyler; however, Tyler will definitely eliminate Harry because HIS odds are much higher. And if Harry targets Tyler and manages to eliminate him, then it's just Harry and Renèe; however, Renèe might eliminate Harry because she has higher odds. If Harry purposefully answers incorrectly, the turn will simply move to Renèe, who will answer next. On Renèe's first turn, she will likely target Tyler because he has higher odds than her. If she manages to eliminate him, then it's just Harry and Renèe. Harry will be going first with his shot at winning the competition. If Renèe doesn't eliminate Tyler, then it will be HIS turn; Tyler will target Renèe and eliminate her for sure due to his odds being higher than hers. Although Harry will have to go against Tyler in the end, it's still a fair situation because Harry will still be going first with a chance to win.
Riddle:
Emma was arrested for robbing a bank. The police wanted to arrest Emma's boyfriend as well because he was supposedly an accomplice. The officers found four men-Kevin, Miles, Paul, and Stanley-and interrogated them. One of them is the boyfriend who is lying. Another person was Emma's brother, who did not assist with the robbery but was also lying because he wanted to help. And the other two boys were innocent and telling the truth. Each person says the following: Kevin: Stanley is her boyfriend. Miles: Paul is lying. Paul: Kevin is lying. Stanley: Miles is not her brother. Who is Emma's brother, and who is her boyfriend?
Answer: Kevin is Emma's brother, and Miles is her boyfriend. If Kevin is telling the truth, then Stanley is lying because the boyfriend lies. This means Miles is also lying because according to these conditions, Miles IS the brother who is lying. But then, Paul is telling the truth. It contradicts that Kevin is telling the truth because both of them cannot be truthful at the same time. So, Kevin is lying, Paul is telling the truth, and Miles is lying. By default, Stanley is the other man telling the truth. The two liars are Kevin and Miles; they are Emma's boyfriend and brother. Since Stanley said that Miles is NOT her brother, and that statement is true, it means Kevin is her brother, and Miles is her boyfriend.
Riddle:
Mr. Martinez is a philosophy teacher at a prestigious university. One day, he places a pencil onto his desk and gives his students an assignment: to write a short essay on the following topic- why the pencil does not exist. The student with the most convincing argument would get an A, while everyone else would get a D. An hour later, all of the students handed in their papers; most of them filled up the front and back of their papers, but one boy wrote just two words and he got the A. What words did he write?
Answer: The boy wrote, "What pencil?".
Riddle:
Mr. Plessy, one of the best pilots in his town, came to his insurance company to file a report. He said that someone had robbed him in the street, but he couldn't see what the robber had looked like because of his poor eyesight. The insurance manager refused to proceed with the case and called Mr. Plessy a liar. Why?
Answer: Mr. Plessy is a pilot, but it's impossible to work as one if you have poor eyesight.
Riddle:
There are two species of citizens on a foreign planet: Hamburgs and Helphands. There are 10,000 Hamburgs, and Helphands make up 50% of the population. How many Helphands are on the foreign planet?
Answer: There are 10,000 Helphands on the foreign planet. If there are only two species of citizens on the planet, and Helphands make up 50% of the population, then Hamburgs must make up the other 50% of the population, with 10,000 of them. If there are 10,000 Hamburgs, then there are also 10,000 Helphands.
Riddle:
A young man became famous one day when he gathered a quarter of a bushel (8 dry quarts) of a certain type of fruit, which many people call a vegetable. Evidently, this youth, whose first and last name both start with the same letter, was able to harvest these fruits (vegetables) after they had been placed into a solution of vinegar or brine while still on the vine. So, the questions which have never been answered concerning this story are #1: How many of these fruits/vegetables did he actually harvest, and #2: Where is the work of his labor now? Can you name this famous person who has the same first and last initials?
Answer: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers …
Riddle:
Five friends-Albert, Brenda, Carl, Diana, and Eric–raced around a track. Albert finished before Brenda but after Carl. And Diana finished before Eric but after Brenda. In what order did each friend finish?
Answer: From first to last, the order in which the friends finished is: Carl, Albert, Brenda, Diana, and Eric.
Riddle:
Angela had a disease that required her to take pills. One day, her doctor prescribed her three pills that would help to cure her of her disease. She needed to take one pill every 30 minutes. How much time will pass before Angela takes all of the pills?
Answer: One hour will pass. Once Angela takes the first pill, she'll wait 30 minutes. After that, she will take the second pill and wait another 30 minutes. And then she will take the last pill after that. After all, the first pill doesn't take 30 minutes to take.
Riddle:
Peter likes tomatoes, but not potatoes; he likes cucumbers, but can't stand carrots; Peter also enjoys grapes, but not lettuce. And he likes squash, but not onions. Would Peter like pumpkins or apples more?
Answer: Peter would like pumpkins more, because he only likes fruits and vegetables that grow on vines. Pumpkins grow on vines, while apples do not.
Riddle:
A butterfly flies to a rock in the middle of a huge lake and stops to rest. If it swims North, it's five minutes to the mainland. If it swims East, it's four minutes to the mainland. If it swims South, it's three minutes to the mainland. And if it swims West, it's two minutes to the mainland. In which direction should the butterfly swim?
Answer: The butterfly shouldn't swim in any direction because butterflies don't swim; they fly!
Riddle:
Simon Simpleton was born in London, England. His mother was Welsh and his father Scottish. When Simon was eight his mother died. When Simon was ten his father married an Irish women and suddenly Simon had an Irish sister. When Simon was twenty four he graduated as a lawyer and took a job in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is now sixty six. Why can he not be buried on the banks of Loch Lomond in his favourite village of Luss, in Bonnie Scotland?
Answer: Because he is still alive!
