Brain Teasers
Riddle: Miya had a birthday party. She invited three friends over-Derek, Trevor, and Amanda-who each gave her some gifts. In the middle of the party, Miya realizes that someone has stolen all of her gifts. She thinks it is one of the guests, so she questions them. Each guest makes two assertions-one truth and one lie. Derek: "I wasn't in the house when it happened. I know Amanda stole the gifts". Trevor: "Amanda stole them, I saw them. I already have enough gifts". Amanda: "I didn't steal the gifts. Derek tells the truth, he wasn't in the house". Who stole the gifts?
Answer: Trevor stole the gifts. If Derek was the thief, both of his assertions would have been false. And if Amanda was the thief, both of Derek's assertions would have been true. Both cases go against the rules, so Trevor is the thief.
Riddle: Chloe likes orange, but she hates it at the same time. How can this be?
Answer: Chloe likes the color orange, but hates orange fruit…or vice-versa (i.e. Chloe likes orange fruit, but hates the color orange).
Riddle: Helen went to a summer camp with her best friends. One day, the friends had to tell each other fun facts about themselves. Helen told her friends, "I was born on February 29th, so I have four times fewer birthdays than you guys. This year, I turned 17,". Helen's friends laughed at her and called her out for lying. Why?
Answer: February 29th only happens once every four years. Helen couldn't celebrate her 17th birthday on her actual birthday because this number can't be divided by four. So, either she wasn't born on February 29th, or she's not 17.
Riddle: Russell was watching TV when he got a call from the police. They said that they had found his friend unconscious, and asked him to come. As soon as Russell came, the officers arrested him. Why?
Answer: The officers didn't tell Russell the exact location to come to. How would the man know where to come if he didn't know what happened?
Riddle: Sofia is a student in high school. Her professor, Ms. Davis, assigned her an essay that would be due in three days. Sofia, being the worst student in her class, procrastinates and doesn't even begin the essay. Three days later, Sofia begs Ms. Davis to push the essay date back by five more days, and Ms. Davis agrees. Five days go by, and still…no essay. Sofia begs Ms. Davis to push the essay date back by a week, and Ms. Davis agrees. One week later, Sofia comes to the class with a burning candle (How did she even bring it in there?), but no essay. Sofia asks Ms. Davis if she can push the essay back until the candle wick burns out, and Ms. Davis agrees once again. Sofia laughs because she doesn't have to ever worry about the essay again. Why?
Answer: Sofia blew out the candle. She said, "until the candle wick burns out", NOT, "until the flame burns out". Therefore, Sofia can keep the candle unburned forever and never submit her essay.
Riddle: Janet is a janitor of a large museum. One day, while cleaning the ladies' room, she spots a precious ring with red gems. When Janet leaves the ladies' room, three people–Sarah, Catherine, and Harold–show up to claim it. Sarah said that the ring belonged to her grandmother; emeralds fit her green eyes perfectly anyway. Catherine asked if the ring had an engraving etched inside, and if it was damaged in any way. Harold said that he lost the ring while washing his hands; he was going to propose to his girlfriend in a few days. Janet decided that the ring belonged to Catherine. Why?
Answer: If the ring belonged to Sarah, then she wouldn't have mentioned emeralds, because the stones on the ring are red, not green. And Harold wouldn't have been allowed in the ladies' room. Catherine was the only one who knew about the engraving on the ring, as well as how precious it is, so the ring must be hers.
Riddle: Which word is the odd one out: BAIL, FAIL, PAIL, RAIL, SAIL, TAIL?
Answer: FAIL is the odd one out because it does not have a homophone. BAIL has BALE (like a bale of hay), PAIL has PALE, SAIL has SALE, TAIL has TALE, and RAIL has RALE. FAIL has FALE, which is not a real word, and therefore cannot be a homophone.
Riddle: Paul called his detective friend to report a theft. The man suspected his neighbor, Ms. Andrews, whom he thought stole his favorite figure. Paul said, "I was vacuum cleaning my room upstairs when I heard footsteps downstairs. I ran downstairs in time to see Ms. Andrews running away with my figure,". Ms. Andrews denied everything. Who should the detective believe?
Answer: The detective should believe Ms. Andrews. Vacuum cleaners are usually very noisy, so Paul couldn't possibly hear anything, let alone any footsteps.
Riddle: One afternoon, Phoebe stopped by her favorite restaurant for lunch, but she saw a waitress and a client arguing. The waitress, Sandra, claims that the client, Dave, had ordered a breakfast special and was now refusing to pay. Dave said that he had only ordered a coffee. Phoebe knew who was lying instantly. Who was it?
Answer: Sandra was lying. You don't order breakfast in the afternoon.
Riddle: Every day, pilgrims make the journey to the temple of the wooden soldiers. Upon entering the temple, most of the pilgrims seek out a holey orb with which to do battle against soldiers who are dressed in red and white uniforms. Each orb is used to attack small groups of these passive soldiers — soldiers which have the unique ability to replicate themselves whenever their ranks are assaulted by the pilgrims. The mystic orbs, like boomerangs, have the uncanny ability to return to the hand of each pilgrim when cast at the soldiers during these skirmishes. What kind of a temple is this which promotes violence by allowing people to attack innocent soldiers?
Answer: Temples like this are known as Bowling Alleys.
Riddle: For his vegetable stew recipe, Adrian needs three tomatoes and three large carrots. He also needs less radishes than tomatoes, but more radishes than cucumbers. Assuming that Adrian only uses whole numbers of vegetables, how many of each other vegetable does he need?
Answer: Adrian needs two radishes and one cucumber.
Riddle: Ainsley was having breakfast at her favorite café. She went to the bathroom, leaving her smartphone near her food. When Ainsley returned to her seat, she realized that her device was gone; she also looked just in time to see a man rushing out of the café. When she reached the man, Ainsley asked him to give her her device, but the man said, "I know nothing about your smartphone!". As soon as Ainsley heard these words, she took her device back and called the police. Why?
Answer: How did the man know that Ainsley's device was a smartphone?
Riddle: One afternoon, Aaron, a cashier at a huge grocery store, called the police to report a robbery. He said that right above him, the fluorescent light started to malfunction, so he grabbed a chair to stand on while trying to fix it. As soon as Aaron touched the bulb, he burned his hand and fell down. And when he came to his senses, the money was gone. The police officer refused to investigate further. Why?
Answer: Aaron couldn't have burned his hand because fluorescent light bulbs don't heat up. Therefore, his story is fake.
Riddle: Robert and Emma are a couple living together. Robert is rich, while Emma is broke. One day, Robert places a $50 bill on the table in their living room and leaves to go to the bathroom. Emma sees the bill and takes it for herself. When Robert comes back, he doesn't see the $50 bill; he asks Emma what happened. The woman said that a gust of wind had blown into the room and the bill flew out of the window. Robert didn't believe Emma and asked her to give him the money back. Why?
Answer: If a gust of wind flies into a room, nothing can possibly fly out of the window. The $50 bill would have just flown from the table to the floor, not the other way around.
Riddle: Every Thursday morning at 9 a.m. sharp, Miss Alice Gain leaves the comfort of her apartment, and travels about one mile to a place where she does something unpleasant. Upon arriving at her destination, Miss Gain spends between two and three hours looking through two circular windows. As she gazes through these windows, she sometimes sees flashes of white, and sometimes observes streaks of color passing before her eyes. There are several sets of these windows, but Alice usually peers through only two of them. Despite the fact Miss Gain dislikes these visits, she repeats this routine every week; and incredibly, she even has to spend a good amount of money for this activity. Has Alice lost her proverbial marbles, or is there method in her apparent madness? What in the world has Miss Alice Gain been doing?
Answer: From her apartment, Alice travels to a local laundromat to wash her clothing each week. The windows she looks through are the front-loading doors to the washer and dryer, where she usually places her whites into one machine, and her colors into another.
Riddle: Suppose you want to send in the mail a valuable object to a friend. You have a box which is big enough to hold the object. The box has a locking ring which is large enough to have a lock attached and you have several locks with keys. However, your friend does not have the key to any lock that you have. You cannot send the key in an unlocked box since it may be stolen or copied. How do you send the valuable object, locked, to your friend - so it may be opened by your friend?
Answer: Send the box with a lock attached and locked. Your friend attaches his or her own lock and sends the box back to you. You remove your lock and send it back to your friend. Your friend may then remove the lock she or he put on and open the box.
Riddle: I know what my job is, The point has been made. You say I have a big head, And you're right, I'm afraid. Put me in my place, And then leave me alone. What I need most, Is someone to drive me home. What am I?
Answer: A Nail!
Riddle: My first is a number, my second another, And each, I assure you, will rhyme with the other. My first you will find is one-fifth of my second, And truly my whole a long period reckoned. Yet my first and my second (nay, think not I cozen), When added together will make but two dozen. How many am I?
Answer: Four Score.
Riddle: I saw a dead cow walking on the street. How is this possible?
Answer: Simple. The person was walking down the street when the saw the dead cow.
Riddle: I’m a day when truth takes a twist, and laughter is hard to resist. What am I?
Answer: April Fools' Day This directly references April Fools' Day, a time when people twist the truth with pranks to spark laughter.