PROBLEM OF THE WEEK

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A riddle problem is a question or statement intentionally phrased so as to require ingenuity in ascertaining its answer or meaning, typically presented as a game.  Below is a list of the past problem of the week riddles in descending chronological order.

POW: 10-19-2020

Riddle:

A sphere has three, a circle has two, and a point has zero. What is it?

Answer:

Dimensions.

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POW: 10-12-2020

Riddle:

A man bumps into his mathematician friend on the street that he hasn't seen in 5 years. The man asks the mathematician how old his children are. The mathematician, who always replies in riddles said, "I now have three children. The sum of their ages is equal to the number of windows on the building in front of you and the product of their ages equals 36." The friend then says "I need one more piece of information." The mathematician then replies "My youngest child has blue eyes." What are the ages of the mathematicians three children?

Answer:

They are 6, 6, and 1.

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POW: 10-05-2020

Riddle:

How can you make the following equation true by drawing only one straight line: 5+5+5=550? Can you figure it out?

Answer:

Draw a line on the first plus sign that turns it into a 4! The equation then becomes true: 545+5=550. You could also change the equal symbol to a crossed out equal symbol which means "not equal to".

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POW: 09-21-2020

Riddle:

If seven people meet each other and each shakes hands only once with each of the others, how many handshakes will there have been?


 

Answer:

Twenty one. Most people would think there were 42 handshakes. The first person shakes the hand of 6 others, the second person shakes the hand of 5 remaining people, the third person shakes the hand of 4 remaining people, the fourth person shakes the hand of 3 remaining people, the 5th person shakes the hand of 2 remaining people and the sixth person shakes the hand of 1 remaining person. 6+5+4+3+2+1=21

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POW: 09-14-2020

Riddle:

A group of campers have been on vacation so long, that they've forgotten the day of the week. The following conversation ensues.


Darryl: What's the day? I don't think it is Thursday, Friday or Saturday.


Tracy: Well that doesn't narrow it down much. Yesterday was Sunday.


Melissa: Yesterday wasn't Sunday, tomorrow is Sunday.


Ben: The day after tomorrow is Saturday.


Adrienne: The day before yesterday was Thursday.


Susie: Tomorrow is Saturday.


David: I know that the day after tomorrow is not Friday.


If only one person's statement is true, what day of the week is it?

Answer:

It is Wednesday. If it was any other day of the week, more than one statement would be true. To solve the riddle, evaluate each person's statement and write down what day it could be according to the statement. David's statement indicates it could be any day of the week except for Wednesday. When you list the days that it could be according to everyone's statement, it turns out Wednesday is the day mentioned only one time. Darryl: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday Tracy: Monday Melissa: Saturday Ben: Thursday Adrienne: Saturday Susie: Friday David: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday

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POW: 09-07-2020

Riddle:

In a stable there are men and horses. In all, there are 22 heads and 72 feet. How many men and how many horses are in the stable?

Answer:

14 horses and 8 men. 14x4 plus 8x2 = 72 feet.

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POW: 08-31-2020

Riddle:

The rungs of a 10 foot ladder attached to a ship are 1 foot apart. If the water is rising at the rate of one foot an hour, how long will it take until the water covers over the ladder?

Answer:

It will never cover the ladder because as the water rises, so will the floating ship.

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POW: 08-24-2020

Riddle:

A magician was boasting one day at how long he could hold his breath under water. His record was 6 minutes. A kid that was listening said, "that's nothing, I can stay under water for 10 minutes using no types of equipment or air pockets!" The magician told the kid if he could do that, he'd give him $10,000. The kid did it and won the money. Can you figure out how?

Answer:

The kid filled a glass of water and held it over his head for 10 minutes.

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POW: 08-17-2020

Riddle:

What single-digit number should go in the box with the question?


























6 5 9 2 7
1 4 3 5 ?
8 0 2 8 1
Answer:

The missing number is 4.  Simply add the first and second rows together to get the third row value.

  65, 927
+ 14, 354
  80, 281
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POW: 08-10-2020

Riddle:

How can you give someone $63 using six bills, without using any one dollar bills?

Answer:

1 - $50 bill, 1 - $5 bill , 4 - $2 bills

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To see more past problems of the week's refer to the Riddles Newsletter annals.