Riddle:
My first is a very uncomfortable state,
In cold weather it mostly abounds.
My second's an instrument formed of hard steel,
That will cause the stout foe to stagger and reel,
And when used, is a symptom of hate.
My whole is an author of greatest renown,
Whose fame to the last day of time will go down.
Who am I?
Answer: Shakespeare.
Riddle:
A wealthy wise old woman feared that her daughter was lazy and as a result rather stupid. When the old woman died, her will stipulated that her assets were to be liquidated and a check was to be written for the full amount. The check was to be placed in one of three envelopes. The other two envelopes would contain a blank piece of paper. If the daughter could determine from the writing on the envelope which envelope contained the check, she would inherit her mother's fortune. Otherwise, the fortune would go to the old woman's favorite charity for animals. The daughter was not allowed to touch the envelopes. Her decision had to be made based on the writing on the envelopes. The daughter was told that only one envelope had a true statement and that the other two statements were false. The envelopes had the following writing: 1. This envelope does not have the check 2. This envelope has the check 3. The second envelope does not have the check Which envelope should the daughter pick?
Answer: The daughter should pick envelope 1. Unfortunately she picked envelope 3. Statements 1 and 2 were false, and the only true statement was statement 3. If the check was in envelope 1, that would make statement 1 false, statement 2 false and statement 3 is the only true statement. If the check was in envelope 2, statements 1 and 2 would both be true. If the check was in envelope 3, statements 1 and 3 would both be true.
Riddle:
The names of three trees are hidden in the sentences below. The letters are in consecutive order. Can you find them? On this farm, we get ham from a hog any time. The farmer will help in every possible way. He faced two very similar choices, both bad.
Answer: Mahogany, pine and larch.
Riddle:
A wealthy man named Richard Ellis had been counting his money. When he finished, he accidentally left a $100.00 bill on his desk. But when he returned for it a short while later, it was gone. Only two other people could have seen the bill. One was the maid; the other was the butler. The maid told him that she had hidden it for safekeeping under a green book that was on the desk. But when they looked the bill was not there. The butler said he had found the bill where the maid had left it. He had placed it inside the book, where he thought there was less chance that somebody would find it. He had written down the page numbers so that he would not forget them. The bill was between pages 35 and 36, he said. But when they looked, there was no money in the book. After Mr. Ellis had talked to the maid and the butler, he called the police. He knew who had taken the money. Who was it, and how did he know?
Answer: The butler did it. Mr. Ellis knew the butler was lying because pages 35 and 36 in a book are always printed on opposite sides of the same piece of paper.
Riddle:
Lazy Larry agreed to work on a job for his brother-in-law for thirty hours at eight dollars an hour, on the condition that he would forfeit ten dollars per hour for every hour that he idled. At the end of the thirty hours Larry wasn't owed any money and didn't owe his brother-in-law any money either. How many hours did Larry work and how many hours did he idle?
Answer: Lazy Larry worked 16-2/3 hours and idled 13-1/3 hours. 16-2/3 hours, at $8.00 an hour amounts to the same amount as 13-1/3 hours at $10.00 per hour.
Riddle:
You want to boil a two-minute egg. If you only have a three-minute timer (hourglass), a four-minute timer, and a five-minute timer, how can you boil the egg for only two minutes?
Answer: Once the water is boiling, turn the three-minute timer and five-minute timer over. When the three-minute timer runs out, put the egg in the boiling water. When the five-minute timer runs out, two minutes have elapsed and it is time to take the egg out of the water. You don't need the four-minute timer for this riddle.
Riddle:
Five baby boomer couples each have one child. Each child is a different age than any of the other children. Each child has a favorite toy which is different from any of the other children's favorite toys. Each family eats at only one fast food restaurant. No two women have the same name and no two men have the same name. The children's names are not known. The child who plays with trains is the youngest. Bill's child plays with a GI Joe. Julie's child likes Pokeman. Mike's family eats at Taco Bell. The family of the 4 year old likes Kentucky Fried Chicken. The oldest child is four years older than Marie's child. The child who plays with Barbie is 8 years old. The child with the age is in the middle, has a mother named Marie. The child in the family that eats at McDonalds has a two year age difference with Larry's child. Carol is the mother in the family that eats at Dairy Queen. The child that plays Nintendo likes Burger King. Steve's child is two years apart in age from the child of the family that eats at Kentucky Fried Chicken. The child that plays with trains is two years apart from the 6 year old. The child that eats at McDonalds is two years older or younger than Regina's child. Lisa's child is 10. Who is married to George?
Answer: Lisa is married to George, and their 10 year old plays with Nintendo. They like to eat at Burger King. The associations are: Child age 4, mother Regina, Father Larry, trains, KFC Child age 6, mother Julie, Father Steve, Pokeman, McDonalds Child age 8, mother Marie, Father Mike, Barbie, Taco Bell Child age 10, mother Lisa, Father George, Nintendo, Burger King Child age 12, mother Carol, Father Bill, GI Joe, Dairy Queen To solve, draw a grid with five rows and five columns. Across the top, above the columns, write Age, Mother, Father, Toy and Food. Figure out the known ages and write them in order in the first column. One child's age is unknown at first. However, once the youngest child is discovered (the one who plays with trains) it is then known that the oldest child is the child with the unknown age. Through additional clues, it is possible to determine that the oldest child is age 12. Take the clue, Lisa?s child is 10. In the mother column corresponding to the age 10, you would write LISA (Maybe circle it, because it is the correct answer.) In the mother column for every other age, write "not Lisa". Do this for each clue. If you know the answer because of a clue, write it in the appropriate column, and then be sure to write "not such and such" in all the other rows for that clue. For example, "The youngest child plays with trains", would result in "not trains" for any child you can tell isn?t the youngest, but you can?t write "trains" for any child, because you don?t know which child is the youngest at first. Eventually, you may find that "mother not Marie" is on every line except one, and then you would know that Marie is the mother on the empty line.
Riddle:
What is the longest and yet the shortest thing in the world; the swiftest and yet the slowest; the most divisible and the most extended; the least valued and the most regretted; without which nothing can be done; which devours every thing, however small, and yet gives life and spirits to every object, however great?
Answer: Time.
Riddle:
How can you make a needle float?
Answer: Take a thin piece of tissue paper and place the tissue paper under the needle before putting the needle in the water. The tissue paper will eventually sink and the needle will remain floating.
Riddle:
What has six faces, but does not wear makeup, has twenty-one eyes, but cannot see? "What is it?"
Answer: A die (dice).
