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.
Brain Teasers
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: 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.
Brain Teasers
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: 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 …
Brain Teasers
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: Lisa and Lola are operating two different vehicles, but both of them fell asleep. Lisa is driving her car to work, while Lola is flying in an airplane. Whose decision is less wise?
Answer: Lisa's decision is less wise. Lola most likely has a copilot flying with her, but there's no such thing as a co-driver, so Lisa will most likely get into a car accident.
Riddle: A mad chef forces you to cook breakfast for him; if he likes it, he'll set you free, but if not, you'll stay with him forever. While you're at the stove cooking something up, the chef dumps an entire container of salt into the pot you're cooking with. But when you serve breakfast, the chef realizes he'll have to let you go. What did you cook for him?
Answer: You cooked some boiled eggs. No matter how much salt is added to the pot, the boiled eggs won't be salty.
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!
Riddle: Lucille had recently received her real estate license and was out evaluating a bunch of properties in a certain neighborhood. As she traveled around the area, she saw some properties which were very expensive, and others that were more affordable. The area was sprinkled with a mixture of little greenhouses, a couple of hotels, a few businesses, and she noticed there was also some access to railway travel. Some of these properties were for sale but others were not. The bizarre thing is, Lucille ended up in jail three separate times that day and had to be bailed out on each occasion! She received no traffic citations and swears she did absolutely nothing wrong, and yet, she was incarcerated three times that day. What do you suppose happened that caused her to be locked up in jail three times in one day?
Answer: Lucille had indeed recently received her real estate license, however, that really had little to do with the fact she was playing a game of Monopoly with some friends; and unfortunately for her, landed in jail three times during the game, and had to bail herself out so she could continue playing.
Riddle: Terry had been driving for nearly an hour when he encountered a backup of several cars which were all waiting to pass through a tunnel. He was listening to the weather report on his car's radio while awaiting his turn when he heard that a severe mixture of snow and rain accompanied by flash flooding and powerful winds were expected to strike the area within minutes. Terry dreaded this type of dangerous winter driving, so he wanted to get home quickly. As he paid the required fee to pass through the tunnel, Terry could only think about the weather report and the severe driving conditions predicted. Suddenly, a downpour of water, followed by a curtain of liquid white covered Terry's car. He did not use his windshield wipers though, and in fact, he removed both hands from the steering wheel just as another downpour of water blasted his car. A few seconds later, a second deluge of water crashed down on his car, followed by a mighty wind. At that point, Terry again grasped the steering wheel and regained control of the car. After these events, Terry was able to drive home safely. Did Terry panic during this encounter by not using his windshield wipers and removing his hands from the steering wheel, or is Terry a better driver than these events indicate?
Answer: The tunnel Terry went through was a car wash. A driver is always supposed to take his hands off the steering wheel and avoid using windshield wipers when the car is passing through the soap, water, and powerful drying wind at the end.
Riddle: I'm afraid my grandmother may be getting a bit senile. The other day she told me she was planning a special Easter party for about 25 of her friends, and she asked me to go to the store for her, to pick up the following items on this list she gave me: 25 green apples, 25 peaches, 25 mangos, 25 juicy pears, 25 plums, 25 lemons, 25 coconuts, 25 cantaloupes, 25 watermelons, 25 A&W cream sodas, 25 strawberry cheesecakes, 25 pieces of bubblegum, 1 bag of crushed pineapple, 1 bag of blueberries, 1 bag of cotton candy, 1 bag of wild blackberries, 1 bag of buttered popcorn, and 1 bag of sour cherries. Well, what do you think? Is my grandmother’s trolly car starting to leave its track, or are her mental faculties still in good working order? Just what is her plan for this party?
Answer: Grandma is planning an Easter jelly-bean-eating party for her 25 friends. She plans to give one of each of the gourmet jelly beans listed to each of her friends to see which flavors her friends like the best.
Riddle: Ron and Terry are both dressed in camouflage clothing and are completely surrounded by dead bodies. As veterans of the Army, they are both on a mission to locate some of their comrades. Neither Terry nor Ron are carrying any weapons, but they have no fear of being harmed. They look about the terrain which surrounds them, but all they see are grass and large and small stones. Terry jumps up on one of the large stones to get a better view of their surroundings, but Ron suggests to Terry that his standing on the big stone might be viewed as disrespectful, and Terry jumps down. "I counted 27 flags while I was up there," says Terry to Ron, "so let's go check them out." In what activity are Ron and Terry engaged?
Answer: Ron and Terry are veterans who are looking for the grave sites of some of the soldiers they served with in the Army. The large and small stones are tombstones, and the American flags mark the graves of the veterans who are buried in that cemetery.
Riddle: Zane is a big boss in a hugely successful company. Every week, however, he finds out that one of his worst employees has been stealing his documents. After a whole year of stolen documents, Zane rounds up his three worst employees– Kelly, Raymond, and Natalia– and questions them. Kelly says, "Raymond has been stealing your documents!". Raymond says, "I haven't been stealing your documents!". Natalia says, "I haven't been stealing your documents, either!". Only one of the employees is telling the truth. Who has been stealing the documents, and which employee is telling the truth?
Answer: Natalia has been stealing the documents. Raymond is telling the truth. If Kelly was the one stealing the documents, then she would be lying, and Raymond would be telling the truth. But then, Natalia would also be telling the truth, which goes against the condition that only one employee is telling the truth. If Raymond was the one stealing the documents, then he would be lying, Kelly would be telling the truth, and Natalia would also be telling the truth. This also contradicts that only one employee is honest. If Natalia was the one stealing the documents, then she is lying. But then, who is telling the truth? It's not Kelly, because if it was so, both she and Natalia would be telling the truth, and Raymond would be lying, which doesn't meet the requirements. Therefore, Raymond is telling the truth, Kelly and Natalia are both lying, and Natalia is the one stealing the documents.
Riddle: Mr. Wilson was found unconscious in his bedroom on a Saturday evening. There were just five other people in his house at the time of the murder: Mr. Wilson's wife, their chef, a butler, a housemaid, and a gardener. They all told the detective what they were doing that evening. Mrs. Wilson: I was reading a book in the living room. The chef: I was cooking breakfast. The butler: I was giving instructions to several workers in the living room. The housemaid: I was in the kitchen, washing the dishes. The gardener: I was in the greenhouse, watering plants. The detective arrested the culprit right away. Who was it, and how did the detective know?
Answer: In fact, there wasn't just one culprit–there were TWO culprits: the personal chef and the butler. The personal chef is the first culprit; the murder happened in the EVENING. He couldn't be cooking breakfast so late in the day. The butler is the second culprit; there were only 5 other people in the house, including himself, and almost none of them were in the living room, except for the wife (but she is not a WORKER). He couldn't be supervising so many workers.
Riddle: Simon and Bryce are two farmers. They want to see which of their chickens will lay more eggs in a month. Simon has four roosters; he claims that they can each lay 3 eggs in a day. Bryce has three hens; he claims that they can each lay 2 eggs in a day. The contest the two farmers propose happens in June. By the end of the month, which farmer will have the most eggs?
Answer: Bryce will have more eggs than Simon, simply because Simon is lying. Roosters don't lay eggs, so Simon will not have any eggs by the end of June.
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.