Riddle:
A famous magician and his assistant were performing for a small crowd at a local mall. As part of their act, they both disappeared behind a small curtained area where they each picked up a wooden cross-shaped object. Suddenly, a small boy and girl appeared on stage in front of the audience. The magician waved his cross over the boy's head as he whispered, so only his assistant could hear him, "You are now hypnotized, and must do exactly as I tell you. I order you to strike the little girl on the top of her head." The little boy quickly complied, and the audience gasped. "I'm no hypnotist," whispered the assistant back to the magician, so only he could hear her, "but my intuition tells me the little girl is about to strike back." Sure enough, the girl kicked the little boy in the knee. The audience again gasped, as the magician simultaneously yelled, "Ouch!" At that point, the magician whispered to the assistant, "You win. Back to the script now." Was this some sick, twisted, abusive presentation, or was there some harmless explanation for these events? Just exactly what was going on here?
Answer: As part of their magic show, the magician and his assistant went behind a curtain, and each picked up a wooden cross-shaped controller, so they could manipulate their puppets for their puppet show which was part of their act. However, the magician got a bit mischievous, and used his puppet to bonk the assistant’s puppet on the head. The assistant wasn’t amused however, and not only retaliated with her girl puppet, but also kicked the magician in his knee at the same time. That was enough to make the magician return to the actual script of the puppet show.
Riddle:
A senior citizen, Marge recently made financial arrangements for a young, bald-headed man to come to her house, as she needed some assistance with some of her cleaning chores, including mopping the floors and general surface cleaning. However, despite her best efforts, Marge has been unable to convince the man to do any work for her. He just stands there with a constant smile plastered on his face, with his arms crossed, and his gold earring dangling from his left ear, as he watches Marge do all of her house cleaning -- but he never lifts one finger to help her! How long will Marge put up with this freeloader? After all, Marge has paid good money to get this man to come to her home to help her, but she ends up doing all the work! Where are the senior advocates? Just what exactly is going on here, and why is Marge allowing this situation to continue?
Answer: Marge’s helper, which she purchased at a local grocery store, is a bottle of Mr. Clean, floor and surface cleaner.
Riddle:
An old man with a long, white, scraggly beard, dressed in old, dirty blue jeans, innocently approaches a group of females and takes a seat next to one of them. After saying a few words of greeting to her, he suddenly reaches out and grabs hold of her private parts, and begins pulling at her repeatedly. Surprisingly, the female shows no objection to this aggressive action by the man, and even feels relieved by his actions. Even more surprising, is the fact that all of the other females present in the group seem undisturbed by the incident. This is not a house of ill repute, and the man offers no money or other gifts to the female. But the man doesn't stop there, as he systematically moves to each of the other females in turn, and repeats the same sordid actions to each of them. Where is the outrage? Why isn't this man behind bars, instead of being allowed to molest females? And why aren't the other females objecting to the man's advances? Or perhaps, this situation isn't as bad as it appears. What exactly is going on here?
Answer: The man is a farmer who is milking his cows.
Riddle:
A retired zookeeper owned a huge house with a very large and beautifully landscaped yard. The neighbors of the man drove past his home daily, and admired his arrangement of all the large trees and numerous healthy bushes which adorned the front yard. One day, a neighbor drove by the former zookeeper's house, and was astonished to see a living, fully-grown ostrich standing in the yard. A week later, neighbors reported seeing a live, fully-grown bear standing near the ostrich. As the next few weeks passed, the neighbors saw a tiger, a lion, a hippopotamus, and finally an elephant appear in the yard of the retired zookeeper --- all fully- grown and alive, but without any cages or bars to protect the neighborhood from them. Amazingly, not one person who lived in that area ever expressed any fear of the uncaged animals, and no one ever called the police for protection. Were these people living in the Twilight Zone? What exactly was going on here, and why weren't any of these people afraid for their lives?
Answer: The retired zookeeper was also a professional topiary expert. Mixing together the best of his two worlds, he sculpted zoo animals from his fully-grown, healthy, living bushes in his front yard, much to the delight of his neighbors.
Riddle:
Terry lives part-time in a mobile home, but it is a most unusual place. Terry's mobile home has no front or back door, so Terry can only enter his home through the roof. His home has no kitchen or basement or attic; and most importantly, his home has no bathroom! Considering all of these basic housing deficiencies, it is no wonder Terry's mental health has again come into question, as he often feels compelled to start shooting at strangers from within the confines of his mobile home. It doesn't seem possible, but the authorities are 100% supportive of Terry's actions! Has Terry snapped mentally? Is he in need of immediate psychiatric treatment, or is his mental health more normal than it appears? And why do the authorities permit Terry to shoot at others? Just what is going on here?
Answer: Terry is a soldier in the U.S. Army. He operates an armored Tank in the service of our country.
Riddle:
Once every year a farmer walks about on his farm property, picks out his favorite tree, and chops it down with an axe. He then drags the tree home and puts it in a metal bowl. The farmer then spends time lovingly caring for the tree by watering it every day and providing it with the best plant food money can buy to keep it as healthy as possible. Two weeks later he throws the tree outside, sets it on fire, and burns it to a crisp. How can you explain this apparent drastic change in the farmer's mood toward this tree?
Answer: The man owns a Christmas tree farm where he grows thousands of Christmas trees for sale to the public. He is simply performing his annual Christmas ritual of selecting a tree, placing it in a tree stand, keeping it healthy for two weeks, and then disposing of it.
Riddle:
In her work each day, a courageous young woman often encounters cobras, vipers, stingrays, barracudas, eagles, cougars, impalas, rams, spiders, beetles, and on rare occasions, a panther. This woman has no fear of any of these as she walks around in the midst of them, never carrying a gun or a whip, and without being protected from them by iron bars or safety barriers of any kind. What is the occupation of this brave, young woman, and why does she have no fear when performing her job?
Answer: The young woman is a used-car saleswoman who encounters a wide variety of high and low end trade-ins at the dealership where she works. Incidentally, all of the models of the used cars listed in this puzzle are named after animals. The last one mentioned, the Watercar panther, is an amphibious automobile which started to be produced in 2013.
Riddle:
A tall, burly, unarmed man and a short, slim, unarmed man, both dressed in sheer nylon stockings, women's clothing, and blond wigs, enter a bar in New York City. The tall, burly man approaches the bartender and asks him for something. Immediately, the bartender reaches below the counter, pulls out a gun, and shoots the man. The short, slim man responds by quickly bolting from the bar. New Yorkers have a reputation for being testy and unfriendly, but wasn't this a bit extreme? In fact, when the police arrived on the scene, they backed the bartender and did not charge him with any crime. What do you suppose the tall, burly man had requested from the bartender which led to his being shot, and why did the police support the bartender’s extreme reaction?
Answer: The man asked the bartender to give him all the bar’s money. The bartender’s extreme reaction was due to the fact that both the tall and short man were wearing their sheer nylon stockings over their heads when the request was made.
Riddle:
If someone were to write a biography about us, the following could be reported: #1 - We are always present in multiple-choice exams. #2 - Sherlock Homes kept a close eye on us after he retired. #3 - Honor students are not very fond of us. #4 - One of us was a famous aunt on T.V. #5 - The person who played the owner of the Shady Rest Hotel was, in reality, one of us. Based on the biographical information above --- Who/what are we?
Answer: We are Bs, Bees, or Beas (as in Aunt Bea and actress Bea Benaderet.)
Riddle:
A famous magician and his assistant are standing in the middle of a large, empty field. There are no trees or buildings to be seen, and there are no ropes or hidden wires attached to the two performer's bodies. A large group of curious onlookers and their families are present to see the magician's farewell performance, as advertised in the local newspapers. The magician suddenly raises both hands and dramatically shouts to the audience, "My assistant and I will now rise from this very ground and disappear from your sight, but in three hours we will reappear in a town ten miles from here!" And with those final words, the magician and his assistant slowly lifted from the ground, continuing to rise majestically, until they were out of sight! True to his word, he and his assistant did reappear in another town ten miles from the place where they had first disappeared --- in the predicted three hours' time! What a fantastic trick!! How do you think they accomplished such an amazing feat?
Answer: The magician and his assistant used a hot-air balloon to rise up and disappear from the field. They were able to navigate and land it in a similar field in a town ten miles away.
Riddle:
Ten men, five women, and 15 three-year-olds are being watched by thousands of cheering people. The men and the women and the three-year-olds are observed slowly entering 15 box-like structures, each having iron bars in the front. The men and women are not related to the three-year-olds, but at times witnesses have reported seeing these adults whip these three-year-olds to force them to obey their commands. Fortunately, the barred doors suddenly spring open and the men, women, and three-year-olds make their escape; however, they are easily tracked, as they always feel compelled to travel to the left, and never to the right. The thousands of people watching these proceedings are all waiting to see who will be the first to meet their end. These circumstances are inexcusable in a civilized society! How can thousands of people just idly sit by and cheer while a group of men and women whip a bunch of three-year-olds before their very eyes? What is wrong with society? Or, is there a simple explanation for these bizarre-sounding events? Just what exactly is going on here?
Answer: With a maximum of 20 entrants in each race, the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont Stakes feature only three-year-old thoroughbreds racing from their starting gates to their end at the finish line. Not all of the jockeys use whips on their horses, but many still do. By the way, to answer the title question: at the start of every race, they are not on —— They’re off!!!
Riddle:
I am round, I am sharp, I am small, I am big, I exist, then I don't. What am I?
Answer: The Moon. It's round when it's full, it's sharp when it's a crescent, its size can vary depending upon its phase, and it's gone when it's a new moon.
Riddle:
Three families from the hills of eastern Kentucky decided to pull up stakes, form a wagon train, and head for the state of Nevada to seek their fortunes in the gold and silver mines located there. Each family took the bare essentials with them, and packed only their most precious belongings into the three wagons they were using for the journey. On their 2,000 mile trip to Nevada, the wagon train encountered no hostile Indian attacks from the Apaches or the Comanches, and they had no difficulty crossing any of the many rivers they came to, even though the spring flooding season was upon them. One might expect a journey of this magnitude, moving three families with all of their possessions packed into three wagons on a 2,000 trip, to take at least two or three months, but miraculously, the wagon train arrived in Nevada after only four days. How is this possible?
Answer: This trip for the three families took place in the 1960s. The wagon train consisted of three station wagons.
Riddle:
Terry is a gambling man. Just the other day at a meeting of his bridge club, he challenged each of the seven members to the following: "I bet each of you, seven men, a pack of Blackjack chewing gum, that none of you can walk straight through that 6-foot 5-inch doorframe --- without stopping or jumping --- and touch the top of it with your head as you pass through it; but I bet I can. Since the tallest member of the club was six feet tall and he knew he couldn't do it, even on his tiptoes, each man decided to take Terry's bet. Terry won seven packs of Blackjack gum that day. Since he didn’t use an instant growth potion, how did he manage to win his unusual bet?
Answer: After the other members tried his challenge and failed, Terry simply strapped two one-foot tall stilts (empty metal cans he had brought with him) to his feet and walked through the doorway, touching his head on the frame as he passed through it.
Riddle:
A young man named Orion is carrying a large, double-edged axe. He is stalking his prey, possessed by one single thought -- to kill! His hands are calloused, but his soul is not, as he always strives to be kind to others, despite his strong desire to kill. He has killed 11 times already today, but he feels compelled to kill at least two more times because that very morning Orion believes he heard a voice instructing him to kill no fewer than 13 today. Orion plans to use his axe to kill only those older than 50 years of age. Many other people have witnessed his multiple axe killings, but no one has ever tried to intervene or report his actions to the police. What is wrong with these people? It appears obvious that Orion is seriously mentally ill and suffers from auditory hallucinations with delusional thinking. How can his killing spree possibly be ignored? Or, is there some reasonable explanation for these events? Just what in the world is happening here?
Answer: Orion works as a lumberjack. At the start of his work, Orion’s boss instructed him to meet his quota for the day by using his axe to chop down at least 13 mature trees.
Riddle:
Terry was having a bad day, after having a bad week and a bad month. His long-time bridge partner had just moved away, and the stock he held in the Red Roof Inn Company had just taken a nose-dive. He felt he was ready to snap, as he climbed into his car and began to drive. Suddenly, Terry felt something snap but realized it was only a pencil he had in his pocket, but this mild irritation only fueled his pent-up anger. Terry stepped on the accelerator and headed straight for a green sedan, smashing into it and causing its trunk to fly open. He then put his car into reverse, and backed into a red mini-van, causing its hood to pop up and its radiator to burst, sending a shower of radiator fluid shooting high into the air. After continuing to smash into at least a dozen other vehicles, Terry's car finally stopped, and somehow, he miraculously stepped out of his car uninjured. Just a few moments later, two police officers, who had witnessed the entire event without intervening, approached Terry and gave him something that made him -- smile. Why hadn’t the police called for backup and intervened earlier to prevent additional damage from being done, and what was it they gave Terry which made him smile?
Answer: The two police officers had given Terry a First Place Trophy for his having just won a Demolition Derby they had all just witnessed.
Riddle:
A poor, elderly woman lived alone with her dog. One day she noticed her dog appeared to be very hungry, so she went to her food storage area where she kept her dishes and cups, to search for food to serve to him. She was surprised to find she had no food whatsoever for either herself or her dog ------ not even so much as a bone to serve to her starving pet. And so, neither she nor her dog had anything to eat. How often had these same circumstances occurred to this lady and her pet? Why had no one called Senior Services or the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (S.P.C.A.) to report these dreadful conditions? Incidentally, do you happen to know this woman's last name?
Answer: Her last name was Hubbard. Old Mother Hubbard went to her cupboard to get her poor dog a bone....
Riddle:
The land is white. The seed is black. It will take a good scholar To riddle me that.
Answer: A book.
Riddle:
Why is a manhole cover round and not square? Can you guess the two reasons?
Answer: 1: It can't fall through the hole like a square one could. 2: It can easily be moved by rolling.
Riddle:
Hidden in the poem below, a female's name you'll seek; just read and listen to the rhyme, but please, don't take a week! MYSTERY POEM: The Vegans say that they will eat, no raw meat, steamed, or cooked; but should they bite one juicy steak, I think they might get hooked. What is the female name you hear?
Answer: NORA.
