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.
Forty-Five
POW: 03-03-2025
Riddle: Find four numbers, the sum of which is 45, so that if 2 is added to the first number, 2 is subtracted from the second number, the third number is multiplied by 2 and the fourth number is divided by 2, then the four numbers so produced are all the same. What are the four numbers?
Answer: 8 + 2 = 10
12 - 2 = 10
5 x 2 = 10
20 ÷ 2 = 1045
Pawn Shop Ponzi Scheme
POW: 02-24-2025
Riddle: Jack had only $2, but he needed $3 for his cab fare home. He went to a pawn shop and pawned his $2 for $1.50. Jack then bumped into Don and told him that he would sell him his $2 pawn ticket for $1.50. Don agreed. Jack started out with $2 and he ended up with $3. Who is out the extra dollar and why?
Answer: Don is out the extra dollar. Before the pawn broker will return the $2 to the ticket holder, he will want the $1.50 which he advanced returned to him. Don will give the pawn broker the ticket and the $1.50, and the pawn broker will then return the $2.
How Do Eight Eights Add Up To One Thousand
POW: 02-17-2025
Riddle: How can you write down eight eights so that they add up to one thousand?
Answer: 888 + 88 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 1000.
Odd Brick Out
POW: 02-10-2025
Riddle: Jack has 8 bricks, 7 of them weigh the same but one is slightly heavier. Using a balance scale, how can Jack find the heavier brick in two weighings?
Answer: First, he splits them into piles of 3, 3, and 2 bricks.
Then, he weighs both groups of 3 with each other. If they balance he knows the brick is one of the 2 unweighed bricks and he can weigh them to find the heavier one.
If the stacks of 3 bricks do not balance, he will weigh 2 of the 3 bricks.
If they balance he will know the brick left unweighed is heavier, or if they do not balance, he will find the heavier one.
Doubling
POW: 02-03-2025
Riddle: A tree doubled in height each year until it reached its maximum height over the course of ten years. How many years did it take for the tree to reach half its maximum height?
Answer: Nine Years.
When Asked How Old She Was Suzie Replied In Two Years
POW: 01-27-2025
Riddle: When asked how old she was, Suzie replied, "In two years I will be twice as old as I was five years ago." How old is she?
Answer: She's 12!
Math Equation Riddle
POW: 01-13-2025
Riddle: 81 x 9 = 801. What must you do to make the this equation true?
Answer: Turn it upside down. 108 = 6 x 18.
Make The Equation True
POW: 01-06-2025
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".
