Riddle: Charles called his wife to tell him that he would be home by 7:00. But when he arrived home three minutes past 7:00, his wife was furious! Why was she so mad?
Answer: Charles' wife expected him to arrive by 7:00PM, but he arrived at 7:03AM the next morning. Oh, the classic "I forgot about ante meridiem and post meridiem".
Riddle: Claudia invented a game for her friends to play at her birthday party. Here is how it goes: she will place two marbles into a box– one yellow marble, and one purple marble. The player will have to pull out one of the marbles from the box. If the marble is yellow, the player will win $100.00, but if the marble is purple, the player will have to pay $10.00. Claudia decided to trick the players by putting two purple marbles into the box, rather than one yellow and one purple. Brian watched the other players lose the game one by one. But when it was his turn, he won $100.00! How did he do it?
Answer: Brian pulled out one of the marbles, and, without showing it to anyone, quickly put it in his mouth, being careful not to swallow it. Then, he pulled out the remaining marble, which was purple, and showed it to everybody. According to the rules, it meant that the marble Brian had chosen was yellow. Claudia had to admit it, otherwise, everyone at the party would know that she was a liar.
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: Zoe wants to do a science experiment where she drops two tennis balls into two buckets. She will drop the first tennis ball into a bucket filled with water at a temperature of 20°C, and she will drop the second tennis ball into a bucket at 20°F. Assuming that both tennis balls are completely identical and that they are both dropped into the buckets simultaneously, which ball will reach the bottom of its bucket first?
Answer: The tennis ball dropped into the second bucket will reach the bottom first. The water in the first bucket will slow down the first tennis ball, and thus, it will take longer for that ball to reach the bottom of the bucket. Did you think the "water" in the second bucket had to be frozen at 20°F? Well, I didn't say that there was water in the second bucket–the bucket ITSELF was at 20°F. Therefore, there is no water or ice to slow the first tennis ball down.
Riddle: Dillon, Brandon, and Jacob are brothers. Assuming that all three of the following statements are true, which of them is the youngest? 1) Dillon is the oldest. 2) Brandon is not the oldest. 3) Jacob is not the youngest.
Answer: Brandon is the youngest brother. Dillon cannot be the youngest brother because the first statement says that he is the oldest; he can't be the oldest brother and the youngest one at the same time. Jacob cannot be the youngest brother either, because the third statement says that he is NOT the youngest; he can't be the youngest brother and NOT the youngest one at the same time. This leaves us with Brandon.
Riddle: Lauren has a lemon tree. The number of lemons on the tree doubles every week. In 28 weeks, Lauren should expect the tree to be completely covered with fruit. How many weeks will it take for the tree to be half-covered with apples?
Answer: Zero. If I asked you about lemons, the answer would be 27 weeks because the number of lemons on Lauren's tree doubles every week. However, I asked you about APPLES, and they don't grow on lemon trees; therefore, the answer is zero.
Riddle: I have a story about my friend Billy, and his morning routine: Billy woke up after a long sleep. He opened his closet door and began to get dressed. Then, he opened his bedroom door and went to the bathroom. There, Billy brushed his teeth and combed his hair. Afterward, he went to the kitchen to make breakfast. He opened up his fridge and took out a carton of eggs, a jug of orange juice, and a carton of milk. Billy then opened his cabinet and took out a bowl, a plate, and a box of his favorite cereal. Next, he opened the jug of OJ and a carton of milk, took two glasses, and poured himself a glass of OJ and a glass of milk. Then, Billy opened the box of cereal and poured it, as well as some milk, into the bowl. Next, he opened the carton of eggs, cooked one, and put it on the plate. Lastly, Billy closed the carton of eggs, the jug of OJ, and the carton of milk; he went to the open fridge and put the three items back. Billy could not wait to enjoy his breakfast. The question is: what did Billy open FIRST?
Answer: Billy opened his eyes first. At the beginning of the story, Billy woke up, which meant that prior to the events of the story, he was sleeping. We don't sleep with our eyes OPEN; we sleep with them CLOSED, which means Billy woke up and opened his eyes first before doing anything else.
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.