Riddle: Zack invented a game for him and his friend Dan to play. They would take turns saying numbers between one and 10. The next player would have to say a number that is greater than the previous one by a number between one and 10. The first player to say 50 would be the winner. Zack decides to let Dan start. How can Dan win?
Answer: If Dan wants to say 50, then he needs Zack to say a number between 40 and 49, so right before 50, Dan needs to say 39. If he wants to say 39, then Zack needs to say a number between 29 and 38, so right before 39, Dan needs to say 28. If Dan wants to say 28, Zack has to say a number between 18 and 27, so right before 28, Dan has to say 17. And if he wants to say 17, he has to let Zack say a number between 7 and 16, so right before 17, Dan has to say 6. In order to win, Dan needs to say 6, then 17, then 28, then 39, and finally 50.
Riddle: Chris wants to enter an exclusive club, but the security guard in front of the door always asks for a password. Chris decides to eavesdrop on clubgoers, and this is what he sees: A woman walks up to the security guard. The guard says "12", and the woman replies "6". The woman is granted access. A man walks up to the security guard. The guard says "6", and the man replies "3". The man is granted access. Another woman walks up to the security guard. The guard says "10", and the woman replies "5". This woman is NOT granted access. Chris thinks he's seen enough, and he walks up to the security guard. The guard says "4". What should Chris say to get into the club?
Answer: To get into the club, Chris should say "4". The task was not to divide the number by two (after all, not all numbers are divisible by two). Instead, the task was to say how many letters are in the number the security guard says. "Twelve" has 6 letters. "Six", in turn, has 3 letters. "Ten" also has 3 letters, so the second woman should have said "3", not "5". Chris should say "4" because "four" consists of 4 letters.
Riddle: Two mothers and two daughters went to the grocery store to buy watermelons. Strangely, they only walked out of the grocery store with three watermelons, but this was enough for each of them to have one watermelon. How is it possible?
Answer: Only three people went grocery shopping: a grandmother, a mother, and a daughter. The grandmother is also a mother (she is the mother's mother), and the mother is also a daughter (she is the grandmother's daughter).
Riddle: Lucy went onto a game show, and she was one task away from winning the grand prize: $500,000.00. She was shown four bags; one of these bags had the cash prize inside, while the other three were empty. Lucy had only one chance to choose the bag with the money. Each bag had a statement on it, but only one statement was true. A: The money is in either Bag B or Bag C. B: The money is in either Bag A or Bag D. C: The money is in this bag. D: The money is not in this bag. Which statement is true, and which bag has the money?
Answer: Statement B is true. Bag D has the money. If Bag A had the money, then statements B and D would both be true. If Bag B had the money, then statements A and D would both be true. If Bag C had the money, then statements A, C, and D would all be true. But, we only need one true statement. If Bag D had the money, then the statements on all of the bags would be false, except for that on Bag B. This matches the conditions, so the money is in Bag D.
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: Wendy and Maverick are participating in a mathematical game show. Their scores are tied, so whoever gets the last riddle correct wins. The riddle goes like this: I am thinking of a number. It is a five-digit whole number. It can be read the same way forwards, backwards, and upside-down. The second digit is half of the third. The last digit is the product of the first and last digits. And the sum of all five digits is 10. What number am I thinking of? Wendy says, "12,421". Maverick says, "10,801". Who is correct?
Answer: Maverick is correct. The number is 10,801. This is why: Both numbers meet most of the requirements, but 12421 does not meet the second requirement because it CANNOT be read the same way upside-down as right-side-up. Many think 10801 does not meet the third requirement, but 0 CAN be half of 8 if you cut 8 in half horizontally. This way, you will get two zeros, and 10801 DOES meet the third requirement. Since only 10801 meets all the requirements, it is the correct answer, and Maverick is right!
Riddle: On a bright and sunny day, a powerful and evil wizard locked Karen on the top floor of his tower. Then, the wizard set a huge magic fire around the base of the castle, so Karen would not be able to get out. The room had a small window. Karen looked around and saw three potions on the table. The first potion would give Karen incredible human strength. The second potion would turn Karen into a vampire. The third potion would let Karen summon any animal she'd like. Which potion should Karen choose to escape?
Answer: Karen should choose the potion that allows her to turn into a vampire (the second potion). Even if she has all of the strength in the world, she wouldn't be able to do anything to the magic fire. And no animal can help Karen escape. If Karen turns into a vampire, though, she can transform into a bat and fly away through the window. And I know what you're thinking, but no–even though it's a sunny day, bats cannot die in the sun.
Riddle: Steve woke up after a good night's sleep. He wanted to make a big breakfast for himself. He has a dozen eggs in a carton. He breaks two eggs, fries two, and eats two. How many eggs are there in the carton afterward?
Answer: Afterwards, there are 10 eggs in the carton. Steve broke, fried, and ate the same two eggs. This is because: 1) cooking the egg while it is still in its shell would be considered boiling the egg, not frying it; after all, you would need to break the egg into a pan before frying it, and; 2) you cannot eat a raw egg while it is still in the shell because of the risk of foodborne illnesses.
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.