Unsolvable Riddles - Solved! Page 2 of 5
These riddles were previously unsolved, but with the help of our visitors the unsolvable riddles have been solved.
1. I can be this, and you can be this. And, yes, we can be this. He can't be this and she can't be this. And no, they can't be this. Dogs can't be this, but cats can. And a kitten can't be this, but a puppy can. Givers can't be this, but beggars can. And humility can't be this, but greed can. Not even peace can be this, but fear can. What is "this?" We have received solutions for this one and this riddle is now considered solved! Many thanks!
SOLUTIONS:
From Matt - "This" are words that can be typed on the keyboard with one hand (using the "home keys").
From Jason: The answer is "words that can be typed with one hand using the proper typing method." Try it!
From Ian: There's is nothing that any of those can be. So since there's nothing they can be, the answer is most definitely NOTHING!!!
From GTE/harts: If you think logical there's nothing that can be You and I but no one else. There's nothing that involves fear, but no peace. There's also nothing that can be a cat but not a Kitten and vice-versa for a dog. The answer is obviously NOTHING!
From Jesse: "this" is a riddle... Think about it, just like with the -GRY riddle, you have to ignore the words that try to throw you off. Notice the references to how certain things can be this. But the final question asks you. What is "this". "this" is a riddle. "this" being the whole thing, the riddle itself.
From sonofagun: "this" is a word which can be typed on the keyboard using only one hand, in correct home key fashion.
From Kate and her friend Todd - They can all be typed with one hand on a 'querty' keyboard!
2: This riddle has become 2 riddles. The first version was quickly solved as you will see. The second version (I term a nightmare!) was also solved - sort of - as you will see.
First Version:
Write the letters a, b, c and the letters 1,2,3 and connect all letters to all numbers without crossing any lines. (You may have heard this as: 3 houses and 3 utilities: gas, water, electric - get all utilities to all the houses without crossing any lines.)
A B C
1 2 3
Solutions:
From OoberMick - From clyf: Nowhere in this riddle is it specified that the letters and numbers must be connected with different lines, nor is it specified how they are to be positioned relative to each other (this makes it solvable with a 'straight' line). As in ABC 123 Second Version: Write the letters A, B, C and below those letters, write the numbers 1, 2, and 3. Now, using 3 separate lines from A, connect to 1, 2, 3. Now using 3 separate lines from B, connect to 1, 2, 3. And lastly, using 3 separate lines from C, connect to 1, 2,and 3.
A B C
1 2 3
Solution:OoberMick (see above solution) writes:
"Sorry but that is unsolvable! In graph theory (a branch of discrete mathematics) its called K3,3 there's a proof of it - it even mentions the answer I gave."
So, fellow solvers, take a look at that link and you will see why this puzzle is being retired to the "solved page". Thanks OoberMick for your help!! This is one riddle that really is "unsolvable"!
From John: Does this problem state that it must be solved in the second dimension? If A, B, C are set on a plane and 1,2,3 on a plane parallel to and bellow the first then the problem becomes solvable. Although the set A, B, C would not be on the same line they would look like they were when looked at on a two dimensional diagram. (when a cube is drawn on paper it's lines appear to cross although they do not.
From ZZ- I don't know why Obermick and you feel that this is unsolvable! If you ever heard the problem as houses and utilities, it DOES specify (just like in real life) that each utility must connect with each house by separate lines! While technically impossible ON paper, consider (again, as in real life) that utilities don't run lines ON the ground, but IN the ground. Incredibly, if you concede that the lines are IN the paper (instead of ON the paper), this becomes completely solvable! Now, the reason I haven't supplied the answer is that, armed with this new perspective, the masses can have fun knowing there is an answer within reach!
And here is the solution from ZZ -
Re-stating the problem is that you have three utilities and three
houses, and now they must have separate, non-touching, non-intersecting
connections.
Take a lath of paper, say 1/2 inch by 6-10 inches. Now arrange A B C
above 1 2 3, leaving room above the top markers and room below the
bottom markers.
Connect B to all tree houses "/I\" . Next, connect A straight down
to 1 and C straight down to 3. Next, connect A to 2 by going around the
bottom of 1. Now, connect C to 1 by going around the top of B. You need
9 connections and right now, you have seven, with the two critical ones
to go.
Now, for the "hook": Just as in real life, the lines are not ON the
ground but IN the ground - that's their 3rd dimension. Ours comes much
the same way.
Draw C over the top of both A and B and its connection to 1 and
extend it off the end of the lath of paper to the left, making sure it
is above the center of the paper lath. Now, draw A much the same way to
the left, except that it must be as far below of the center of the paper
lath as the previous line was above it. Note that A is below C, right
now!
Now draw (from 3) a line which will extend off the paper to the
right at exactly the same relative height as C was off the left side,
but label it A because that's the next to last needed connection. Now
draw a line from 2 underneath 3 that extends off the right side of the
paper at the same relative height where A disappeared off the left, but
label it C, the last connection.
Turn the paper over and continue the lines parallel all the way
across. You may label them continually.
Hopefully, you will have made your lines accurately enough so that
if you connected them, A would connect to C and C to A, but that's not
allowed!
Dr. Mobius, I presume, invented the Mobius strip by twisting a half
turn of such a lath of paper and taping them together to form a
"one-sided" paper figure from a two sided one!
If you do this correctly, A will now match up with A and C with C
and you will have nine non-intersecting individual connections!
The lines are considered to be IN the paper, you see, not ON the
paper.
I mis-stated a key part!
At the point in which I instructed you to turn over the lath of
paper, I said to draw parallel lines across the paper <WRONG>
Since we are demonstrating that the lines are IN the paper and not
on the paper, on the reverse side of the lath of paper, we must trace
over every line that was on the front (by seeing through the paper or
holding it up to a light source).
We will now have a 'negative' of the connections made on the obverse
side.
If we now connected the paper into a cylinder (without twisting),
then A would match up with C and vice versa, which is no good.
NOW that the corrected step is completed, the half twist aligns A to
A and C to C and the problem is solved.
I had the model in my office, which I retrieved today, and I used
black, red, and blue inks to prove that nothing intersects.
It's a beautiful thing ... now!
3. Craig and Chastity - visitors to our site - sent this riddle to us and asked for help. Sadly, we have not been able to solve it - yet! This is what they write:
With one continuous line try to cross every line on the diagram without going through the same line twice and not backtracking, and the line cannot be broken. When I say every line I mean every line that is in every box.
Here's the diagram - now, what is the solution?????
To help clarify what the puzzle means by "continuous line crossing every line" - below is a diagram showing a mark crossing the lines which must be crossed. Hope this clears up confusion and helps bring about a solution!
SOLUTION:
"Blue" writes:
I was given this test in Math in my high school back in 1969. The professor finally gave us the answer after no one could solve it. You have to poke a hole in an area to continue the line thru the paper! Not as exciting an answer as one would've hoped for.
From DriN Dale - This is 'multi-layered' thinking. It requires you to make a 'bridge' to bend the rules of normal thinking and complete this riddle.
*Note: Look carefully at this solution - you must think "outside the box". 
4. This one is from a visitor who writes:
***See updated solution for this one!
"This Is A Puzzle Passed Down In My Family. See If You Can Help Solve It. My Grandfather Boyd Learned To Solve This Puzzle As A Young Man and Grew Old And Died Before He Could Remember And Tell The Secret To His Grandchildren. So, Please Help Me Out."
Copy the diagram below, using the following rules:
The Rules:
1 You Cannot Trace Over The Same Line.
2 You Cannot Pick Up What Ever You Are Using To Draw This Shape With.
SOLUTIONS:
UPDATE: One of our visitors, Robert, sent us this solution for this puzzle - it can be done without folding the paper as is frequently suggested. The diagram has been labeled and if you copy it and label it, then follow Robert's directions, you will plainly see how this is done! ANOTHER UPDATE: One of our younger visitors pointed out (very kindly, too) that the line from A to B is missed by following the directions above. Alas, it seems that the paper folders are on the right track after all!
draw to the labeled points like this
C - B - 1 - A - D - 4 - C - A - 2 - C - D - 3 - B - D
From Net486 - You can fold over the paper and move and reposition the pencil without lifting it up its so easy. (Wish I had thought of that!)
From Sherri - It is possible to solve number three by the same way that it is possible to draw a circle with a dot in the middle, without lifting your pencil. You draw almost everything, as per image one, and then you lift the corner of the paper, so that it obscures part of the drawing, and write over the corner to get to the other side. This way you are able to complete the drawing without lifting your pen from the paper (technically you didn't) and you didn't draw over the lines again. A twist on this riddle is a circle with a dot in the middle, and you are challenged to draw it without lifting your pen from the paper.
From David - Draw the diagram to this point (See diagram below) You will most likely end up on one of the A's and can't reach B to draw the last line. I have seen this once before (the picture was a circle with a point in the middle, you can't take the pen of the paper). Keeping the pen / pencil on point A, fold the paper so the edge is on point A and B. Draw a line to B from A, unfold the paper and draw the last curve. This will give you the diagram, you haven't gone over any lines twice, you haven't taken the pen of the paper. But you will have a line on the opposite side of the paper.
5. This riddle has stumped us for several months!! We are VERY glad to move this riddle to this solved page!
I am a 7 letter word.
My 1, 2, 3 (letters I presume) spell an animal
My 2,3,4,5 spells a food
My 4,5,6 spells a utensil
My 5,6,7 are the same every year
WHAT IS THIS WORD?
SOLUTIONS: From Owen (okl-word@juno.com): Well, I've found an answer, but I don't really like it since it's an archaic word, "propend," meaning "to have a propensity; incline or tend, and these types or riddles propend towards more current terms.
PRO = professional athletes are lions or tigers or bears or ducks (oh, my!). Some of the women they've dated may say they're animals even without the team designations.
ROPE = slang for spaghetti, sausages or licorice.
PEN = a writing utensil.
END = December 31st.
There is at least one other riddle list out there, BTW, which is also searching for this solution, without results so far. No one seems to know where it comes from, so there is no guarantee that there is a correct answer, nor that it's been transcribed correctly, nor even that it is meant to be solved in English!
Many, many thanks, Owen!
And From: Stacey Lewis - and also GoranTomic
GARBAGE
GAR a fish in the Animal Kingdom
ARBA American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA)
BAG A Bag is a utensil
AGE age itself does not change just the ###'s that represent our age or Age of our waste is unproved.
Thanks so much for the help, Stacey and GoranTomic!!
6. We are trying to find a word that contains in the following order:
consonant, double vowels, double consonants, the same double vowels as first, and ending in a consonant. i.e. DOOGGOOM. There apparently is only one word in the English language that has all of the above. Clue: At one time, this single word was two words. Can anyone there help?
Joseph solved this one! (jc we just wanted to let you know that your co-worker joseph solved this riddle.) and the word is JAILBAIT.
And how about COOKBOOK!!
And jc came up with POOLROOM!
#Thanks Joseph ( and jc!) for the help!! Another "unsolvable" riddle solved!
#**NOTE: Some visitors feel that this is not really the solution and that the riddle implies the the double consonants must be the same; so, we'll put it back on the unsolved page and see what happens! See # 23 below to see what happened!
7. Truly no one is outstanding without me, nor fortunate;
I embrace all those whose hearts ask for me.
He who goes without me goes about in the company of death;
And he who bears me will remain lucky for ever.
But I stand lower than earth and higher than heaven...
* We received 2 different solutions for this one and offer them both - you decide!
From Ginger: Time
From Danielle:
I say its faith because without it you are nothing ..nor do you achieve anything if you don't believe in it or yourself I embrace all those whose hearts ask for me. usually when you ask for faith in something you feel it in your heart He who goes without me goes about in the company of death; if you don't have faith in yourself to try new things in life or to even go through life you might as well be dead because you surely wont be living. And he who bears me will remain lucky for ever. if you have faith in something you usually will be rewarded always...in heaven and on earth But I stand lower than earth and higher than heaven...and faith has no bounds on earth in heaven or hell.
8. There are 2 men walking in the desert, but neither knows each other. One of them is dying of thirst and the other has a full jug of water. The man with the jug offers the man a drink, but only if he follows three simple rules.
Rule 1 : He cannot have the jug, because it is his only one.
Rule 2 : He cannot remove the cork from the spout and drink this way.
Rule 3: He cannot poke a hole into the cork or the jug.
So, the thirsty man accepted his rules and then, he finished his drink and left. How did he do it?
* The most frequent answer to this one is that the cork is pushed into the bottle as Godzilla writes:
I believe the only explanation would be that the second man pushes the cork down into the bottle. This wouldn't be removing the cork, nor would it be piercing the cork and the man could get his water.
And Andrew confirms: I think he pushed the cork INTO the bottle and drank from it. He didn't remove it, he didn't keep the jug, and he didn't poke a hole into it that didn't exist already.
Here's another good solution from Matthew: Since the man with the jug offered the other a drink and put forth the rules, he himself opened the jug and gave him a drink. You would think that the thirsty one would have the jug, but it was the one with the jug who opened it and gave him a drink.
9. One day a mysterious figure burst into Sally's Shop and posed her with a puzzle. Slapping down a huge amount of money on the counter, he said 'Divide $1083 (whole increments, no change) into a number of bags, so that I can ask for any amount between $1 and $1083, and you can give me the proper amount by giving me a certain number of these bags without opening them. If you are correct, you keep the Money. If you aren't, I get your entire shop. Sally , being a very smart woman takes the challenge. What is the fewest number of bags sally will require?
*Read this riddle very carefully and you'll see that this solution offered by Godzilla could be correct:
I think the key words here are that she cannot open any of the bags. The riddler says he should be able to ask her for any amount of money between $1 and $1083 and she should be able to deliver without opening the bags. I think the bags would have to be evenly divided so she has no need to look into these bags. If this person should ask for $1, which is the minimum asking, there is no way the evenly divided money could be any greater than $1 per bag. Therefore, this lady would need 1083 bags. Then regardless of the amount the man asks for, she could easily hand him one bag for every dollar he requests. (This is considering of course we are dealing with American money - Canada has the looney, considered as 'change')
#*HOWEVER! WAIT A MINUTE!! Have we been too hasty in moving this riddle to the "SOLVED" page? One of our visitors writes that perhaps the answer given here is NOT correct: The riddle was to find the fewest number of bags required; 1083 is the maximum number of bags required, and I can prove that it can be done in less. You need one $1 bag in case the man asks for a dollar, one $2 bag if he asks for $2 (or another $1 bag if you want to do it that way, but I'm not attempting to solve this riddle - just to prove 1083 is wrong). So, now if he asks for $3 you have that also (1+2=3). You need another $2 bag to make $4 and now you've got enough to give him $5 (2+2+1=5). You need a $3 bag to make $6 (3+2+1=6) and now you have enough for $7 (3+2+2=7) and enough for $8 (3+2+2+1=8). So far I have 4 bags (one $1, two $2 and a $3). If you had put a dollar in each bag, you would have already used 8 bags, so you see that answer cannot be correct.
Therefore, riddle fans, this one is going back to the unsolved page too!
*NOTE: No sooner done than we have the solution:
From Nick: The bags contain the amounts 1,2,4,8,16,32,64,128,256,512,and 60. The solution is just the sum of the previous amounts plus 1. This will give you all possible amounts by choosing the right bags. After you put 512 in a bag, the sum of all of the bags is 1023, so the remaining 60 goes in the last bag, making the total number of bags 11.
Thanks to Nick for ending this confusion!!!
Thanks also to Han and Father, Dallin, Eliot, Jason, and to Jeff who explains it this way:
I think I have a solution to the Sally's Shop riddle on your unsolvable page. The solution is 11. Binary numbering is the basis of this solution. The bags will contain:
1. 1 2^0
2. 2 2^1
3. 4 2^2
4. 8 2^3
5. 16 2^4
6. 32 2^5
7. 64 2^6
8. 128 2^7
9. 256 2^8
10. 512 2^9
11. 60 what's left
Why does the 11th bag have an oddball number like 60? Because if you subtract the sum of the 1st nine bags from 1083 you get 60. With these bags you can represent every number between 1 and 1083.
Now, Chris offers this explanation:
The riddle asks for the least number of bags required to be able to give any increment between 1 and 1083. this requires: the minimum bags required to give any increment between 1 and 100:
2 bags of $1
1 bag of $2
1 bag of $5
1 bag of $10
2 bags of $20
1 bag of $50
-------------
Totals $109 the minimum bags required to give an increment of 100:
2 bags of $100
1 bag of $200
1 bag of $500
--------------
Totals $900
1 bag of $74 remains for a grand total of 13 bags *Now, is this riddle really solved???
Joe offers this: I disagree that this riddle is necessarily solved. The first solution is the maximum number of bags and the other solutions have a remainder bag of $60 or $74 in the case of the "binary solution" what if you wanted $1024, you could not do it. and in the solution with a remainder of $74 what you wander $1010? they would work if you had the multiples that were suggested plus the remainders in $1 bags, but I am not convinced that that would be the min, although I did not work it out.
From Chris: I can disprove Joe, who thinks that the answers are incorrect. I do believe the binary solution is the minimum amount required. If you put any larger increments into any of the bags, you would have gaps in the increments.. Joe, says that he doesn't think it is possible to get 1024 from the binary solution.....here is the answer: 512+256+128+64+60(the excess bag) + 4 = 1024
and just to further prove him wrong, here is the solution for 1010, using the incremental version: 500+200+100+100+74 (that darn excess bag again)+20+10+5+1 = 1010
OK, to put this riddle to rest, Chad explains:
The solutions of 11 bags is actually correct. The remainder of 60 is just fine. Joe states that you can't make 1024. Well what about... 1024 = 512, 256, 128, 64, 4, 60 This process also will work all the way up to 1083. For 1025 just add the $1 bag, then just the $2 bag, then the $2 and $1, then just the $4,etc...You get the idea. This will work up to 1083 because of the same argument for getting the bags up to 512. Adding the sum of the previous bags. When you get up to 15 (8,4,2,1) just take those out and put in the $16 bag. Thus, 11 bags of 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, and 60 is the minimum number of bags needed. On a side note I personally think the powers of two is the best explanation.
10. I'm like an eagle strutting in a line
My beak before, my eyes behind.
From Linda: peacock
11. I can tell you what the sun can, I might keep you up at night, I will do as you tell me, I can take many shapes and only part of me moves what am I?
From Samuel, Jokkaa, Kris, Maarten, - the answer is a clock!
12. Surely all people
Deserving of Fire
Must have visited the place
Where All and Nothing
Can be found
#Two answers have been offered for this one: the first: dictionary
the second: hell
13. An unsolved for you: Another riddle list recently had the riddle that there is only one pair of words which differ only in that one has a "v" where the other has a "u". That there should be so few makes sense, since U and V both evolved from the same letter. But so did I and J. Are there any words that differ only in one having an "i" where the other has a "j"? (By the way, by coincidence, the u/v words start with a U or V, even though that's not the letter that changes.)
From Owen: value and valve
From Julia:
An i/j pair is "iamb" and "jamb" (as in doorjamb). I didn't expect
there to be any historical root between these two words, but I was
pleasantly surprised. Both come from French. Jamb come for a French
word for foot. Iamb still carries that meaning since it is literally
a kind of metric foot used in poetry and verse.
14. What kind of bird is like a car?
#Firebird or thunderbird. OR....
#From Zoltag - Wouldn't a more correct answer be "Phoenix"?...Considering there are no birds called "firebird" or "thunderbird", yet the Phoenix has been described with both terms..
15. From Alexis:
I live in total darkness, yet I have 1000 eyes
I live in a world with no sound, but I have 1000 ears
i have four dimensions yet only one
i have two sides yet I have none
Solution: Simple, it's a shadow!
OR..... From Samer: The film in a video camera, or maybe the 4mm one using in the movies. It lives in total darkness.. captures image and sound. Captures all 4 dimensions. Has two sides, but when it's developed it's kind of transparent..
16. These clues point to some person real or animated. Can you figure out who it is?
Clue #1 Vietnam Vet
Clue #2 Bleating Sheep
Clue #3 Little Hope
Clue #4 Head Case
Clue #5 Blue Hawaiian
Clue #6 POW!
Clue #7 Spellbound
Clue #8 Cruise Control
From Adrian: I think that the answer for the person is a cartoon called "Sheep in the Big City?"
From Jason: magnum p.i.
From James: its the guy from mash, the cross dresser
17. ONE FINE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT
2 DEAD MEN GOT UP TO FIGHT
BACK 2 BACK THEY FACED EACH OTHER
DREW THEIR SWORDS AND SHOT EACH OTHER
EXPLAIN
Hints: It is relative not relational; something to do with Einstein; something used inside; and used everyday by everybody around the world
Ben writes -
this is a poem, I read it in elementary school. The full poem is:
ONE FINE DAY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT
2 DEAD MEN GOT UP TO FIGHT
BACK 2 BACK THEY FACED EACH OTHER
DREW THEIR SWORDS AND SHOT EACH OTHER
a deaf policeman heard the noise
and came and shot the two dead boys
If you don't believe this lie is true
Ask the blind man, he saw it too.
18. What has four legs and two flies?
Answer: from J Boot - 2 pairs of trousers.
19. I got this riddle from my math teacher and can't figure it out: Each week, a king gets 10 bars of gold, each weighing 10 pounds from 10 different knights. So, he should have 100 bars of gold weighing 1,000 pounds. But lately, when the king has been weighing the gold he has only been getting 990 pounds, but has all 100 bars. The king figures that a knight has been shaving off a pound of gold from each bar he hands in. How can the king figure out which knight is stealing the gold? The rules- the king needs to know in 1 week, the scale can only make one measurement a week, the bars can't be marked, you can't put one bar on the scale at a time. Hint: You don't have to weigh all 100 bars at once & there is something in the answer that will help a lot.
#ANSWER: from J Boot - As the knights arrive one day, the king will make a pile of bars to be weighed like this: one bar from the first knight, two bars from the second....up to ten bars from the tenth. (He'll have to keep track of the order in which the knights arrived.) So at the end, he'll have a pile of 1+2+3+...+10 = 55 bars to weigh. He would normally expect this pile to weigh 550 pounds. But because he's being cheated, it will weigh less than that. The AMOUNT less will give him the culprit. If, for instance, the pile is 5 pounds light (545 pounds), then the fifth knight is the guilty party because each of his five bars was one pound light. If it's 7 pounds light, the seventh knight is guilty, and so on. The king could actually leave off the tenth knight's ten bars and weigh for 450 pounds (1+2+3+...+9). If the pile is 450, the tenth knight is guilty.
Here is Greg's answer: Conditions: 1)King Must know in one week2)scale can only take one measurement a week. 3)Bars can't be marked4) Can't put one bar on scale at a time
When the 100 bars come in for measurement, start the weighing process by putting on the first ten bars from the First knight and watch the measurement. If the bars are good bars then they should weigh a total of100 lbs. Leaving those ten bars on the scale, continue to add the next 10 bars from the 2nd knight, if the bars are good you should have 200lbs. Continue this process adding each knights bars 10 at a time. When the addition of a unit of ten bars adds up to less than an even hundred, then you know that those ten bars are from the knight that shaved them. For instance If after the second knight you have 200lbs.and then you add the 10 bars from the 3rd knight and the total is 290, then you know that the third knight is the culprit. This method satisfies all constraints. It can be accomplished with one week, the bars don't need to be marked, you are putting more than one baron the scale at a time and since you are only adding bars as you go and not removing them, you are only taking one measurement in other words, it's like the deli scale at the supermarket, putting the sliced meat on the scale and adding the slices until the desired weight it's only one measurement but in graduations.
20. If you have 100 coins that equal $5 - none are nickels, what are the coins?
#ANSWER: from a Canadian visitor - it may have been a trick question. it came easy to me because I live in Canada and we have a $2 coin.
90 @ $0.01 = $0.90
8 @ $0.25 = $2.00
1 @ $0.10 = $0.10
1 @ $2.00 = $2.00
100 COINS = $5.00
ANSWER: from Thor - 75 pennies, 1 quarter, 20 dimes, 4 half dollars
HERE'S ANOTHER: from Joe -
90 Pennies -> $0.90
1 Dime -> $0.10
4 Quarters -> $1.00
4 Half Dollars -> $2.00
1 Silver Dollar -> $1.00
Total coins = 100
Total value = $5.00
21. Arrange the numbers 1 through 16 in a square of 4 by 4 so that each row, up, down, or diagonally add up to 34.
#We have 2 answers for this one. The first would make this problem a magic square and not only do the numbers total 34 going up and down and diagonally, but also across - AND the 4 corners total 34 - that is a true magic square: and the numbers would be arranged thus:
1 | 15 | 14 | 4 |
12 | 6 | 7 | 9 |
8 | 10 | 11 | 5 |
13 | 3 | 2 | 16 |
22. This riddle has been on our site for quite some time. At last, several visitors have solved it!
I am a 7 letter word. My 1,2,3 is a body part
My 2,3,4,5 is a kind of fruit
My 4,5,6 is what you would need every day
My 5,6,7 is an animal
PLEASE, WHAT IS THIS WORD?
And, the answer is: EARTHEN
Ear = Body Part
Arth = Hybrid Fruit
The = in the English language pretty hard to get through a day without the word "the"
Hen = animal.
Many, many thanks to Daniel and the others who have sent this word as the answer. Glad to have this one solved!
23. Here's the riddle as it first appeared:
We are trying to find a word that contains in the following order:
consonant, double vowels, double consonants, the same double vowels as first, and ending in a consonant. i.e. DOOGGOOM. There apparently is only one word in the English language that has all of the above. Clue: At one time, this single word was two words. Can anyone there help?
From this riddle, we can deduct that the word should be 8 letters long and consist of a consonant, 2 identical vowels, 2 identical consonants, the same 2 identical vowels, and a different consonant. That is what the riddle seems to be looking for. Limiting the answer to 8 letters makes the answer "bookkeeper" invalid cause of the "er" at the end. Bookkeep was suggested but I can't find that one in the dictionary. Just to let you know the variety of answers we have received:
bookkeep, hoottoot, WOOLLOOPING, and bookkeeper
Now, if we relax the riddle parameters a little, and still stay with 8 letters, here is an answer that is pretty good: reappear Notice that the "ea", double vowels, is repeated. However, as someone will point out, it starts and ends with the same consonant. But, it can be broken into 2 words: reap and pear.
The result of all this may be as one visitor writes: There is no answer to this one!!!! Unsolvable? Perhaps as it is presented; but, with a little creative thinking from all of you - we're calling it solved!
24. From Darby: why is a raven like a writing desk?
ANSWER: We have received several answers for this one and we're calling this one solved!
From - Jacob: They Both have quills (Ravens Quill feathers and desks Writing Quills) old riddle from Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll.
From - Dave: They both have a quill.
From George: A Raven is like a writing desk when its hair has a glossy sheen.
From Daniel: there is no answer to that riddle.. its just from "Alice in Wonderland" during the tea party.. its just jibber jabber
From GeckoGurl1- A raven is like a writing desk because Edgar Allan Poe wrote on them both.
*NOTE: I think that last one is the best answer!
25. From: DramaStar8: what word in the English language has the letters ufa in that order?"
ANSWERS: This was too easy - solved in a day!
Thanks to Will, Diane and Ben-lee - the word is manufacture or any of its derivatives such as Manufactory, Manufactories, Manufactored and all of its suffixes and prefixes (pre-,re-,non-, -er).
26. They call me a man, but I'll never have a wife. They gave me a body, but I'll never have a life. They gave me a mouth but I'll never take a breath. The water gives me life, the sun brings death.
(HINTS: It's man made, it can be eaten.)
SOLVED: A snowman! Thanks to Terry and Robert for solving this one!
Also, Josh made this suggestion for a solution and if you do as he says, it is also an answer: The riddle itself can be solved also WITHOUT the hints. Disregarding the hints IT is a RIVER.
27. Everyone wants it, yet it belongs to a few. Fewer still can use it and harm comes to those who do. What is it?
SOLVED: From: Faraz.A - I think it's power.
28. From: Sugar8444 - My first, a word most near to every heart; My next, a very large and heavy cart; My last, an implement that makes a bed; My whole, a story widely loved and read.
From Sugar8444: My first, a word most near to every heart; I
My next, a very large and heavy cart; VAN
My last, an implement that makes a bed; HOE
My whole, a story widely loved and read. Ivanhoe
:) <><
29. From Edward: What changes, but stays the same; What leaves, but never goes; What's right, but always wrong; What's good, but always bad??
From Daniel - How about 'nothing'.
OR Power, Or Winter, Seasons ??? Keep thinking.....
How about "a person"?..... OR "time".....Jacqueline suggests "dreams"....
What about "love"?........ Victoria answers it this way: "People change, but stay the same; wind leaves, but never goes; Candy is good, but always bad.".......
Another suggestion: the weather......
Bill offers: how about the news?
And Steven says, why not try color and taste
From Ricardo - Dude its obvious that the answer to #1 to your unsolved mysteries is the "truth" think about it.
Desi suggests "time".
From Jong-Yeul - The spirit of free "will"
Zach - How about an opposite. or irony, or a paradox.
Roisin offers: How about emotions? Your emotions change, but they stay as the same emotion. You can try to make them go away, but they are always there, hidden. They never really leave. Emotions tell you the right thing to do, but they also tell you the wrong thing to do. They can make you feel good, but have a way of making everything bad again.
From Erika - Money
From Jim- nothing
From Jong-Yeul: The spirit of free "will"
And from the seven: a shadow
And finally, from Katie- A tree
30. What is a bell that doesn't ring but in the heavens makes the angels sing?
Jason: love and or maybe respect.
From Jong-Yeul - the bells of sins
Jacqueline - I think the answer is a beautiful newborn baby.
Ben-lee suggests: How 'about Alexander Graham Bell :-)?Maybe the angles are singing to each other on the phone?
From Jong-Yeul: the bells of sins
Tim sends this great suggestion: the trumpet. maybe the riddle should read "what has a bell..."
* Often the correct wording of a riddle gets lost and perhaps this riddle should read:
What has a bell that doesn't ring, yet in the Heavens makes the angels sing?
JLLinnell sums it up like this: This one is actually fairly straight forward wordplay. The answer is a horn, or a trumpet. A "bell" is the name for the end of a horn where noise comes out. It doesn't exactly ring, but in pictures of angel choruses, you almost always see a brass horn.
Slade also suggests: the flower bluebell
Heidi is positive that the answer is: FLOWERS!!!!!! It was said in "Legend" which is a pretty cool movie.
31. From Amanda: I am mother and father, but never birth or nurse. I'm rarely still, but I never wander.
ANSWER: This riddle generated a lot of answers - guess it wasn't so "unsolvable" after all! The most frequents answer is "a tree"; followed by earth, a plant, the ocean, water, Father time, Mother earth and God. All good answers and this riddle is now solved!
32. What is the opposite of "if"?
ANSWER: We received some clever answers for this. Some suggested that the riddle is a play on words and the answer is "fi" or "What" (opposite word position) or "of". But the riddle really does have an answer and this is a good explanation:
The opposite of "if" is "unless". For example, if I wanted to say "I'll never talk to you if you were the last person alive", that would mean if you were the last person alive, I wouldn't talk to you. If I said "I wouldn't talk to you UNLESS you were the last person alive", then that would mean the opposite, which would mean that I won't talk to you until you were the only one left on this Earth. (Thanks Tiffany)
Here's another take on this:
If it rains, I'll go visiting. (It rains, I go visiting.)
Unless it rains, I'll go visiting. (It rains, I don't go visiting.)
So, there you have it, another one solved!!
33. A clock loses ten minutes each hour. If the clock is set at 12 o'clock noon, what is the correct time when the clock reads 3:00 PM?
We got quite a variety of answers on this one. The correct answer is 3:36! If it takes the clock an hour to run 50 minutes, it takes six minutes to run 5. The clock will read 2:55 at 3:30; therefore it will be 3:36 when the clock reads 3:00. (The book where this riddle is found writes: "Three out of four students muffed this one in a College Board quiz.)
This riddle appears in the following book:
We Dare You To Solve This No. 4, John Paul Adams,
Berkley Medallion Edition 1977, p. 29
Here are some nicely detailed explanations for this riddle:
Bradley: Say T is the time in hours on the clock and H is the correct time in hours.
T = H(5/6)... accounting for the loss of 10 minutes each hour (-10 minutes / 60 minutes).
H = T(6/5) ... solve for H
When T = 3...H = 3 3/5 hours...with 3 hours plus 3:36
The basis of this is that "..the clock is set at 12 o'clock noon ...", meaning that not only is the clock set to the time of noon, but it is also set AT noon by the wording of the riddle.
Ron: So, to make things simpler, let's go by elapsed minutes rather than absolute time. We'll start at 12:00 being minute 0. Now I'm going to call big-'T' the real time and little-'t' the bad clock's time.
T minutes t minutes
--- ------- --- -------
12:00 0 12:00 0
1:00 60 12:50 50
2:00 120 1:40 100
3:00 180 2:30 150
4:00 240 3:20 200
The above table is just a guide. It tells us the answer will be between 3:00 and 4:00 real time T and will be closer to 4:00 than to 3:00. Here's the calculation:
Since for every 60 minutes of real time, the clock loses 10 minutes that makes 50 minutes. Therefore:
t = 50/60 * T
thus:
t = 5/6 * T
So, when t is 3:00 pm (180 minutes past 0)
T = 6/5 * t = 6/5 * 180 = 216
The the real time when the clock says 3:00 is 216 minutes past 0. Therefore then the clock says 3:00, the real time is 3:36
Cheers,
Tim puts it this way: The answer is 3:36pm. The clock loses 1 minute in every 6, so 6 minutes time shows 5 on the clock. To multiply into hours on the clock 5x12 =60 mins. Three hours is therefore 36x5. So three hours on the clock is 36 x 5 = 180 minutes. 12 + 180 minutes (3 hours) = 3pm. SO to find the real time equivalent, 5 clock minutes = 6 real time minutes, so 36 x 6 = 216 = 3 hours 36 minutes. So the correct time is 3:36pm!!!
From Jay: Solution: For every hour, the clock moves only 50 minutes, or at the rate of 60/50 ->>1.2 Therefore, at 3:00 PM , 3 hours X 1.2 = 3.6 hours or 3 hours and 36 minutes Answer : The correct time is 3:36 PM when the clock reads 3:00 PM
Kirk explains it this way: You must first calculate, as a percentage, the speed variance between your broken clock and a "correct time" clock. Your broken clock is operating a speed that is .833% slower than a correct clock. Conversely, a correct clock is operating at a speed that is 1.2% faster than your broken clock. Thus, at 1:00 on your broken clock you can multiply 60 min. * 1.2% clock minutes = 1:12 (.2% of 60 = 12) With the next full hour on your broken clock complete, you know that a real clock would have moved another 1hr and 12 minutes, and would now show a time of 2:24. Finally, one more hour passes on your broken clock, you add 1hr and 12 minutes to a real clock, and find that it reads 3:36 .
Dave: Hmmm, just browsing your site and I came across the unsolvable riddle page...is there something I am missing because it doesn't seem very unsolvable. If the clock loses 10 minutes every hour that also means it loses 1 minute every 6 minutes right? So I did a table that looked like this
Real Time Clock Display
12:00 12:00
1:00 12:50
2:00 1:40
3:00 2:30
3:30 2:55 (loses 5 minutes every half hour, so
only 25 minutes shown for the last half hour)
Now there is only 5 minutes that needs to run on the clock display, which would require real time to be 6 minutes (clock will lose a minute), so the answer would be 3:36 pm, no?
And finally, Sara: ok so the clock loses 10 minutes every hour, so that's 10 out of every 60, or one sixth. That means that 10 seconds out of every minute are lost. After one hour, the clock reads 12:50 two hours: 1:40 three hours: 2:30 three and a half hours: 2:55 and for the last five minutes, you can use the equation:
5 = 5/6x
since only 5/6 of every minute are added to the time shown on the clock this comes out to
6=x, and so six minutes would pass for the clock to add the last five minutes. Hence, the clock would read 3:00 when the actual time was 3:36
34. From Jay: Please name something that everyone has one, and there may be several of them in one family, but there are only slightly over 10 of them in the whole world??
ANSWERS: All of these answers seem to perfectly solve this one!-
Paul and Sharon- Blood Types/Groups
Kitsune- Hair Color (red, brown, white, black, auburn, etc...)
GrayWiz7- a generation
-MJS- How about a race? Everybody belongs to a particular race (black, white, spanish, asian, indian, arabic, etc.), and several can mix to form a family, yet there are very few separate races. Hoping I'm right on this one....
Adara- vowels
Frda - Iceland- have you considered the possibility of the answer being the astrological signs... 12 in total.. everyone has one, in my family alone are 7... it adds up...
Abacufa- In the phrase "everyone has one" there is one strait line in the letter n of the word , one. In the phrase "one family", the letters l, I, m, and y (in y, the left section of it is diagonal, but still strait.) contain 4 strait lines, and in the phrase "the whole world" the letters w, w, h, l, l, h, d, and r contain 14 strait lines.
DAVID- SKIN COLOR!!!!! GET IT????? EVERY1 HAS A SKIN COLOR AND THERE ARE ONLY ABOUT OVER 10 AND SOME FAMILIES HAVE MIXED SKIN.
Rodger- birth months
*And now, to really clear up this riddle, Jay offers this as the correct solution: I don't think any one of the above are correct 100%. For instance, there are only two blood types: A & B, not over 10 over them in the whole world. Secondly, hair color is not a good answer either, because one person can have more than one hair color, and there are possibly more than 100 color in the whole world. Thirdly, there are much more than hundred races in the whole world......etc... Anyway the answer is the 12 Signs of Zodiac . ............
35. Mad about money, my name would suggest; I'm all around nothing. What am I?
ANSWER: From Jason R. & Bobby Z.: a doughnut.
*NOTE: "dough" as in money and "nut" as in a little crazy, therefore a dough - nut: crazy about money and of course there is nothing in the middhnut.
36. From Roxygurl - Derive a word or saying from the following letters:
13579 AZ
From Ben: Odds and Ends
From Haden J. - Odds & Ends. The numbers are the odds, and A and Z are ends...
From Marie: the answer is ODDS and ENDS
From - Andrew - Odds and Ends:)
From Celeste - "odds and ends"
From Matt: the numbers are odd numbers. so ODD A Z, sounds like odessey. so answer: odessey
From Heather: odds and ends
From Keith: ODDS and ENDS
From Amy: odyssey
37. From Jeremy: If you solve this riddle then you will go free. If you fail, you become my slave for all eternity. What is my true name? You will have to look within for the answer.
From Robert: The answer is What. It clearly states that his name is What if you add a comma after the word what. (What is my true name....)
From Tracy: Time
From The1JBon d - the name is obsession or something related, because if you cant solve the riddle you'll be it's slave by being obsessed and that's a feeling inside you since it says you have to look within, I'm not completely sure if this is right but it's my best interpretation.
From Kyle the name within is ethen
From Matt: curiosity? if I solve this riddle, I won't be curious about the answer anymore. if not, then I'll forever be curious, & a slave to curiosity. 0:-)
38. From Souli: "I am a place where rich men are lain, but add a night, and I'm a hero's bane." What am I?
From jsolom2: (From an anonymous source) A place where rich men are lain is a crypt, when you add a night, you get crypt-a-night (kryptonite), which is the bane of Superman (a hero).
From Eastsuns - the answer to the third unsolvable riddle is villa and when you add an n to the word you get villain which is the hero's bane
39. From James: How do locomotives hear?
From Julietta: They all have engineers (engine ears)
From Heather: I think it is engin "ears"
From Kyle: I'd say that a locomotive hears with a sound-track.
From texansiyl: the answer might be " with its enginEAR, or engineer, the one who drives the train".
From Gerry: They hear with "TRACK EARS" {tractors-sometimes pronounced tracteers}
40. From Paul: What kind of pet can you stand on a carpet?
From Sean: a chia-pet
From Gerry: pets that live in cars or ride in cars
41. From Lauri: I am stuck with a riddle. It is as follows:
MAY
AA
We received 2 answers for this one:
From Adam: may on a's (mayonnaise)??
From Gerry: amazed
42. From Ian: There are four people on a cruise, here are three of them: Michael Owen
Jennifer Lopez
prince Harry
There is a fourth, who is it and what is the link?????
Answer: From Joshua: The fourth person is Ian. How else would he know the other three people on the cruise?
From: Richard- Michael Owen has 11 letters in his name and he is male. Prince Harry has 11 letters in his name and he is male. Jennifer Lopez has 13 letters in her name and she is female. My answer is Carmen Electra her name has 13 letters and she is female. I realize I could be wrong but it's worth a try.
43. From Sandy: I have no face, but everyone knows me. I grow stronger and larger as I age, and I am almost impossible to track. I feed off the innocent, and my followers are weak. I ruin friendships, relationships, and jobs. What am I?
From Dennis, ort433, ozeljko, Brett and Shelley - the answer is gossip or rumors
From Sean: Jealousy
From Joe: Lies or Drugs
From: Mummyzapper- your voice (ruins a lot when you don't think before you speak) EASY and I'm 11
Ben-lee - I believe the answer can be a computer virus. It has no face, but everyone is aware of it. Worm Virus, the older he is, the more infections he has. Viruses are almost impossible to track, and most of the people get infected are innocent. Finally, It can ruin friendship (try to look at your friend's eye after you ruined his computer), relationships and jobs (worms viruses infect a lot of companies intra-nets).
From Shygirl: it seems like the answer is religion or something to do with religion
44. Alister - "How can you take a man back from the future?
From Mummyzapper you take him back from the future by waiting. (he's in the future, you just wait for it!)
From Gerry: This is weak, Play tag with him and allow take backs after he has tagged
From Daniel: The answer to this riddle is "wait". That is, the man is from the future; to take him back, you just wait for that future to become the present and you have thereby taken him back.
45. From the riddle addict: I have a heart that never beats, I have a home but I never sleep. I can take a mans house and build anothers, And I love to play games with my many brothers. I am a king among fools. Who am I?
(YOU DECIDE:)
From: refdesk and Stacy - I believe the answer is the Jack of Hearts (the playing card). He has a heart that never beats, he never sleeps because his eye never closes, his home is a full house, a man can loose his house gambling or build a house of cards. He plays games with his brothers of other suits and , I believe is also known as the king of fools or knave.
And From Mike: I think the answer is the jack of hearts in a card deck. You can use playing cards to build a house and they can also break when you add a card. Their are also three other jacks in the deck making it its brothers. And the heart suit is always considered the highest of them all, making it the king of his brothers.
From Ed & Elaine, Larry, Lee Ann,Deborah,anita,Dwc1675 ,Gerry, KGiggle, Mightymouse - The King of Hearts - A heart that never beats, a home in the deck in the box with other Cards does not need sleep is a object, help in building a house of Cards, taken out cards will fall destroying house, but can be used to rebuild house, cards are used to play games {brothers to play games with} and jokers are in deck so is king among fools.
From Cst: how about a tree?
From Lora: COMPUTER
46. From Thomas- A man climbs a cherry tree. He finds cherries. He neither eats them or leaves any. What happened to the cherries?
(This one seems really easy now!!)
From dAVIE - the cherries fell
From bard, soogazi - He picked them and took them with him.
From Patrick - He simply took them away when he left.
From James: he takes them but doesn't eat them
From cotts: the man was not alone...he had friend with him and they ate the cherries.
From April: the cherries fell when he climbed the tree, um, I think, or he fell out and knocked them all down, maybe?
From Theresa: He picked them and took them with him
From Dwight: The man neither eats them or leaves any- because he picks them and takes them with him when he leaves the tree.
From Kino: Well, this may seem simple, but they fell off when fall came along with the leaves.
From Deftone649 - he carried them away with him
And From Gerry - He driven under tree with a tractor and a large wagon. He shakes The tree limbs until all cherries are off tree, the cherries land in wagon. He drives away with cherries
From Gerard: The cherries are still in the tree, as are the cherry tree leaves, because he doesn't eat them either. (Note the play on words here.)
From John: The answer I believe is nothing happens to the cherries, because the man does not eat them, nor does he take them, nor does the man leave the cherries because he stays with them in the tree. Simply the man does not leave the tree, nor the cherries. You could express this riddle another way by saying that a tiger enters a man's house. The tiger finds the man, but he does not eat the man, he does not take the man away, he does not leave the man. What happened to the man? Nothing he is still in the house with the tiger who hasn't left. Just like the man that climbed the cherry tree and found cherries and never left the cherries, because he never left the tree.
From Richard: Here is the corrected version of this riddle - A man climbs a cherry tree alone. He finds cherries. He neither eats cherries, takes cherries or leaves cherries. How can this be?"
AND here are the responses:
This riddle is now retired!!
47. Monday and Tuesday have two, Wednesday and Thursday have one, Friday has six and Saturday and Sunday have none, what is it?
*Please note: These are the solutions sent to us and we think this one is solved!
From - s: It's a corrupted riddle! It has to be asked as Sunday has six, Monday and Tuesday have two, Wednesday has one. Thursday and Friday each have two, Saturday has none. and the answer is "new letters". SUNDAY - all new letters
MOnday - two new letters
TuEsday - two new letters
Wednesday - one new letter
tHuRsday - two new letters
FrIday - two new letters
saturday - no new letters
I'm pretty sure this is clearly the same riddle; the one you have sounds like someone got the names in the wrong order, or screwed up the numbers.
And From Bard: I found a different version of this: "Sunday has six. Monday and Tuesday each have two. Wednesday has one. Thursday and Friday each have two. Saturday has none. But its answer doesn't work for your riddle. Are you sure you have it right? The riddle has been posted over a year. The answer to yours are new letters, Starting with Sunday with 6 new letters and so on. It might be whomever posted the first riddle started with days in a different language and started with Friday, though I begin to suspect that somebody messed up the days and number associated with them. S u n d a y 6
M o 2
T e 2
W 1
Th r 2
F i 2
48. From Snake: "I am easily broken, but unbreakable if held properly. I have a halo and white robe, as well as a heart of gold. What am I?"
As soon as this one was posted, we started getting many solutions - all the same: the answer for this one is an egg! As Donny writes: the answer is an egg, the shell being the halo the white being the robe and the yoke being the heart of gold, and although very breakable, if held so that both ends are pressed on only, it cannot be broken
Thanks to everyone including: Greg, Michael, Tarzul, TicToc, Lauren, and Sally, who set us right on this one - apparently not such an unsolvable riddle after all!
49. Can you help me identify the piece of literature this riddle is from and also solve the riddle???
First think of the person who lives in disguise,
Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies.
Next, tell me what's always the last thing to mend, end,
The middle of middle and end of the end?
And finally give me the sound often heard During the search for a hard-to-find word.
Now string them together, and answer me this,
Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?
*ANSWER: This is from the Harry Potter book, GOBLET OF FIRE, and the answer is spider! Many thanks to the following for taking the time to solve this riddle for us: Gina, Stewart, Aya, Natasha, Alexander, Tara, Pamela, Upansa, Neil, James, Tarzul, Amy, Michael, Geoff, and Shiba.
50. What is so annoying that hardly forms our language but follows a quarter of a hundred things that form things that form sentences all the time because it's last?
ANSWER: From Michael: The letter z. Hardly used in our language, it follows 25 (a quarter of 100) other letters that form words that form sentences. Thanks also to Amy, Beth and Geoff for helping to solve this one
51. A Man dies and leaves 35 camels to his 3 sons.
The first son gets 1/2
the second son gets 1/3
the third son gets 1/9
How do you divide up the camels without killing any of them?
ANSWER: From Michael: 1) Borrow a camel from a neighbor so that you now have 36. Since 36 is more than 35, none of the sons should have a problem with this. They will get the same share of a larger herd.
2) Give the first son 1/2 - or 18 camels.
3) Give the second son 1/3 - or 12 camels.
4) Give the third son 1/9 - or 4 camels.
At this point you have given away 34 of the 36 camels. You can now give the neighbor back his original camel, plus an extra one for his trouble. the neighbor is happy with the deal as well. Thanks also to Neil, Gerry, and bard for solutions similar to this one
****NOTE: One of our visitors sent what he believes to be the correct version of this riddle -
A rich old Arab has three sons. When he died, he willed his 17 camels to the sons, to be divided as follows:
First Son to get 1/2 of the camels, Second Son to get 1/3rd of the camels, Third Son to get 1/9th of the camels. The sons are sitting there trying to figure out how this can possibly be done, when a very old wise man goes riding by. They stop him and ask him to help them solve their problem. Without hesitation he divides the camels properly and continues riding on his way. How did he do it?
#ANSWER: add the man's camel which = 18...take 1/2=9...then take 1/3=6...then take 1/9=2. then give the man back his camel. What do you think riddle fans? Is this the correct version or just another version???? Either way, both are great riddles by themselves.
**NOTE: From bard- A little searching does appear to be that most likely was the original riddle and does fit better is some ways. The one example I found involved a lawyer helping to divide 17 horses. The solution the lawyer added his own horse before shares were taken. The solution also states "In the administration of Mohammedan Law of Inheritance, which involves numerous and complicated fractions, this expedient is frequently employed."
52. Three rings riddle. There are three rings given to three friends by a lover of riddles. One was red, the second one was blue, the last ring was wrapped. The third friend unwrapped his ring. He looked hard at the ring and couldn't decipher the color. (couldn't see color well) The riddle lover told them, 1 to 5, minus 1, plus 2, minus 1. If you know your colors, i have told you all you need to know. What is the color of the ring?
ANSWERS: From Shortimn - the answer to 2 is green. Because1to 5 is 4 minus 1 gives you 3 plus 2 minus 1 gives you 4. Green is the fourth color of the rainbow.
From: Gurlnfunkytown- The ring is purple. u have 3 primary colors and 3 secondary colors PRIMARY-red yellow blue
SECONDARY-orange, green, purple
purple in the order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple/violet would equal 6, the number they give u. Also the 6th in order of primary + secondary colors. Also red and blue make purple ( I don't think that has a lot to do with anything though)
From - Darrell - try this, there are nine rings instead of three (three given to each friend) there are 8 colors in a box of crayons red blue yellow orange purple green brown black the last might be a mixture.
From Gilio - The color of the ring would be black.
From Nita - the answer is obviously blue if you look at the colors of the rainbow, red is the 1st, blue is the 5th. if you minus 1, plus 2, minus 1, it brings you right back to blue.
From Tara - Answer: I think....1 to 5 = 6, minus 1 = 5, plus 2 = 7, minus 1 = 6....Red: 1 Orange:2 yellow: 3 Green: 4 Blue: 5 Purple: 6. The ring was Purple.
From Highlightshow - Yellow... its one of the primary colors... red, yellow and blue... and the math is thrown in to confuse the person reading or hearing the riddle. This is basic knowledge learned in 4th grade art class, and that's why most people don't remember this bit of information. I hope I could help
53. From Phyllis: What sentence can't you spell?
ANSWER From Ryan: it is a prison sentence.
54. From David: Wall is to window as face is to __????
ANSWER: From Gerry - Wall is to window as Face is to eyes (windows of the mind)
55. From Sarah: When does 26 + 6 = 1 ??
ANSWER: From Gerry - 26 oz. plus 6 oz.= 1 quart (32 oz.)
56. From David: What number follows logically in this series:
9, 12, 21, 48,???
ANSWER: From Eric - The answer is 129. I guess you want an explanation, huh? Well, the solution is f(n)=f(n-1)+3^(n-1)
In other words, 9+3^1=12, 12+3^2=21, 21+3^3=48, 48+3^4=12
From Joshua - 129 and then 453
12-9=3^1
21-9=3^2
48-21=3^3
129-48=3^4
453-129=3^5
From Jack - it seems clear that the difference between each item is obtained by increasing the exponent of 3 by 1 and adding the result to the previous value, thus,
3 to the power of 1 = 3, so 9 + 3 = 12
3 squared = 9, so 12 + 9 = 21
3 to the third power = 27, so 21 + 27 = 48
and the next value in the series should be 129
(3 to the fourth power = 81, so 48 + 81 = 129)
Cheers!
And from Ben-lee- 12-9=3
21-12=9
48-21=27
Every time the gap is multiplied by 3. The next one will be 48+27*3=129.
57. From Josh- Solve this rebus:
J K
10 Q A
PLEASE NOTE:Answer has 9 letters, not related to poker, one-word answer, a little general knowledge is necessary but no specific terms are needed (at least that's what the creator of this riddle said)
ANSWER: From Michael - I think the solution is "hijacking"
And also from Kinshinechan -the answer is solitaire.. the numbers and letters are in order, 10, jack, queen, king, ace as if how you would place them while playing solitaire
58. From Dave: I wear gray, woven over
With bright and gleaming gems. I bring
The stupid to folly's paths, fool
The ignorant with sin, urge all the useless
Roads and ruin the rest. I can'
Explain their madness, for I push them to error
And pick their brains, yet they praise me more.
For each seduction. Their dullness will be sorrow,|
When they lead their souls on high, unless
They learn to walk wisely, and without my help.
ANSWER: from Mal- I think the answer is a spider's web and here is why: Spiders webs are grayish in color, and in the morning when the are most visible, it is the dew that sparkles...
I bring The stupid to folly's paths, fool The ignorant with sin, urge all the useless Roads and ruin the rest. If you were being tempted lured or tricked into a Spiders web, then this would fit... they are often put where their prey would least like to find them...
I can' Explain their madness, for I push them to error And pick their brains, yet they praise me more. For each seduction. Trickery is the spider best weapon, and anything that falls for it and ends up in a web will definitely get their brains sucked...
And who cannot marvel at the ingenuity and beauty of spiders webs.... Their dullness will be sorrow,| When they lead their souls on high, unless They learn to walk wisely, and without my help.
If they (prey) don't watch where they are going... they will be sorry alright... and they will be dead...
Other answers: time, conscience, the sun, the devil
Thanks everyone for your help!
>>>>>And here is an update for this riddle- One of our visitors, Andrea, writes the following - This is actually an old riddle from the Middle Ages from The Exeter Book. The answer is "A Goblet of Wine/Spirits". More info on Old English riddles can be found at http://www2.kenyon.edu/AngloSaxonRiddles/
Many thanks Andrea, for this information and solution!!
59. From Ted: TURN AROUND ITS NOT THERE, LOOK UP AND IT IS THERE, LOOK DOWN AND IT MIGHT BE THERE, BUT ITS ALWAYS AROUND THE CORNER. WHAT IS IT?
ANSWER: The most frequent answer to this riddle is "your future" for if you look back or turn around, it's your past, not the future; if you look up, hopefully Heaven will be in your future however, looking down, Hell Might be your future; and the future is always yet to be - just around the corner. Thanks everyone who helped solve this one!
Some alternate answers are: the sun; tomorrow; death; hair; opportunity; uncertainty; a shadow; the sky; nothing; the moment;
60. From Josh: an anagram (rearrange the letters to make a word or phrase):
SOMEDAY
Rearrange those letters to make an animal's name (I'm not sure if this means type of species, type of animal specifically, or trademark name such as Lassie or Scoobie Doo)
ANSWER: Samoyed - (definition: any of a Siberian breed of medium-sized white or cream-colored sled dogs)
Thanks to Michele and Dadsdownlode
61. From Sanjeev - What number lies in the middle of 1/2 and 1/4 ?
ANSWER: 3/8
From Kevin and Miki - an explanation: Reason is 1/2 = 4/8 1/4 = 2/8
so 3/8 lies right in the middle of that.
From Sharon, another way to look at it: The answer is .375
To do it, just find the average of the two numbers. Right?
And from Chuck: If you look at a number line, exactly half the distance between 1/2 and
1/4 would be 3/8
And here's another way to look at this one from Barb - C'mon, the answer can't be 3/8; it's a riddle, not a math quiz. Maybe the answer is 21? (1/2 1/4)!!
62. Jenn has 10 chemicals she wants to combine in groups of 3.
She wants to get every combination possible. How many groups
of 3 - each group different and each group having 3 chemicals -
will she be able to create?
ANSWER: 120 - and for the technical explanation:
From Mike - This is a simple exercise in probability. All you need to do is find the number of combinations of 3 that can be taken from 10 (or 10C3 in probability notation) The relevant formula is: nCr = n! / (r!*(n-r)!)
therefore: 10C3 = 10! / (3!*(10-3)!) =
10! / (3!*7!) =
3628800 / (6 * 5040) = 120
There are 120 possible groups of 3 chemicals she can select from the set of 10.
Another way to look at this from Jack - instead of writing an equation, I will show you how i solved this practically. name the chemicals a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j. if we first make a list of all the possible combinations with chemical a:
abc acd ade aef afg agh ahi aij
abd ace adf aeg afh agi ahj
abe acf adg aeh afg agj
abf acg adh aei afj
abg ach adi aej
abh aci adj
abi acj
abj
there are 36. now we add on 36 minus one diagonal row, 36-8=28.
now we add on 28 minus one diagonal row, 28-7=21
we carry this on until there are no more diagonal rows.
we are left with 120
this is the number of different combinations there could be
Thanks also to - James, Chris, Esteban, Bill, and Jonathan for solving this one!
63. From Linda: Rhymes with a lunch date word but in the hands of the wrong person, it will bust your head.
ANSWERS: We have received several words that answer this riddle - take your pick:
Todd - The word is "bludgeon", a stick or mallet wielded as a weapon, and rhymes with "luncheon" which would be the "lunch date word"
Sharon - the answer is fist. tryst could be a lunch date, and a fist could bust your head.
Brad, Elaine - "PUNCH"...can bust your head and rhymes with brunch.
Hattie - Maybe luncheon and truncheon (Policemen and women use them) Hopefully I've spelled them correctly!
Alex - "ham sandwich".....you've probably heard about the soldiers that are trained to kill a person 500 different ways with a ham sandwich.
Cindy - a club.. it rhymes with sub, and in the hands of the wrong person (if they hit you over the head with it) it could bust your head.
64. From JSOTO - there are 1000 students and lockers at a school. As a game the students played a little game with the lockers. The 1st student went through and opened the lockers. The 2nd student went through and changed the state of the locker =
( if it was open he or she closed it; if it was closed he or she opened it) of all the lockers that are multiples of two (the 2nd,4th,6th,etc.lockers). The third changed the state of all the lockers that were multiples of three. The 4th changed the multiples of 4, and so on till all 1000 students went through. At the end which lockers open and why? Please help me figure this out.
ANSWER: From Matt (with help from Bob) and Stephen-
Think about how many times a locker will be flipped. It's based on the number of factors of that number
1: 1
2: 1 2
3: 1 3
4: 1 2 4
5: 1 5
6: 1 2 3 6
7: 1 7
8: 1 2 4 8
9: 1 3 9
10: 1 2 5 10
etc. Note that all of the numbers have at least two factors, 1 and themselves.
MOST numbers have an even number of factors, pairs of numbers that multiply together. That means that MOST lockers will be open and closed an even number of times, leaving them closed. That leaves the oddball numbers, the ones with 3 factors. 1, 4, 9, ... Recognize the pattern. They're squares. This means they will be opened and closed an odd number of times, leaving them open. So how many squares are less than 1000.
sqrt(1000)=31.6228 31*31 = 969 So there will be 31 lockers left open when all is said and done.
HOWEVER!!
Ack writes: Well here's your problem, the answer given here is correct "IF" that had been the question. At the end of the riddle, it asks "At the end, what lockers open and why?" It's not asking what lockers ARE open, but rather asking what lockers opened at all. If it has asked what lockers were left open, then it wouldn't have been a riddle but more like a math problem. The answer is all of them, since the 1st kid opened all of them in the beginning, so they've all been opened. Get it? No math required what so ever, leaving it as a riddle rather than a math problem, and a rather funny riddle at that. Funny watching other people try and solve it not knowing there is a play on words involved... I still can't believe some guys actually went and solved the non-riddle version of it...wonder how much time they spent, all gone to waste though. well, there you have it.
65. From June: From house to house he goes,
A messenger small and slight
And whether it rains or snows
He sleeps outside at night
ANSWERS: For this one there have been quite a number of what we think are valid answers. So, here goes: (Thanks to all of you who replied!)- a dog because dogs sleep in the rain and snow and dogs are messengers if trained
-The sun rises and moves to each house.
-a road
-a telephone line or telephone pole
-the path
-the mailbox
-I think best matches it is a road...Roads can carry messages, go to every house in some form, near houses, they tend to be small, and the thickness of them most definite lt makes them slight...It is there regardless of the weather, and at night there is little to no traffic on it (ever looked out the window at 3:00am?)...
-the moon
-jack frost
-the weather
-anything that is outside
-a cat
-rudolph
-My suggestion is "a telephone line or cable" It connects every house, delivering messages, slight in cross-seection, smaller than electricity lines Is always outside
-the wind
66. What kind of pins are used in soup?
ANSWER: From Stephen - The only thing I found that comes close is "Sculpins" : any of numerous fish of the family Cottidae, native to non-tropical regions, having large spiny heads. I know it doesn't sound very appetizing, but I'm pretty sure the form of the answer has to be -pins. Terrapins is the better answer.
Also, from Kevin, Mal, - Terrapins... They were hunted to near extinction to make soup in the 1800's and 1900's Are are still used today...
And how about pinwheel pasta?!
And finally, from Canaan-The answer to number 3 is lupins.
67. Once there was a girl in college and she was low on money, so she sent her parents a letter with a problem on it:
send
+ more
money
Her parents knew she was doing very well in college. The parents sent the amount of money she asked for. How did the parents know how much to send her
ANSWER: The answer is 9567
+ 1085
10652 And now for an explanation (Thanks to Vai, Eve, and Stephen!)
You know M, the M in money, has to be one, because 2 numbers added together, can only have a carry over of 1. so you have,
send
+1ore
------
1oney
For S, you know S has to be 8 or 9,, adding to the 1, 9+1 is 10, 8+1+1 from a carry over would make 10, either way, '0' would have to be ZERO.
send
+10re
------
10ney
Here, E could be 9, with a carryover from another column, making 10, carrying over to S, where S could be 8, since we already have ZERO covered, N, cannot be ZERO, so E isn't 9, wont carry over to the S column, leaving S to be 9
9end
+10re
------
10ney
E + ZERO = N, we know that N is one greater than E, and E is getting a carry over from the other column.... E could not be 8, because N cant be 9. We also know that N, plus something, equals E, which is one less, 9 is that magic number, since R cant be 9, it has to be 8, with a carry over,
9end
+108e
------
10ney
D + E, has to equal at least 12, because Y cannot be 0 or 1, N is one greater than E, E could not be 7 or 8, and because D cannot be 8 or 9, E could also not be 3 or 4, that leaves 5 or 6, if you try 6, N would be 7, and you would get
967d
+1086
------
1076y
You need Y to be at least 2, so D would have to be, 6, 7, 8, or 9..... cannot be, so try E as 5, and N as 6
956d
+1085
------
1065y
Y again has to be at least 2, leaving D as 7 and y as 2, VIOLA! HOPE that helps :)
Her parents either sent her $10,652.00 or $106.52.
Also, Melissa sent this solution -
Let's look at a telephone key pad.
s = 7
e = 3
n = 6
d = 3
&m = 6
o = 6
r = 7
e = 3
Money = $
So......
7363 + 6673 = $14 035 - 00
68. From Rob: What word has the letters Y,G and X and we use it every day?
ANSWER: The word is oxygen and thank the following for supplying us with the answer: Jennifer, Stryder, Jiggs, Amy, Scott, Craig, Eve, Cynthia, Barb, and the Vaughn's!!!!
NOW, here is another answer which is also correct, if you think about it; Nick suggests that the word looking for is "alphabet" - it does have Y, G, and X - among other letters - and we certainly use the alphabet every day. Just a little different way to think about this riddle - not the expected answer, but a good answer!
69. From Theresa: Find out what grandma's favorite snack is by unscrambling these letters -
G I A I D S J Q P S S U A A A I Y L A.
Do you think you can solve this for me?
ANSWER: After a very long time on the challenge page, the most common answer we received for this riddle is "Alphabet soup". Seems to be the best answer - what do you think?
70. From Capt Drake:
P E A R
A P P L E
L E M O N
+ B A N A N A
_________________
O R A N G E
EACH LETTER REPRESENTS A NUMBER BETWEEN 0 AND 9 TO INCLUDE 0 AND 9. NO TWO LETTERS CAN HAVE THE SAME VALUE. SO YOU HAVE TO ADD THEM LIKE A MATH PROBLEM.
I.E. R + E + N + A = E AND SO ON AND SO FORTH. THIS ONE HAS ME STUMPED. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN IT BEFORE? THANKS FOR ANY HELP. THE RIDDLE IS TO FIND THE VALUE OF EACH LETTER.
ANSWER: We thank the following for the answer for this one- Kasper, Matt, Stephen, Craig
--I think I have a solution for the Pear+Apple+Lemon+Banana=Orange riddle. I guess there are a few million combinations, so I wrote a little program, and checked them all. I only found one solution and it is: N=0, B=1, R=2, O=3, L=4, M=5, G=6, E=7, A=8 and P=9.
--as an exercise in programming I wrote a computer program to solve this riddle. there is at least one answer, i didn't bother to check for any others here it is
a = 8
b = 1
e = 7
g = 6
l = 4
m = 5
n = 0
o = 3
p = 9
r = 2
that makes
pear = 9782
apple = 89947
lemon = 47530
banana = 180808
which added together gives
orange = 328067
this took 10 minutes to write the program and 54.10 seconds to run the program
maybe using a computer isn't in the spirit of the riddle, but in my opinion it is the only way to do this kind of heavy numerical stuff (my opinion, too)
Also, from Josh: I think I've solved the riddle, assuming I read it correctly. If you add up all the letters in each word (like P+E+A+R) and try to make it equal O+R+A+N+G+E it is impossible, so it must mean that PEAR (or any other word) represents a 4 digit number. Going on this, the solution to the problem is this:
0=N
1=B
2=R
3=O
4=L
5=M
6=G
7=E
8=A
9=P
This is the only solution to the problem without repeating numbers.
71. katandken: You have 3 piles of pennies in 8 rows. They add up to 9 each way, across and down. It's a square with nothing in the middle. You get 4 more pennies. Total of 28 pennies. Arrange the pennies in 8 rows to equal 9 every way that you can add them. You can take pennies away from a pile or add to the piles and the number of pennies in each pile do not have to be the same. For example you can have a pile of 2,and a pile of 3, and so forth. But they have to add up to 9, across, down and vertically if needed. They can be put in any shape. It does not have to be a square. You have to use all 28 pennies.
ANSWER- From Matt: I think I have solved this riddle if I have interpreted it right, it is a bit hard to work out what is meant from the wording... as it sounds as if the authors are not particularly good at English, I had to reword it. if this is wrong then my solution is wrong. as I understand it, there are 8 piles, three pennies in each pile arranged like
000
0 0
000 a square with nothing in the middle
if you add across or down any row except the middle one, you get 9 pennies as it says now we want a square exactly like this, but we must use 28 pennies, not 24 so, after thinking for a while I set this problem up as a series of simple math equations first letter the board like this
abc
d e
fgh
now let each letter be a variable representing the number of coins in that pile
set up the equations
a + b + c + d + e + f + g + h = 28 // must have 28 coins
a + b + c = 9 // top row = 9
a + d + f = 9 // left vertical = 9
f + g + h = 9 // bottom row = 9
c + e + h = 9 // right vertical = 9
solving these equations simultaneously, a moderately long process that will not be repeated here, gives the simple equation:
b + g = 10
this cannot be reduced further and suggests that there are multiple solutions to the problem, probably at least 4 or 5. nevertheless, choosing the most obvious values, b = 5, g = 5 we now have the following square
?5?
? ?
?5?
none of the equations relate b and g to a third variable explicitly, so we have another choice, and more solutions. Still, the top row = 9, ie a + b + c = 9, ie a + 5 + c = 9, ie a + c = 4
choose again a common value, both equal to 2 and we have the following square
252
? ?
?5?
next one of the equations that can be gotten by writing out and solving the equations simultaneously is 9 - b - c + d + f = 9, ie d + f = b + c, ie d + f = 7 again, arbitrarily choose two values, I chose d = 4, f = 3 now we have the square
252
4 ?
35?
obviously the bottom right hand corner must be 1
252
4 ?
351
and obviously the right middle square must be 6
add all the squares up and the total is ... 28
add all the rows and or columns up, and the total is .. 9
therefore a solution to the problem is
252
4 6
351
This is not a unique solution. Unless I have misinterpreted the question, this is one of the many solutions to this riddle.
72. What does an average American do 11 times in a lifetime. Men mostly in the morning and women in the afternoon.
From Paul, Ray, Rod, Phill, Chaz and others : vote for president and here is a great explanation: (Thanks Chaz!)
I think the Answer is VOTE FOR PRESIDENT. Think about it. the average American lives to 65. the start voting at 21 years of age. They vote every four years until they die, which equates to 11 votes exactly. (65 - 21 = 44. divided by the number of years between elections -4- gives you the 11). Furthermore, I should think the average man would vote while on the way to work, while the average woman would vote while shopping/picking the kids up in the afternoon (without being sexist). I'm English, so whether that seems 'average' to you is a guess. Still, it seems to fit.
Also, from BOXcaRcHIK: shave. The average American shaves at least 11 times in a lifetime. the riddle never said that the task was accomplished 11 times TOTAL, but only that it had been done 11 times. This could be taken to mean that it was accomplished AT LEAST 11 times. Most men shave in the morning, and women usually in the afternoon or evening.
From Glitterchick - smoke
From Riddlemaster - quit or get fired from a job.
From William: The average American get's stopped by a cop 11 times in their lifetime. Men mostly in the morning because they are rushing to get to work, and women in the afternoon because that is when they are trying to pick up their kids, rushing home from errands, etc.
And from Marie , how about they "grow".
73. From Edward: Round she is, yet flat as a board Altar of the Lupine Lords. Jewel on black velvet, pearl in the sea Unchanged but ere changing, eternally.
ANSWER: The most frequent answer for this riddle is the moon. One visitor also suggested the sun; but we think we're going with the moon. Thanks to everyone for the help on this one! Jason's response sums up most of the answers on this one:
1. round she is, but flat as a board.- The moon is a sphere, yet standing on the lunar surface, it would appear flat.
2. Alter of the Lupine Lords.- I'm guessing one of two things- 1. this is a reference to ancient pagans who worshipped the moon. or 2.-lupinus is Latin for wolf, and a wolf's nocturnal activity is synonymous with the moon.
3. Jewel on black velvet, pearl in the sea Unchanged but ere changing , eternally. - The first part of this line -jewel on black velvet, pearl in the sea. makes reference to a full moon. A full moon visually can be seen as a jewel (pearl), on black velvet (cosmic background). The second part of the passage "Unchanged but ere changing, eternally. notes the lunar cycle-as the moon waxes and wanes it changes it's appearance every night however, as the moon goes through it's lunar cycle it remains unchanged as a celestial body
74. I'm thin but fat, I'm loud but quiet, what am I?
ANSWER: The best answer for this one is "the concept of contradiction or oxymoron". Another really good way to answer this is: potato chips - as explained by one of our visitors:
it thin but has fat; its loud when eaten and quietly puts on weight.
And yet another- a balloon. fat when inflated and thin when not. loud when popped and quiet when not. don't you think it makes sense?
75. From Raymond: what's the difference between an orange"
ANSWER: This is one of those riddles best said out loud and not shown written down. For the answer is the letters "ge" as the difference between the letters "an" or "ange" - well, you get the picture here!
76. From Homekid:
Green is Gold
Fire is Wet
Fortune's Told
Dragon's Met
ANSWER: From Kawally - This isn't a riddle. It's a chant. The Witches in West Cornwall, England, were said to renew their pact with the Devil on Midsummer Eve, at Midnight. They would circle seven times around the fire, holding hands and chanting:
Green is gold -- (nature's first green is now gold)
Fire is wet -- (candleboats sailed)
Fortunes told -- (fortunes cast)
Dragons met! -- (St. George)
77. From Jessica:
Two kids are sitting on the front step outside their commune.
"I have black hair," said the boy. "I have red hair," said the girl. At least one of them is lying. Which one?
ANSWER: The most frequent answer sent in for this one is: the boy, because there really isn't black hair - only very dark brown that looks black to the human eye. I never knew that. Someone also suggested that it would be the boy lying because a commune is a place where only girls would be found. Perhaps the best answer in my opinion is " neither is *lying* because the riddle clearly state they were both *sitting* on the step!
Another way to look at this, from Carrie: I'VE HEARD THIS ONE ANOTHER WAY, BUT THE ANSWER WAS THAT BOTH WERE LYING...THE RIDDLE SAID THAT 2 CHILDREN, ONE BOY AND ONE GIRL, WERE SITTING ON STEPS. THE ONE WITH THE BLACK HAIR SAID "I'M A BOY" AND THE ONE WITH THE RED HAIR SAID "I AM A GIRL", SINCE ONE OF THEM HAS TO BE LYING, WHO IS IT? WELL THERE HAS TO BE A BOY AND A GIRL TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE RIDDLE, AND IT SAID ONE HAD TO BE LYING BUT DIDN'T SAY THAT ONE HAD TO BE TELLING THE TRUTH. SO THEY WERE BOTH LYING. THE ONE WITH BLACK HAIR IS REALLY THE GIRL AND THE ONE WITH RED HAIR IS REALLY THE BOY.
78. From MaryAnn -
MY FIRST IS A CREATURE WHOSE BREEDING IS UNCLEAR. MY SECOND, A PRICE YOU MUST PAY. MY WHOLE CAN BE FOUND IN THE RIVER OF TIME AND REFERS TO THE EVENTS OF TODAY.
ANSWER: the word that best answers this one is "CURRENT" and would be divided as such: cur; rent and current in a river, current events.
79. Rene Descartes was discussing his philosophical ideas with some students after a class. They encouraged him to join them at the local pub for a bit. A few of the students ordered their beers, and the barkeep turned to Descartes and asked "Would you like a beer?" Descartes paused a moment, and then replied. "I think not." What happened to him next and why?
ANSWER: This one was easy if you remember that Descartes was a philosopher who coined the phrase: I think, therefore I am. So when he says "I think not" - he ceases to be or exist. Special thanks to Marlon!
80. From Natalie -
A phones B and asks for a captain Smith B says no. so A puts the phone down and smiles. Captain Smith is not real and A and B do not know each other.......
Our teacher gave us this riddle to solve and we had to find out where they are, who they are and what is the meaning of the phone call
ANSWER: This is a yes/no kind of riddle where you ask the teacher questions, trying to get the RIGHT answer - A could be the captain's wife happy that he is at sea (waiting for B to come over or something....)
81. From Michael - I can tell you what the sun can, I might keep you up at night, I will do as you tell me, I can take many shapes and only one part of me moves with ease. I am not a clock though. What am I?
ANSWER: So if the answer for this one is not a clock: the best answers have been shadow, and moon and religion. What do you think Michael?
Also, Martin suggests the answer is light. Light can tell you what the sun can. It does keep a lot of people up at night. It will do as you tell it, (if you want it of, you flick the switch which tells it to go of, if you want it on, you flick the switch which tells it to go on). It takes the shape of what ever it is in, so it does take many shapes. it only has one part, which does move with ease. the bit where it says i am not a clock is just there to throw you of.
NOTE FROM Michael who sent this riddle: Interesting answers, but how does a shadow or the moon do as you tell them? Anyway, the answer is a computer. It does what you tell it to do, the mouse moves with great ease, and of course, it has a clock. Martin: Good answer, although that's not what I had as the intended answer, it is quite accurate as to what is stated in the riddle. Good work.
82. From Megan and Craig: LADDERS IN THE ALLEY (QUITE EASY THIS ONE)
Two Ladders leaning against opposite sides of the same alley, with their bases firmly in each corner of the alley.
| /\ | One ladder is 10m long and the other 12m. The alley is 6m wide
_|/__\|_ How high above the ground do the ladders cross each other?
ANSWER: A simple trig problem! (For those who know me, you know that math riddles are always a challenge to me! This is a simple math problem - for some of you - I'm posting the answers sent - and I can't vouch for their being right or wrong - sorry!)
Misha writes: The height is 4.52m. You must first work out all the angles required using basic trigonometry on the 2 larger triangles. Then to work out the length of the ladder to the cross point (b) you need to use the rule:
a / sinA = b / sinB = c / sinC
Then draw in a vertical where the ladders meet and you can work the height out using:
sinX = opp / hyp
Reeds confirms: 2 right triangles are created and using the Pythagorean theorem you get the length of the two unknown sides. a=o108 and b=8
Now since they're linear and you can figure out the slopes you can create two equations
bry1=(4/3)x and y2= -((o108)/6)x +o108
brso now you want to figure out where y1=y2 or
br(4/3)x = -((o108)/6x + o108
brI didn't work it out to save space but after you do you get x=
br6(o108)
br8+o108
brnow plug it back into y1 (it's easier than y2), so y1 = (4/3)
br*[{6(o108)}/(8+o108)] and working it through you get
bry = 8 o108
br8 + o108 (when reduced) or approx 4.52 m
And Jesse suggests the following -
THE ANSWER IS 7 miters. THE ALLEY IS 6 miters WIDE AT THE BASE... WHERE THE 2 LADDERS MEET IS HALF THAT DISTANCE, SO THEY ARE BOTH 3 FEET FROM THE WALL. MAKING THE 10m LADDER 7m AND THE 12m LADDER 9 miters, SO THEY CROSS 7 miters ABOVE THE GROUND!!!
And from spalmich, The solution will be the "y-value" of the point formed by the crossing of the line through (0,0) and (6,h_2) and the line through (6,0) and (0,h_1). So first solve for h_1 and h_2, then come up with the equations for these lines and finally solve for the point in common.
By the Pythagorean theorem, the square of the length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the lengths of the other two sides, c^2=a^2+b^2. Therefore, b=sqrt(c^2-a^2).
Solving for h_1 and h_2 we get
h_1=sqrt(10^2-6^2)=sqrt(100-36)=sqrt(64)=8
h_2=sqrt(12^2-6^2)=sqrt(144-36)=sqrt(108)=6*sqrt(3).
The equation for a line passing given two points on the line is
y=(y_2-y_1)/(x_2-x_1)*(x-x_1)+y_1.
If you plug in x_1 for x you get y=y_1, since (x-x_1)=0. I'll leave it
up to you to work through the problem and see that if you plug in x_2
for x that y=y_2. So the equation for the line through (0,0) and (6,h_2)
is
y=(h_2-0)/(6-0)*(x-0)+0=6*sqrt(3)/6*x=sqrt(3)*x.
And the equation for the line through (0,h_1) and (6,0) is
y=(0-h_1)/(6-0)*(x-0)+h_1=-8/6*x+8=-4/3*x+8.
To find the point x that will give the same y for both of these
equations, we can set them equal to each other.
sqrt(3)x=y=-4/3*x+8.
Therefore,
(sqrt(3)+4/3)*x=8.
Solving for x gives us,
x=8/(sqrt(3)+4/3)=(72*sqrt(3)-96)/11.
Plugging x into y=sqrt(3)*x gives us
y=sqrt3*(72*sqrt(3)-96)/11=(72*3-96*sqrt(3))/11
=(216-96*sqrt(3))/11.
Which is the answer to the problem.
Eric corrects- 3*tan(60) or 5.196 the 12m ladder forms a 60 degree angle with the ground found with cos-1(6/12). they meet 3m, or halfway across the alley. this is where 3*tan(60) comes in, to find the length of the other leg of the triangle.
83. From Megan and Craig: THE BUILDERS LINE (A GOOD TRIG PROBLEM)
In the middle of a concrete field is a circle of grass 10m in diameter. A building contractor has tethered by string to the edge of the circle. By moving the string about it's anchor point an arc is mapped out on the circle. How long is the builders string if the area marked out is 1/2 of the total area of the available grass in the circle?
ANSWER: 16m
Also, from Jay - When the string covers 1/2 area of the the whole circle, the string is 1/2 long of the whole perimeter. Therefore, 10m X pi (3.14) = 31.4m the string is 31.4m X 1/2 = 15.70m
84. From Charley:
Money is right above my reach. I'm barely staying out of the Emergency Room (it is right below me). Room #3 is to my left. The room to my right has a 5% interest rate.
What Am I?
ANSWER: the number 4 on a standard typing keyboard! Thanks everyone who solved this one!
85. From deontay -
I see without seeing to me darkness is as clear as day - what am I?
ANSWER: a bat; a bat 'sees' with ears - a kind of radar.
86. A fisherman was fishing at a stream when a boy walked past him and asked: "How many fish have you caught today?" The fisherman replied: "6 fish without a head, 9 fish without a tail and 8 fish which were a half." How many fish did he catch? And why..
ANSWER: An addition to this riddle is "and 10 without and eye."Most of the answers we got for this one said the solution for this riddle is in the numbers themselves. The number 6 without a head would be a zero; 9 without a tail would be a zero; and 8 cut in half would be two zero's. Thus the fisherman caught zero fish! There were several other clever ways to solve this riddle such as "none" because parts of fish would not be counted as fish. Also, some folks added up the parts counting a part of a fish as whole. I think the best answer is zero. Thanks to: Eli, shafull, Pasciak, Josh, Kadawna, Greg, Jason, Jeff, Acer, David, Brittany, Bernard, Irene & Claudia, dhathri, Renee, Catie, and Jer !!!!
87. From Michael - All words nowadays have a vowel in them, A, E, I, O, U. But, there are very few that have no vowels in them, EG: GRY (I saw it somewhere on the site) What is the longest word that has no vowels at all?
ANSWER: First of all for this riddle to be genuine, you must agree that the letters Y and W are not vowels even though in the 'olden days', y and w were included as "sometimes vowels". That said, we got several answers for this one. The most common word is "rhythms". Others set about to do some research on this topic and find the definitive answer which according to
"Nobody No One", Allowing proper nouns, the longest word may be MIRZMMMDKND (a village in Azerbaijan) Fred Schneider suggests POLYRHYTHMS may be the longest word with one vowel if y is not counted.
AND, Justin writes: It depends on which dictionary you use. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate dictionary, Tenth Edition says it's "crwth" (pronounced krooth), which is a type of stringed instrument. Meanwhile, the Oxford English Dictionary says it's "llwchwr," which is a city district in Wales or the word rhythms is also 7 letters.
ALSO, Jeremy Malchow, Lawrence Technological University concludes The longest common word without an A, E, I, O, or U is RHYTHMS, but these additional words appear in W2: SYMPHYSY, NYMPHLY, GYPSYRY, GYPSYFY. The OED2 has TWYNDYLLYNG(S). And WPPWRMWSTE (in the OED) goes nine letters without an A, E, I, O, or U; GLYCYRRHIZIN (a constituent of licorice) goes eight letters without A, E, I, O, or U. (In all these words, "Y" is a vowel.)
Thanks goes to Ray, Jason, Pasciak, Bernard, Yolla, John and Albert for the help!
88. One in nine Americans are ________, and they will be until the end of their days.
ANSWER: Lots of unsubstantiated suggestions for this one including: left handed, immigrants, alive, over 65, retired. Take your pick. Without seeing the stats, hard to tell what the originator of this riddle was looking for. However, Ol Bob offers this and a place to check the stat:
I believe I have the answer to "One in nine Americans are ________, and they will be until the end of their days", but the riddle is a little dated, and should be "One in eight. ."
The answer is "over 65 years old."http://www.aoa.dhhs.gov/aoa/stats/AgePop2050.html
89. Never resting, never still. Moving silently from hill to hill. Does not walk run or trot. All is gone where it is not. What is it?
ANSWER: From Teif Air is never resting and never still -if you don't believe me think about all the tiny air currents you see when you can see it's effects using smoke. Air moves silently from hill to hill in the form of wind or a breeze. It certainly doesn't run or trot. And where is there no air? in the 'void' of space -where 'all is gone'. air
From Nora: The answer may be light. Because the sun rises and sets, light is always moving. It obviously has no legs so it can't walk/run/trot. When it is not in a place, all is dark, and gone from your sight.
90. From Mason: The Bullet
A man enraged at the murder of his grandfather, decides to build a time machine to kill the man who murdered his grandfather. He completes the time machine and goes back in time to kill his grandfather's murderer. Only he goes back before his grandparents meet for the first time. He finds the murderer and fires one bullet at him. The man's shot misses the murderer and hits his future grandfather. The single shot kills his grandfather. So in turn his parents would never meet and give birth to the time traveling man. So who was there to shoot the bullet??
ANSWER: Well, it seems that the best way to answer this riddle is to first realize that the riddle is a paradox - there really is no answer! If the man shoots his grandfather, then of course the man is never born, therefore he can't shoot his grandfather and so on and so on and so on. Lots of visitors tried to solve this anyway and what follows is a sample of solutions sent:
Brian writes: Logically it has to be the man who's grandfather died. He would have been there because he hadn't altered time until after he built the time machine. So the "enraged man" is my guess.
Michael: When time traveling, I believe in end up in a parallel universe which is following the same line as yours until the part when you come in. So when the man shot his grandfather, he was shooting the grandfather for that universe, not the universe he came from. In short: The enraged man was there to shoot the bullet.
Chase: I think that the answer is the time traveling man fired the bullet. If he was able to travel back in time, he would be able to shoot the ONE bullet and kill his grandfather. It would be until after his grandfather died that the time traveling man would disappear (because he would not have been born anyway) So, the time traveling man WAS there to shoot the bullet, but WAS NOT there after it killed his grandfather.
>Seb - I think I have the answer for the bullet problem. when the guy shoots the bullet and kills his grandfather he will cease to exist. there will be nobody shooting the bullet because he will be erased from time. so that means that there was nobody to shoot the bullet and the grandpa never got shot. in summary nobody shot the bullet.
Nora writes - There is no way (unless by math geniuses, or of course if you do go back in time) to solve this riddle, but from a sci-fi point of view, I think I have a possible answer. Suppose time isn't a forward or backward dimension, but only a forwards one that consists of motion. If you go back in time, then you're only putting that moment in time next in your future. You don't relapse a certain area, but continue on one plane. If you kill your grandfather, then in that one future that you are experiencing, you will not be born. Because this does not affect your past (only the future because you do not go backwards on a given plane), you are still there to shoot, but will not be reborn.
Dale suggests: This is a paradox. The man kills his grandfather and so is never born. This means that the man couldn't have gone in time and hot the bullet. Meaning he would go back in time, and create a time loop, of going back and not going back.
And here's a different way from Tom: what if he killed his other grandfather...like this...the grandfather that was killed in the future has nothing to do in the past...the grandfather from the past was his other grandfather. so maybe his mom wasn't born yet from the one grandfather who is still alive but his father was born from the grandfather who was killed in the past. his parents would have met...he would have been born, then the man would have murdered his grandfather on his mother's side. so it was still the original man who shot the bullet.
From AmericaZMost - I believe that the answer in unsolved riddle #5 is the man himself who built the time machine and went back in time to murder his grandfather's murderer. The reason I think this is because it never mentions any other man traveling back in time; it only speaks of he who was enraged when his grandfather was murdered. The trick is similar to the "MISSING DOLLAR" riddle, where the answer is in the riddle but it is just worded tricky in order to fool the reader and cause much greater difficulty for an attempt to solve the riddle. The man tempted fait and disturbed the chain of events only after they occurred, that is why he is traveling BACK in time b/c everything has already occurred. I believe that if the man were to try and travel back to the present time where he first entered the machine he would no longer exists. He would probably just disappear.
Steven - The person who traveled back in time to kill the murderer before he shot his grandpa didn't go to his grandpa he went to a universe in which is exactly the same as ours but are dif people. so basically he killed is his clone in a dif universe not him in his
Finally, Dale offers: This is a paradox. There is no right or wrong answer. The man shoots his grandfather and therefore he doesn't exist. But because he didn't exist to build the time machine he doesn't go back and shoot his grandfather. So because he doesn't shoot him he is born and it starts from the beginning causing a time loop. [I use this one all the time to confuse my physics teacher]
91. From Allen:
I am just two and two. I am hot. I am cold. I am the parent of numbers that cannot be told. I am a gift beyond measure, a matter of course. I am given with pleasure when taken by force. What am I?
ANSWER: a kiss - the most frequent answer; however read on...
Phoenix offers this which I think is just as good: The answer is "nothing". I am just two and two. - negative two and positive 2 are zero, or nothing. I am hot. I am cold. - hot and cold brought together neutralize, again nothing I am the parent of numbers that cannot be told. - Zero is the technical beginning of the number line for both positive and negative numbers to infinity in both directions. I am a gift beyond measure, a matter of course. - You cannot measure nothing! I am given with pleasure when taken by force. If you try to take nothing from someone by force, they'll indeed be glad!
92. Children can break it but adults can't. Women think it's beautiful but men think it's dirty. Dogs can see it but cats can't. You can see it in a car but not at home. It's better in the faculty room but not in the lab. Everyone has touched it.
ANSWER: FEAR and here is the explanation (Thanks Matthew!)-
When you're at home (figuratively) you're not afraid. When you're out and about, like in your car, you have fear. It is necessary. You don't see people glancing over their shoulders at home do you? You do see that in your car though. Children are better at getting over fears than adults. The fact that children adapt so much better to virtually anything is a well-documented and researched phenomenon in developmental psychology. It's good to have in the faculty room, that way you're not calling your boss a blubbering fool. But it's not good to take baggage like that into the lab. You'll screw something up. In other words, it's essential for social interaction, but not for such cut-and-dry jobs like chemistry. With the women/men thing...men tend to despise fear, think of it as "dirty". Women tend to respect the good things about it more often. Gets into the whole social balances and counterbalances thing again. Men tend to think more abstractly or "logically". Where fear holds no purpose, it's just an obstacle. Everyone has touched it. Self-explanatory. Dogs smell fear.
93. From Laddie: What is wet and dry, and is being carried and carrying at the same time?
ANSWER: From Mark - a water carrier being carried. is wet on the inside; dry on the outside; being carried by you; and carrying the water.
Others have suggested a water bottle, a boat, a canteen, and a cloud!
94. From Hunter: here is a math riddle my math teacher gave me about a year ago. 2=x^x^x^x^x^x........ continually doing another x over the previous x. so what is x? just so you understand what I mean here is an example
3 = 3
3^3 = 27
3^3^3 = 19683
3^3^3^3 = 7625597484987
there are two possible answers I've gotten to this problem one requires an extremely good understanding of advanced math, and the other only needs a basic knowledge of algebra. enjoy. (NOTE: At Just Riddles and More, we're only interested in the basic knowledge of algebra solution!
ANSWER: From Mark- The answer to number 3 is 1 of 2, Either infinity or 1 depending on which way you do it. but technically, since the equation is 2=x to it's own power from assumption of 1 to infinity, as the limit of X goes up, you eventually get to 1. but if you continually do X to the X forever by itself you get infinity. but, if it is just x to the X 6 times, then algebraically it is 1.0000039 I believe.
95. What day would yesterday be if Wednesday was five days before the day after tomorrow?
ANSWER: Friday. Think of it like this: Lay out the days of the week for two weeks -
S M T W T F S S M T W T F S
The riddle states that Wednesday is five days before a certain day so looking at Wednesday in the first week, count five days forward. That day is the day after tomorrow and that makes yesterday Friday!
Thanks
96. From Jamal -
A man goes fishing in a boat, in a lake. Whatever the man catches he throws back. Whatever the man doesn't catch he keeps. What did the man catch? PLEASE help me so I can go to sleep at ease!
ANSWER: A cold! OR: how about he keeps what was already in the boat - oar, belongings, etc.
97. From Kay - I soar without wings, I see without eyes. I've traveled the universe to and fro. I've conquered the world, yet I've never been anywhere but home. Who am I?
ANSWER: Your imagination!
98. From: Ali - Monday and Tuesday have two, Wednesday and Thursday have one, Friday has six and Saturday and Sunday have none, what is it?
ANSWER: From Scotty - Holidays that you can take of from work !!!!!!! Thanksgiving is the 1 for Thursday for example.
Another answer is "bankers' holidays" - days banks are typically closed.
99. From: - Mad about money, my name would suggest I'm all around nothing. What am I?
ANSWER: From Ryan- a doughnut
100. Betty Jo Neil: Why do birds fly upside down in West Virginia?
ANSWER: Wazza explains - This is an old joke, rather than a riddle..... The answer is "because its not worth s***** on" Its been used to describe why birds fly upside down over certain cars, areas, countries etc etc...... Birds don't actually fly upside down over West Virginia :-)
