602.MediumLong Riddle

Matt is the fiftieth fastest and the fiftieth slowest runner in his school. Assuming no two runners are the same speed, how many runners are in Matt's school?

  • A.100 runners.
  • B.50 runners.
  • C.149 runners.
  • D.There are 99 runners in Matt's school.
Answer: There are 99 runners in Matt's school.

If Matt is 50th fastest, 49 runners are faster than him, and if he's 50th slowest, 49 are slower - adding Matt himself gives 49 + 49 + 1 = 99 runners total.

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603.MediumLong Riddle

Once upon a time there were seven dwarfs who were all brothers. They were all born two years apart. The youngest dwarf is seven years old. How old is his oldest brother?

  • A.21 years old.
  • B.23 years old.
  • C.17 years old.
  • D.The oldest brother is 19 years old not 21 years old.
Answer: The oldest brother is 19 years old not 21 years old.

With seven brothers spaced two years apart and the youngest at 7, the ages run 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19 - so the oldest is 19, not the 21 many people mistakenly guess.

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604.MediumLong Riddle

There is a clothing store in Bartlesville. The owner has devised his own method of pricing items. A vest costs $20, socks cost $25, a tie costs $15 and a blouse costs $30. Using the method, how much would a pair of underwear cost?

  • A.$35, based on the item's typical retail price.
  • B.$50, matching the most expensive item in the store.
  • C.$25, the average of all the listed prices.
  • D.$45. The pricing method consists of charging $5 for each letter required to spell the item.
Answer: $45. The pricing method consists of charging $5 for each letter required to spell the item.

Each price is exactly $5 per letter in the item's name (vest=4 letters=$20, blouse=6 letters=$30), so 'underwear,' with nine letters, costs 9 x $5 = $45.

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605.MediumLong Riddle

We travelled the sea far and wide. At one time, two of my sailors were standing on opposite sides of the ship. One was looking west and the other one east. And at the same time, they could see each other clearly. How can that be possible?

  • A.One used a mirror to look behind him.
  • B.The ship was shaped like a perfect ring.
  • C.They were using binoculars pointed the wrong way.
  • D.The sailors had their backs against either ends of the ship.
Answer: The sailors had their backs against either ends of the ship.

Standing back-to-back at opposite ends of the ship (bow and stern), one facing west and the other facing east, they would actually be facing toward each other along the length of the ship and could see one another clearly.

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608.MediumLong Riddle

With me you are blind, To others and what they are, Over me you cannot see, Even though I'm in your head, I am full of myself, I think I'm better than you, I'm a horrible thing to be, Can you tell me, What am I?

  • A.arrogance
  • B.prejudice
  • C.stupidity
  • D.ignorance
Answer: ignorance

The official answer is ignorance -- being blind to the truth about others and unaware of one's own blind spots -- though the line "I think I'm better than you" arguably fits arrogance or pride even more closely; the source's stated answer is used here since willful ignorance often produces that same dismissive, superior attitude.

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611.MediumLong Riddle

I'm a king that speaks for my country At birth I protected by no one As I grow my father gives me 2 soldiers to protect me As I get matured many more are given to me And at my full age my father gives me 32 white soldiers to guard me and protect me What am I?

  • A.mouth
  • B.voice
  • C.throat
  • D.tongue
Answer: tongue

The tongue "speaks" for a person, is unprotected at birth, gains "soldiers" (teeth) as a baby grows, and by adulthood is guarded by a full set of 32 white teeth.

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620.MediumLong Riddle

I look flat, but I am deep, Hidden realms I shelter. Lives I take, but food I offer. At times I am beautiful. I can be calm, angry and turbulent. I have no heart, but offer pleasure as well as death. No man can own me, yet I encompass what all men must have.

  • A.sea
  • B.lake
  • C.river delta
  • D.ocean
Answer: ocean

The ocean looks flat from the surface but harbors vast, hidden depths; it takes lives through drowning yet provides food through fishing, and it belongs to no single person while sustaining all of humanity.

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633.MediumRhyming Riddle

It cannot be seen, it cannot be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt, Lies behind stars and under hills, and empty holes it fills. Comes first follows after, Ends life kills laughter.

  • A.The void
  • B.Nothing
  • C.Emptiness
  • D.Darkness
Answer: Darkness

Darkness is undetectable by any of the senses, exists beyond starlight and beneath the ground, fills empty spaces, precedes and follows every moment of light, and can figuratively "end life" and snuff out joy.

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635.MediumRhyming Riddle

I can be quick and then I'm deadly, I am a rock, shell and bone medley. If I was made into a man, I'd make people dream, I gather in my millions By ocean, sea and stream.

  • A.Gravel
  • B.Silt
  • C.Shingle
  • D.Sand
Answer: Sand

Sand can shift quickly and even be deadly as "quicksand," it's made of ground-up rock, shell, and bone fragments, forms the Sandman of dreams when personified, and collects by the billions of grains along oceans, seas, and streams.

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640.MediumRhyming Riddle

I march before armies, a thousand salute me. My fall can bring victory, but no one would shoot me. The wind is my lover, one-legged am I. Name me and see me at home in the sky. What am I?

  • A.A banner
  • B.A pennant
  • C.A standard
  • D.A flag
Answer: A flag

A flag leads troops into battle and is saluted by soldiers, lowering it can symbolize surrender or victory, it flutters for the wind, stands on a single pole ("one-legged"), and belongs flying high in the sky.

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647.MediumRhyming Riddle

I have palms but not on hands, I offer foods from distant lands, When at my peak you'll see me smoke, I'm famous for my friendly folk, My flowers grow and yet they lay, There's fire where a man will play. What am I?

  • A.Florida
  • B.Fiji
  • C.Jamaica
  • D.Hawaii
Answer: Hawaii

Hawaii is dotted with palm trees, imports goods from distant lands, features an active smoking volcano, and is known worldwide for its friendly 'aloha' culture and beaches ('fire' referring to lava).

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655.MediumRhyming Riddle

I lack much reason, but often rhyme, And require logic to pass the time, To get the words to tell your kin, Look for clues that lie within, Though all are different, they act the same, The answer is practically in the name.

  • A.A puzzle
  • B.A rhyme
  • C.A brain teaser
  • D.A riddle
Answer: A riddle

A riddle doesn't always make logical sense but often rhymes, needs logical clue-hunting to solve, and this description is itself a riddle -- self-referential right down to "the answer is in the name."

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656.MediumRhyming Riddle

Silently I drink and dive in fluids dark as night. I beat the mighty warrior but never in fight. The black blood in my veins your thirst for knowledge slakes. My spittle is more venomous than that of poison snakes.

  • A.A quill
  • B.A fountain pen
  • C.Ink
  • D.A pen
Answer: A pen

A pen "drinks" dark ink silently, and though it never physically fights, "the pen is mightier than the sword," outlasting warriors -- its ink quenches thirst for knowledge, and its words can be sharper and more damaging than any venom.

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658.MediumRhyming Riddle

When liquid splashes me, none seeps through. When I am moved a lot, liquid I spew. When I am hit, color I change. And color, I come in quite a range. What I cover is very complex, And I am very easy to flex.

  • A.A membrane
  • B.A balloon
  • C.A water balloon
  • D.Skin
Answer: Skin

Skin is waterproof against splashes yet sweats liquid when you're active, bruises and changes color when struck, comes in a wide range of tones, covers the body's complex systems, and stretches easily.

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660.MediumRhyming Riddle

A most delicious thing. It can be given but cannot be kept. Some awake from it after they've slept. It is the moistest and softest butterfly wing, But when it is the last even it can sting.

  • A.A hug
  • B.An embrace
  • C.Affection
  • D.A kiss
Answer: A kiss

A kiss can be given but never kept for yourself, can wake someone (as in fairy tales) from sleep, and while usually soft and sweet, a final one - the 'kiss of death' or goodbye - can sting.

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663.MediumRhyming Riddle

Upon me you can tread, though softly under cover. And I will take you places, that you have yet to discover. I'm high, and I'm low, though flat in the middle. And though a joy to the children, adults think of me little.

  • A.A staircase
  • B.An escalator
  • C.A ladder
  • D.Stairs
Answer: Stairs

Stairs (often carpeted, "under cover") lead you up and down between floors you haven't yet reached, with a flat landing partway, and kids love bounding up and down them far more than adults do.

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687.MediumRhyming Riddle

Sometimes dark and sometimes bright, I make my way among twinkling lights. Seas and oceans obey my call, yet mountains I cannot move at all. My face is marred and gray, but I'm majestic anyway. What am I?

  • A.A star
  • B.A planet
  • C.The sun
  • D.The moon
Answer: The moon

The moon shifts between dark new phases and bright full ones, governs the ocean tides, yet has no pull on mountains, its scarred gray face still lending it a majestic presence in the night sky.

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693.MediumRhyming Riddle

Although a human shape I wear, Mother I never had; And though no sense nor life I share, in finest silks I'm clad. By every miss I'm valued much, beloved and highly prized; still my cruel fate is such by boys I am often despised.

  • A.A puppet
  • B.A figurine
  • C.A mannequin
  • D.A doll
Answer: A doll

A doll has a human shape but no mother, mind, or life; girls ("misses") cherish and dress it in fine clothes, while boys traditionally tend to look down on playing with one.

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695.MediumRhyming Riddle

Some live in me, some live on. And some shave me to stride upon. I rarely leave my native land. Until my death I always stand. High and low I may be found. Both above and below ground.

  • A.A forest
  • B.A log
  • C.Timber
  • D.A tree
Answer: A tree

A tree houses animals inside its hollows and on its branches, is felled and planed into wooden walkways to "stride upon," stays rooted in one place its whole life, and grows both above ground and underground as roots.

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