New Riddles With Answers - page 24 of 53
What would you father's only sister's sister-in-law be to you?
Working through the family relations, a father's only sister's sister-in-law circles back to being your own mother.
Timmy's mother has three children. The first was named April. The next was named May. What is the final one's name?
The riddle names 'Timmy's mother,' so the third child sharing that family is simply Timmy himself.
George, Helen, and Steve are drinking coffee. Bert, Karen, and Dave are drinking soda. Is Elizabeth drinking coffee or soda?
George, Helen, and Steve (the coffee drinkers) each have the letter "e" appearing twice in their names, matching Elizabeth's name, which also contains two "e"s -- so she is drinking coffee too.
MT_TF_S What are the missing letters? Why?
The letters given (M, T, _, T, F, _, S) are the first letters of the seven days of the week, with Wednesday's W and Sunday's S missing from the blanks.
A mother had five boys Marco, Tucker, Webster and Thomas. Was the fifth boys name Frank, Evan or Alex?
Look at just the first letters of each brother's name to spot the days-of-the-week pattern.
What gets broken without being hold?
A promise is an intangible commitment; it can be "broken" (not honored) despite never being a physical object one holds.
There is a word in the English language in which the first two letters signify a male, the first three letters signify a female, the first four signify a great man, and the whole word, a great woman. What is the word?
"He" signifies a male, "Her" signifies a female, "Hero" signifies a great man, and the full word "Heroine" signifies a great woman -- each stage of the word builds in meaning exactly as described.
The more you take from me, the bigger I get. What am I?
Digging out (removing material from) a hole only makes the hole itself larger.
What's always coming, but never arrives?
"Tomorrow" is always one day ahead of today -- once it comes, it has become "today," so tomorrow itself never truly arrives.
There are 500 coffins and 500 men who need them. The undertaker asks the first man to go to every coffin and open them. Then he tells the second man to go to every one and close it. The third one goes to every third coffin and so on. How many are open?
Only coffins with an odd number of divisors stay open in the end - the perfect squares - and there are exactly 22 perfect squares (1 squared through 22 squared) at or below 500.
How do you go from 98 to 720 using just one letter?
Spelling out "98" as "ninety eight" and inserting the letter x between the words creates "ninety x eight," which multiplies to 720.
Four years ago, Alex was twice as old as Jake. Four years from now, Jake will be 3/4 of Alex's age. How old is Alex?
Solving the two age equations together shows Jake is currently 8 and Alex is currently 12.
If it is two hours later, then it will take half as much time till it's midnight as it would be if it were an hour later. What time is it?
Working the algebra backward from midnight shows the current time must be 9 o'clock for the stated ratio to hold true.
Sally is 54 years old and her mother is 80, how many years ago was Sally's mother three times her age?
Solving 80-x = 3(54-x) gives x = 41, so 41 years ago Sally's mother was exactly three times her age.
If two hours ago, it was as long after one o'clock in the afternoon as it was before one o'clock in the morning, what time would it be now?
Working backward from "two hours ago," the elapsed time since 1 p.m. must equal the time remaining until 1 a.m., which only balances when the current time is 9 p.m.
In a bicycle race, the man who came two places in front of the last man finished one ahead of the man who came fifth. How many contestants were there?
If he's two places ahead of last (6th) he's in 4th, and finishing one ahead of 5th place also places him in 4th -- both conditions align only when there are 6 total contestants.
My daughter has many sisters. She has as many sisters as she has brothers. Each of her brothers has twice as many sisters as brothers. How many sons and daughters do I have?
With 4 daughters and 3 sons, each daughter has 3 sisters and 3 brothers (equal), and each son has 2 brothers and 4 sisters (twice as many sisters as brothers) -- satisfying both conditions.
One brick is one kilogram and half a brick heavy. What is the weight of one brick?
If one brick equals 1 kg plus half a brick, then half a brick must weigh 1 kg, making a whole brick weigh 2 kg.
Place three matches on a table. Tell a friend to add two more matches to make eight.
Three matches placed together can form the Roman numeral III; adding two more matches in a 'V' shape in front makes VIII, the Roman numeral for eight.
There are 25 red balls, 47 green balls and 3 blue balls in a basket. There is a blind man. What is the minimum number of balls that the blind man has to pick to make sure that there are at least 2 balls of different colors?
In the worst possible case, the blind man could draw all 47 green balls in a row before finally getting a red or blue one, so 48 draws guarantee at least two different colors.
Use the numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5 and the symbols + and = to make a true equation.
Both sides of the equation 2 + 5 = 3 + 4 equal 7, satisfying the challenge using each of the four given numbers exactly once.
Mr. Smith has 4 daughters. Each of his daughters has a brother. How many children does Mr. Smith have?
Since "each of his daughters has a brother" refers to the same single brother shared by all four daughters, Mr. Smith has 4 daughters plus 1 son, for 5 children total.
How can you add eight 8's to get the number 1000?
Try combining the 8's into different-length numbers (888, 88, 8) rather than adding eight separate 8's.
Three times what number is no larger than two times that same number?
Only when the number is zero does tripling it (still zero) stay no larger than doubling it (also zero); for any positive number, tripling it would exceed doubling it.
The combined age of Jack and John is 49. Jack is twice as old, as John was when Jack was as old as John is now. How old are the brothers?
Jack's age (28) is twice what John's age was seven years ago (14), which is exactly the gap between their ages now (28 - 21 = 7), and 28 + 21 = 49 as required.
How many days are there in 4 years?
Four years of 365 days would total 1,460 days, but one of the four is a leap year with an extra day, bringing the true total to 1,461.
What is the value of 1/2 of 2/3 of 3/4 of 4/5 of 5/6 of 6/7 of 7/8 of 8/9 of 9/10 of 1000?
Multiplying the fraction chain 1/2 x 2/3 x 3/4 ... x 9/10 causes every numerator and denominator to cancel except the very first and last, leaving 1/10 of 1000, which is 100.
If you toss a coin 10 times and it lands heads up every time, what are the chances it will land heads up if you toss it again?
A fair coin has no memory -- each flip is an independent event with exactly a 50% chance of heads, regardless of past results.
In a lake, there is a patch of lily pads. Every day, the patch doubles in size. If it takes 48 days for the patch to cover the entire lake, how long would it take for the patch to cover half the lake?
Since the patch's size doubles every single day, it must have covered exactly half the lake just one day before it covered the whole lake - day 47.
Dean Sam and Castiel are three brothers. Interestingly their current age is prime. What's more interesting that difference between their ages is also prime. How old are they?
Ages 2, 5, and 7 are all prime numbers, and the differences between them - 3, 2, and 5 - are also all prime, satisfying every condition in the riddle.
There are two fathers and two sons. They walk into a candy store and each buys a candy bar for 50 cents. The total for all of the candy bars was $1.50. How is that possible?
With a grandfather, father, and son, the middle person counts as both a father and a son, giving 'two fathers and two sons' among only three people who buy just three candy bars.
What number do you get when you multiply all of the numbers on a telephone's number pad?
Every phone keypad includes the digit 0, and multiplying any set of numbers that includes zero always results in zero.
How can you give someone $83 using exactly 7 bills, without using any one dollar bills?
A $50 bill, a $20 bill, a $5 bill, and four $2 bills together total $83 using exactly seven bills and no $1 bills.
If Mr. Flynn is 90 centimeters plus half his height, how tall is he?
If 90 cm equals half his height, his full height must be double that, or 180 centimeters.
Divide 20 by half and add 30, what do you get?
Dividing 20 by one-half means multiplying by 2, giving 40; adding 30 brings the total to 70.
There are 12 kids in a classroom. 6 kids are wearing socks and 4 are wearing shoes. 3 kids are wearing both. How many are bare feet?
Adding the sock-wearers and shoe-wearers together and subtracting those double-counted for wearing both (6 + 4 - 3 = 7) leaves 12 - 7 = 5 kids with bare feet.
When I take five and add six, I get eleven, but when I take six and add seven, I get one. What am I?
This is a clock-face riddle: five o'clock plus six hours lands on eleven, but six o'clock plus seven hours wraps back around to one on a 12-hour clock.
A bat and a ball cost $1.10. The bat costs one dollar more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?
If the ball costs 5 cents, the bat costs $1.05 (one dollar more), and together they total $1.10 -- the common wrong intuitive answer of 10 cents doesn't satisfy the 'one dollar more' condition.
What 3 positive numbers give the same result when multiplied and added together?
1 + 2 + 3 = 6 and 1 x 2 x 3 = 6, making them the only three positive numbers whose sum and product are equal.
When is 1500 plus 20 and 1600 minus 40 the same thing?
In 24-hour (military) time, 1500 plus 20 minutes is 1520, and 1600 minus 40 minutes is also 1520 -- both calculations land on the same time, 3:20 PM.
I am a bird, I am a fruit and I am a person. What am I?
'Kiwi' refers to a flightless New Zealand bird, a fuzzy brown fruit, and informally, a native of New Zealand -- all three at once.
What has hands but can not clap?
A clock has "hands," its pointers, but, lacking real arms, obviously can't clap them together.
What can you hold in your left hand and not in your right?
Physically, you can grasp your right elbow with your left hand, but your right hand can't hold itself.
Which eight-letter word still remains a word after removing each letter from it?
Removing one letter at a time from "starting" yields a chain of real words: starting → staring → string → sting → sing → sin → in → I.
What is the last thing you take off before bed?
The final physical action before getting into bed is lifting your feet off the floor, a literal rather than clothing-related answer.
Turn me on my side and I am everything. Cut me in half and I am nothing. What am I?
Turned sideways, the digit 8 becomes the infinity symbol (representing everything), while cut horizontally in half, it becomes two zeros (nothing).
What does a rich man needs that a poor man has?
Read the riddle literally: there is no actual object a poor man has that a rich man needs.
What type of bow can never be tied?
A rainbow's arc is called a 'bow,' but unlike a shoelace or ribbon bow, it can never physically be tied.
I know a word of letters three, add two and fewer there will be?
The three-letter word 'few' becomes 'fewer' (five letters, two more) when you add 'er,' and 'fewer' means a smaller quantity -- matching the riddle's own wordplay.
A plane crashed on the border or US and Canada. Where do they bury the survivors?
Survivors, by definition, are still alive and therefore aren't buried at all.
What flies when it's born lies when it's alive and runs when it's dead?
A snowflake flies through the air as it falls, lies still once it lands, and "runs" (melts and flows) once it dies.
What lives when it eats and dies when it drinks?
Fire 'eats' fuel to keep burning but is put out ('dies') the moment it 'drinks' water. (Source key spelled this 'fre' too, the same dropped-ligature OCR artifact for 'fire.')
A murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose between three rooms. The first is full of raging fires, the second is full of assassins with loaded guns, and the third is full of lions that haven't eaten in 3 years. Which room is safest for him?
Lions that haven't eaten in three years would have starved to death long before now, so the 'lion-filled' third room actually poses no danger at all.
123=0, 4235=0, 656=2, 5390=2, 8890=6, 1001=2, 19235=1. What is 123456789?
Each digit's value equals its number of closed loops (as in 0, 6, 8, and 9); among the digits 1 through 9, only 6, 8, and 9 have one loop each and 0 (not present here) has one too, so 123456789 totals 4 closed loops overall.
I am the reason you run. I am the reason you scream. I am the cause of your pain. I am a cage from which you will never be free.
Your body drives you to run from danger, to scream in fear or pain, and to suffer physically - a 'cage' you can never truly escape while alive.
What is far behind us, and can be seen without looking at it?
The past is behind you chronologically, yet it can be vividly recalled in memory without needing to physically look at anything.
I can fall off a building and live, but in water I will die. What am I?
Paper can flutter harmlessly from a great height but becomes soggy and ruined the instant it touches water.
I am a vegetable that bugs stay away from. What am I?
Squash plants are said to naturally repel certain garden pests, and the vegetable's name is also the word for crushing a bug.
Green but not a lizard, white without being snow, and bearded without being a man.
A leek has green stalks, a white base, and root "beard" fibers, without being a lizard, snow, or a man.
Has a tongue, but never talks. Has no legs, but sometimes walks.
A shoe has a "tongue" (the flap over the laces) and "walks" wherever its wearer's legs take it.
Lives without a body, hears without ears, speaks without a mouth, to which the air alone gives birth. What is it?
An echo is just reflected sound with no physical form, yet it seems to repeat back whatever noise the air carries.
In 1990, a person is 15 years old. In 1995, that same person is 10 years old. How can this be?
The years given are B.C. dates, which count downward, so a birth in 2005 B.C. makes the person 15 in 1990 B.C. and 10 in 1995 B.C.
What has four legs, but can't walk?
A table typically has four legs, but as furniture it obviously can't walk on them.
What do pandas have that no other animal has?
Only pandas can give birth to baby pandas — every species uniquely produces its own offspring.
Who makes it, has no need of it. Who buys it, has no use for it. Who uses it can neither see nor feel it. What is it?
A coffin-maker doesn't need one, buyers purchase it for someone else, and the deceased who "uses" it can no longer see or feel anything.
You can drop me from the tallest building and I'll be fine, but if you drop me in water I die. What am I?
Paper is light enough to survive a fall from a tall building, but it quickly gets soaked and ruined if it lands in water.
What goes up when rain comes down?
People open and raise umbrellas over their heads whenever rain starts falling.
I'm the son of water but when I return to water I die. Who am I?
Ice is 'born' when water freezes, but the moment it melts back into water, the ice itself ceases to exist.
I am your mother's brother's only brother in law. Who am I?
Your mother's brother is your uncle, and your uncle's only brother-in-law (through his sister's marriage) is your father -- a family-logic riddle.
I am full of holes but still holds water. What am I?
A sponge is riddled with tiny holes yet can still soak up and hold water within its structure. (A near-identical riddle, #977 in the source, repeats this exact question and answer and was merged into this entry as a duplicate.)
They come out at night without being called, and are lost in the day without being stolen. What are they?
Stars appear in the night sky on their own and seem to vanish ("are lost") in daylight, though they haven't actually been taken.
What is a witch's favorite school subject?
It's a pun -- witches cast 'spells,' so their favorite subject would be spelling.
Mom and dad have four daughters, and each daughter has one brother. How many people are in the family?
The four daughters share the same one brother, so the family is 2 parents + 4 daughters + 1 son = 7 people total.
Poor people have it. Rich people need it. If you eat it you die. What is it?
This is a classic paradox riddle: 'nothing' is what poor people have (no possessions), what rich people need (nothing more), and eating literally nothing would eventually kill you.
What has 88 keys but can't open a single door?
This musical instrument's 'keys' are for playing notes, not unlocking anything.
Everyone has it and no one can lose it. What is it?
Everyone casts a shadow whenever they're in light, and since it's tied to your body, you can never truly lose it.
What goes through towns and over hills but never moves?
A road stretches through towns and over hills, but the road itself is stationary -- it's the travelers who move along it.
A life or death skill for gunfighters.
In an Old West gunfight, drawing your weapon faster than your opponent -- a "quick draw" -- could mean the difference between life and death.
You can hold it without using your hands or your arms. What is it?
You can "hold your breath" without using your hands or arms at all -- it's done internally.
An apple is 40 cents, a banana is 60 cents and a grapefruit is 80 cents. How much is a pear?
Each fruit's price equals its number of vowels times 20 cents -- apple (2 vowels) = 40c, banana (3 vowels) = 60c, grapefruit (4 vowels) = 80c, and pear (2 vowels) = 40c.
When my father was 31 I was 8. Now he is twice as old as me. How old am I?
The father is 23 years older than his child (31 minus 8); if the father is now twice the child's age, then child+23 equals 2 times child, which solves to the child being 23.
There was a plane crash and every single person died. Who survived?
This riddle plays on the word 'single': every single (unmarried) person died in the crash, implying it was the people who were not single -- married couples -- who survived.
What is a Mummy's favorite type of music?
A mummy is wrapped in bandages, making 'wrap' -- a homophone of 'rap' -- its fitting favorite genre.
Everyone has me but nobody can lose me. What am I?
A shadow belongs to everyone who stands in the light, and unlike a wallet or keys, there is no way to physically lose it.
What has 4 eyes but can't see?
The word Mississippi contains four letter I's, which sound like 'eyes,' even though the state obviously can't see.
Forwards I am heavy, but backwards I am not. What am I?
Spelled forwards, TON is a heavy unit of weight; spelled backwards it becomes NOT, which has nothing to do with weight.
I'm where yesterday follows today and tomorrow is in the middle. What am I?
In a dictionary, entries are alphabetical rather than chronological, so 'today,' 'tomorrow,' and 'yesterday' sit in alphabetical order instead of the order the days actually happen.
I give milk and have a horn but I'm not a cow. Who am I?
A wordplay riddle: a milk truck "gives" (delivers) milk and has a horn (a vehicle horn), yet it obviously isn't a cow.
A box without hinges, lock or key, yet golden treasure lies within. Who am I?
An egg has no hinges, lock, or key, yet its golden yolk lies safely within the shell -- a classic riddle from Tolkien's "The Hobbit."
I shave several times a day, yet I still have a beard. Who am I?
A barber shaves customers' beards all day for a living, even though he himself may still be growing his own.
I always run but never walk, often murmur, never talk, have a bed but never sleep, have a mouth but never eat. Who am I?
A river continuously "runs" and murmurs softly, has a "bed" (riverbed) it never sleeps in, and a "mouth" (where it meets the sea) that never eats.
I'm a god, a planet, and measurer of heat. Who am I?
Mercury is a Roman god, the closest planet to the sun, and the liquid metal once used inside old-fashioned thermometers.
The more you have of me, the less you see. Who am I?
As darkness increases, visibility decreases -- the more darkness there is, the less you can see.
All about, but cannot be seen, Can be captured, cannot be held, No throat, but can be heard. Who am I?
Wind cannot be seen but can be felt and heard, and it can be "captured" (as in a sail or windmill) even though it has no physical throat to make noise.
I never was, am always to be, No one ever saw me, nor ever will, And yet I am the confidence of all, To live and breathe on this terrestrial ball. Who am I?
Tomorrow never actually arrives as itself - once it comes, it's simply 'today' - yet the promise of it is what keeps everyone living and hoping.
I follow the orders of only two. I respect the work of only two. I am in constant battles with many, Though one surpassed them all. With forces joined, We created hell, Until our mutual enemy fell. Who am I?
Peeves the Poltergeist, from the Harry Potter series, answers only to the Bloody Baron and the Hogwarts Headmaster, causes mischief throughout the castle, and joined forces with others to help bring down Voldemort during the Battle of Hogwarts.
Although I'm not an insect, some people found me very difficult to exterminate. They called me something like 'insane priest.' The first half of my name means the same as 'scrape,' & my last three letters are a metal. Who am I?
The clues spell out "Rasputin": the first part evokes "raze" (scrape/tear down) and the last three letters, "tin," are a metal. Grigori Rasputin was infamous for surviving repeated assassination attempts, making him legendarily "difficult to exterminate."
What is the coolest and most awesome of all the vegetables?
This is a pun -- "radish" sounds like "rad-ish," meaning "somewhat rad," using slang for cool or awesome.
What fruit loves to go crazy and go wild?
This plays on the idiom 'going bananas,' meaning to act wild or crazy.
What is the wealthiest nut?
"Cashew" sounds like "cash," matching the riddle's theme of wealth.