Letter Equations 3 to 4

Hey, have any questions you'd like to see posted?  Send them along for others to try!

3 = W M.
3 = P C.
3 = W on a T.
3 = S on a S S.
3 = B M (S H T R).
3 = C in N A.
3 = N M in a L.

4 = H of the A.
4 = C V.
4 = Q in a G.
4 = I in a H.
4 = Y in the T of a P.
4 = B in a J.
4 = P in a B.
4 = F O in a G.
4 = S on a V.

PS, I'm on vacation this week, so the puzzle posting may be a little erratic.

Christmas Letter Equations

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

8 = R in S S
0 = C S (not even a mouse!)


3 = T K of O are
12 = D of C


3 = G of C (P, P, and F)
4 = W in A 

8 = C on a M
4 = S to  a D

Do you know any other Christmas Letter Equations?  Post them in the comments below!

P.S.  I won't be posting a question tomorrow.

How Many Societies Just Give Tractors Away?

There are 3 societies A,B,C having some tractors each.

• A gives B and C as many tractors as they already have.
• After some days B gives A and C as many tractors as they have.
• After some days C gives A and B as many tractors as they have.
• Finally each has 24 tractors.

What is the original number of tractors each had in the beginning?

Submitted by Guess the Logo.

Letter Equations 0 to 2

0 = L in T.

1 = K E.
1 = C A in M.
1 = W on a U.
1 = H on a U.
1 = R A in E B.
1 = D at a T.
1 = G L for M.

2 = H in a W.
2 = B of C in a M.
2 = S of R in K R B.
2 = number it T to T.
2 = R on a T.
2 = S to an A.
2 = F of J.
2 = Q in a C.

Rare Years

Back in the year 1936, people born in 1892 were able to make an unusual mathematical boast, a boast that people born in 1980 will be able to make at some time during the 21st century. John Stuart Mill, the English philosopher and economist, would also have been able to make the same boast, had he noticed it.

Given that he was born in the 19th century, can you tell me what the unusual boast was, what year he was born in, and what year he could make the boast in?

Five and Six Letter Equations

I'm not sure I know the answers to these. Can you help me figure them out?

5 = F O in a G.
5 = S.
5 = R in the O F.
5 = G L.
5 = T on a F.
5 = L in a L.

6 = S on a G.
6 = P on a P T.
6 = P in an I H T.
6 = W of H the E.
6 = B C.

Count the

Fill in the blanks:

This sentence contains __ 1's, __ 2's, __ 3's, __ 4's, __ 5's, __ 6's, __ 7's, __ 8's, __ 9's and __ 0's.

There are two possible solutions. Try to find out both of them.

Even the Odds

Tim and Al are playing a game with two dice. They are not using numbers, but instead the die faces are colored. Some of the faces are colored blue and others are red.

Each player throws the dice in turn. Tim wins when the two top faces are the same color. Al wins when the colors are different. Their chances at winning are even.

The first die has 5 red faces and 1 blue face. How many red and how many blue are there on the second die?

US City

Which of the following anagrams is not a US city?

1. gronba
2. inhoxep
3. toditer
4. sangvelto
5. noterlam
6. dnartolp

Senior Play

In this year's Senior Class play, Ellis Island Idylls, a comedy celebrating America's ethnic heritage, Mike and four other boys play the five major male roles. Ironically, no one is playing the role for which he auditioned but instead is cast in one of the other four parts. Given this information and the clues, can you determine each actor's first and last name (one last name is Curtis), the part for which he auditioned, and the role he is playing in the production?

1. No two actors auditioned for and play the same two roles.
2. Tom is not the one playing Ivan.
3. Four of the actors - Ray, Evans, the one who tried out for Padraic, and the one portraying Ivan - had been in the Junior Class play.
4. The boy who auditioned for the role of Johann - who is not Pete Adams - is not playing Olaf in the production.
5. In one scene, Decker and the one who auditioned as Giorgio woo the same girl.
6. Ray did not try out as Ivan and did not win the Padraic role.
7. The boy who auditioned as Padraic - who is not Tom - is not the one playing Johann.
8. Steve and the Decker boy are also on the stage construction crew.
9. The actor playing Padraic auditioned as Olaf; he is not Tom.
10. The Block youth got the part for which Pete auditioned.

Are You Willing to Pay the Fine

Last Tuesday, five students majoring in literature - Judy, Lisa, Mary, Mike, and Phil - each received a notice from the university library for an overdue book (one book was by James Joyce). Can you determine each student's full name and the author of his or her overdue book?

1. After receiving the notices, three of the students returned their books on Wednesday: Mary, Ms. Snell, and the one who had the Ernest Hemingway novel.
2. Wicks and Jones (one of whom had the D.H. Lawrence novel) returned their books the same day.
3. Judy (who isn't Ames) isn't the one who had the William Faulkner novel.
4. Neither Mike (who didn't have the Faulkner novel) nor Wicks had ever been overdue at the library before.
5. Both Barr and the young woman who had the Joseph Conrad novel returned their books on Thursday.

Another Question About Alice

Another question submitted by Rich:

Alice is an ant that lives on a stick. Alice is no different from other ants : All ants walk at a speed of 1 metre per minute, are perpetually walking, and upon reaching the end of sticks or meeting other ants they turn and walk back the other way (they do not fall off nor can pass one another). We now place a finite number of ants on Alice's stick (again with Alice in the middle) and start them walking. We do not know how they are oriented. Could there be an ant in the middle of the stick after a minute? If so when would this ant be Alice?

I Just Like Saying Hyper Rooks

The following question was submitted by Rich (let me know if you want a link to somewhere?).

Consider an NxN chess board. What is the minimum number of Rooks (Castles) that it would take to dominate the board? Now consider an NxNxN hyper chess board. What is the minimum number of hyper rooks that it would take to dominate the board (NB Hyper Rooks can move up, down and across - ie in all 3 dimensions)?


The following image contains the answer as it was sent to me by Rich. I can't get the formulae to show in the comment section, so this is my best solution. So consider this a spoiler alert!

Watering the Scale

I've asked different versions of this question in the past, but I always find it interesting. How about you?

You have a glass of water sitting on a perfectly balanced scale. You put your finger into the glass and into the water. Your finger does not touch the glass, it only is submerged in the water. It makes the water go higher up the sides of the glass but it does not overflow.

What happens to the scale?

Who Done It?

Investigators break into an apartment and find the remains of 3 dead bodies on the floor in a pool of water. The only living occupant of the apartment was a cat in the corner.

The investigators quickly leave, never write up a report, investigate the dead bodies, or even send for an ambulance to pick them up.

What's going on here?

Do Not Pass This One

A woman pushing her car stopped outside a hotel and immediately went bankrupt. Explain.

Golfers Gaffe

Hogan and Snead are professional golfers and long-time rivals. One day during a game, they had each scored 30 when Hogan hit a bad shot. Snead immediately added 10 to his own score. Snead then hit a good shot and won the game. Why?

Easier Than Yesterday

• There are 8 balls.
• 7 balls are the same, the 8th is slightly heavier than the rest.
• You also have a balance-scale (the one with a platform on either side) but it has no markings on it.

Using the scale twice, locate the ball that is heavier.

Welcome Back

• There are 12 balls.
• 11 of the balls weigh the same.
• 1 of the balls is either heavier or lighter than the rest.
• You have an unmarked balance scale.

Using the scale only 3 times, determine which ball is different and whether it is heavier or lighter than the rest.

Holiday Travel

What with the holiday, I'll be gone until next week. In the meantime, if you're looking for some good brain teasers, puzzles and riddles, take a look around. I'll be leaving you all with some Thanksgiving trivia and I hope you all have a good week!

By the fall of 1621, only half of the Pilgrims who had traveled here on the Mayflower were still alive. In Thanksgiving for their survival, the remaining Pilgrims invited the neighboring Wampanoag Indians to their feast.

The Pilgrim leader at the time was Governor William Bradford, and it was he who organized the original Thanksgiving. Around 90 Wampanoag Indians and the Wampanoag chief, Massasoit, attended the festival. The feast lasted three days.

The first national Thanksgiving Day Proclamation was made by President George Washington in the year 1789. He issued another in 1795.  Other Presidents would make proclamations through the years setting aside a certain date for giving thanks and prayers.

New York, the state, made Thanksgiving an annual custom in 1817. Sarah Joseph Hale started a Thanksgiving campaign in 1827. In 1863, a Thanksgiving Proclamation was created by Abraham Lincoln on the third of October. He was the first to officially set aside the last Thursday of November for the national holiday.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in an effort to extend the Christmas shopping season, restored Thursday before last of November as Thanksgiving Day in 1939. He was hoping to stimulate the economy.

In 1941, Congress passed an official proclamation declaring the fourth Thursday of November every year will be observed as a legal holiday.

Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday in October in Canada.

Rebus Help

I received an e-mail asking for help with the following rebus. Can you figure them out?

Can You Think of a Word That Starts With XYZ

Add three letters to the beginning of the five words below to form five new words. The three letters added have to be the same three letters (for instance, if you determine xyz are the three letters, then each of the five new words must start with xyz).

her
ion
or
if
to

I Hope He Can Afford It

A man is buying a gold ring set with stones for his wife on her birthday. A ring set with 4 amethysts and 1 diamond comes to US$2,000. One with 3 emeralds, 1 amethyst and 1 diamond would be US$1,400. And one set with 2 rubies and 1 diamond would cost US$3,000. Being a thoughtful husband, he choses a ring with 4 stones, each representing one of their 4 children.
 
As their children are named Andy, David, Ellen, and Richard, how much in US$ will the ring containing 1 amethyst, 1 diamond, 1 emerald, and 1 ruby cost him?

What About Gilligan and the Skipper?

Similar to yesterday:

You overhear a conversation between a professor and his teaching assistant. They are talking about a course they are running with just three students.

Professor: The product of the ages of the students in our class is 2450 and the sum of their ages is twice your age. Can you tell me how old they are?
Assistant: (After thinking for a little while) No.
Professor: I'll let you in on a secret. I am older than all of them, and now you can answer the question.
Assistant: (Even though he does not know how old the professor is, he thinks for a bit, smiles, and says) Yes I can.

Given that all of the ages involved are integers (whole numbers), how old is the professor? 

House Kids

At a party you overhear another guest asking the age of the hosts' 3 children. The host tells the guest that the product of his kids' ages is 72 and the sum of their ages is the same as the guest's house number.

Now, the other guest obviously knows her own house number but, after thinking for a bit, she is forced to ask the host for additional information. The host then says that his oldest child likes strawberry ice cream and the other guest is able to say their ages.

Even though you don't know the guest's house number, you have enough information.

Playing With the Queen of Hearts

Two identical packs of 52 cards A and B are shuffled thoroughly. One card is picked from A and shuffled with B. The top card from pack A is turned up. If this is the Queen of Hearts, what are the chances that the top card in B will be the King of Hearts?

Draw Three

Below there are sixteen numbers. Assuming that any three of the numbers may be drawn at random, what are the chances that three numbers will be drawn whose sum equals six?

1 2 3 1
2 3 1 2
3 1 2 3
1 2 3 1

What Kind of Hat Do You Look Best In?

You are presented you with 3 identically looking hats. In the 1st hat there are 2 white balls, in the 2nd hat there is 1 white ball and 1 black ball, and in the 3rd hat there is 2 black balls. You are blindfolded and (without peeking) you reach into one of the hats and pull out a ball.

If the ball is black, what are the chances of you reaching back into the same hat and finding that the remaining ball in the hat is black.

All I Want is the Candy

You and a friend pass by a standard coin operated vending machine and you decide to get a candy bar. The price is 95 cents but after checking your pockets you only have a dollar and the machine only takes coins.

You turn to your friend and have this conversation.

You: Hey, do you have change for a dollar?
Friend: Let's see... I have 6 US coins but, although they add up to $1.15, I can't break a dollar.
You: Well, can you make change for half a dollar?
Friend: No.
You: How about a quarter?
Friend: Nope. And before you ask I can't make change for a dime or nickel either.
You: Really? And these 6 coins are all US government coins currently in production?
Friend: Yes.
You: Well can you just put your coins into the vending machine and buy me the candy bar, and I'll pay you back?
Friend: Sorry, I'd like to but I can't with the coins I have.

What coins does your friend have?

Nine Letters

Find the two nine-letter antonyms using the letters below:

ERURP
VDRTO
SRESP
YAA

But How Fuel Efficient Are They?

Two cars start from point A at the same time and drive around a circuit more than one mile in length.  While they are driving laps around the circuit, each car must maintain a steady speed.  One car is faster than the other and will pass the other car at certain points.  The first pass occurs 150 yards from point A.

At what distance from A will one car pass the other again?

But Nothing is Ever Missing

ASIDE: For those of you who like twitter better than RSS or e-mail, I've created a twitter account that will twit out when a new post is made here.  You can now follow Question of the Day by following the link.

OK, back to the question.

"There's a mystery in the office, and I just can't seem to make heads or tails of it," Mary said as she sat down for her normal Monday lunch with Inspector Joseph.

Inspector Joseph immediately perked up.  "What kind of mystery?"

"Well, it's the strangest thing.  But let's start at the beginning."

"As you know, we have three workers in the office, there to handle the mail, billing and bookkeeping.  Alice has been there for years and has always been reliable.  She has a bit of a drinking problem and a husband who... well, let's just say he has his own problems."

"Barbara is new.  She worked in Alaska before coming here, and we're still waiting on her records."

"Our third worker is Clarence.  Ever since the new casino boat opened up ... Well, I don't want to point fingers, but there have been some minor irregularities in our petty cash."

"But, here's the mystery.  The office is closed all weekend long, every weekend.  On Monday mornings, I'm usually the first to arrive.  I open up, check the mail, turn off the alarm, etc...  I was working the alarm system three weeks back when I noticed the alarm had been shut off on Saturday.  For five minutes.  Then it got switched back on."

"I thought nothing of it at the time.  I just figured someone had forgotten something and had come back to get it." 

"But every weekend since, the same thing has happened.  The alarm gets shut off on Saturday afternoon for five minutes each time.  All three workers have the password and I've asked all three about it.  But they've all denied visiting the office."

"As I said, this has been going on for weeks now.  Nothing is missing or changed.  I've checked the petty cash box and it's always the same as it was on Friday evening.  I don't suppose any harm is done, but it's baffling."

"There could be harm," the Inspector cut in.  "I can think of one explanation, and I think we need to deal with this right away."

Whom does the inspector suspect, and why?

You Make the Call

The two boys were home to watch the game with their dad.  Junior and Frank were in the kitchen helping their mom, Marie, put together the snacks and drinks, when Junior noticed the bruises on his mother's arms. 

"Did Dad do that to you?", Junior asked.  But his mom didn't answer. 

"What are you going to do when he retires next month and he's hanging around all the time?"  But his mother just asked him to grab the bags of potato chips and pretzels from the pantry.

"Make mine a strong one!" came her husbands shout from the living room.  Marie made up the ice, ginger ale and rye together in tall glasses. 

"Oh dear, I forgot which was which.  Taste the highballs, would you dear?" 

Frank tasted all three, almost choking on the third.  "This one has to be twice as strong as the others."

"It had better be!" his father stated as he walked into the kitchen.  "... Make me walk all the way in here..." as he grabbed his drink out of Frank's hands. 

Frank, Junior and Marie followed their father into the living room and began watching the game.  All four watched through the first quarter, munching on the snacks and drinking.  At the end of the first quarter, Frank senior held up his empty glass, "Get me another."

Marie got up and went to work on the refill.  As she worked in the kitchen, she heard a gasp, then a moan.  By the time she got back into the living room, Frank senior was dead.

"Fast acting poison," the coroner determined.  "I'm certain of it." 

The detective was at a loss, however.  "They all claim they've been eating and drinking from the same bowls and drinks.  They must be lying, covering for each other."

"Not necessarily," the coroner quickly said.

How could Frank senior have been poisoned?  And who could have done it?

Solve the Puzzle

Using the first set of words as your clue, fill in the missing word inside the parentheses below.

CONE (NICK) KRIS
LISP (_ _ _ _) ETON

T Marks the Spot

This is a bit of an experiment.  Hopefully I can get it to work.

Find the starting point and visit each of the square to reach the 'treasure' in the middle marked with a T.

The directions can be read as: 1N:2W = 1 North, 2 West (or up on, left two).  To make the square work, I'm putting in xx if there is no second direction.  So, 2S: xx means go down two.

1S | 1S | 2S
1E | 1E |  xx
-------------
1S |  T  | 1N
xx  |  xx | 2W
-------------
1E | 2N | 2W
2N | 1E | 1N

Adjusting to the Time Difference

There are two anagrams hidden below.  They hide two phrases that are spelled differently, but sound alike.  For example: a name, an aim.

IDLE LURES
ROSY DOLL

Continue the Sequence of Numbers

8960, 6720, 3360, 840, 630, ...

Job Request

Fill in the blanks to spell out three jobs.

1. _I_N_L_A_
2. _O_D_L_E_
3. _A_N_Q_I_

Lets Dance

Rearrange the letters in the words below to spell out three dances.

MUG TARZAN AT BOWL

Help a Friend Out

I was sent an e-mail with the following question. Can you help out?

A friend sent me a question - what is the meaning of

Parcel John Kei

I cannot get it

Can you?

Football Logic

Joseph and his 3 brothers are big fans of the local football team, so they were thrilled to win tickets. The boys wore their favorite jerseys, each a different color, to the game and sat together in 4 seats in a row. Each boy visited the concession stand during a different quarter of the game and bought a different snack from that of his brothers. Use the clues and table below to determine the order in which the boys sat, the colors of their shirts, the quarter in which each boy bought his snack, and what snack each boy bought.

1. The 4 boys are Noah, the red-shirted one, the one who got a snack during the first quarter, and the one who bought a hot dog.
2. The fan who bought a snack during the 2nd quarter sat between the fans who bought popcorn and nachos.
3. Daniel sat next to both the fan who bought a hot dog and the one who visited the concession stand in the first quarter.
4. The green-shirted fan sat to the left of Stephen, who did not sit next to the popcorn muncher.
5. The blue-shirted fan sat next to both the red-shirted and yellow-shirted fans.
6. One boy got pizza in the 4th quarter.

Secret Message

812251149352355115144





Look below for a hint

















Hint: We've seen this code recently.

Good Hand

Pretend you have five cards: a ten, a jack, a queen, a king and an ace. Shuffle the cards together, then place the cards facedown. Select four cards, returning each card and re-shuffling the deck after each pick, what kind of hand would you more likely draw: four aces or a straight picked in sequence?

Ghee and Shinty... Must be a Good Combination

Last night I saw these two trivia questions and could not answer them. Can you?

1) What is a ghee?

2) Shinty is a form of what sport?

Two Fer the Price of One

1) What phrase is being suggested below?

SH
TT
RG
EN

And just to mix things up --
2) The words white and black are antonyms.
What two words, one rhyming with white and the other with black, are also antonyms?

The Rent is Due on Monday

RENT DEBATE is an anagram for what female name?




P.S. If you have a brain teaser of your own you'd like to share, please drop me a line.  My e-mail is in the about box.

How Fast Could a Frog Swim if A Frog Could Swim?

There is a frog, dead in the middle of an island. If he swims north, the distance to the mainland is 2 meters. If he swims south, the distance to the mainland is 3 meters. If he swims east or west, the distance is 4 meters. Which way does he swim?

Disqualified! What Do You Mean Disqualified!

A runner was awarded a prize for finishing first in a marathon.  But after seeing two pictures of the runner and his wristwatch, the judges ended up disqualifying him.  Why?

There is no 'right' answer to this one.  It's one of those lateral thinking puzzles.

Finish the Series

2/3, 7/12, 1/2, 5/12, 1/3, 1/4, 1/6, ?

What's the next number in the series?

Marbles in a Box, Marbles with a Fox

We have six white marbles, one red marble and four black marbles in a box.  What would be the smallest number of marbles that we need to take out of the box to guarantee that we get three of the same color?

Marbles in Boxes

There are three boxes in front of you.  They are labeled BB, WW and BW.  In one box, there are two black marbles, in another there are two white marbles.  In the third box there is one black and one white marble.

No label corresponds to the marbles in its box.

What would be the smallest number of marbles that must be randomly picked, from one or several boxes, to identify their contents?

Seventy-Six Going on Eighteen

The famous composer, who wrote the Barber of Seville, blew out 18 candles on his birthday cake.  Nine months later, he was dead.  He was 76 at the time. 

Can you explain this?

A Couple of Days

1) If yesterday had been Wednesday's tomorrow and tomorrow is Sunday's yesterday, what day would today be?

2) Annie left on a trip the day after the day before yesterday and she will be back the eve of the day after tomorrow.  How many days is she away?

A Cup of Coffee a Day Keeps the Jitters Away... Oh... Wait

On March 15, a friend was telling me, "Every day I have a cup of coffee.  I drank 31 cups in January, 28 in February and 15 in March.  So far, I drank 74 cups of coffee.  Do you know how many cups I would have drunk thus far if it had been a leap year?"

Well, do you?

Pictures Can Be Clues

That's right, more rebus!  The arrangement of words provide the clues to common items or phrases.  Unfortunately, I make no guarantees to the formatting.  I think I got it right this time, but if it doesn't quite look right, please let me know.


1)
         words
funny words
         words
funny words

2)

thodeepught

3)

leggggggggggs

leggggggggggs

4)

slewalkep

5)
  got
  got call
I got call
  gott

6)

P

R

I

C

E

Trickle Down

Here is a five-letter 'trickle down' puzzle.  Change one letter at a time to reach the final word (each step along the way has to be a legitimate word).

TIMER
_____

_____
_____
_____
DUNKS

Brothers Keeper

A hiker was traveling up the steep sides of Pine Gorge when he heard the distant squeal of tires. The hiker looked up just in time to see a red convertible slam through a guard rail and sail out into the deep gorge.  The driver was thrown clear of the vehicle seconds before impact. 

The highway patrol found the bloody body of Blue Michaels smashed up on the rocks. Inside the car were several loose rocks, a tangle of broken branches, and more blood on the seat and dashboard.

The Michaels saga was well known to the local community.  Blue had been engaged to the town beauty, Red Ferreli. But the engagement was broken when Blue found out Red had been stepping out with one of his brothers.  No one was sure which brother had betrayed Blue so badly.

The patrolmen visited the Michaels lodge, located a half mile up hill from where the accident occurred.   Blue's two brothers seemed devastated by the news.

"Blue was in a funk," Dirk testified.  "He'd been drinking all morning.  Finally, he just grabbed his car keys and said he was going for a drive.  I yelled at him and told him he was in no state to go anywhere.  I didn't hear the motor, so I thought he'd listened.  Then a couple of minutes later, I heard his car peel out.  I would've gone after him, but there was this play-off game on T.V.  I had no idea he'd kill himself."

Eli confirmed his brother's story.  " I was in the garage office, working on my computer when I heard the front door slam.  I looked out the window and saw Blue stumbling around the driveway.  I went back to work until I heard the ignition.  I looked out and saw Blue driving off in his convertible, weaving down the road.  I wasn't too worried.  Not until you guys showed up."

The police immediately concentrated their investigation on one of the brothers and were soon able to get a confession. 

Who did it?

Those Ivy Leaguers

What 11-letter word is pronounced incorrectly by more than 99% of Ivy League graduates?

Associated Word

In each of the following, can you find an associated word that can be paired with all three words shown to form a compound word (or a word pair that acts like a compound word)?

1)

• light
• hot
• check

2)

• light
• hot
• back

Help an Anonymous Poster Out

The following four letter equations were posted under Some More Letter Equations.  Can you help him out?

Does any one know these?

• 24=B F in a P G P
• 10=W in a I of C
• 2= T, D and D
• 41= S of W A M

Use the Clues

Use the clues to find four six letter words.  The same three letters are represented by X Y Z in each word.

1. X Y Z _ _ _ : Clue: Fleet
2. _ X Y Z _ _ : Clue: Heat
3. _ _ X Y Z _ : Clue: Beguiles
4. _ _ _ X Y Z : Clue: Remove defensive ability

I haven't mentioned this in a while, but if you have a puzzle, riddle, whatever you want to share with the group, send me a note (see my about box on the side) and if I haven't seen it before, I'll get it posted.

You Can See Through This One Right Away

It was invented in ages past to see through walls.  It is still in use in some parts of the world today.

What is it?

How Quickly Can You Do It?

Which is larger: one-third times one-third of a dozen dozen, or one-third dozen halved and cubed?

Fleegles on a Tuesday

Molly O'Brien has 22 fleegles.
Debbie Reynolds has 28 fleegles.
Roberto Montgomery has 34 fleegles.

How many fleegles does Ahmad Adziz have?

Long Time Since We Did These Letter Equations

Determine the common phrase or item, where the key words have been replaced by their first letter.  For example: 1=W on a U is One Wheel on a Unicycle.

1. 1 = P of P P that P P P
2. 3 = M (A, P, and A)
3. 4 = W and a F

Alphabet Line

On what side of the line does the "R" go?

A B    D                      O P Q
-----------------------------
   C E F G H I J K L M N

Color the Chess Board

You can cover all 64 squares on a chess board with 32 dominoes. Take out the two corners (a8 and h1) and try to cover the board with 31 dominoes. It will never work.

Which color do the leftover squares always end up being?

Who Keeps Losing All of These Numbers Anyways?

What numbers are missing in the parentheses?
98 (33) 79
23 (...) 55


12 (26) 13
11 (...) 6


125 (21) 20
70 (...) 35

Code It

Short is to 1811010 as skinny is to...

Next in Line

What comes next in this sequence?

5 8 26 48 122 ?

Sugar Cube Friday

Just for fun, let's place an ant onto the corner of a sugar cube. The ant can only travel along the edges of the cube. The cube has sides all measuring 1 cm.

What is the total distance the ant can travel without retracing any part of its path?

Common Phrases Made Into Pictures

1)
G
N lost
I  lost  6:17
K lost  PM
A lost
M

2)
Play
Play

3)
over...over

4)
^Juice

09 09 09 Twins

Suppose that 3% of all births give rise to twins.  If 1,000 people are born on 09/09/09 in the state of New York, how many do you expect will be twins?







BTW, be careful today searching out numerology trivia.  I did and immediately landed on a malware site.

The Great and Powerful Sultan

The harem of a great and powerful sultan was protected by a door with many locks.  The sultan had distributed keys to a vizier and four slaves for safe keeping.

The sultan, knowing well how men can be tempted, had distributed the keys so that the vizier could only open the door if he was with one of the slaves, while the slaves could only open the door if three of them worked together.

How many locks were there on the door?

Hint: Although there are many possible answers, I'm looking for the minimum number of locks.

Hint 2: Each person can hold more than one key.

Rebus are Picture Puzzles or Pictograms

1)

& better

& better <-

2)

print

3)

Secret <-

Secret

Secret

4)

Lady Lady Lady

^

5)

nefriended

6)

T M

A U

H S

W T

Hopes and Wishes

Sorry about the lateness of this question. I was a bit distracted this morning.

A doctor knows that the drug he is prescribing is about 30% effective. He currently has four patients on the drug coming in during the next week. He's hoping to hear positive results for three out of the four.

What are the chances that his hopes will be met?






BTW, Did you notice the SocialVibe widget on the sidebar? Please, if you have time, give it a whirl. And then give me some feedback on how it works, what you think of it, etc... Good or bad, I want to know

Pronounce it Right

What five letter word, no matter how you pronounce it, is always pronounced wrong?

Going to the Theatre

Two men and two women went to the movie theater together and they all sat in the same row.  The two men want to be in the middle so that there are two women at either end, but don't want to force anything.  What are the chances that things will work out for them?

Employee Number

I was bored at work today (it being Monday morning) and I started thinking about my badge number.

It's nine digits long and contains all nine digits from 1 to 9.  Remarkably, the whole number is divisible by 9 (no remainders!).  If you remove the last digit from the number, it is divisible by 8.  If you remove the next number, it is divisible by 7.  And so on...  Right down to the last number, which is, of course, divisible by 1. 

What's my badge number?

Crack the Code

Using the list of numbers and their accompanying codes, can you decipher the last code and determine the number on the last line?

Number   Code
589         521
724         386
1346       9764
?              485

Meat and Potatoes

A mother has six children and five potatoes.  How can she feed each an equal amount of potatoes?

No fractions, please.

Letter Equation Help

A commenter asked about the following letter equation.  Can you help him?

What's the letter equation for
4 R in N A that F N?

Slide Right In

My brother says he is able to place a bottle in the middle of the room and by crawling on the floor, he can slide into it.

How can this be?

A Long Bus Ride

A doctor and a bus driver are both in love with the same woman, an attractive girl named Sarah. The bus driver had to go on a long bustrip that would last a week. Before he left, he gave Sarah seven apples. Why?

Pof Npsf Opu Pof Mftt

Mfbsojoh xjuipvu uipvhiu jt mbcps mptu; uipvhiu xjuipvu mfbsojoh jt qfsjmpvt.

No Vows of Silence Here

In a convent, the novice nuns at dinner table are not allowed to ask for anything such as the salt from the other end of the table.  This is because they should be so in tune of one another's needs that they should not need to ask.

How do they get around this prohibition?

World-Wide Cruise

A man sailed around the world by himself in a small boat.  Yet, he was always in sight of land.

How?

Visual Riddles For More Fun

Continued from yesterday

1)

   got

     I  got call

       got call

  got

2)

P

R

I

C

E

3)

THODEEPUGHT

4)

_______DANCE

5)

I

8

Visual Riddles You Can Count On

What do the following riddles mean?  Use the visual aspects to solve the riddle and come up with the common words or phrases.

1)

Wear

Long

2)

R

father father

father father

3)

S

T

U

F

F

4)

P$O$C$K$E$T

5)

Y  |------------|

O  | STRIKE   |

U  |                 |

'    | STRIKE  |

R  |                 |

E  |  STRIKE  |

     |------------|

Frankie Spent Three Days

Frankie spent three days in the hospital, despite not being sick or injured. His legs were neither deformed or damaged, and in fact were working quite normally. Yet, when it was time to leave, he had to be carried out.

Why?

A Parrot Lies

A petshop owner had a parrot with a sign on its cage that said "Parrot repeats everything it hears". Davey bought the parrot and for two weeks he spoke to it and it didn't say a word. He returned the parrot but the shopkeeper said he never lied about the parrot. How can this be?

No Right Answer

This is one of those questions that could be answered in many ways.  Try to use the clues involved to solve it, but don't let me squash your creativity!

The police found a murder victim and they noticed a pair of tire tracks leading to and from the body.  They followed the tracks to a nearby farmhouse where two women and one man were sitting on the porch.  There was no car at the farmhouse and none of the three could drive.  Yet the police quickly arrested the man.

Why?

Nationwide Exam

Thirty-two students took a nationwide exam and all the students from Indiana passed it.  If the students from Indiana made up exactly 5% of the total number of students that passed the test, how many students passed it and how many students were from Indiana?

Map Trivia

If you look at a map of South Dakota where it borders Montana, you will see a straight line with a kink of about one mile.  Everywhere else the border is a straight line.  The kink does not benefit any local landowner, and no other states are involved.

Why is the kink there?

Sticks and Stones

Which of these anagrams does not belong?
ibiat
emorfar
emruf
altepal
srumueh

Stand Your Ground

Two sentries were on duty outside a barracks. One faced up the road to watch for anyoe approaching from the North. The other looked down the road to see if anyone approached from the South. Suddenly one of them said to the other, "Why are you smiling?"

How did he know that his companion was smiling?

It Took Me Months to Solve This One

The following sets of letters are related in a way known to most people.  Can you find the missing letters?
ON
DJ
FM
AM
??

What is the Value of F

What is the value of F in the following system?

A + B =  Z
Z + P = T
T + A = F
B + P + F = 30
A = 8

Game of Cards?

You have three cards: an ace, a queen, and a six. One is a diamond, one is a heart, and one is a spade, although not necessarily in that order.

The diamond sits between the queen and the heart.
The six is immediately to the right of the spade.

Put the cards in the correct order in your answer below.

Match ABC to 123

You need to match A, B and C to the numbers 1, 2 and 3.  But you are given some peculiar information by which to determine how to match them up.

1. If A is not 1, then C is not 3.
2. If B is either 2 or 1, then A is 3.
3. If C is not 2, then A cannot be 3.
4. If C is not 1, then A is not 3.
5. If C is 3, then B is not 1 or 2.
6. If B is 3, then A is not 2.

Can you match them up?

Can You See?

 Can You

See What's

  Wrong

 The With

Words On

  This

Poster?

You and a friend come across the sign above. Your friend asks why it's wrong? Your reply...?

Two Professors Bored

Two math professors (Frank and Julie) were on a long bus trip and were bored. Professor Frank, who had purchased both tickets, looked at five digits on his ticket and then the five digits on his friends ticket, which he was still holding.

The two tickets, purchased together, were consecutively numbered.

"Hey," Frank exclaimed. "When you add up all ten digits, you get 62."

"That is quite the coincidence, since we are on Bus 62," replied Julie.

Professor Julie then asked Frank "Is the sum of the numbers on either ticket, by any chance, 35?

After Professor Frank answered, Julie said "Well, now I know what the numbers on the two tickets are."

What were the two numbers?

Being Cheap Pays Off

If you go to the movies and you're paying, is it cheaper to take one friend to the movies twice, or two friends to the movies at the same time?

Only When Wet

What kind of coat can be put on only when wet?

A Class of Few

A class of students took a test. The results were mixed. One-third of the class received a B, one-fourth received a c, one-sixth received a D and one-eighth of the class flunked. Everyone else got an A.

How many students in the class got an A on the test (I'm not looking for a proportion here, but a real number).

Look below for a hint:













Hint: There is more than one possible answer, but if you restrict the class size to fewer than 30, you can find the first one.

Hint 2: Yes, this is a math question ;-)

Skip a Birthday

Grandpa Joe was sitting on his porch talking to his grandson Bill. Grandpa Joe always like to tell stories, so even at the ripe old age of 5 Bill was never too quick to trust anything that Grandpa had to say.

"I was 72 on my last birthday and I'll be 74 on my next birthday!" Grandpa Joe exclaimed.

Incredulous, Bill ran inside to tattle to Grandma. But Grandma stood up for Grandpa, telling Bill that Grandpa Joe was right.

How could Grandpa be telling the truth?

Goes Off

What stays where it is when it goes off?

Tip Your Hat

While walking down the street I met a man. He tipped his hat and drew his cane and in this riddle I told his name. What is the mans name?

Could be Lots of Things

Until I am measured,
I am not known.
Yet how you miss me,
When I have flown.

What am I?

One half of

If one nickel is worth five cents, how much is half of one half of a nickel worth?


Have a good weekend everyone!

Samurai Cut

The samurai boasted, "And then I took out my sword and cut the thick chain that was linked to two posts into two pieces."

The monk replied, "That is not true."

How did the monk know the story was untrue?

Today is Question Number 1000!!!

First, I just wanted to thank everyone who's ever answered a question or posed their own.  I can't believe that there have been 1,000 questions so far and it's been a lot of fun for me.  So thank you, thank you, thank you!

Now on to today's question.

The time of death had been firmly established. At 10:06 PM, all three suspects said they heard a gunshot echo through the house.  The house was shared by four graduate students; one of which lay dead in his second story bedroom, a bullet in his chest.

Harry, it seemed, had been a ladies man.  He had even bragged about seducing one of his roommates girlfriends.  Unfortunately for the detectives, they didn't know which one.  They separated the three remaining housemates and interviewed each one.

"I was working on my car," Bill insisted.  "I plugged an extension cord into an outlet behind the house.  Then I took a work light around to the side driveway, in front of the garage.  When I heard a gunshot, it took me a moment to realize it came from within the house.  Then I ran inside."

The second suspect entered the room with a noticeable limp. 

"I had just come home," explained Sonny.  "I parked in the alley behind the house.  I was walking up to the back door when I tripped hard over some cord.  I fell down, then just sat there, nursing my ankle.  Maybe two minutes later came the gunshot.  That got me moving."

The third suspect claimed that he had just come down to the kitchen.  "I was starting to scoop out a bowl of ice cream," said Glen.  "Then I heard a noise out back.  I looked out, but it was dark.  I went back to my ice cream.  A couple minutes later, I heard the shot."

The detectives circled the house.  In the kitchen, they found a melted bowl of ice cream on the counter by the fridge.  In the backyard, they saw an orange extension cord with a bent prong that had been ripped from an outdoor socket. Following the extension cord, they found Bill's car in front of the garage, the work light suspended over the open hood. 

"It's pretty clear who's lying," the chief detective said as he went in to make the arrest.

Who did the chief detective think was lying and why?

An Attack of Gas

"Poison gas," the inspector said when her arrived on the scene.  An empty glass container on the table was the primary evidence.

"Pour one chemical on another."  He pointed to the dead flies on the windowsill at the east end of the room and then at the dead cat on the floor.  "In less than a minute everything in the room would be dead."

The body had been discovered by Espy's son (Gerald Espy being the deceased), Melvin. 

"I was out with some friends on my boat.   I dropped them off at about midnight, then motored back.  There were no lights on at the house, but every now and then the moon would peek through.  I figured Dad was asleep.  So I locked up the house and went straight to bed.  This morning, I went to check up.  He was dead."

The last person to admit to seeing Gerald Espy alive was his business partner, Frank Townley. 

"Frank came in here around midnight," the tavern owner testified.  "He and Espy weren't getting along.  Business was bad and they were both threatening lawsuits.  Frank drank down a slew of scotches.  He told me had just been over to Espy's.  When it came closing time, Frank was dead drunk and asleep.  I just locked up and left him there.  He was still asleep at noon-time when I opened up."

"When I left Gerald's house last night, he was alive," the hung-over Townly said.  "Check the time of death."

"I don't have to check the time of death," the inspector said.  "I have a pretty good idea when it was done and who did it."

Do you know who did it?  Let us know in the comments.

Full Form

I am strongest when you see me as round, but I am often viewed in other forms. I lift and drop the sea with my tremendous strength, and a man with a name like 'powerful bicep' was the first to tread on me.

What am I?

Fourth of July 2009

Happy Fourth of July! 

Yes, I know, I'm a couple of days early, but I'm on vacation as of the end of today and I won't be back until a week from Monday.  So have a good holiday (if you're in the US). 

Here's some Fourth of July Trivia:

1. On July 4th, the Declaration of Independence was ready for signing, but how long did it take for the signees to finish the job?

2. In what year did Congress finally get arond to making the Fourth a legal holiday?

3. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died within hours of each other on July 4.  How many years had passed between the original Fourth and their deaths.

4. The tricorn was a popular item back when the Declaration of Independence was signed.  It is often seen in depictions from the time.  What is it?

5. Can you name more than four of the individuals who actually signed the Declaration?  What were their names?

Rebus Rebus Rebus Rebus

Picture riddles again!  Try your best to interpret the following rebus into common phrases or sayings.

1)

s

b

m

u

h

t

s

b

m

u

h

t

2)

CatZZZZZ

3)

->EAR--EAR->

4)

I

8

5)

Lick ety

Socks Lost in the Laundry

Harry was tired of losing his socks and not being able to match them in the morning.  He was also tired of folding them, after all what's the point. So he decided he needed a new system.  He decided to go shopping and buy only three types of socks (a man needs some variety).

He ended up with eight pairs of white socks, 9 pairs of black socks and 11 pairs of blue socks, all of which he then stuffed in his top drawer.  The next morning, he opened up the drawer and realied he couldn't see which color was which (it was still dark out). 

Since he got up before his wife, he couldn't turn on the light and see what was in the drawer.  The next morning, he was trying to figure out how many socks he had to pull out in order to ensure he would get a match before heading into the bathroom and turning on the light. 

What would be the minimum number of socks that he needs to take with him to ensure he gets a match?

Continuing From Friday

Just like Friday, these are visual riddles (rebus).  Can you find the hidden phrase within each?


5)

yourantspants

6)

Th

ats ats

Bad Bad

7)

sta4nce

8)

search

search

What Do You See

Some more rebus (visual riddles) for you to solve:

1)

shop shop shop

|

|

|

you

2)

T2222

3)

podiveol

4)

deci sion

Trivia Phrases

1. Where does the phrase "long in the tooth" come from?

2. How about "over a barrel?"

3. Or, do you know where "to fly off the handle" originated?

Some Days Are Better Than Others

"I wouldn't want this musty old dump if you gave it to me," snapped Ida Gamble.

"Look," replied Sam Sham, "Clem may have been a whacked-out hermit, but I have a feeling he hid a fortune on this property.  This house has been boarded up for 7 years.   All you need to do is pay the back taxes and my modest fee, and this little gem is all yours!"

"I'm outta here!" exclaimed Ida.

"Wait, just let me show you the secret staircase I found."

Sam pulled back the oakpress paper paneling to reveal a hidden staircase. 

"Look, that step is loose, and there's something shiny behind it!"  Sam pulled back the loose step to discover a small collection of shiny sterling silver cutlery. 

"I knew it!" cried Sam, "This house contains a fortune!  I think I'll buy it myself."

"Not so fast," replied Ida.  "You offered me the house and I just bought it."


Why should Ida have stopped and thought again before buying this home?

Three Kids Meet Up

Three kids meet up at the park, and out of site of their parents, decide they are best friends forever.  And in accordance with their new resolve, they decide to exchange shoes.  One kid has white shoes, another has black and the third has red shoes.  Each kid had on a matching pair of socks (white shoes-white socks, black shoes-black socks, red shoes-red socks).

After exchanging shoes, each kid has on one shoe from each of the other two kids (They did not exchange socks, to their mother's relief).  At that point, one of the mom's discovers their hiding spot.

How many shoes will the mom have to look at to know which color of shoe each kid is wearing on each foot?  That is, which color shoe each kid wars on his right foot and which color each kids wears on his left foot?  Note that when you look at a shoe, you can see the color sock the kid is wearing.

Monday Morning and I Am Late

Professor Reginald laid 40 matches out on the table and explained the game to his colleague Kathy.

Each player in turn takes 1, 3, or 5 matches.  The winner is the one who takes the last match.  Kathy goes first and takes 3 matches.

Who do you think is going to win this game, Kathy or Reginald?

Richard of Loxley

Richard of Loxley’s fair patronage, robbed
of his name and his beast, kept his suit
And, clothing himself and his fine wife therein,
Lent you both for your claim to your loot.

With ten first in play then sat Alice’s queen,
In the round two past first, after two grabs, quite clean:
She tossed forth the moon garbed in John’s angry shade,
And it bounced off the sky where the heavens were laid,
And she snatched up her stars and gave me what remained;
Then switched red ball for green and a quick win attained.
For her I had nothing, just love, all too droll;
She gave me her score to append to my hole.

Now with hidden things settled, the rest fate imparts:
To the green flops an image concealed in a flame;
A half dozen clovers and half more to start;
and the following two, all three emblems the same.

Have it straight now, you think?  Yes, you’re probably right
We’re not finished, however; a turn lies in sight:
The next, falling, burns; Mr. Daniels soon follows -
The man of his jewelry drinks whiskey, then swallows,
stands with his two twins; they must think themselves best.
They’re not now, but may be, if luck can be pressed.

I hold to my seat as the next falls to fire;
Then follows a shovel of upper-most rank.
I’ve won now, you see, and chip in to your pyre:
Your road to the monarch has become your plank.

If you keep what you have, you will never then know
If I’ve got you or not, if you’ve bested your foe.
If you unhand your treasures on top of the green
My once-empty house will consume them, I glean.
Lady luck made a rustler in Houston of me:
I’ll grab up your doggies and hold them with glee.

Now tell me, in losing, what board do you see?

This riddle was submitted by Oudeis.

Since You Asked

As the midnight train arrives at the station, Art Ferrelo appears to be sleeping in his seat.

Someone knows that is not true.

At the station, four other passengers get off the train, leaving poor Art behind.  The conductor comes and taps him on the shoulder to wake him, but quickly realizes he won't be waking again.  He is dead.

"His heart?" asks the inspector.

"Strychnine," answers the forensic doctor.

A few hours later, the four other passengers have been rounded up and are being questioned.

The man in the dark suit: "I'm innocent.  The blond woman was talking to Ferrelo."

The blond woman: "I'm innocent.  I did not speak to Ferrelo."

The man in the light suit: "I'm innocent.  The brunette woman killed him."

The brunette woman: "I'm innocent.  One of the men killed him."

Later that morning, while filing the paperwork on his arrest, an officer asked the inspector how he had solved the case so quickly.

"It was easy," answers the inspector.  "Four true statements and four false ones.  Easy as pie."

Who killed Ferrelo? (Only one person is guilty.)

Do You Know Your Presidents?

The 22nd and 24th presidents of the United States had the same mother and the same father, but were not brothers. How can this be possible?

Riddle for Kids

What is red and blue, and purple and green?
No one can reach it, not even the queen?







BTW, in case you're wondering, I heard this riddle as a kid, thus the title.

I'm coming up on 1,000 questions asked.  Any requests for the type of question for number 1,000?

No Legs

What has a head, a tail,  is brown, and has no legs?

A Spooky Place

Where will you find roads without cars, forests without trees and cities without houses?

This One Makes No Sense

What is so unusual about the sentence below? (Other than it doesn't make any sense?)

"Jackdaws love my big sphinx of quartz."

Are You Good With Big Words

Move from letter to letter horizontally and vertically, but not diagonally, to spell out a twelve letter word.  You have to find the starting point and the ending point, as well as provide the missing letters.

_ M M E

R I _ N

I S O _

I'm sorry if the letters don't line up correctly.  Try to picture a 3x4 box and place each letter in the space provided.

A Little Bit Sexist

Metal or bone I may be, many teeth I have and always bared, yet my bite harms no one and ladies delight in my touch.

What am I?

Visual Riddles Again

Since the rebus were so popular on Friday, I thought I should follow up with some more today. Again, try to interpret the following using the visual clues to solve the riddle.

1)

eye

IIX

much

much

2)

HHAANNDD

3)

over

over

over

4)

act ion

5)

e

k

a

t

6)

b

e

h

i

n

d

u

7)

  o r k

w clock i

  g n

8)

achiever

an

Visual Riddles Return

Some visual riddles (rebus) for you today. The idea, for those of you who haven't seen them before, is to find the common phrase using the visual cues.

1)

n

e

t

h

g

i

a

r

t

s

fly

2)

gnivird

3)

egdoesgs

4)

pick

semi dump delivery

5)

na na salad

6)

ujustme

7)

vitamins

vitamins

vitamins

vitamins

8)

t

e

g

go

Update Oops: Had to fix number 5. Sorry if you got here early! I changed 'nu nu' to 'na na'

I Am Not Sure

I do not know where family doctors acquired illegibly perplexing handwriting; nevertheless, extraordinary pharmaceutical intellectuality, counterbalancing indecipherability, transcendentalizes intercommunications' incomprehensibleness.



What's so strange or different about the above sentence?

Bank Robbery With A Flat Tire

Two bankrobbers rob the local bank. They then hop in their car and scurry off to their hideout 20 miles away. When they get there they realize that one of their tires had been completely flat the whole time.

How did they get to their hideout without noticing?

Ping Pong Ball in a Pipe

I've been asked to 'ask' this riddle, or a variant of it, several times over the past week, so here you go:

You have a ping pong ball at the end of a curvy, long, skinny hole in the ground. You want to get it out but you can't stick your hand in it won't reach or fit. A string won't work because you won't be able to attatch it.

What (reasonable thing) can you do to get it out without digging a hole?

A Classic Riddle in the United States

What has five eyes and crosses most of the United States?


Submitted by Paper Plane Master.

Fill in the Blank

What number should replace the question mark?
7 9 4 5 43
8 7 3 3 47
10 4 4 7 12
12 5 4 2 ?

Vowels Removed

A well known phrase has had all its vowels removed and has been split into groups of three letters. What is the phrase?

HRT DYG NTM RRW

Mark is Having a Party

Mark is in a bit of a quandary. He's having a party, but knowing his friends, he's having trouble deciding who he should invite.

If he invites John, he must invite Paul. If he invites Paul, he can't ask Mary. And of course, if he invites Mary, he can't ask Paul. He must invite John or Mary or both. It just wouldn't be a party without one or the other or both of them. But if he invites Mary, he must invite John.

Who can he invite to his party?

Thought Follows Close Behind

Can you answer both riddles?

1. I can run, but cannot walk. Wherever I go, thought follows close behind. What am I?
2. Give me food and I will live. Give me water and I will die. What am I?

These two were asked by Tara. I've 'asked' the second before, but since the first is new, I decided to go with it. Thanks, Tara!

Lots Of Bags and Sugar

You have 24 kg of sugar. You have a lot of bags. You have a scale but no weights. How do you measure 4.5 kg of sugar?

Asked by BloggerIO.

Riddle of the Day

How can half of 12 be 7?


This was submitted by Nina Renner. Nina, if you want me to link your name to anything, please let me know.

Trapped Again

You're trapped in a room with no windows or doors. All there is is a table and a mirror. How do you escape the room?




This one is a bit of a trick question, just so you know.

It was asked by Ad Williams.

Do You Know What He Asked?

FUNEX
SVFX
ILFMNX


Asked by The Me.








Hint below:






Read it out loud.

Another Great Question

A man goes uphill and finds a stone weighing exactly 40 Kg. he happens to tumble it down and down it comes trumbling but reaching down it breaks up in to four (4) pieces. And to Mike's surprise he could use the four pieces to weigh 1,2,3,4, .... up to 40 Kilos. What are the weights of each of the four pieces Mike has now?


This one was submitted by Maj Mandloi.

Someone Suggested This One

There are 7 girls in a bus.
Each girl has 7 backpacks.
In each backpack, there are 7 big cats.
For every big cat, there are 7 little cats.
Question: How many legs are there in the bus?

MzzLily Asked a Question

A man buys 10 trees. He leaves instructions for them to be planted in 5 rows with 4 trees in each row. How is this possible?

This question comes from MzzLily.

Since Yesterday Was so Popular

Let's go with another odd one out.  Which animal does not fit with the others?

1. Chamois
2. Tiercel
3. Impala
4. Fennec
5. Gerbil
6. Jerboa

If You Get This One, I Will Eat My Hat

Which one  is the odd one out?

Gaskin, Stifle, Hock, Fetlock, Gibus




BTW, It seems like I've been doing a lot of word puzzles lately.  Does anyone have any good math, logic puzzles, etc... they want to share?

I Get Dizzy Just Thinking About It

What day is two days before the day after the day three days after the day before Tuesday?

Figure Out the Rules And Solve the Puzzle

Find the missing word that will fit the rule of the example below.
CONE (NICK)  KRIS
LISP (_ _ _ _) ETON

Fridays Are Supposed to be Easy

What number should logically replace the question mark?

26, -39, 58 ½, -87 ¾, ?


Update: Thanks for pointing out the missing question mark! I added it in.

Everything Neat and Tidy

I have hundreds of legs, But cannot stand.
I have a long neck, But no head.
I cannot see, but I keep things neat and tidy.
What am I?

Next in Line

What in connection with this question, is the next number below?

4, 13, 19, 21, 29, ?





Hint Below:











Read the sentence carefully before answering.

Month to Month

Can you go from September to July using the clues?

S E P T E M B E R
_ _ _ 1 2 3 4 _ _ : Clue: Hygenic
_ _ 2 3 4 _ _ _ _ : Clue: Anthropod
_ _ _ 3 4 5 _ _ : Clue Numerous
J U L Y
U L are the same as the second and third letters in the word above.

I couldn't get it to line-up properly, so I used numbers to indicate which of the preceding words letters the word has in common.  For instance, in the second line 1 2 3 4 indicates the first, second, third and fourth letter in SEPTEMBER (i.e. SEPT) are the letters.  In the next line, the second, third and fourth letter from the previous word (hygenic) are the same.

Gem of an Anagram

Which of the following is not an anagram of a gem?
riznoc
modnaid
niznai
pirehpsa
thincaj

Flu Like Symptoms

A doctor is called in to see a sick kid. The doctor knows that 90% of the sick kids in the neighborhood have the flu, while the other 10% have the measles. (Assume that's it for diseases right now).

95% of the kids who have the measles develop a rash. Only 8% of the kids with the flu develop a rash.

The doctor, looking at the child, notices a rash. What is the probability the kid has the measles?

One Letter in Each Word

One letter in each of the following words has been changed. What is the saying hidden below?

Tape tie pull my toe corns

Solve the Two Anagrams

Solve the two anagrams to produce a well known saying:

• The Cattle
• Hate But Goof

Hint: Here's the spacing on the well known saying:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

'The Cattle' replaces the first three three-letter words, while Hate But Goof goes into the last four words.

X Y Z Clues

Use the clues on the right to find the four six-letter words.  The same three letters are represented by XYZ in each word.

1. X Y Z _ _ _ - Falls
2. _ X Y Z _ _ - Hangs fabric
3. _ _ X Y Z _ - Graze
4. _ _ _ X Y Z - Snare

Stumping Synonym

Seven synonyms of the word 'talent' are shown.  Take one letter from each of the seven in turn to spell out an eighth synonym.

1. Gift
2. Ability
3. Knack
4. Genius
5. Flair
6. Aptitude
7. Capacity

Four Numbers

Find the four missing numbers in the square.

78 64 62 48 46 32
79 67 63 51 47 35
76 ?? ?? 50 44 34
74 ?? ?? 52 42 36
75 71 59 55 43 39
72 70 56 54 40 38


Update: Forgot to mention, I'll be gone for the next few days.  I'll see you on Friday or bright and early on Monday. 

Let Us Dance to the Music

Fill in the blank spaces to spell out three dances.
_ I _ T _ R _ U _
_ U _ D _ I _ L _
_ O _ O _ A _ S _

Change One Letter

Change one letter in each word to make a well known phrase:

SIN ON O NUN



We all know that a 'well known phrase' is relative.  ;-)

I Cannot Be Scrambled

One of the following cannot be unscrambled into a word.  Which one is it?

1. CTRSYP
2. CSYRLI
3. CSPRYR
4. CSRPTI

How Did Sam Feel About Europe?

Sam, who had gone off on a trip to Europe over the summer, was describing each of the places he visited to Sally.  Sam told Sally that he hated Madrid, loved Prague, hated Warsaw, hated Antrim and hated Ankara.

Sally interrupted him at this point and said "Based on your criteria, I already know how you felt about Vienna."

What pattern had Sally noticed?

Four Words Mean the Same

Fill in the consonants to complete the four words that have the same meaning
_ E _ E _ O U _
_ _ A _ I _ A _ L _
_ E _ E _ O _ E _ _
_ I _ _

TGIF and Drive Me Home

What can be driven, but has no wheels.
And can be sliced, and still remain whole?

Nine Letter Word Circles

Fill in the missing letters to make a nine-letter word starting from a corner square and spiraling into the corner.

1)
U _ E
_ E R
E T A

2)
O _ E
W S R
O L _

Cost of Oysters

The menu at your favorite local restaurant reads:

Soup $18
Salad $23
Roast Beef $41
Ice Cream $36
Coffee $27

The chef is adding oysters to the menu.  If he follows the pattern, what's the price going to be?



Also, why is this place your favorite? It's way too expensive for me!  (this last part is a joke and not part of the question.)

Be Kind to Strangers

Re-arrange the following to form one ten letter word meaning 'kind to strangers.'

habit poles

Those Question Marks Need to be Removed

What number should logically replace the ?
4 5 9 4 2
8 6 2 6 4
2 3 ? 2 7
7 1 2 3 5
3 8 3 6 2

Continue the Sequence, Ladies

Gazebo
Accede
Verify

Which girl's name continues the sequence?

1. Eunice
2. Agatha
3. Joanne
4. Ingrid
   

Do You Know Your Phobias

Your psychiatrist has just diagnosed you with the following phobias.  What is it that you're afraid of?

1. Anemophobia
2. Musophobia
3. Barophobia
4. Potophobia
5. Ochophobia
   

Replace the Vowels

The vowels have been removed from this quotation.  Can you replace them?

T S W S F T H R T H T
K N W S H S W N C H L D

Word One Out

Which word is the odd one out?

1. Ether
2. Vacuum
3. Welkin
4. Neophyte
5. Sky
   

Find the Relationship to Find the Number

Find the number to replace the question mark.

369542 is to 246359 as
172896 is to 268179 as
417638 is to ?

Six Players, Two Reserves

In a game of six players that lasts for 50 minutes, two reserves substitute for each player so that all players, including reserves, are on the field for the same length of time.

How long is each player on the field?

Six Sides Faceup

With a standard six-sided die, how many throws are required on average before each of the six numbers has landed faceup?

1. 10
2. 15
3. 20
4. 25

Fill in the Question

What number should replace the ?

9  4  6 11
3  6  7  4
5  ?  4  1
11 6 3  8

Find the Pattern in the Numbers

What number should logically replace the question mark?

7
17
8 1/2
14 1/4
10
11 1/2
?

Sorry about the formatting.  I don't know how to get 1/2 to look right.  To be clear, if I was using decimals, the third number is 8.5, then the next number is 14.25.

Calling all Chemists and Biologists

A little bit of trivia to wake you up on a Monday morning.

1) Which English chemist discovered the most elements?
2) What is the smallest bird in the world?
3) What do most sharks live on? (eat)

Finish the Square

Logically, what number should replace the ?

6 8 12
10 2 5
15 4 ?

Not a Four Letter Word

Complete the three words on the left and all three words on the right hand side with one three letter word in the middle.

PAR          EYE
HAT _ _ _ HOT
MAR         DEN

Turtle Trivia

What is the name given to a group of turtles?

1. trail
2. shell
3. knot
4. waddle
5. bale
6. nest
   

Next in Line

What's the next number?

483, 759, 264, 837, ?

What Comes Next?

What number should logically replace the question mark?
48725, 5274, 425, ?

Ever Heard of a Trigraph?

Here's a unique trigraph, three consecutive letters which appear in no other english word.  Do you know the word?

_ _ _ _ K S G _ _ _ _ _

Ford Quote

Solve the anagram to finish the quote:

Failure is the only opportunity to begin again, more (leniently gilt).

-Henry Ford

Carry on

Which word will carry on the sequence?
Half-mast, Taverner, Riparian, Nobility, Yuletide, ?

1. Doubloon
2. Exciting
3. Macaroni
4. Overtone
5. Sky Pilot
6. Ticklish

Ted the Snob

Ted, who was a bit of a snob, just had to dress things up.

"I was creating a happy song on my entire journey to a place of monetary deposity," he told Judy.

"Honestly, Ted, why can't you just say it normally!" replied Judy.

What was Ted doing?

Palindromic Sentence

Insert the letters from FAMILIES MASS SALE into the phrase below to form a complete palindromic sentence. Palindromic sentences read the same backwards and forwards. For instance, "Madam, I'm Adam".

_ A - _ _ - _ _ - S _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - _ S - _ - _ _

To make this look (somewhat) right, I'm putting a dash (-) in between each word. Each missing letter is underlined. Sorry if it makes it unclear.

The Farmer Had Hundreds

The same five letters can be anagrammed (is anagrammed a word?) into four different words that fill in the blanks in the sentence to make (somewhat) good sense.

The farmer with hundreds of _ _ _ _ _ , deeply _ _ _ _ _ about the amount of rainfall, and _ _ _ _ _ around with artificial watering systems when the ground is dry enough to _ _ _ _ _ him about the possibility of crop failure.

What are the missing words?

Which Fruit Does Not Fit

Which does not belong in this group:
Apple, Grape, Banana, Cherry, Pear

Which Animal Does Not Fit

Which animal does not fit with the others?

1. Chamois
2. Tiercel
3. Impala
4. Fennec
5. Gerbil
6. Jerboa

Break a Rope

Under what conditions would a rope be most likely to break?

a. 20 men of equal strength with 10 pulling on each end.
b. 10 of the same men pulling on one end and the other end being fastened to a tree.
c. It makes no difference.

Weakest Player

Tom beats Joe at pool, but loses to Sue.  Hillary usually wins against Joe, sometimes against Tom, but never against Sue.

Who is the weakest player?

Replace the Question

What number should logically replace the question mark?

81 6

54

144 7

84

64 8

?

Just Like an Animal

In which of the following paragraphs does the name of an animal not appear?

I was suddenly confronted by a group of evil-doers and hardened criminals.

Their leader was well-dressed and swarthy, wearing thick-rimmed tinted spectacles.

"Who is this?" said a small, squat individual. "I don't trust him; he could be armed!"

The leader roared with laughter and gesticulated with his bejewelled arm. "Believe me, he is quite harmless," he said, "but escort him from the premises immediately."

I walked out into the cold night air with a huge sigh of relief. This time I had avoided the trap easily, but I knew I might not be so lucky next time.








Look below for a hint.








Hint: The first paragraph has "doe" in it.

In Common

What do the following words have in common?
Appropriate
Bow
Desert
Dove
Entrance
Gill
Lead
Slaver

Cobalt

What well known phrase is represented by the following:

COB LT
CO ALT
C BALT
COBA T
COBAL

Poison the Wine

This question was submitted by a reader (I'm not sure if I have his permission to show his name).

Does trying to find the ONE bottle of wine that is poisoned out of many others sound familiar?

I am sending you this e-mail to propose you a QotD. I like you blog and I'd like to see how other people manage this one:

There was a king that for some reason had to throw a big party in 3 weeks and for some reason had 1000 bottles of a very good wine, many of which he wanted to use at the party. He knew that one and only one bottle of the one thousand was poisoned and that the poison killed whoever drank from that bottle in APPROXIMATELY 2 weeks. He had 10 people that were willing to risk their lives so that he could find the poisoned bottle. How did he find it?

Assumptions: if a pawn drinks from the poisoned wine today, he could die in 11 or 17 days, or whatever; a drop of wine out of the many that a pawn can drink certainly kills him if it is poisoned; there is a solution.

If you have any questions, please ask, so you can solve it, don't read the solution. So, good luck; I am looking forward to hearing from you.

5 Chimes

A clock chimes 5 times in 4 seconds. How many times will it chime in 10 seconds?

Four Balls in a Row

Four balls are placed in a row. The red ball is next to the green ball but not next to the blue ball. The yellow ball is not next to the blue ball. What ball is next to the yellow ball?

1) The red ball
2) The green ball
3) The red and green ball
4) Not enough information?

Anagram of Fish

Which of the following is not an anagram of a fish?
TRUBTO, DERFOULN, WALLSOW, CAPLIE, or DAHDCKO

Cool But Not Cold

I can be cool, but I can't be cold,
I can be sorry, but I can't be guilty,
I can be spooked, but I can't be scared,
I can be sweet, but I can't be friendly,
I can be flammable, but I can't burn.
What am I?

Can You Find the Pattern

What is the missing number?
5 3 8 4 9 6 8
8 6 6 1 8 4 ?
3 2 7 6 8 7 3

Anagram of Currency

How well up are you on the world currency?

Which of the following is not an anagram of currency?

1. zetqulea
2. yomased
3. dasruco
4. vilbaor
5. tatres
6. terecses

You Want What on Your Pizza?

Which of the following is the odd one out?

Pepperoni, sausage, sauerkraut, chipolata, knackwurst.

Builds Up Castles

What builds up castles, tears down mountains, makes some blind, helps others to see?

Insert the Antonym

Insert the letters BBEFLORSUX into the blank spaces to create two words that are antonyms.

_ T _ _ B _ _ N
_ L _ _ I _ _ E

Weak, Sweaty and Cold

I make you weak at the worst of all times.
I keep you safe, I keep you fine.
I make your hands sweat, and your heart grow cold.
I visit the weak, but not the bold.
What am I?

Month of the Year

Which month comes next?

January, March, June, October, March, ?

Bold Alicia

What 10-letter word is an anagram for:
BOLD ALICIA

In Order

Can you figure out what the next number should be based on the pattern?

26, 34, 41, 46, 56, ?

Number is Out

Which of the following numbers is the odd one out?

3628, 2426, 4146, 1448

Sound Alike

What two words that sound alike but are spelled differently mean 'barter' and 'small room'?

Why Does it Always Happen at a Bar?

At a local bar, three friends, Mr. Green, Mr. Red and Mr. Blue, were having a drink. One man was wearing a red suit; one a green suit; and the other a blue suit.

"Have you noticed," said the man the blue suit, "that although our suits have colors corresponding to our names, not one of us is wearing a suit that matches our own names?"

Mr. Red looked at the other two and said, "You're absolutely correct."

What color suit is each man wearing?

Stop and Look

When you stop and look, you can always see me. If you try to touch you cannot feel me. I cannot move, but as you near me, I will move away from you. What am I?





BTW, I'm guessing there are multiple possibilities to answer this riddle.

Picture Puzzles Again

As with all the rebus, your job is to figure out what common phrase or words are being represented by the letters or pictures below.  

1)

S

H

O

W

2)

H

I

L

L

3)

BB
BB

4)

calmstorm

5)

T      

E Go

G       

6)

EeEeEe      

eEeEeE       

EeEeEe <---

eEeEeE       

Picture Puzzles

Some more picture puzzles for you to enjoy.

1)

t

u

l

i

     tiptoes

s

2)
over
over
over

3)

Loallsve

wafairr

4)

GNIVIRD

5)

PICK

Semi Delivery Dump

Some Quick Palindrome Math

A car's odometer shows 72927 miles, a palindromic number. What are the minimum miles you would need to travel to form another?

A palindrome is a word (or in this case a number) which can be read forwards and backwards as the same word, such as kayak or 1221.

Come Out of the Earth

I come out of the earth, I am sold in the market. He who buys me cuts my tail, takes off my suit of silk, and weeps beside me when I am dead. What am I?

Fishermans Occupation

I am a spanish instrument,
I am also a fisherman's occupation.

What am I?

I Can Be Any Color You Can Imagine

I can be any color you can imagine.
You see me in everyday life.
I have been around for many, many years.
Look around you.... You can probably see some of me right now.

What am I?





BTW, I'm having some connectivity issues right now.  I'll post answers as soon as I can.

Did the Star Play

Frank was worried about his school team.  The start quarterback, who had led them to a win in last year's superbowl, was hurt.  The coach said there was a 75% chance he was going to play this weekend, but Frank wasn't happy about those odds. 

If the star QB played, Frank figured his team had a 75% chance of winning.  Without him, Frank gave the cross town rivals a 50% shot of upsetting his team.

Unfortunately, Frank had to go away for the weekend and was unable to watch the game.  On Monday, he found out his team had won.

What are the odds the star QB played?  Assume Frank was right about the odds he gave.

Some Trivia From the Local Paper

Some easy, some hard, the questions always challenge you to think a little.

1. Which nursery rhyme was on the first gramophone record ever made?

2. What sort of bird will a cygnet grow to become?

3. What game can you 'crown' your men in?

4. What color was Moby Dick?

How Big is Your Wallet?

You can't buy it in a bookstore or take it from a library. Only the wealthy could own it once upon a time, but now everyone can have it. What book am I talking about?

No Bills

How can you give someone $63 using six bills, without using any one dollar bills?

Bird Gets Stuck

While mixing sand, gravel, and cement for the foundation of a house, a worker noticed a small bird hopping along the top of the foundation wall. The bird misjudged a hop and fell down one of the holes between the blocks. The bird was down too far for anyone to reach it and the hole was too small for it to fly out of.

Someone suggested using two sticks to reach down into the hole and pull the bird out, but this idea was rejected for fear it would injure the fragile bird.

What would be the easiest way to get the bird out of the hole without injuring it?

Continuing the Rebus From Yesterday

Just like yesterday, here are some rebus for you to puzzle about.

5)
spalostce

6)
T R
world
P I

7)
Keets
Keets

Visual Riddles

Here are some rebus for you to enjoy. For those who don't know, a rebus is a visual puzzle where you have to figure out what common word or phrase is being presented.
For example:

rood

This represent back door. Sometimes the answers are fairly obvious, but other times...

1)
c i ii

2)
ppopd

3)
NEPALED

4)
egami

Good to be Back

Three-fourths of a cross and a circle complete,
Two semi-circles with a pependicular meet.
Then add a triangle that stands on 2 feet,
Two semi-cicles and a circle complete.
What am I?





BTW, sorry about the long delay in coming back. My computer had some issues (virus/trojan/something???) that I had to deal with.

But I'm glad to be back!