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.