Friday, December 21, 2007

Some More Letter Equations

I'm off for Christmas. Here's wishing you all a happy holidays and a happy new year! And I hope to see you in a week or so. If you're in the holiday spirit, why not try answering some Christmas Trivia questions.


Like yesterday, can you figure out the phrases below?
12 = D of C (12 Days of Christmas)

1001= A. N.
88= P. K.
18= H. on the G. C.
90= D. in a R. A.
200= D. for P. G. in M.
8= S. on a S. S.
3= B. M. (S. H. T. R.)
4= Q. in a G.
1= W. on a U.
5= D. in a Z. C.
57= H. V.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Can you figure out the simple phrases hidden below?

  1. 31 = F at B.R.
  2. 5 f on a h
  3. 4 L on a D
  4. 12 N. on a C.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

I Know Something About You

1) Write down the number of the month you were born
2) Multiply it by 4
3) Add 13
4) Multiply the result by 25
5) Subtract 200
6) Add the day of the month on which you were born
7) Multiply by 2
8) Subtract 40
9) Multiply the result by 50
10) Add the last two digits of the year of your birth
11) Finally, subtract 10,500

Write down the number. Notice something?

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Time to Party

It's time for inventors and scientists across the globe (and time) to party and the guests have all been invited. Can you tell who invented what based on their responses?

Bell phoned in his acceptance, instead of responding in writing.
Pierre and Marie Curie were radiating enthusiasm!
Einstein thought it would be relatively easy to attend.
Heisenberg was uncertain as to what to do.
Volta was electrified hearing the news.
Archimedes was buoyant at the thought
Ampere was worried he was not up to "current" norms of the party.
Boyle said he was under too much pressure.
Ohm resisted the idea at first.

I'm sure some of you will find these too easy to point out, but I found it amusing. I thought you might, too!

Monday, December 17, 2007

Do Geese See God?

What is special about the following phrase?

Doc, note, I dissent, a fast never prevents a fatness. I diet on cod.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Some Bad Jokes of Snow

Hey, I'm snowbound today, so enjoy the jokes. Scroll down to see the answers.
1) What did the big furry hat say to the warm woolly scarf?
2) Why is the slippery ice like music?
3) What do chefs call "Baked Alaska" in Alaska?
4) What do you call a reindeer with no eyes?






















1) "You hang around while I go on ahead."
2) If you don't C sharp - you'll B flat!
3) "Baked Here"
4) I have no eye deer.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Yes or No

If the puzzle you solved before you solved the puzzle you solved after you solved the puzzle you solved before you solved this one, was harder than the puzzle you solved after you solved the puzzle you solved before you solved this one, was the puzzle you solved before you solved this one harder than this one?

Yes or no?

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

A Five Letter Word Meaning ...

The same five letters can be anagrammed (arranged in different order) into four different words to fill in the blanks in the sentence to make (somewhat) good sense. What are the missing words from the paragraph below -- remember, they all have the same letters.

A farmer with hundreds of _ _ _ _ _, deeply _ _ _ _ _ about the amount of rainfall, and _ _ _ _ _ around with watering the ground because it is dry enough to _ _ _ _ _ him about the possibility of crop failure.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Three Times I Asked

Three times what number is no larger than two times that same number?

Monday, December 10, 2007

Love and Marriage

Melissa, Abbey and Lisa are engaged to the three men below. Who is engaged to whom?

The software developer's future wife is not Lisa.
Jason is the accountant.
Jeffery is dating Melissa.
Jack is a salesman.
Abbey is not engaged to the accountant.

Friday, December 07, 2007

Time to Put Your Rhyming Caps On

How many words (in the English language) can you think of that exactly rhyme with each of the words below.

Month, Orange, Silver, Purple

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Thousands of Letters

What two words have thousands of letters in them?





I'm labeling this a riddle, but it seems more like a joke.

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Hardly There Today

I'm a word that's hardly there.
Take away my start, and I'm an herbal flair.
What am I?

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Red, Black and Wet All Over

1) What goes into the water red and comes out black?

2) What goes into the water black and comes out red?

Monday, December 03, 2007

What kind of wood was it?

As I went across the bridge, I met a man with a load of wood which was neither straight nor crooked. What kind of wood was it?

Friday, November 30, 2007

Have a Great Weekend

Some cogs are tigs.
All tigs are bons.
Some bons are pabs.
Some pabs are tigs.
Therefore, cogs are definitely pabs.--- TRUE or FALSE?

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Keep It Simple

I know a word of letters three, add two and fewer there will be?

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

A Little Bit of Math

A bank customer had $100 in his account. He then made 6 withdrawals, totaling $100. He kept a record of these withdrawals, and the balance remaining in the account, as follows:
$ Value of
Withdrawals
$ Value of
Balance remaining
$50 $50
25 25
10 15
8 7
5 2
2 0
--- ---
$100 $99

When he added up the columns as above, he assumed that he still had $1 in the bank. Was he right?

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

The Ship is Sinking

On a fine sunny day a ship was in the harbor. All of a sudden the ship began to sink. There was no storm and nothing wrong with the ship yet it sank right in front of the spectators eyes. No one tried to help the sailors on board, despite plenty of witnesses.

What caused the ship to sink?

This is one of those 'lateral' thinking problems, so there could be many possible solutions. What's yours?

Monday, November 26, 2007

She Held Him Underwater For 5 Minutes

A woman shoots her husband. Then she holds him under water for over 5 minutes. Finally, she hangs him. But 5 minutes later they both go out together and enjoy a wonderful dinner together.

How can this be?


BTW, How was your Thanksgiving?

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Turkey Trivia

Cartoon TurkeyLast year we had Thanksgiving trivia. This year it will be all about the turkey.

Since I'll be off for the rest of the week, I just wanted to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving! (if you celebrate it... if not, I hope you have a great week!). Answers for the trivia questions are below.
  1. Where was the turkey first domesticated?
  2. What is a female turkey called?
  3. What is a male turkey called?
  4. What great American statesman lobbied to make the turkey the national symbol?
  5. What sound does a female turkey make?
  6. What sound does a male turkey make?
  7. About how many feathers does a mature turkey have?
  8. How fast can wild turkeys run?
  9. Can wild turkeys fly? If so, how fast?
  10. What is the name of the skin that hangs from a turkey's neck?








Answers
  1. Mexico and Central America
  2. a hen
  3. a tom
  4. Benjamin Franklin
  5. click
  6. gobble
  7. 3,500
  8. 25 mph
  9. Yes, up to 55 mph
  10. wattle

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Words in Common

What do the following words have in common?

Ahoy, blow, chin, defy, erst, flux, gist, hint, imps, know, lops, most.

Can you provide a five-letter word having the same property? How about a six-letter one?

Monday, November 19, 2007

Old War Stories

Frank and some of the boys were exchanging old war stories. James offered one about how his grandfather (Captain Smith)led a battalion against a German division during World War I. Through brilliant maneuvers he defeated them and captured valuable territory. Within a few months after the battle he was presented with a sword bearing the inscription:

"To Captain Smith for Bravery, Daring and Leadership, World War One, from the Men of Battalion 8."

Frank looked at James and said, "You really don't expect anyone to believe that yarn, do you?" What is wrong with the story?

Friday, November 16, 2007

Throw It Out? But I Want to Use It?

What do you throw out when you want to use it, but take in when you don't want to use it?

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Many, Many Keys

Many many keys I have, but no door I unlock.
Four strong legs and enchanting voice,
Yet I never run or talk.
What am I?

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Very Expensive Pills

You've been placed on a course of expensive medication in which you are to take one tablet of medicine A and one tablet of medicine B daily. You must be careful that you take just one of each because taking more of either can have serious side effects. Taking an A without taking a B, or vice versa, can also be very serious, because they must be taken together in order to be effective. In summary, you must take exactly one of the A pills and one of the B pills at one time. Therefore, you open up the A bottle, and you tap one A pill into your hand. You put that bottle aside and you open the B bottle. You do the same, but by mistake, two Bs fall into your hand with the A pill. Now, here's the problem. You weren't watching your hand as the pills fell into it, so you can't tell the A pill apart from the two B pills. The pills look identical. They are the same size, same weight, same color, same everything, and they are not marked differently in any way. What are you going to do? You cannot tell which pill is which, and they cost $100 a piece, so you cannot afford to throw them away and start over again. How do you get your daily dose of exactly one A and exactly one B without wasting any of the pills?

Monday, November 12, 2007

Monday Morning Riddle

I am one simple word, but I mean different things
One of my meanings brings great forceful swings,
The other of me, may have curve, like the first...
But only one meaning can help quench a thirst.
One of my meanings will often bring cheers,
Either of them could hold a few beers.

Friday, November 09, 2007

Comes as an Accessory

What is it that goes with an automobile and comes with it; is of no use to it,and yet the automobile cannot move without it?

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Suffer From My Lack

I weaken all men for hours each day. I show you strange visions while you are away. I take you by night, by day take you back, None suffer to have me, but do from my lack.

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

A Little Joke

Ok, a bad joke (give me a break, I had a dentist appt this morning):

Why did Puss in Boots change out of his boots and into his dancing shoes?

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Tale of Two Riddles

1) What are the science teacher's favorite states?

2) What do you use to "hoe a row, slay a foe, and wring with woe"?

Monday, November 05, 2007

Bus Stop

Bus Sketch
In which direction is this bus going, left or right?

P.S. Your kid could get this one right away.

Friday, November 02, 2007

Thursday, November 01, 2007

You Married Who?

A man left a legacy of $10,000 to three relatives and their wives. Together, the wives received $3960. June received $100 more than Camille, and Martha received $100 more than June. Jack Smith was given just as much as his wife, Horace Saunders got half as much again as his wife, and Terry Conners received twice as much as his wife. Which wife belongs to which husband?

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Look Behind You

Though in theory I am always behind you, I am also around to remind you. But in case it's your way to give me too much say, I can hamper or, even worse, blind you. What am I?

Monday, October 29, 2007

Dimes or Nickels, Do You Have a Change Jar?

Which would you rather have, a trunk full of nickels or a trunk half full of dimes?

Friday, October 26, 2007

Do You Have a Magnetic Personality?

This one was once in Scientific American.

You are in a room where there are no metal objects except for two iron rods. Only one of them is a magnet.

How can you identify the magnet? There are several possibilities. What's your solution?

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Do You Know What These Stand For?

1)
earth
earth
earth <-
earth
earth

2)
TOOL
O O
O O
LOOT

3)
D D
O O
O O
G G

O O
N N

4)
DEEF

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Office or Factory

A man has an office north of his home and a factory south of his home. Every day he goes to the train platform at completely random, different times. There is a train going north, stopping on one side of the platform, every ten minutes. There is a train going south, stopping on the other side of the same platform, every ten minutes. He always takes the first train that comes along after his arrival on the platform. Nine days out of ten he goes to his office. Why?

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Officer on Deck

Michael, Lou and Lisa are officers in their local club. The treasurer, who has little work, is an only child. Michael, who dates Lisa's sister, does more than the president of the club.

Question: Who holds what positions (President, Treasurer and Secretary).

Monday, October 22, 2007

Words That Mean the Same

Complete the word inside the brackets that means the same as the words outside the brackets.

MOVE (S___) PRISON

Friday, October 19, 2007

Five T Instruments

Name five musical instruments, all to be found in an orchestra, and all beginning with the letter T.

For extra credit, name 8!

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Common to Five

What number gives the same result when it is added to five as when it is multiplied by five?

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Back to School

Who teaches what subjects?

1) Mister Black does not comprehend angles.
2) Mister White is the only one who knows where the Rocky Mountains are situated..
3) Each teaches three subjects.
4) No subject is taught by three persons.
5) Certain subjects are taught by two people.
6) Mister Rust is bilingual.

Teachers: Mister White, Black and Rust are teachers.
Subjects: English, French, math, history and geography.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Laugh it Up!

1) Why do mathematicians like national parks?

2) Why do mathematicians think Halloween and Christmas are the same?

3) What do you call an eigen-sheep?

Monday, October 15, 2007

Too Much Math

No math questions today. It's too early on a Monday morning.

Let's relax a little and try out some anagrams instead:
  1. him a test cam
  2. i psychs
  3. shin gel
  4. holy hip sop
  5. my chi rest

Friday, October 12, 2007

Connecting the Dots

You have n dots on a piece of paper. How many lines do you need to connect the n dots?

The answer to this question is pretty well known, so if you want to provide the answer, please share your explanation for everyone else.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Going to the Show?

A theater has five entrances. In how many ways can you enter and leave by a different entrance?

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Run But Never Walks?

What can run but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps?

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Cook the Inside

You throw away the outside and cook the inside. Then you eat the outside and throw away the inside. What did you eat?

Monday, October 08, 2007

Name in Lights?

Can you interpret the following rebus into common items or phrases?
1)
knee
light light

2)
i i
dark
3)
1234
US
4)
Y Y guy guy

Friday, October 05, 2007

Ring in a Box

The ruler of a small, but influential country was looking to find his successor. But, he wanted to make sure the one who succeeded him would be able to continue his good policy through logic. So he devised the following puzzle to test the applicants.

He put three boxes (gold, silver and bronze) out and told the applicant at least one inscription is true and at least one is false. Then he told him inside one of the boxes was a ring. The applicant gets only one chance at figuring out the puzzle. Can you help him out?

Golden box: The ring is not in the silver box.

Silver box: The ring is not in this box.

Lead box: The ring is in this box.

Thursday, October 04, 2007

War Soldiers

A group of 100 soldiers suffered the following injuries in a battle: 70 soldiers lost an eye, 75 lost an ear, 85 lost a leg, and 80 lost an arm.

What is the minimum number of soldiers who must have lost all 4?

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

A Foot Pole

1)
foot pole foot pole
foot pole foot pole
foot pole foot pole
foot pole foot pole
foot pole foot pole

2)
W
A
L
K

3)
rasingingin


Update: Oops. I noticed the first one was a little bit messed up. It's been fixed. I apologize to anyone who gets here early!

Monday, October 01, 2007

Can You Figure Them Out On a Monday Morning?

Can you figure out what the following rebus represent?

1)
Either weigh or whey

2)
Must get here
Must get here
Must get here

3)
OdOoOmO

Friday, September 28, 2007

Another Counting Problem

In how many different ways can 6 objects be arranged in a circular pattern?

Thursday, September 27, 2007

How Many Ways Can You Get to 100?

How many strictly positive integer solutions (x, y, z) are there, such that x + y + z = 100

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Round Robin Puzzle

I could be wrong, but I don't think I've ever had a round robin tournament here before, so:

A set of soccer matches is to be organized in a "round-robin" fashion, i.e., every participating team plays a match against every other team once and only once.

If 66 matches are totally played, how many teams participated?

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Baseball Puzzle

Andy dislikes the catcher.
Ed's sister is engaged to the second baseman.
The center fielder is taller than the right fielder.
Harry and the third baseman live in the same building.
Paul and Allen each won $20 from the pitcher at pinochle.
Ed and the outfielders play poker during their free time.
The pitcher's wife is the third baseman's sister.
The pitcher, catcher, and infielders except Allen, Harry, and Andy, are shorter than Sam.
Paul, Andy, and the shortstop lost $50 each at the racetrack.
Paul, Harry, Bill, and the catcher took a trouncing from the second baseman at pool.
Sam is involved in a divorce suit.
The catcher and the third baseman each have two children.
Ed, Paul, Jerry, the right fielder, and the center fielder are bachelors.
The others are married.
The shortstop, the third baseman, and Bill each cleaned up
$100 betting on the fight.
One of the outfielders is either Mike or Andy.
Jerry is taller than Bill.
Mike is shorter than Bill.
Each of them is heavier than the third baseman.

Using these facts, determine the names of the men playing the various positions on the baseball team. (For you DH fans out there, consider this a National League team, that is, no DH.)

Monday, September 24, 2007

Is Your Head Too Big?

In the old days, which person in the city would wear the biggest hat?

Friday, September 21, 2007

Logging In

From the information given below, can you identify when each logged in and off?

Names: Jimmy, Paul, and Andrew
logging in times: 8:30, 9:00, 9:05
logging off times: 9:30, 10:00, 10:10

1. The one who signed in at 8:30, signed out 40 minutes after Andrew did.
2. The one who signed in at 9:05 signed out at 10:00
3. Paul did not sign in at 8:30

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Logic Puzzles Can Be Impossible

Can you determine who solved what difficulty of puzzle, how long it took them and what the puzzle was about?

1. The Easy logic problem puzzle took exactly 30 minutes to solve.

2. Jill solved her logic problem puzzle exactly 20 minutes quicker than the Animal puzzle was solved.

3. Jean solved her logic problem exactly 10 minutes quicker than the puzzle about Caravans, but she didn't solve it in 10 minutes.

4. The Monster puzzle took exactly 3 times as long to solve as the Medium logic problem puzzle.

5. Jane solved a logic problem about Planets (not the Impossible or Hard puzzle), which took exactly twice as long to solve as the Medium puzzle.

6. The Animal logic problem was not solved by Joan and was not the Easy or Impossible puzzle.

Names: Jane, Jean, Jill Joan, and June
Time: 10, 20, 30, 40 and 60 minutes (1 hour)
Puzzle: Animals, Caravans, Monsters, Planets and Vegetables
Difficulty: Very Easy, Easy, Medium, Hard and Impossible

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Monday, September 17, 2007

Three Dirty Letters

What three letters can be arranged to describe a dirty substance, a dirty animal and an activity that can lead to dirty hands?

Friday, September 14, 2007

Slowest Train in the World

A train moves at less than one mph and yet passes dozens of people in less than two minutes. The person in charge who stops the train is not on it. When it stops, it picks up no passengers, which is odd since no one is on it in the first place. When the train returns in the direction it came from, it goes much faster.

Explain.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Four Parts

Depending on how you arrange my four parts, I can be something happening right now, something very bad or something quite disgusting.

What am I?

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Fractions Are Your Friends

How would you combine one-third of 12 and four-fifths of 7 to get 11?

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

This 'L'and is Your 'L'and

Most countries have an ocean port of some sort, but not all. Name three countries that begin with the letter 'L' that are completely landlocked.

Friday, September 07, 2007

'S' is for Single

What word becomes plural when you add an 'S', but becomes singular when another 'S' is tacked on?



BTW, for those of you who are wondering why I have been remiss in answering the questions the next day, I am being blocked out at my workplace (very unfortunate). But, hopefully I answer each question eventually (from home). I will try to find some more consistent manner of answering, but I have not been able to as yet. (Anyone want to partner with me on this? The pay is lousy, but it can be a lot of fun.)

Thursday, September 06, 2007

You Lost Your Watch?

So here you are, in a strange place and you've lost your watch. You stop a stranger to ask what time it is and he turns out to be even stranger than the place. His answer goes like this:

"The big hand and the little hand are midway between 1 and 2, lying on top of each other."

So, now you need to figure out what time it is.

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

A Little Bit Romantic?

They don't touch when you you say "Touch," but they do touch when you say "Separate."

What are they?

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Friday, August 31, 2007

I Got Stuck Behind a Bus This Morning

A boy leaves home in the morning to go to school. At the moment he leaves the house he looks at the clock in the mirror. The clock has no number indication and for this reason the boy makes a mistake in interpreting the time (mirror-image). Just assuming the clock must be out of order, the boy cycles to school, where he arrives after twenty minutes. At that moment the clock at school shows a time that is two and a half hours later than the time that the boy saw on the clock at home.

What time was it when the boy arrived at school?

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Unexpected Vacations

Sometimes, vacations can be unexpected. Take Joan for instance. She recently traveled to the four farthest points in the U.S. (north, south, east and westernmost). And she did it without crossing a land border between states.

Where did she go?





BTW, I was absent yesterday by accident. I meant to post a puzzle for you, but didn't quite make it. Sorry about that.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

I am the Greatest!

A friend of mine was bragging about how good he was at shooting. He had recently joined a shooting club, where the club average for missing the target was 1%. My friend was bragging that despite taking 70 shots at the target, he hadn't missed yet. I tried telling him that wasn't so impressive, but he didn't want to hear it.

Which of us was right? Is he really that great?

Monday, August 27, 2007

Insurance Rates

An insurance company has three types of customers; high risk, medium risk and low risk. Twenty percent are high risk and 30% are medium risk. The probability that a customer has had at least one accident in the current year is .25 for high risk, .16 for medium risk and .10 for low risk.

What's the likelihood that a customer chosen at random has had at least one accident in the the current year?

Friday, August 24, 2007

Thursday, August 23, 2007

A Little Bit Earlier Today

More rebus today!

1)
comp144etence

2)
notic

3)
amUous




BTW, Since I posted yesterday's question so late, I'm leaving it up for you to go see and answer before I post the answers.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

What phrases do the following represent?

1)
right = right


2)
ie .


3)
TTTT RRRRRRRRR


4)
standing
friend miss friend



Despite trying to publish this question this morning, I wasn't able to because blogger was having issues. Sorry about that to everyone looking for their morning wake up brain buzz.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Fancy a Drink?

A man walks into a bar and asks the barman for a glass of water. They had never met before. The barman pulled a gun from under the counter and pointed it at the man. The man said "Thank You" and walked out. Why should that be so?

Another free thinking puzzle. The answers from yesterday were so good, I can't wait to see what you think of for today.

Monday, August 20, 2007

How High Do You Want Me to Jump?

A man jumped 150 feet entirely under his own power and landed safely. How did he do it?


Note, there may be more than one right answer to this question. The idea here is to get you to think a little differently, not to solve a logic or math problem.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Origin of the Species

Charles Darwin was best known for his work, "Origin of the Species." What was the name of the last book he ever wrote, published in 1881?

Thursday, August 16, 2007

For the Married Couples Out There

Which anniversary are you celebrating when it's your Ruby anniversary.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

White and Black

In a box you have 13 white marbles and 15 black marbles. You also have 28 black marbles outside the box. Remove two marbles, randomly, from the box. If they are of different colors, put the white one back in the box. If they are the same color, take them out and put a black marble back in the box. Continue this until only one marble remains in the box. What color is the last marble?

Monday, August 13, 2007

And I Will Raise You Up

Given that x^(x^(x^(x^(x^(x^(x^(x^(x...)))...) = 2, solve for x.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Quote of the Day

We are little airy Creatures,
All of diff'rent Voice and Features,
One of us in Glass is set,
One of us you'll find in Jet,
T'other you may see in Tin,
And the fourth a Box within,
If the fifth you shou'd pursue,
It can never fly from you.

Bonus if you can tell me who said this.

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Recycling Logic Puzzle

Connor, Ethan, Kaylee, and Alyssa each recycled a different number of cans (30, 26, 23, and 16) as well as a different number of junk mail letters (123, 127, 116, and 121).

Figure out how many cans and junk mail letters each person recycled.
  1. Kaylee recycled the most number of cans.
  2. Ethan recyled a total of one hundred forty-nine cans and junk mail letters.
  3. Alyssa recycled the least number of junk mail letters.
  4. Connor and Ethan recyled a total of two hundred ninety-two cans and junk mail letters.
  5. Kaylee recycled less than one hundred twenty-three junk mail letters.
  6. If the number of cans Ethan recycled was doubled he would have recycled fifty-two cans.
  7. Alyssa recycled ninety-three more junk mail letters than the number of cans she recycled.

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

When can you?

When can you add two to eleven and get one as the correct answer?

Monday, August 06, 2007

Associates

What word can be associated with the following three words to form a compound word. Example, if I set out the three words blue, cake and cottage, the answer would be cheese, since you can have blue cheese, cheesecake and cottage cheese.

big
soil
table

Friday, August 03, 2007

My Thunder

My thunder comes before the lightning;
My lightning comes before the clouds;
My rain dries all the land it touches.
What am I?

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

100 coins

A man has 100 coins (there are no quarters or nickels) that add up to $5.00. How many coins did he have of each denomination?

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

What's Wrong With That?

The following is what seems to be a mathematical proof that ten equals 9.999999.... What's wrong with it?

a = 9.999999...
10a = 99.999999...
10a - a = 90
9a = 90
a = 10

Monday, July 30, 2007

One smart thief

Two fifty foot ropes are suspended from a forty foot ceiling twenty feet apart. You have only a knife. How much of the rope can you steal?

Friday, July 27, 2007

It's Friday!

1)
thinkuact

2)
ware
mholey

3)
siinformationde

4)
cancan

5)
$0 all all all all

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Words Gone Wild

Did you know I like Rebus?

1)
TTTTTTTTT9.9

2)
B     B
U     U
R     R
N     N

3)
      mad
mad U mad
      mad

4)
CirKEEPcle

5)
Business :)

6)
Cont_ol

7)
R.P.I.

8)
cHIMp

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

I'm no hardware engineer

And why you would want to do this is beyond me. But here's today's puzzle.

A computer cable has seven connectors, arranged in a perfect circle -- so by rotating the plug, it can be connected to the outlet in any of seven different ways. Each of the connectors is numbered from one to seven, each number being used exactly once. The same is true for the holes in the outlet. The device that uses this cable only requires that one of the connectors match up to its corresponding hole in order to operate. How should you number the connectors on the plug and the holes in the outlet so that, no matter how the cable is rotated and plugged in, at least one connector matches up?

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

The NBA today

A gambler bet on a horse race, but the bookee wouldn't tell him the results of the race. The bookee gave clues as to how the five horses finished -- which may have included some ties -- and wouldn't pay the gambler off unless the gambler could determine how the five horses finished based on the following clues:
  • Penuche Fudge finished before Near Miss and after Whispered Promises.
  • Whispered Promises tied with Penuche Fudge if and only if Happy Go Lucky did not tie with Skipper's Gal.
  • Penuche Fudge finished as many places after Skipper's Gal as Skipper's Gal finished after Whispered Promises if and only if Whispered Promises finished before Near Miss.

The gambler thought for a moment, then answered correctly. How did the five horses finish the race?

Monday, July 23, 2007

Science Fair

Isaac and Albert were excitedly describing the result of the Third Annual International Science Fair Extravaganza in Sweden. There were three contestants, Louis, Rene, and Johannes. Isaac reported that Louis won the fair, while Rene came in second. Albert, on the other hand, reported that Johannes won the fair, while Louis came in second.

In fact, neither Isaac nor Albert had given a correct report of the results of the science fair. Each of them had given one correct statement and one false statement. What was the actual placing of the three contestants?

Friday, July 20, 2007

Repeat After Me

Some more rebus for you to enjoy...

1)
MEREPEAT

2)
o er t o

3)
faredce

4)
cotaxme

5)
k k
c c
u u
t t
s s
word word word word

6)
no ways it ways

7)
r
y
s

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Mix Up

A few jokes for you today:
  1. What do you get if you mix a car, a fly, and a dog?
  2. What do you call a worm with no teeth?
  3. What table can we eat?

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Odd Two Out

Each of the following have two words that do not belong with the other three words. For instance, Lily, Jane, Tulip and Rose. Jane doesn't belong because it's not a flower. But Tulip doesn't belong because it's not a girls name.

1. Dodge, Ford, Lincoln, and Hoover

2. King, Earl, Knight, and Bishop

3. Yellow, Green, Dead, and Black

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Lies And More Lies

Richard is a strange liar. He lies on six days of the week, but on the seventh day he always tells the truth. He made the following statements on three successive days:

Day 1: "I lie on Monday and Tuesday."
Day 2: "Today, it's Thursday, Saturday, or Sunday."
Day 3: "I lie on Wednesday and Friday."

The Question: On which day does Richard tell the truth?

Monday, July 16, 2007

T Anyone?

It's rebus time again. What's the following represent?

1)
T _ _ E

2)
OINTFLYMENT

3)
DAY L8 DOLLA

Friday, July 13, 2007

Tolkein Riddle

Alive without breath,
As cold as death;
Never thirsty, ever drinking,
All in mail never clinking.

-Gollum

Thursday, July 12, 2007

These five people share a love of tennis. But - from the clues below - can you work out at which club each of the five plays, what their surname is, and how old they are?

Names: Anne, Carlos, Clive, Margaret, Stephen
Surnames: Atkins, Evans, Harrison, Kelly, Osuna
Clubs: Bartletts, Overhampton, Portland, Racquets, Worthies
Ages: 18, 30, 43, 55, 61

Clues
  1. Margaret joined Worthies club last Summer, and hopes to still be playing when she hits 40.
  2. Stephen isn't at Bartletts, whose member is the second oldest and isn't a Kelly.
  3. Anne, the youngest player, isn't a Harrison, and doesn't play at Overhampton, the club of Mr Osuna.
  4. Racquets only has male members - Carlos would never join it and Margaret Kelly can't! Clive is the second eldest player, being junior to Stephen Atkins.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

How Old Are You Now?

1. Ten years from now Tim will be twice as old as Jane was when Mary was nine times as old as Tim.

2. Eight years ago, Mary was half as old as Jane will be when Jane is one year older than Tim will be at the time when Mary will be five times as old as Tim will be two years from now.

3. When Tim was one year old, Mary was three years older than Tim will be when Jane is three times as old as Mary was six years before the time when Jane was half as old as Tim will be when Mary will be ten years older than Mary was when Jane was one-third as old as Tim will be when Mary will be three times as old as she was when Jane was born.

How old are they now?

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Math Jokes

  1. Why should you never mention the number 288 in front of anyone?
  2. How is the moon like a dollar?
  3. What coin doubles in value when half is deducted?
  4. Where can you buy a ruler that is 3 feet long?
  5. What has 4 legs and only 1 foot?
  6. What did one math book say to the other math book?

Monday, July 09, 2007

All you ever need to know about frogs

Here are some frog riddles (jokes, really) to get you started this fine Monday morning.
  1. Why are frogs so happy?
  2. How does a frog feel when he has a broken leg?
  3. What happened to the frog's car when his parking meter expired?
  4. What is a frogs favorite time?

Friday, July 06, 2007

What time is it?

You are stuck in a room with two doors. The first door leads to a room with a magnifying glass that will use the suns rays to fry you into cinders the moment you walk into it. The second door has a dragon who will flame you to death the moment you open the door.

How do you escape?

And more importantly, how did you get stuck in a room like that anyways? :-)

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Planes, Trains, and Coats

During a recent plane and train spotting contest, five eager entrants were lined up ready to be tested on their spotting ability. They had each spotted a number of planes (26, 86, 123, 174, 250) and a number of trains (5, 42, 45, 98, 105). From the clues below, can you determine what colour coat each was wearing, their position, their age (21, 23, 31, 36, 40) and the number of trains and planes spotted?

1. Simon spotted 44 less trains than planes.
2. Keith was 36 years old.
3. The person on the far right was 8 years younger than Simon, and spotted 174 planes.
4. James was wearing a beige coat and spotted 37 trains fewer than Simon.
5. The person who was wearing a green coat, was 19 years younger than the person to his left.
6. Steven spotted 105 trains and 250 planes.
7. The person in the centre was 31 years old, was wearing a blue coat and spotted 42 trains.
8. Alan, who was on the far left, spotted 26 planes, and spotted 72 trains more than planes.
9. The person who was wearing a red coat, was 4 years older than Keith and was not next to the person wearing a blue coat.
10.The person who was next to the 31 year old but not next to the person who spotted 26 planes, was wearing a orange coat, and spotted 45 trains.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Fourth of July Trivia

No question today, just some facts and figures to impress your friends with. Have a happy Fourth and I'll see you all on Thursday!

The Fourth of July 2007

On this day in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress, triggering the 13 colonies on the road to freedom as a sovereign nation. As always, this most American of holidays will be marked by parades, fireworks and backyard barbecues across the country.

2.5 million
In July 1776, the estimated number of people living in the newly independent nation.
(1776 population from Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970.)

302 million
The nation’s population on this July Fourth.

Fireworks

$206.3 million
The value of fireworks imported from China in 2006, representing the bulk of all U.S. fireworks imported ($216 million). U.S. exports of fireworks, by comparison, came to just $22.6 million in 2006, with Japan purchasing more than any other country ($8 million).

$17.3 million
The value of U.S. manufacturers’ shipments of fireworks in 2002.

Fourth of July Cookouts

More than 1 in 4
The chance that the hot dogs and pork sausages consumed on the Fourth originated in Iowa. The Hawkeye State had a total of 15.5 million market hogs and pigs on March 1. This represents more than one-fourth of the nation’s total. North Carolina (8.4 million) and Minnesota (6.2 million) were the runners-up.

6.8 billion pounds
Total production of cattle and calves in Texas in 2006. Chances are good that the beef hot dogs, steaks and burgers on your backyard grill came from the Lone Star State, which accounted for about one-sixth of the nation’s total production. And if they did not come from Texas, they very well may have come from Nebraska (4.8 billion pounds) or Kansas (4.1 billion pounds).

6
Number of states in which the revenue from broiler chickens was $1 billion or greater between December 2005 and November 2006. There is a good chance that one of these states — Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama, North Carolina, Mississippi or Texas — is the source of your barbecued chicken.

About 50-50
The odds that the beans in your side dish of baked beans came from Michigan or North Dakota, which produced 49 percent of the nation’s dry, edible beans in 2006. Another popular Fourth of July side dish is corn on the cob. Florida, California, Georgia and New York together accounted for 60 percent of the sweet corn produced nationally in 2006.

Please Pass the Potato Salad
Potato salad and potato chips are popular food items at Fourth of July barbecues. Nearly half of the nation’s spuds were produced in Idaho or Washington in 2006.

More than 70 percent
Amount of the nation’s head lettuce production in 2006 that came from California. This lettuce may end up in your salad or on your hamburger.

About 2 in 3
The chances that the fresh tomatoes in your salad came from Florida or California, which combined accounted for 68 percent of U.S. tomato production last year. The ketchup on your hamburger or hot dog probably came from California, which accounted for 95 percent of processed tomato production in 2006.

Florida
The state that led the nation in watermelon production last year (835 million pounds). Other leading producers of this popular Fourth of July dessert include California, Georgia and Texas, each with more than 600 million pounds.

More than 74 million
Number of Americans who said they have taken part in a barbecue during the previous year. It’s probably safe to assume a lot of these events took place on Independence Day.

Flags

$5.3 million
In 2006, the dollar value of U.S. imports of American flags; the vast majority of this amount ($5 million) was for U.S. flags made in China.

$1.7 million
Dollar value of U.S. flags exported in 2006. Trinidad and Tobago was the leading customer, purchasing $661,498 worth.

$349.2 million
Annual dollar value of shipments of fabricated flags, banners and similar emblems by the nation’s manufacturers, according to the latest published Economic Census (2002) data.

Patriotic-Sounding Names

30
Number of places nationwide with “liberty” in its name. The most populous one is Liberty, Mo. (29,042). Iowa, with four, has more of these places than any other state: Libertyville, New Liberty, North Liberty and West Liberty.

* Thirty-two places are named “eagle” — after the majestic bird that serves as our national symbol. (Places include cities, towns, villages and census-designated places.) The most populous such place is Eagle Pass, Texas, with 25,571 residents. There is also Eagle County, Colo., with a population of 49,085.
* Eleven places have “independence” in their name. The most populous of these is Independence, Mo., with 110,208 residents.
* Five places adopted the name “freedom.” Freedom, Calif., with 6,000 residents, has the largest population among these.
* There is one place named “patriot” — Patriot, Ind., with a population of 195.
* And what could be more fitting than spending the Fourth of July in a place called “America”? There are five such places in the country, with the most populous being American Fork, Utah, population 21,372.

The British are Coming!

$99 billion
Dollar value of trade last year between the United States and the United Kingdom, making the British, our adversary in 1776, our sixth-leading trading partner today.

Source: US Census

Monday, July 02, 2007

No cheaters allowed

Read the sentence below and count the F's in that sentence. Count them ONLY ONCE. Do not go back and count them again. There is no trick to this, other than in your own mind.

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE-
SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIF-
IC STUDY COMBINED WITH
THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS.

Friday, June 29, 2007

What is a sport?

Two men were playing tennis. They played five sets and each man won three sets.

How can this be possible?

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Hark, did you hear something?

How many members of each animal did Moses take on the ark?


PS, I added a poll to the sidebar. I've been wondering what type of questions/puzzles you like best. So let me know using the poll.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Happy Fourth of July!

Do they have a fourth of July in England?


And, yes, I know it's a little early for the fourth of July...

Monday, June 25, 2007

Crystal Challenge

If you coated a tennis ball with glue, how many other tennis balls can you attach directly to this sticky surface?

Friday, June 22, 2007

Part Two, Rebus

5)
history
history
history

6) VA DERS

7) $0 all all all all

8) DAYDAYOUT

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Where Did the Rebus Go?

1)Ignore the _, please. I needed the spacer.

F F
I
R R
E _ E


2) BA NK

3) YRAROPMET

4) IFLAND IFIFC

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Common Days

What do the following have in common: Friday in June and Sunday in October?

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

A Closet Full of Shoes

A closet contains 10 pairs of shoes (20 shoes altogether). If 6 shoes are chosen at random, what is the probability that there will be no matching pair in the sample?

Monday, June 18, 2007

Some more sports

It's two to one, bottom of the ninth with two outs. The hometown hero stepping to the plate. The crowd tenses as the pitch is delivered.

But that's not the riddle.

No man on either side has reached second base. How can this be?

Friday, June 15, 2007

For all you fans out there

Break it and it is better, immediately set and harder to break again.

What is it?

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Who invented the Equal Sign?

A bit of math trivia for you today. The equals sign = was invented in 1557 by Welsh mathematician Robert Recorde. In his book, The Whetstone of Witte, he wrote, "To avoid the tedious repetition of these words: is equal to; I will set a pair of parallel lines thus, =, because no two things can be more equal.


Here's your question: Perfect numbers are special because they are equal to the sum of their factors. The number 6, for instance, has factors 1, 2, and 3 which when summed equals 6. The next perfect number is 28. Do you know what the third perfect number is?

Hint: It's less than 500.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Monday, June 11, 2007

Pipe Dreams

I'm sure you all remember your physics and math courses, right?

Two identical tanks full of water are being drained at the same time. One of the tanks has one -two centimeter circular drain outlet and the other has two -one centimeter circular drain outlets. Will one of the tanks empty faster than the other?

Friday, June 08, 2007

Two Numbers

My first is a number, my second another,
And each, I assure you, will rhyme with the other.
My first you will find is one-fifth of my second,
And truly my whole a long period reckoned.
How many am I?

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Four Wet Men

Four men were in a boat on the lake. The boat turns over, and all four men sink to the bottom of the lake, yet not a single man got wet! Why?

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Crack the Glass

If boiling water is poured into a thick drinking glass as well as a very thin wine glass, of the two, which is more likely to crack? Why?

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Word Trivia

While I expect that any one of you could answer this question, I still found it interesting enough to post. What is very unusual about the following words?
BOUGH
COUGH
DOUGH
ROUGH
THROUGH

Monday, June 04, 2007

We Haven't Seen Any Math Questions in a While

To warm-up: Which 2-digit number is 1 more than a square and 1 less than a cube?

And a little bit harder: Can you find a three digit number which is 2 less than a cube and 2 more than a square?






Hint: the three digit number I can find is made of consecutive digits, like 567.

Friday, June 01, 2007

Rebus Again

1)

Feeling
The World

2)

T T
N N
I I
O O
P P
A A

3)

Shut


Sit

4)

HOROBOD

5)
OVER OVER

6)
381SAFETY964

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Rebus Revisited

Can you figure out the following rebus?

Salt: Good morning
Pepper: Hello

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

One Letter

A headless man had a letter to write;
It was read by a man who had lost his sight.
The dumb repeated it word for word;
And deaf was he who listened and heard.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Three Cards, All in a Row

Some quick and easy logic to start your short week off with:

Three playing cards in a row. Can you name them with these clues?
There is a two to the right of a king.
A diamond will be found to the left of a spade.
An ace is to the left of a heart.
A heart is to the left of a spade.
Now, identify all three cards.

Friday, May 25, 2007

April was born in April

April’s birthday is in April, which is in the fall. How is this possible?

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Sheep Counting

1) Why are 2002 pennies worth more than twenty dollars?

2) Juanita's grandmother is only five years older than her mother. How is this possible?

3) Farmer Bob has four white sheep, three black sheep, and one brown sheep at her farm. How many sheep can say they are the same color as another sheep at the farm?



Just so you know, the third one is more of a joke than a riddle.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Radar

What does the D in R.A.D.A.R. stand for? If you're a true geek (and since I didn't know this until yesterday, I guess I'm not) you'll know what the entire acronym.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Despite Concerning the Past Within

I like indigo but not blue. I like onions but not turnips. I like forms but not shapes. According to the same rule, do I like tomatoes or avocados?

Monday, May 21, 2007

Same as Before

What 5 letter word typed in all capital letters can be read the same upside down?

Friday, May 18, 2007

They grow up so fast!

In 1990, a person is 15 years old. In 1995 that same person is 10 years old.
How is this possible?

Thursday, May 17, 2007

A Question From Andrew

Andrew left this one after a previous post. He was kind enough to let me use it as a puzzle for today.
Andrew said...

Hey,

I have my own puzzle for you all.

What is special about the following words?

ADD
DUD
END
ITS

Two clues to help a bit:

1) This is not an exhaustive list...these words just all share this special trait

2) The length of the words is not important.


I'm sure Andrew will be back tomorrow to answer this one, because I can't!

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

An Eminent King

Five hundred begins it, five hundred ends it,
Five in the middle is seen;
First of all figures, the first of all letters,
Take up their stations between.
Join all together, and then you will bring
Before you the name of an eminent king.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

A Great Man ... or was it a Woman?

Name the word of three syllables, that when you take away five letters a male will remain. If you take away four letters, a female will remain. If you take away three lettters, a great man will appear. The entire word shows you what Joan of Arc was.

Monday, May 14, 2007

Prefix this?

What three letter word can prefix the following three words to make three new words?
Ache, Nest, and Drum.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Lets End the Week With Logic

Today is Sunday, and you know what that means, chores, chores, and more chores. Sally, Jamie, and Max were given some chores. Use the following clues to find out who did what, and how long it took them.

People: Sally, Jamie, and Max

Chores: Empty the trash cans, Clean the cat litter, and vacuum

Times: 15 minutes, 30 minutes, and 45 minutes

Clues:
1) Sally cleans the cat litter.
2) Jamie's chore doesn't take 30 minutes.
3) Max doesn't vacuum.
4) Sally's chore takes 45 minutes.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Instruments

Can you decipher the musical instruments represented below (rebus)?

1. P O

2. BA BA

3. ECLART

4. @ # $ %

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

The Sound of Silence

These scrambled words are each missing one of their letters. Add one letter to each and unscramble all four words in this familiar group.
  1. syrlep
  2. gas
  3. semyrar
  4. hmet

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Five little items

There are two riddles today:

1) We're 5 little items of an everyday sort, you'll find us all in A Tennis Court.
What are we?


2) What animal can you spell using the letters: W-E-A-L-U?

Monday, May 07, 2007

Monday Morning Special

What's so special about the following sentence?

A big cuddly dog emitted fierce growls, happily ignoring joyful kids licking minute nuts on pretty queer rotten smelly toadstools underneath vampires who x-rayed young zombies.

Friday, May 04, 2007

I am not sure?

What's so peculiar about this sentence?

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

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Jump, Jump!

A guy bet his neighbor $100 dollars that his dog could jump higher than a house. Thinking this not possible, the neighbor took the bet an lost.
Why did he lose the bet?

And no, we're not talking about a doll house or some other miniature house.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

The night the lights went out

Sean and Heather where sitting in their family room one night. While Sean was watching T.V his wife Heather was reading. All of a sudden the power went out and Sean decided to go to bed, but Heather kept on reading. With no use of artificial light, Heather kept on reading. How?

Monday, April 30, 2007

Why is it always about the inheritance?

An old man wanted to leave all of his money to one of his three sons, but he didn't know which one he should give it to. He gave each of them a few coins and told them to buy something that would be able to fill their living room. The first man bought straw, but there was not enough to fill the room. The second bought some sticks, but they still did not fill the room. The third man bought two things that filled the room, so he obtained his father's fortune. What were the two things that the third son bought?

Friday, April 27, 2007

Can you make seven words?

Using the words DROVES and NEWS write seven words using each letter once.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

11 is a race horse

With a little detective work and deep thought, the following facts can make an accurate statement. Can you figure it out?

11 is a race horse
12 is 12
1111 race
12112

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Marry the Princess

A "Wise King" devised a contest to see who would receive the Princess hand in marriage.
The Princess was put in a 50x50 foot carpeted room. Each of her four suitors were put in one corner of the room with a small box to stand on. The first one to touch the Princess hand would be the winner and become the new King.

The rules of the test were that the contestants could not walk over the carpet, cross the plane of the carpet, or hang from anything; nor could they use anything but their body and wits (i.e. no magic or telepathy, nor any items such as ladders, block and tackles etc).

One suitor figured out a way and married the Princess and became the new King. How did he figure it out?

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Get Busy Living

Walk on the living, they don't even mumble. Walk on the dead, they mutter and grumble. What are they?

Monday, April 23, 2007

How Well Can You Count Jelly Beans?

Alice, Ben, Charlie, David, and Ed entered a contest to guess how many jelly beans are in a jar. Alice guessed 30, Ben guessed 28, Charlie guessed 29, David guessed 25, and Ed guessed 26. Two were off the mark by 1, one was wrong by 4, and one by 3. But one was correct. How many jelly beans are in the jar at the store?

Friday, April 20, 2007

Word Relations

Which of the following words don't belong in the group and why?
CORSET, COSTER, SECTOR, ESCORT, COURTS

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Seen any good movies lately?

Four couples are going to the movies. Each row holds eight seats. Betty and Jim don't want to sit next to Alice and Tom, and Alice and Tom don't want to sit next to Gertrude and Bill. On the other hand, Sally and Bob don't want to sit next to Betty and Jim. How can the couples arrange themselves so that they all sit in one row and still be happy.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Two Riddles today

When I point up it's bright, but when I point down it's dark.
What am I?

I can be cracked, I can be made.
I can be told, I can be played.
What am I?

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

A heart that never beats

I have a heart that never beats,
I have a home but I never sleep.
I can take a mans house and build anothers,
And I love to play games with my many brothers.
I am a king among fools.
Who am I?



BTW, I forgot to mention yesterday was a holiday for me. My apologies to anyone who was looking for a question.

Friday, April 13, 2007

Famous Rock Group

I am a rock group that has 4 members, all of whom are dead, one of which was assasinated. What am I?

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Math Conversions

Not part of the usual questions, but just something funny I thought you might enjoy.

Subject: Math Conversions that make sense

1. Ratio of an igloo's circumference to its diameter = Eskimo Pi
2. 2000 pounds of Chinese soup = Won ton
3. 1 millionth of a mouthwash = 1 microscope
4. Time between slipping on a peel & hitting the ground = 1 bananosecond
5. Weight an evangelist carries with God = 1 billigram
6. Time it takes to sail 220 yds at 1 nautical mile/hr = Knotfurlong
7. 16.5' in the Twilight Zone = 1 Rod
8. Half a large intestine = 1 semicolon
9. 1,000,000 aches = 1 megahurt
10. Basic unit of laryngitis = 1 hoarsepower
11. Shortest distance between two jokes = A straight line
12. 453.6 graham crackers = 1 pound cake
13. 1 million-million microphones = 1 megaphone
14. 2 million bicycles = 2 megacycles
15. 365.25 days = 1 unicycle
16. 2000 mockingbirds = 2 kilomockingbirds
17. 52 cards = 1 decacards
18. 1 kilogram of falling figs = 1 FigNewton
19. 1000 milliliters of wet socks = 1 literhosen
20. 1 millionth of a fish = 1 microfiche
21. 1 trillion pins = 1 terrapin
22. 10 rations = 1 decoration
23. 100 rations = 1 C-ration
24. 2 monograms = 1 diagram
25. 4 nickels = 2 paradigms
26. 4 statute miles of intravenous surgical tubing at = 1 IV League
27. 100 Senators = Not 1 decision

Which group do you belong to?

These words belong to the same group:
UNDECEIVABLE
SIMULTANEOUS
ALIMENTATION
CAUTIOUSNESS
GLADIATORIAL
FORAMINIFERA

Which of these words belongs too? Why?
PHILANTHROPY
SEISMOLOGIST
ONOMATOPOEIA
REAPPEARANCE

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Only one color

Only one color, but not one size,
Stuck at the bottom, yet easily flies.
Present in sun, but not in rain,
Doing no harm, and feeling no pain.
What is it?

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Monday, April 09, 2007

Which jug is which?

There are two plastic jugs filled with water. How could you put all of this water into a barrel, without using the jugs or any dividers, and still tell which water came from which jug?

Friday, April 06, 2007

Take away the whole

What is it that when you take away the whole, you still have some left over?

Thursday, April 05, 2007

You think you know baseball?

In a major league baseball game, a pitcher faced only 27 batters. Every batter he faced, he struck out. He allowed no hits and no runs, yet his team lost 4-0. How could this be?

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Two More Brain Teasers

1) The word CANDY can be spelled using just 2 letters. Can you figure out how?

2) A man was born in 1955. He's alive and well today at age 33. How is this possible?

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

One word, nine letters

There is a common English word that is nine letters long. Each time you remove a letter from it, it still remains an English word - from nine letters right down to a single letter. What is the original word, and what are the words that it becomes after removing one letter at a time?

There is a common English word that is seven letters long, where you can do the same thing. What is it and what are the words that it becomes after removing a letter at a time?








Need a hint? I'll leave one in the comments.

Monday, April 02, 2007

Friday, March 30, 2007

Hungry for a little bacon?

I can sizzle like bacon,
I am made with an egg,
I have plenty of backbone, but lack a good leg,
I peel layers like onions, but still remain whole,
I can be long, like a flagpole, yet fit in a hole,
What am I?

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Common Factor

Hi! Ma and Pa told me I'd better say that all the two-letter words in this paragraph have something in common ...... or else! What's the common factor here?

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

He is just painful

He starts and ends 2 common English words. One painful in love, One painful in everyday matter. Do you know what 2 words I must be?

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Two quick riddles to start your day with

Since yesterdays question stumped you all, just two simple questions today:

1) What state is surrounded by the most water?
2) How many letters are there in the alphabet?

Monday, March 26, 2007

Ratio of 1:2:3

Using all of the digits from 1 to 9 once each, create three digit numbers that are in a ratio of 1:2:3. There are four solutions, can you find them all?

Friday, March 23, 2007

Landmark kramdnaL

Name a North American landmark that is constantly moving backwards.





(I'm sure there's more than one, but I heard this on the radio this morning and I thought it was interesting.)

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Five Balls Are Removed

A hat contains a number N of blue balls and red balls. If five balls are removed randomly from the hat, the probability is precisely 1/2 that all five balls are blue. What is the smallest value of N for which this is possible.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Does it All Add Up?

The one digit odd numbers 1,3,5,7,9 add up to 25, while the one digit even numbers add up to 0,2,4,6,8 add up to 20.

Can you arrange the numbers in such a way that the odd numbers and the even numbers have the same value? You can use +, -, / and *. You can also combine digits to make multi-digit numbers.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Riddle my word

Decapitate me and all becomes equal. Then truncate me and I become second. Cut me front and back and I become two less than I started.

What am I?

Monday, March 19, 2007

Can you riddle me this?

I live above a star, and yet I never burn,
I have eleven neighbors, and yet none of them turn,
I am visited in sequence, first, last or in between,
PRS (& sometimes Q) are my initials,
Now, tell me what I mean.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Can you help save Christmas?

Last year Santa was delivering his presents when he got stuck in a chimney. In fact, one of his reindeers had to pull him out. Unfortunately for Santa's schedule, that wasn't the only time he got stuck that night. Santa wants to take better care this year, but can't seem to remember all the details. Your job is to help Santa remember at what time and which kid he was delivering which present to and which reindeer helped pull him out at each stop.

  • Santa was not delivering the Train Set to Craig.
  • Rudolph hauled Santa out of one chimney exactly 1 hour before Santa was rescued from Diana's chimney.
  • Building Blocks were delivered to Ryan after 1:30a.m. but before 4:00a.m.
  • Blitzen hauled Santa out of one chimney exactly half an hour after Donner hauled him out of another
  • Comet helped Santa when he was stuck in Jerry's chimney: this was not the last chimney that he was stuck in that morning.
  • The Teddy Bear was delivered directly before the Doll, but not to Diana and wasn't with Santa when Rudolph pulled him out.
  • Prancer did not help Santa when he was stuck in the chimney with Drums.
  • No reindeer helped Santa out of a chimney with a toy having the same initial as the reindeer's name.
Times: 1:00a.m, 1:30a.m, 2:00a.m, 2:30a.m, 4:00a.m.
Reindeer: Blitzen, Comet, Donner, Prancer, Rudolph
Child: Craig, Diana, Jerry, Ryan, Sadie
Toy: Building Blocks, Doll, Drums, Teddy Bear, Train Set

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Change, mister?

What is the smallest number N such that it is impossible to have $1.00 in change consisting of preciseley N coins? You can use half-dollars, quarters, pennies, nickels, dimes and dollar coins. So N = 1 is the dollar coin. N = 2 is two half-dollars. N = 3 is a half-dollar and two quarters. Etc...

I'll give you a hint, it's lower than 100, but higher than you think!

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Pocket Change

A friend of yours (me!) announces he has a number of coins in my pocket that add up to precisely one dollar. When I tell you how many coins I have, you ask if any one of them is a half-dollar. I tell you no. You quickly realize that you can't tell for sure what coins I have, because there are six different combinations that produce precisely one dollar.

How many coins do I have in my pocket?

(US Coins only, please)

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Do You Fear the Wolf?

Fear is an anagram of a homonym of an antonym of a homonym of an anagram of wolf?

Can you fill out the missing steps?

Monday, March 12, 2007

Rebus Password

Can you create a password (7 character long, no symbols) from the phrase:

You force heaven to be empty

Friday, March 09, 2007

Amusement Park Roller Coaster

An amusement park roller coaster includes five cars, numbered 1 through 5 from front to back. Each car accommodates up to two riders, seated side by side. Six people—Tom, Gwen, Laurie, Mark, Paul and Jack—are riding the coaster at the same time.

The following four statements are true:
  1. Laurie is sharing a car.
  2. Mark is not sharing a car and is seated immediately behind an empty car.
  3. Tom is not sharing a car with either Gwen or Paul.
  4. Gwen is riding in either the third or fourth car.
If Gwen is riding immediately behind Laurie's car and immediately ahead of Tom's car, all of the following must be true EXCEPT?

(A) Gwen is riding in the fourth car.
(B) Paul is riding in the third car.
(C) Tom is riding in the fifth car.
(D) Laurie is riding in the third car.
(E) The first car is empty.

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Theme

Your task here is to change one letter in each of the following words, in order to find words with a common theme.

Wood
Born
Drunk
Hoof
Flour
Finder
Hear

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

What could I be?

My visit spans two years,
And many people say I stay too long.
I go quite well with green,
But that is not the color that
Most people think of when they think of me.
What could I be?

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Monday, March 05, 2007

I have four parts

Change my first, I'm essential to Batman.
Change my second, I'm what Rachel did.
Change my third and I'm a sore.
Change my fourth and I look good on gifts.
I'm often held, I'm often filled,
I'm often set in place.
What am I?


For full bonus points, you need to get them all. :-)

Friday, March 02, 2007

Modern Riddle

Two cards, both lying backwards. The King of Hearts and the Ace of Hearts.

Clue 1: You're destined to "pic" the correct answer

Clue 2: nacho average celebrity

Who or what am I referring to?

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Can you fix this equation?

| | = | | 3 3 5 5

You have four line segments to work with, can you insert them in order to make this equation work?

Can you do it with three lines? The equation doesn't have to be exact, but does have to be accurate to at least six decimal places.

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Arrange the numbers

Rearrange the following numbers so that no two consecutive numbers are next to each other horizontally, diagonally, or vertically. The shape needs to stay the same, just not the order of numbers.

1
2 3 4
5 6 7
8

Note that the 1 should be above the 3, and the 8 is just below the 6. So the top position held by the number 1 is affecting 2 (diagonal, consecutive) adversely, but not 3 (vertical, but not consecutive) and 4 (diagonal, but not consecutive).

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Letters in the Middle

Find the letters that fit in the middle of each pair of words to create two new words, one front-ended, the other back-ended. Note that the missing letters do not have to be a word in themselves, as they have in the past.

Example: Ever - _ _ _ _ _ - Horn
Answer: Evergreen Greenhorn

Ri _ _ _ satile
Al _ _ _ oury
Mo _ _ _ ergo
Unaw _ _ _ na
A _ _ _ _ ounce
Fel _ _ _ ly

Monday, February 26, 2007

Four Corners

Place four coins at the four corners of a square. Each side of the square is 8 inches long, as measured from the center of the coins. Can you move two coins so that you have a new square so that each side of the square is slightly longer than 5 1/2 inches?

Friday, February 23, 2007

Magic Square Time

A magic square occurs when each horizontal, vertical and diagonal row of three totals the same. Your job today is to figure out the following square:

T T S
E T S
E F F


The letters represent the first letter in the number. For instance, T could stand for two, three, ten and so on...

Thursday, February 22, 2007

No batteries needed

None of these require batteries or electronics. What are they?
1) A solar powered clothes drier.
2) A hand-held word processor.
3) It is a portable arcade. A hand-held amusement resource with no cartridges or batteries. Access games of speed, dexterity, memory, cunning. Produce magical effects or construct lofty towers. Some games can increase your income.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Back to the Rebus

Update: I'm having issues with spacing. Ignore the ... wherever they occur, please.

1)
na
..........fish
na

2)
ur
ur
ur
.......ur
ur

3)
10
10 2 10
10


4)
barbershop
barbershop
barbershop
barbershop

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Theme Songs

Let's bring back some memories.

  1. "Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale / A tale of a fateful trip."
  2. "Here's the story / Of a lovely lady / Who's bringing up three very lovely girls."
  3. "I'll bet we've been together for a million years. / And I'll bet we'll be together for a million more. / It's like I started breathing on the nite we kissed, / And I can't remember what I ever did before."
  4. "Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got; / Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot. / Wouldn't you like to get away?"
  5. "Boy, the way Glenn Miller played / Songs that made the hit parade / Guys like us we had it made. / Those were the days."
  6. "Got a call from an old friend we used to be real close. / Said he couldn't go on the American way. / Closed the shop, sold the house / Bought a ticket to the West Coast / Now he gives them a stand-up routine in L.A."
  7. "All this energy callin' me back where it comes from / It's such a crude attitude, it's back where it belongs."
  8. "What ever happened to predictability? / The milkman, the paperboy, evening TV. / How did I get to livin' here? / Somebody tell me, please."
  9. "What would you do if I sang out of tune? / Would you stand up and walk out on me? / Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song / I will try not to sing out of key."
  10. "I know my parents love me, / Stand behind me come what may. / I know now that I'm ready, / Because I finally heard them say..."

Monday, February 19, 2007

Face the Facts

Which of the following presidents: James Madison, Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, Franklin Pierce, Woodrow Wilson, or Ronald Reagan belong in the grouping below.

Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt

Friday, February 16, 2007

Rhymes

The answer to these clues comes in a rhyming pair. For instance:
1. Moby Dick fan letter
Answer: Whale mail.

2. Stream cove
3. Medieval soldier competition
4. Extra couple
5. Metal drain plug

Thursday, February 15, 2007

A little bit easier

What do the following words have in common?

Assess
Banana
Dresser
Grammar
Potato
Revive
Uneven
Voodoo

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Words in Common

Here are some words that belong; BY, LO, but neither HIGH nor LOW do.

GRIT, GIRT AND TRIG all fit in. SO does HOVELS, but not SHOVEL.
VOLE fits, but LOVE does not.

Have I given you enough clues? Can you tell me which of the following belongs? Only one!

WIZARD, MAGICIAN, MEDIUM or MAGIC?

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Double Down

All of the following words end in double letters. Can you fill in the rest?

1) L'il Abner's creator (2 words) _ _ _ _ P P
2) Giant Slugger (2 words) _ _ _ _ T T
3) Broadcast Journalist (2 words) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ D D
4) Star of the Avenger (2 words) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ G G
5) Packer's Quarterback (2 words) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ R R

Monday, February 12, 2007

Are you a pedestrian?

Drivers of four different vehicles lined up behind one another at a red light, completely unaware of the amusement they created for pedestrians passing by. Each vehicle sported a different sticker on its rear bumper, and each driver could read only the message on the vehicle directly in front. Can you deduce each vehicle's place in line, model type, and humorous bumper message?

1. A large truck (which wasn't first in line) spewed black exhaust somewhere in front of the vehicle whose bumper read MURPHY WAS AN OPTIMIST.
2. A sports car with blaring rock music was somewhere in front of the vehicle whose bumper warned RADIO ACTIVE.
3. None of the drivers could read the parcel-laden vehicle's sticker which chortled I GOT MALLED!
4. A van was ahead of the station wagon but behind the vehicle whose bumper proclaimed TEAR ALONG DOTTED LINE!

Friday, February 09, 2007

Rebus Riddles

What do the following represent?

1)
m1llion

2)

L
+O
___
SS

3)
ME1111ONEONE

4)
E E
A A
R R
T T
H H

5)
IFLAND IFIFC




Hopefully, the spacing comes out when this gets published, but I'm not promising anything.

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Triple the Relationships

Can you find the related words? Example:
sharp thumb tie... A related word to all three would be tack.
  1. bell iron tender
  2. key wall precious
  3. man order air
  4. bath up gum
  5. plan show walker
  6. key wall precious
  7. base snow dance

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

A little math magic

Today I'm going to perform a little magic for you. All you have to do is pick any four digit number (2005, 5212, 3850, etc...) and perform the following. Once you've done it, go ahead and look at the answer section to find your final number.

First choose a four digit number where the digits are not all the same (that is not 1111, 2222,…). Then rearrange the digits to get the largest and smallest numbers these digits can make. Finally, subtract the smallest number from the largest to get a new number, and carry on repeating the operation for each new number.

For example, start with the number 2005. The maximum number you can make is 5200 and the minimum number is 0025. Take 2500 - 0025 and you get 5175. Repeat this for 5175 and you take the max: 7551 and subtract the minimum and you get 5994. Repeat until you get the same number.

Example 2: Number: 5748
8754 - 4578 = 1174
7411 - 1147 = 6264
... Keep repeating ...

Get it? OK. So, go ahead and pick your four digit number and see what you end up with.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Missing Letters

Two letters have been removed, replaced by two sets of asterisks. Can you figure out which two letters to use in each word? You use the same two letters within each word, but use a different set of letters for each word.

Example: **chorm** Answer: an - anchorman.

1. **joym**t
2. **iqu**te
3. **ip**ape
4. **s**cere
5. **p**zard

Monday, February 05, 2007

This one is hard

Select a word from the group below that would follow the series.

Cod, super, code, agree, fir, _____?

GROUP
1) Tramp
2) Old
3) Scar
4) Ruin
5) Team
6) Fang

Friday, February 02, 2007

Oak Street

Six people live in six houses along Oak Street that runs East/West. Can you determine the color of each house and in which house each person lives in, plus the order they are located from West to East?

House colors: gray, white, blue, red, brown, yellow
There are 3 women: Lily, Doreen, Kayla,
And there are 3 men: Brian, Dirk, Tom

1. Dirk lives in the house farthest to the East.

2. Neither the brown or white house is at either end.

3. Lily lives west of Doreen, Tom and Brian.

4. The red house is located at the far West end.

5. Girls live in both of the houses located in the center of the street.

6. Boys live in the white and yellow houses but a girl lives in the brown.

7. The gray house is just west of the brown house, which is just west of the yellow house.

8. Kayla has just two people that live east of her; Dirk and Brian.

9. The white house is located toward the west end of the street.