Riddles 1
If you're running a race and you pass the person in second place, what place are you in?
Second place. You took their spot, but the leader is still ahead of you.
Two chess masters play five full games of chess against each other, there are no draws or stalemates, yet both players win an equal number of games.
They were not playing against each other.
A traveler is captured by a tribe whose chief decides to execute him. The chief gives him one last chance to save himself. He says, "You must make a final statement. If you tell us a truth, you will be drowned in holy water. If you tell us a lie, you will be thrown into a pit of wild lions." The traveler makes a four-word statement and is set free. What did he say?
"I will be eaten." (or "Lions will kill me.")
What building has the most stories in the entire world?
The library.
If you have me, you want to share me; if you share me, you haven't got me.
A secret.
What disappears the exact instant you state its name aloud?
Silence.
Before Mt. Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain in the world?
Mt. Everest. It was still the highest; humans just hadn't found it yet.
What has keys but opens no locks, has space but no room, and allows you to enter but never go inside?
A computer keyboard.
I am a word of six letters. If you remove my first letter, I am a form of energy. If you remove my first two letters, I am used to dress a salad. If you remove my first three letters, I am an adjective describing a small amount. What word am I?
SHIVER.
A mad scientist captures two prisoners. He places two identical pills on a table along with two glasses of water. He tells them: "One pill is a deadly poison; the other is a harmless sugar pill. You will each choose one pill, swallow it, and wash it down with the water." Prisoner A chooses a pill, swallows it, drinks the water, and dies instantly. Prisoner B chooses the remaining pill, swallows it, drinks the water, and walks away completely fine. The scientist then repeats this with 10 more pairs of prisoners. Every single time, the first prisoner dies, and the second lives, regardless of which pill they choose. How is this possible?
The poison is not in the pills; it is in the water.
A farmer has 17 sheep, and all but 9 die. How many sheep does he have left?
9. The sentence literally tells you "all but 9" survived.
A man is looking at a photograph of someone. His friend asks who it is. The man replies: "Brothers and sisters I have none, but that man's father is my father's son." Who is in the photograph?
The man's son.
If a plane crashes right on the border of the United States and Canada, where do they bury the survivors?
You don’t bury survivors.
Two people are born at the exact same moment on the exact same day to the exact same parents, but they aren't twins—how?
They are triplets (or quadruplets).
A lily pad doubles in size every day. If it takes 48 days to completely cover a lake, how long does it take to cover exactly half the lake?
The Answer: 47 days.
The Logic: Since it doubles every day, it must have been exactly half its final size on the day right before day 48.
A man pushes his car to a hotel and tells the owner he's bankrupt, but why didn't he drive?
He is playing Monopoly.
What is the next letter in this sequence?
M, A, M, J, J, A, S, O, __
N. November.
It starts at march.
A man was born in 1995. Today is his 30th birthday, yet he is celebrating it in the year 1985. How is this possible?
He was born in 1995 B.C.
I can change my size radically in seconds, but I have no muscles, no bones, and I cannot move on my own.
A shadow.
I have cities but no houses, mountains but no trees, and water but no fish.
A map.
I have two coins in my hand that total 30 cents. One of them is not a nickel. What are the two coins?
A quarter and a nickel.
A prisoner is told: "If you tell a lie, we will hang you. If you tell the truth, we will shoot you." What can the prisoner say to completely escape punishment?
"You will hang me."
The Logic: If they hang him, his statement was true, which means they should have shot him. If they shoot him, his statement was a lie, which means they should have hanged him. To avoid breaking their own rule, they must let him go.
A massive cargo ship is docked in a harbor. A rope ladder hangs over the side, with its rungs spaced exactly 1 foot apart. The bottom rung is resting exactly on top of the water. The tide begins to rise at a rate of 6 inches per hour. How many rungs of the ladder will be underwater after 4 hours?
The Answer: Zero.
The Logic: As the tide rises, the cargo ship floats up with the water, taking the ladder with it. The bottom rung will remain exactly on top of the water.
A father and son are in a car crash. The father dies instantly. The boy is rushed to the hospital. The surgeon looks at the boy and says, "I can't operate on him—he is my son." Who is the surgeon?
The boy's mother.
What is unique about the number 8,549,176,320?
It lists the single-digit numbers in alphabetical order.