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Previous Riddles and Answers
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Week
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Riddle
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Answer
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Students
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| 1 | You may think that yesterday always comes before today; but there is a place where yesterday always comes AFTER today. Where?
| In a dictionary!
| Kate Bilicki
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| 2 | A crime was committed! When all five of the suspects were interviewed, they gave the following information. Can you determine who committed the crime?
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Jeff:
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it wasn't Steve
it was Dave
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Dave:
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it wasn't Sam
it wasn't Steve
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Sam:
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it was Steve
it wasn't Jeff
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Bob:
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it was Sam
it was Dave
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Steve:
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it was Bob
it wasn't Jeff
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It was well known that each suspect told exactly one lie. Can you determine who stole the cake?
| Sam committed the terrible crime. The way to solve this puzzle is to look at each clue. We know that exactly one of each person's statements is true. Looking at Jeff's statements, let's check to see 'it was Dave' is true. If 'it was Dave' is true, then we know the other statement is false, therefore it was Steve. This is a contradiction. Hence we now know it wasn't Dave, nor Steve (as 'it wasn't Steve' must be the true statement). Looking at Sam's statement, we can similarly determine that it wasn't Jeff either. Steve's statement gives us that it wasn't Bob, which leaves only Sam as the culprit. It is always wise to check this against the other clues.
| None
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| 3 | There are only five requirements in order for a person to become President of the United States, according to the American Constitution. The candidate must:
- be at least 35 years old.
- be a citizen of the United States.
- have resided in the United States for at least 14 years.
- have been born in the United States.
What is the fifth requirement?
| The person must be elected!
| None
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| 4 | A lady had two sons who were born in the same hour of the same day of the same year, but they were not twins. How could this be?
| They were two of a set of triplets!
| None
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| 5 | A man stood looking through the window on the sixth floor of an office building. He began to take a step, tripped, and was forced through the window! Outside the window, there was a sheer drop to the ground. After leaping, though, the man was fine, and he did not use a parachute or land in water or on any sort of soft surface. How could this be?
| The man was the building's window washer. He was standing on scaffolding on the outside of the building when you flew through the window.
| Mary Spieckerman
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| 6 | The day before yesterday Freda was 17. Next year she will be 20. How can this be so?
| The statement was made on January the first. Freda's birthday is on December 31st. She was 17 the day before yesterday. She was 18 yesterday. She will be 19 this year and 20 next year.
| Leah Nasgowitz,
Zachary Nasgowitz,
Kate Bilicki,
Mary Spieckerman
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| 7 | From the beginning of eternity
To the end of time and space
To the beginning of every end
And the end of every place.
What am I?
| The letter 'E.' OR God
| Mary Jo Ludin,
Alex Ludin,
Mary Spieckerman
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| 8 | How many gifts, in total, did I receive during the Twelve Days of Christmas - according to the song?
| 364 gifts
| Zachary Nasgowitz,
Leah Nasgowitz,
Mary Spieckerman
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| 9 | How could you rearrange the letters in the words "new door" to make one word? Note: There is only one correct answer.
| "one word"
| Zachary Nasgowitz,
Leah Nasgowitz,
Eric Papenthien,
Alec Hryciuk,
Adam Gerrits,
Mary Jo Ludin,
Lindsay Sheehan,
Charlie Martinez,
David Rashid,
Keelyn Macgregor,
Angela Hastings
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| 10 | Two grandmasters played five games of chess. Each won the same number of games and lost the same number of games. There were no draws in any of the games. How could this be so?
| The grandmasters were not playing each other!
| Mary Jo Ludin,
Alex Ludin,
Leah Nasgowitz,
Zachary Nasgowitz
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| 11 | Greentown and Yellowville are 55 miles apart. A hare travels at 10 miles per hour from Greentown to Yellowville, while a tortoise travels at 1 miles per hour from Yellowville to Greentown.
If both leave at the same time, how many miles will the hare have to travel before he meets the tortoise?
| The hare and the tortoise are together covering the distance at 11 miles per hour (i.e., on adding their speeds).
So, they will cover the distance of 55 miles in 5 hours.
Thus, in 5 hours, they will meet and the hare will have traveled 50 miles.
Explanation:
While you could have used guess and check, there is a mathematical explanation:
Note: Distance = Speed × Time
Let t be the time before the hare and the tortoise meet.
In t hours, the hare will travel 10t miles.
In t hours, the tortoise will travel 1t miles.
Now,
10t + 1t = 55
11t = 55
t = 5 hours
Thus, distance traveled by hare before meeting the tortoise: 10 mph × 5 hours = 50 miles.
| Adam Gerrits,
Alec Hryciuk
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| 12 | Your clock was running out of battery and was a little slow. It lost exactly 24 minutes every 1 hour. You knew that the clock showed the correct time at 12:00 midnight. It now shows 3:00 AM, but it stopped an hour ago. What time is it now?
| It is 6:00 AM now.
If the clock lost 24 minutes every 1 hour, it really gained 36 minutes every 1 hour (60 minutes - 24 minutes = 36 minutes). Then you can create a table, one column showing the real time, the other showing the time the clock showed.
Start at 12:00 | 12:00 and then add 1 hour to the left and 36 minutes to the right each time. For example, the next row would be 1:00 | 12:36.
Continue until the right column reads 3:00. The current time would be the time showing in the left column plus 1 hour.
See the full table below:
| Real Time |
Clock Time |
| 12:00 |
12:00 |
| 1:00 |
12:36 |
| 2:00 |
1:12 |
| 3:00 |
1:48 |
| 4:00 |
2:24 |
| 5:00 |
3:00 |
At 5:00 AM, the clock showed 3:00 AM. This is also the time the clock stopped, which was 1 hour ago. The time now is 6:00 AM.
| Alec Hryciuk
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| 14 |
Here is snippet of section E of the curious multiple-choice entrance exam into the exclusive BrainBashers puzzle club.
Q1. The answer to question 2 is:
A) B
B) C
C) A
Q2. The first question with B) as the correct answer is:
A) Q3
B) Q1
C) Q2
Q3. The only answer not used so far is:
A) A
B) B
C) C
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1. C)
2. A)
3. B)
| Keelyn Macgregor
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| 15 | How much dirt is in a hole that is 5 ft deep, and 12 inches in diameter?
| None. A hole only has air in it, no dirt.
| Leah Nasgowitz,
Charlie Martinez,
Mary Jo Ludin,
Eric Papentien,
Zachary Nasgowitz
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| 16 | Just yesterday, I spent half of my saved money on a really cool new game! I then spent half of the remaining money on a big ball. In the end, I was left with $32.94. How much did I spend in all?
| $98.82. I started with $131.76 and I spent half of it ($65.88) on a new game. I then had $65.88 left. I spent half of this ($32.94) on a new ball. So in the end, I spent $65.88 + $32.94 = $98.82!
| Leah Nasgowitz,
Zachary Nasgowitz,
Adam Gerrits
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| 18 | Inside a basket are five apples. They must be divided among five kids so that each child has an apple AND one apple stays in the basket?
| Give each of four children an apple, and then give the last child the basket, still containing an apple.
| Leah Nasgowitz
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| 19 | You have 23 white socks and 35 black socks randomly mixed in your dresser drawer. You are blindfolded. How many socks do you HAVE to grab before you are POSITIVE you have a matching pair?
| Three socks. You would either have all of one color, or two of one color and one of the other.
| None :(
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| 20 |
Instructions
Read each hint and come up with the answer to it. When combined, the two hints for each problem should create a new word.
Example
1) to shout + what you say when you feel pain = a color.
to should --> yell
what you say when you feel pain --> ow
ANSWER --> yellow!
PROBLEMS
1) A light brown color + to leave = a dance.
2) A store's announcement + a type of women's clothing = a building's location.
3) A vehicle + an animal pal = a floor covering.
4) The ocean + a father's boy = part of the year.
5) Another name for dad + a yellow veggie = a white fluffy snack.
| 1) tan + go = tango
2) ad + dress = address
3) car + pet = carpet
4) sea + son = season
5) pop + corn = popcorn
| None :(
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| 21 | During Suzy's first day at school, the teacher asked each student to shake hands with every other child and introduce themselves by name.
If there were 7 students, how many total handshakes were there?
| The first child shakes hands with the other 6 children. The second child has already shaken hands with the first child, and so has to shake hands with only the other 5 children. In the same way, the second-last child has to shake hands with only one child, and the last child has already met all the children. The number of handshakes is 6 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 21.
If there were 7 children in the class, then there were 21 total handshakes.
| Leah Nasgowitz, Zachary Nasgowitz
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