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It’s fun to test the limits of your brain power sometimes. Meaning, at a time when you’re prepared for it, willing and ready, not when life throws something truly unexpected at you. Or when you’re at work. Anyhoo, there are many ways to test your critical thinking, but we’re pretty sure that the most entertaining one is with a brain teaser. Yup, a good old riddle or two to pleasurably torture your thinking apparatus! And, if you need any ideas on fun brain teasers, you’ve opened the exact right article, undoubtedly.
Our roster has a couple of sections, with the first one being brain teasers for adults. These riddles will be asking you to figure out stuff like tax refunds, time management, life-work balance, and all the fun topics related to being a grown-up. Just kidding! What they really are is just a tad bit more complex than brain teasers for kids and definitely do not talk about family gatherings and budgeting. These hard brain teasers are here to entertain you, after all, not deepen the impact of grim realities. Then, there are also funny brain teasers, and to solve them, you will have to wipe your tears of laughter first! At least, we truly hope they’ll entertain you this much!
So, the brain teasers are just a bit further down - you’re almost there! Once you are through with solving them, give the best riddles your vote so they’ll find their way to the top of this list. And after that, share these brain teasers with anyone against whom you’d like to compete in a battle of minds! Psst, find the answers to these riddles in the comments down below!
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#1
What is 3/7 chicken, 2/3 cat, and 2/4 goat?
#2
What is unusual about the following words: revive, banana, grammar, voodoo, assess, potato, dresser, uneven?
Justina Čiapaitė 2 years ago
Answer: Take the first letter of each word and place it at the end. It will spell the same word backward.
#3
There is only one time in your life when you’re twice as old as your child. When is that?
Justina Čiapaitė 2 years ago
Answer: When your child reaches the age you were when he or she was born, you’ll stay “twice as old” until your next birthday.
#4
What word is pronounced the same if you take away four of its five letters?
#5
What has a bottom at the top?
#6
There is a word in the English language in which the first two letters signify a male, the first three letters signify a female, the first four signify a great man, and the whole word, a great woman. What is the word?
#7
What has many keys but can’t open a single lock?
#8
What can travel around the world while staying in a corner?
#9
What type of cheese is made backward?
#10
A man pushes his car to a hotel and tells the owner he’s bankrupt. Why?
#11
What is so fragile that saying its name breaks it?
#12
What is special about these words: job, polish, herb?
Justina Čiapaitė 2 years ago
Answer: They are pronounced differently when the first letter is capitalized.
#13
Arnold Schwarzenegger has a long one. Michael J. Fox has a short one. Madonna does not use hers. Bill Clinton always uses his. The Pope never uses his. What is it?
#15
If you drop me I’m sure to crack, but give me a smile and I’ll always smile back. What am I?
#16
A man dies of old age on his 25 birthday. How is this possible?
#19
I am the beginning of sorrow and the end of sickness. You cannot express happiness without me yet I am in the midst of crosses. I am always in risk yet never in danger. You may find me in the sun, but I am never out of darkness.
#20
Put a coin into an empty bottle and insert a cork into the neck. How can you remove the coin without removing the cork or breaking the bottle?
#21
What gets wet while drying?
#22
What month of the year has 28 days in it?
#23
You are in a room that has three switches and a closed door. The switches control three light bulbs on the other side of the door. Once you open the door, you may never touch the switches again. How can you definitively tell which switch is connected to each of the light bulbs?
#24
On which side of a chicken are there more feathers?
#25
Which word in the dictionary is spelled incorrectly?
#26
In a one-story pink house, there was a pink person, a pink cat, a pink fish, a pink computer, a pink chair, a pink table, a pink telephone, a pink shower — everything was pink! What color were the stairs?
#27
What’s the one thing you can break without ever touching it?
#28
A cowboy rides into a town on Friday, stays for three days, and leaves on Friday. How does he manage this?
#29
What was the biggest island in the world before the discovery of Greenland?
#30
What never walks but always runs?
#31
What belongs to you but is used by everyone you meet?
#32
Always in you, sometimes on you; If I surround you, I can kill you. What am I?
#33
I am strong enough to smash ships, but I fear the Sun. What am I?
#34
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 was in the photograph?
#35
A man was walking in the rain. He was in the middle of nowhere. He had nothing and nowhere to hide. He came home all wet, but not a single hair on his head was wet. Why is that?
#36
The person who makes it has no need for it. The person who purchases it does not use it. The person who does use it does not know he or she is. What is it?
#37
You’re escaping a maze, and there are three doors in front of you. The door on the left leads to a pit of lava. The door in the center leads to a room filled with deadly gas. The door on the right leads to a lion that hasn’t eaten in three months. Which door do you choose?
#38
How can 8 + 8 = 4?
#39
Why is the letter F like death?
#40
How far can a squirrel run into the woods?
#41
During which month do people sleep the least?
#42
You’re in a dark room with a candle, a wood stove, and a gas lamp. You only have one match, so what do you light first?
#43
What would you find in the middle of Toronto?
#44
What building has the most stories?
#45
What can you hold in your left hand but not in your right?
#46
The more of this there is, the less you see. What is it?
#47
I come in different shapes and sizes. Parts of me are curved, other parts are straight. You can put me anywhere you like, but there is only one right place for me. What am I?
#49
Before Mount Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain in the world?
Tequila Mockingbird 2 years ago
Since this was phrased “highest” this answer is actually technically incorrect. The correct answer, surprisingly is actually Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador. Why? Because the Earth bulges at the equator (the earth is a spheroid, not a perfect sphere), so this mountain is technically closer to the Sun than any other mountain on the globe, though Mount Everest remains highest by sea level measurement.
#50
What word begins and ends with an E but only has one letter?
#51
I’m tall when I’m young and I’m short when I’m old. What am I?
#52
What letters are easily found in every single day of the week?
#53
Give me food, and I will live; give me water, and I will die. What am I?
#56
What can you hold without ever touching or using your hands?
#57
Who has married many people but has never been married himself?
#58
What can you catch but never throw?
#59
What can fill a room but takes up no space?
#60
What's always found on the ground but never gets dirty?
#61
I left my campsite and hiked south for 3 miles. Then I turned east and hiked for 3 miles. I then turned north and hiked for 3 miles, at which time I came upon a bear inside my tent eating my food! What color was the bear?
#62
What five-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?
#63
What has cities, but no houses; forests, but no trees; and water, but no fish?
#64
A red house is made from red bricks. A blue house is made from blue bricks. A yellow house is made from yellow bricks. What is a green house made from?
#66
Four cars come to a four-way stop, all coming from a different direction. They can’t decide who got there first, so they all go forward at the same time. They do not crash into each other, but all four cars go. How is this possible?
#67
Is the capital of Kentucky pronounced Louisville or Luee-ville?
#68
I have a large money box, 10 inches wide, and 5 inches tall. Roughly how many coins can I place until my money box is no longer empty?
Sanjidah Kazi 2 years ago
Nah, I'm done. These are all so dead. If you're still going on to read these then you have my congrats 💀
#69
How can a man who shaves several times a day still sport a long beard?
#71
What rocks but does not roll?
#72
An elevator is on the ground floor. There are five people in the elevator including me. When the lift reaches the first floor, one person gets out and two people get in. The lift goes up to the second floor, three people get out, five people get in. It then goes up to the next floor up, no-one gets out but 12 people get in. Halfway up to the next floor up the elevator cable snaps, it crashes to the floor. Everyone else dies in the elevator except me. How did I survive?
Joseph Bullaro 2 years ago
How would you know how many people got on and off if you weren't on it after the first floor?
#73
Which word logically comes next in this sequence? Spots, tops, pots, opts…
#74
What is black when it’s clean and white when it’s dirty?
#75
Where does today come before yesterday?
#77
84% of people reading this will not find the the mistake in this A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z.
#78
How can you throw a ball as hard as you can and have it come back to you, even if it doesn’t bounce off anything? There is nothing attached to it, and no one else catches or throws it back to you.
#80
What word looks the same upside down and backward?
#81
Who is bigger: Mr. Bigger, Mrs. Bigger, or their baby?
#82
What came first, the chicken or the egg? The egg.
#83
What is the end of everything?
#84
I come down, but I never go up. What am I?
#85
What is in the middle of America?
#86
Can you add one mathematical symbol in between 55,555 to equal 500?
#87
You are running in a 5000-meter marathon, and you have beaten the person in second place. Where are you?
#88
For me:
Childbirth is before pregnancy.
Childhood is before birth.
Adolescence is before childhood.
Death is before life… Who am I?
#89
What kind of ship has two mates but no captain?
#90
What is taken before you can get it?
#91
What do you bury when it's alive and dig up when it's dead?
#92
What's always running but never gets hot?
#93
Two girls have the same parents and were born at the same hour of the same day of the same month, but they are not twins. How can this be possible?
#94
Tom and his younger sister were fighting. Their mother was tired of the fighting and decided to punish them by making them stand on the same piece of newspaper in such a way that they couldn't touch each other. How did she accomplish this?
Justina Čiapaitė 2 years ago
Answer: Tom's mother slid a newspaper under a door, each sibling standing on each side.
#95
Can a man legally marry his widow's sister in the state of California?
#96
Two cars were involved in an accident in the center of town. The man who was driving a little green car, had overtaken a big black car. The driver had misjudged the distance between him and the on-coming traffic and had to swerve back in, causing the black car to swerve and crash into a shop window. When the occupants of the cars were examined everyone in the green car was okay, but in the black car was one dead man. However, the driver of the green car was not charged with manslaughter, why was this so?
Justina Čiapaitė 2 years ago
Answer: The black car was a hearse and was on its way to a funeral.
#97
If seven cats kill seven rats in 7 minutes, how many would be needed to kill one hundred rats in 50 minutes?
#98
Forrest left home running. He ran a ways and then turned left, ran the same distance and turned left again, ran the same distance and turned left again. When he got home, there were two masked men. Who were they?
#99
A man stands on one side of a river, his dog on the other. The man calls his dog, who immediately crosses the river without getting wet and without using a bridge or a boat. How did the dog do it?
#100
Your parents have six sons including you and each son has one sister. How many people are in the family?
#101
An Arab sheik is old and must leave his fortune to one of his two sons. He makes a proposition: Both sons will ride their camels in a race, and whichever camel crosses the finish line LAST will win the fortune for its owner. During the race, the two brothers wander aimlessly for days, neither willing to cross the finish line. In desperation, they ask a wise man for advice. He tells them something; then the brothers leap onto the camels and charge toward the finish line. What did the wise man say?
Justina Čiapaitė 2 years ago
Answer: The rules of the race were that the owner of the camel that crosses the finish line last wins the fortune. The wise man simply told them to switch camels.
#102
If I am holding a bee, what do I have in my eye?
Justina Čiapaitė 2 years ago
Answer: Beauty. Because beauty is in the eye of the beholder (bee holder).
#103
A man describes his daughters, saying, “They are all blonde, but two; all brunette but two; and all redheaded but two.” How many daughters does he have?
#104
If you have a 7-minute hourglass and an 11-minute hourglass, how can you boil an egg in exactly 15 minutes?
Justina Čiapaitė 2 years ago
Answer: To boil the egg in exactly 15 minutes, follow these four steps. Start both hourglasses as you start boiling the egg. After the 7-minute hourglass runs out, turn it over to start it again. Four minutes later, when the 11-minute hourglass runs out, turn the 7-minute hourglass again. Wait for the 7-minute hourglass to run out, which will take another four minutes and get you to exactly 15 minutes of boiling time.
#105
What is next in this sequence of numbers: 1, 11, 21, 1211, 111221, 312211, ______?
Justina Čiapaitė 2 years ago
Answer: 13112221. Each sequence of numbers is a verbal representation of the sequence before it. Thus, starting with 1, the next sequence would be “one one,” or “11.” That sequence is followed by “two one,” or “21,” and so on and so forth.
#106
In my hand, I have two coins that are newly minted. Together, they total 30 cents. One isn’t a nickel. What are the coins?
#107
What letter comes next in the following sequence? D R M F S L T_
Justina Čiapaitė 2 years ago
Answer: D—each letter represents one note in the diatonic musical scale: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do.
#108
What do an island and the letter “t” have in common?
#110
A rancher had 500 cows and took one shot that got them all. How did he do it?
#111
Two boxers are in a match scheduled for 12 rounds. (Pure boxing only. There are no kicking or takedowns). One of the boxers gets knocked out after only six rounds, yet no man throws a punch. How is this possible?
#112
One family wants to get through a tunnel. Dad can make it in 1 minute, mom in 2 minutes, son in 4 and daughter in 5 minutes. No more than 2 persons can go through the tunnel at one time, moving at the speed of the slower one. Can they all make it to the other side if they have a torch that lasts only 12 minutes and they are afraid of the dark?
Justina Čiapaitė 2 years ago
Answer: First mom and dad – 2 minutes. Dad comes back – 3 minutes, both children go to mom – 8 minutes. Mom comes to dad – 10 minutes and they both get to their children – 12 minutes.
#113
Peter’s father has five sons. The names of the four sons are Fefe, Fifi, Fafa, and Fufu, respectively. What is the name of the fifth son?
#114
I am an odd number. Take away one letter and I become even. What number am I?
#115
There were 3 red, 4 yellow and 5 green cars parked. 8 cars went away.
Cars of what color has definitely become less than it was?
#116
What has a face and two hands but no arms or legs?
#117
What common English verb becomes its own past tense by rearranging its letters?
#118
Poor people have it. Rich people need it. If you eat it you die. What is it?
#119
You enter a room that contains a match, kerosene lamp, candle, and fireplace. What should you light first?
#121
What occurs once in a minute, twice in a moment, and never in 1,000 years?
#122
A time when they are green, a time when they're brown, but both of these times, cause me to frown. But just in between, for a very short while, They're perfect and yellow and cause me to smile! What am I talking about here?
#123
If 5 cats catch 5 mice in 5 minutes, how long will it take one cat to catch a mouse?
#124
You are locked in a house and you have four objects. You have a wooden chair, a ladder, a piano, and a rubber ax. You can only pick one object and you can't get out by breaking anything. What would you use to get out?
#125
Some say we are red, some say we are green. Some play us, some spray us. What are we?
#126
A sundial has the fewest moving parts of any timepiece. Which has the most?
#127
Paul’s height is six feet, he’s an assistant at a butcher’s shop, and wears size 9 shoes. What does he weigh?
#128
Guess the next three letters in the series GTNTL.
Justina Čiapaitė 2 years ago
Answer: I, T, S. The complete sequence is the first letter of every word in the sentence.
#129
You are in a place called Wally’s World and there is only one law. There is a mirror, but no reflection. There is pizza with cheese, but not sausage. There is pepper, but no salt. There is a door, yet no entrance or exit. What is the law?
#130
Find a number less than 100 that is increased by one-fifth of its value when its digits are reversed.
#131
Which creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?
#132
What 4-letter word can be written forward, backward or upside down, and can still be read from left to right?
#133
It stalks the countryside with ears that can’t hear. What is it?
#134
What kind of band doesn’t play music?
#135
What is cut on a table, but is never eaten?
#136
What can’t be put in a saucepan?
#137
I have branches, but no fruit, trunk or leaves. What am I?
#138
What coat goes on wet?
#139
What tastes better than it smells?
#140
What runs all around a backyard, yet never moves?
#141
What does this mean? I RIGHT I
#142
I have no eyes, no legs, or ears, and I help move the earth. What am I?
#143
What occurs once in every minute, twice in every moment, yet never in a thousand years?
#144
A peasant woman has seven daughters.
One day she will pick apples, but she likes only 5.
However, she manages to share them equally between her seven daughters. Ow, did she do it?
#145
When is a door no longer a door?
#146
What is one thing that all people, regardless of their politics or religion, have to agree is between heaven and earth?
#147
A is B's father but B isn't A's son. How?
#149
What five-letter word has one left when two letters are removed?
#150
My first is high, My second damp, My whole a tie, A writer's cramp. What am I?
#151
There were five men going to church and it started to rain. The four that ran got wet and the one that stood still stayed dry. How did the one stay dry?
#152
A student zips on his scooter to ride to the train station to get to college. His home is close to two stops; the first one is a mile from home, and the second is two miles from home in the opposite direction. In the morning, he always gets on at the first stop and in the afternoon, he always gets off at the second one. Why?
Justina Čiapaitė 2 years ago
Answer: The stations and his home are on a hill, which allows him to ride down easily on his scooter.
#153
What is that which goes with a carriage, comes with a carriage, is of no use to a carriage, and yet the carriage cannot go without it. What is it?
#154
As a whole, I am both safe and secure. Behead me, and I become a place of meeting. Behead me again, and I am the partner of ready. Restore me, and I become the domain of beasts. What am I?
#155
In 1990, a person is 15 years old. In 1995, that same person is 10 years old. How can this be?
#156
What makes this number unique: 8,549,176,320?
Justina Čiapaitė 2 years ago
Answer: It has each number, zero through nine, listed in alphabetical order.
#157
Fourteen of the kids in the class are girls. Eight of the kids wear blue shirts. Two of the kids are neither girls or wear a blue shirt. If five of the kids are girls who wear blue shirts, how many kids are in the class?
#158
The water level in a reservoir is low, but doubles every day. It takes 60 days to fill the reservoir. How long does it take for the reservoir to become half full?
Justina Čiapaitė 2 years ago
Answer: 59 days. If the water level doubles every day, the reservoir on any given day was half the size the day prior. If the reservoir is full on day 60, that means it was half full on day 59, not on day 30.
#159
A farmer needs to take a fox, a chicken, and a sack of grain across a river. The only way across the river is by a small boat, which can only hold the farmer and one of the three items. Left unsupervised, the chicken will eat the grain, and the fox will eat the chicken. However, the fox won’t try to eat the grain, and neither the fox nor the chicken will wander off. How does the farmer get everything across the river?
Justina Čiapaitė 2 years ago
Answer: The farmer must follow these steps: 1. Take the chicken across the river. 2. Come back with an empty boat. 3. Take the grain across the river. 4. Bring the chicken back. 5. Take the fox across the river. 6. Come back with an empty boat. 7. Take the chicken across the river.
#160
Four people arrive at a river with a narrow bridge that can only hold two people at a time. It’s nighttime and they have one torch that has to be used when crossing the bridge. Person A can cross the bridge in one minute, B in two minutes, C in five minutes, and D in eight minutes. When two people cross the bridge together, they must move at the slower person’s pace. Can they all get across the bridge in 15 minutes or less?
Justina Čiapaitė 2 years ago
Answer: Yes, they can cross in exactly 15 minutes. The group of four must follow these three steps. First, A and B cross the bridge and A brings the light back. This takes 3 minutes. Next, C and D cross and B brings the light back. This takes another 10 minutes. Finally, A and B cross again. This takes another 2 minutes.
#161
Which tire doesn’t move when a car turns right?
#162
It’s not easy to figure out who’s who when the Brewer family gets together. The brother of Nick’s uncle Manny is named Mark. Lisa’s grandparents are Nick’s parents. Mark is married to Lisa’s grandma. The children of Angela’s daughter Sandra are named Lisa and Sasha. So who is Angela’s brother-in-law?
#163
Brothers and sisters I have none but this man's father is my father's son. Who is the man?
#164
What is greater than God, more evil than the devil, the poor have it, the rich need it, and if you eat it, you’ll die?
#165
If five peacocks lay ten eggs in 2 days, how many peacocks will lay 100 eggs in 24 days?
#166
How can you take 2 from 5 and leave 4?
Justina Čiapaitė 2 years ago
Answer: F IV E. Remove the 2 letters F and E from five and you have IV.
#167
Which of the following words don't belong in the group and why? CORSET, COSTER, SECTOR, ESCORT, COURTS.
#168
0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 How can you use the digits above once each only to compose two fractions which when added together equal 1?
