Word Riddles

The Busy Bus

You're driving a bus on a very busy route, with 17 passengers. At the first stop, 3 passengers get off the bus. At the second stop, 5 passengers get on. At the third stop, 6 more passengers get on. Finally, 10 passengers get off at the last stop.

What is the name of the bus driver?

Hint: I don't know the answer, but you do.

Solution: The clue is in the very beginning, which says you're driving a bus. All the rest is a distraction; you're the bus driver, so the answer is whatever your name is.

The Surgeon's Dilemma

A man and his son were in a terrible car accident. The man died on the way to the hospital, while the boy was rushed into surgery. The surgeon refused to operate on the boy, however, and said honestly, "I can't operate on him, because he's my son!" The boy was never adopted.

How is this possible?

Hint: Although the solution isn't the first we're inclined to think of, it should be fairly obvious if you can throw away biases.

Solution: The surgeon is the boy's mother. This can be tricky because our first thought of a surgeon is usually a man.

The Fork in the Road

A traveller comes to a fork in the road, and he isn't sure which path he should take. There are two men there: one who always lies and one who always tells the truth. The traveller doesn't know which is which, and he can only ask one question to one person to find his way.

What is his question?

Hint: The question must force the liar to lie in a way that makes him tell the truth.

Solution: The traveller must ask, "If I were to ask you if I should take this path, would you say yes?" The truth-teller will tell the truth, while the liar will lie about lying, forcing him to tell the truth.

Three "Errers"

"There is three errers in this sentence."

Can you find them?

Hint: Only two of the errors are grammatical.

Solution: The first error is the word "is" instead of "are." The second error is that "error" is misspelled. The third is that there are only two errors.

Lots of Consonants

Which common word in English has five consonants in a row?

Hint: It supposedly happened in Salem.

Solution: "witchcraft"

A Sequence of Letters

O T T F F S...

What is the next letter?

Hint: Try to connect this to a sequence of numbers.

Solution: Each letter is the first letter of the basic numbers. One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six...so the next letter is S for Seven.

True or False?

"This sentence is false."

Is the sentence true or false?

Hint: If the sentence is true, it is telling the truth that it is false. If it is false, it is lying that it is false so it is really telling the truth.

Solution: Unfortunately, there isn't really a good solution. Whether the sentence is true or false, a paradox is created. A similar question is, "If a man tries to fail and succeeds, which did he do?"

Somewhat Strange Pricing

A shopper walks into a store, looking to buy a certain mystery item. When he asks about the price, he is told that 8 will cost $0.50, 64 will cost $1.00, and 4096 will cost $2.00.

What on earth could this mystery item be?

Hint: If you are doing math, you are approaching this riddle incorrectly. Also, most people own at least one of these.

Solution: The man is buying mailbox numbers, which cost 50 cents each.

The Tricky Baker

A woman asked her baker to cut a beautiful cake into eight equal pieces. The baker proudly explained, "Sure, I can do that in three straight cuts!" After the woman expressed her disbelief, the skilled baker proceeded to do exactly what he said, cutting the cake into eight identical pieces with only three straight cuts.

How did he do this?

Hint: Think three-dimensionally.

Solution: The baker first cut the cake normally into four pieces, then made a horizontal cut through the middle of the cake.

Shortchanged

Three tourists checked in at a hotel one night for $30, which they divide by paying $10 each. That night, the desk clerk realized he made a mistake, so the night really only cost $25. He sends a bellboy to return $5 to the three men, but the bellboy decided to only give $1 to each man and keep $2 for himself. Overall, each man ended up paying $9 for a total of $27, plus $2 for the bellboy. That's $29.

Where did the missing dollar go?

Hint: There's nothing tricky with the numbers themselves, but be careful not to add where you should subtract or subtract where you should add.

Solution: The cost of the rooms were $25, plus $2 for the bellboy for a total of $27. There was no missing dollar, and the $29 is a result of unnecessary adding.