Riddles
Riddle-Me-Ree
Never speaking, still awake,
Pleasing most when most I speak,
The Delight of old and young,
Tho’ I speak without a Tongue.
Nought but one Thing can confound me,
Many Voices joining round me;
Then I fret, and rave and gabble,
Like the Labourers of Babel.
I can bleat, or I can sing,
Like the Warblers of the Spring.
Let the Love-sick Bard complain,
And I mourn the cruel Pain;
Let the happy Swain rejoice,
And I join my helping Voice;
Tho’ a Lady, I am stout,
Drums and Trumpets bring me out;
Then I clash and roar, and rattle,
Join in all the Din of Battle.
Much I dread the Courtier’s Fate,
When his Merit’s out of Date,
For I hate a silent Breath,
And a Whisper is my Death.
Show Answer
Echo
Idiot
The village of Wichad was home to a particularly celebrated idiot. He was well known throughout the region for always having the wrong idea about money. You see, whenever he was offered the choice between two coins, he would inevitably take the lower one and then go off, utterly delighted with his choice. One townsman in particular had trouble understanding why the fool behaved the way he did. He tried an entire range of combinations on that man, trying different coins of different sizes, ages and even shininess. Even Though the fool seemed to have no knowledge of the value he would always choose the option that would leave him worse off. In the end the townsman was able to rule out the coins weight, thickness, diameter, colour, cluster and even age as the factor that made the idiot invariably decent on the offering of lesser value. It certainly was not bad luck.
How come the fool always took the less valuable coin?
Show Answer
The “idiot” knew perfectly well that as soon as hewould take the more valuable coin, people would loose interest and stop giving him money. But until then people would just continue to give him money. So he actualy always knew the value of the coins.
“One of the most important tasks I have for you” the innkeeper told his new the seller boy “is keeping track of how much ale and wine we have.” He waved at the row of tall oak barrels along the cellars wall. “You need to tell me when we get halfway down a barrel so I can start prepping its replacement. I don’t want you using any filthy sticks in my beer, mind. You can take the lit off and look, nothing more. Ah, don’t look like that, lad! Telling halfway is easy!”
So, with no measuring tool available (other than your eyes) and no indicators inside the barrel, how would you work out when the barrel is half empty?
Show Answer
If you tip the barrel on its side, just until the liquid touches the rim and the bottom of the barrel is visible at all, it is more than half empty. If you can not see the ground it is still more than half full.
Equity
The number four has fascinated theologies for centuries. Several cultures consider the number to be extremely unlucky because their name for the number is very similar to the word for death. It is a curious mathematical oddity, that 2+2 equals 2*2 equals four. Four is the only number that can be obtained by adding a number to itself and also by multiplying the same number with itself. However there a many pairs of different numbers that can be both added and multiplied together to give the same answer.
Can you find the pair of different numbers that both adds to and multiplies to 4.5?
Show Answer
1.5 and 3
The call
Although she never said a word, Susie was finally able to sleep after a phone call.
Show Answer
Susie is in a hotel. Her neighbour is snoring. After calling their room and waking them up, Susie is finally able to sleep.
The beatle
A dead man lies with a beetle and an instruction manual on his chest. What has happened?
Show Answer
He was a technician who got hit by a beetle car
Fate of lies
Kevin had to die because he became more intelligent. Why?
Show Answer
In the state of Virginia Kevin was sentenced to death for murder. However the state could not execute him because his IQ was only 59. During his long stay in prison he read and studied a lot to pass the time. As a result his IQ increased to 70 which was high enough to complete his execution.
Thirty white horses on a red hill, First they champ, Then they stamp, Then they stand still.
Show Answer
Teeth
How far can you walk into a forest?
Show Answer
Halfway (after that you are walking out of the forest)
What can you put in a barrel, that will make the barrel lighter?
Show Answer
A Hole