Roses are red, and violets are blue. Solving these ten riddles come easy to clever people. Do you think that’s you?
1. Riddle One
The first one is, “If you have me, you want to share me; if you share me, you don’t have me.”
This riddle can be tricky because many things can be shared once you have them. But as you go deeper, you realize the answer is a secret.
2. Riddle Two
The second riddle reads, “You are escaping a labyrinth, and three doors are in front of you. The door on the right leads to a raging inferno, the door on the left leads to a lion who hasn’t eaten in three months, and the one in the middle leads to a deadly assassin. Which one do you choose?”
I am sure you are wondering how you got to any of these doors in the first place. But thank goodness it’s hypothetical.
However, if you thought the door on the left was the safest door to choose, you would be right.
3. Riddle Three
Next is a one-liner, but it is also difficult. “If I’m holding a bee, what do I have in my eye?”
The answer is beauty. The riddle is a play on the proverb, “Beauty is the eye of the beholder.” Or the bee-holder, buzz buzz.
4. Riddle Four
Riddle four is a puzzle that will put your critical thinking skills to the test. It goes like this: an old man passes away and leaves behind two sons. In his will, he instructs them to race with their horses, promising that the one with the slower horse will inherit his fortune.
The sons eagerly accept the challenge, but during the first race, they both hold back their horses in fear of losing. Frustrated and confused, the brothers seek guidance from a wise man. The wise man advises them on what to do and the brothers race again, this time at full speed.
What did the wise man tell them?
The answer is that the wise man told them to switch horses. After switching horses, whoever wins the race will get the inheritance because they still own the slower horse. Easy, right?
5. Riddle Five
If you thought riddle four was hard, you are in for a treat from riddle five. This riddle tests both your intelligence and your knowledge of numbers.
“Turn me on my side, and I’m everything; cut me into half, and I’m nothing. What number am I?”
The answer is 8. On its side, you can see that it looks like an infinity symbol — which technically means everything.
If you cut it into half, number 8 becomes two zeros — which means nothing. People with an IQ of 200 and above, assemble!
6. Riddle Six
Riddle six is “If you have a 7-minute hourglass and an 11-minute hourglass, how can you boil an egg in exactly 15 minutes?”
To answer this question, you must bring your knowledge of math into the question.
As you start boiling the egg, start both hourglasses. After the 7-minute hourglass runs out, start it again.
When the eleven-minute hourglass runs out, turn the 7-minute hourglass again. We know that 4 minutes worth of sand has fallen through.
You can wait for the 7-minute hourglass to run out, giving you exactly 15 minutes of boiling time.
7. Riddle Seven
How good were you with arithmetic progression? Well, riddle seven has something for you.
“What’s the next in the sequence of numbers: 1, 11, 21, 1211, 111221, 312211, 13112221?”
Each sequence of numbers is a verbal of the sequence before it. The first one is “1,” followed by “11” or “one one.” That sequence is followed by “21” or “two one,” and so on.
Answer: 1113213211
8. Riddle Eight
In this riddle, four people are faced with the challenge of crossing a narrow bridge that can only hold two people at a time. Complicating matters is the fact that they only have one torch to use while crossing, and it must be used every time someone crosses the bridge.
The twist is that each person has a different speed when crossing the bridge: Person A takes 1 minute, Person B takes 2 minutes, Person C takes 5 minutes, and Person D takes 8 minutes.
This poses the question: can they all successfully cross the bridge in 15 minutes or less?
Answer: In order to do so, they must strategize and work together to make sure that everyone reaches the other side safely within the time limit.
Person A, B, C, and D can all get across the bridge in 15 minutes or less. First, Person A and B can cross the bridge, and A brings the torchlight back. This takes three minutes.
Person C and D can cross, and B brings the light back. This takes another 10 minutes.
Finally, A and B cross with the light for another two minutes. Total time taken is 15 minutes.
9. Riddle Nine
A famous riddle that perhaps you learned as a child:
A farmer needs to transport a fox, chicken, and a sack of grain across a river using only a small boat. However, there is a catch— the chicken will eat the grain if left alone with it, and the fox will eat the chicken.
The farmer must find a way to safely transport all three items without any of them getting harmed. What’s the best way to do it?
Answer: First, he must take the chicken across the river and return with an empty boat.
Next, he must take the grain across the river, drop it, and bring back the chicken. He then must take the fox across the river and come back with an empty boat to take the chicken across the river.
10. Riddle Ten
Our final riddle will have you thinking for hours.
In this scenario, we have five identical bags of gold, each containing 10 pieces. However, one of the bags contains fake gold pieces that weigh slightly more than the real ones. A piece of the fake gold weighs 1.1 grams, while the real good piece weighs 1 gram. The challenge is to determine which bag has the fake gold using a digital gram scale that can only be used once.
Answer: To find out which one is fake gold, you need to take one piece from the first bag, two from the second bag, three from the third bag, four from the fourth bag and five from the fifth bag.
If the weight on the scale ends in .1, you know it is the first, .2 it is the second, .3 it is the third, .4 it is the fourth, and .5 it is the fifth.
How Many Did You Get?
There you have it, our top 10 brain teasers and riddles only smart people can solve. How many did you get right, smarty pants?
If we hurt your ego a bit, no worries. Why not check out our easy geography questions that are so basic, it would be embarrassing to get them wrong. We expect a full score from you on this one.
This article was produced by TPR Teaching.
Caitriona Maria is an education writer and owner of The Facts Institute. A teacher for seven years, she has been committed to providing students with the best learning opportunities possible, both domestically and abroad. Dedicated to unlocking students' potential, Caitriona has taught English in several countries and continues to explore new cultures through her travels.