What types of brain teasers are your favorite? I'll post a few examples here so you can figure out what the different types are:
Cryptography:
Justin Case and Auntie Bellum are fellow con artists who deliver coded messages to each other to communicate. Recently Auntie Bellum was put in jail for stealing a rare and expensive diamond. Only a few days after this, Justin Case sent her a friendly letter asking her how she was. On the inside of the envelope of the letter, he hid a code. Yesterday, Auntie Bellum escaped and left the envelope and the letter inside the jail cell. The police did some research and found the code on the inside of the envelope, but they haven't been able to crack it. Could you help the police find out what the message is?
This is the code:
llwatchawtfeclocklnisksundialcirbetimersool
ANSWER
Group
Can you uncover what each group of three has in common?
1. doughnut
notebook
golf course
2. turtle
peanut
oyster
3. brown
polar
Kodiak
4. cough
tear
rain
5. soap
granola
candy
ANSWER
Language
Inside each set of the following words, there are a pair of smaller words. By putting & between them, lo & behold, you'll make a familiar phrase. For example, "Thighbone/Swallowtail" conceals "High & Low."
1. Skyrocketing/Trolleyman
2. Thermometer/Apoplexy
3. Delaware/Bordering
4. Surprised/Trashiness
5. Throughout/Stumblebum
ANSWER
Letter Equations
1, 2, 3 S Y O at the O B G
ANSWER
Logic
A man is trapped in a room. The room has only two possible exits: two doors. Through the first door there is a room constructed from magnifying glass. The blazing hot sun instantly fries anything or anyone that enters. Through the second door there is a fire-breathing dragon. How does the man escape?
ANSWER
Logic-Grid
On a beautiful spring day in the park, there were five female cats walking together and gossiping about their humans. Up ahead, there were five males walking together bragging about their conquests. When the two groups met, there were five cupids flying through the air. Next thing ya know, there were five couples walking away in separate directions. The couples began talking and soon found that they had amazing things in common. Well, long story short, we all know what happens to cats that fall in love in the springtime, oh my what a racket! Can you figure out who the couples were, what treats they liked, what their favorite activity was and how many kittens each had in their litter?
Male: Punkin, Batman, Billy, Jake, Dibii
Female: Pepper, Sally, Ruby, Spot, Starbuck
Snack: Chicken, Mice, Tuna, Ice Cream, Chips
Activity: Laser, String, Sleep, Beat Up, Ball
# in Litter: 1,3,5,7,9
1. The five males were: Jake, the one that liked tuna fish & had five kittens, the one that liked Spot, the one that liked to beat up other cats, and the one that loved ice cream.
2. The five females were: Starbuck, the one that had nine kittens, the one that liked to eat chicken & chase a ball, the one that liked to sleep, and the one that liked Punkin.
3. Dibii ( who had three kittens) liked to chase the laser light but not mice. On the other hand, Sally loved to chase mice but not string.
4. Batman didn't have a thing for Sally and he didn't have seven kittens. Billy, who thought of himself as very big & tough, had the most kittens & wasn't about to chase some stupid string around - what a waste of time!
5. Ruby loved to cuddle up to her male for a long afternoon nap in the sun but hated it when he ate his chips in bed. That may be the reason they didn't have the most kittens (they didn't have the least either).
6. Pepper & Punkin didn't have one kitten but they did like tuna fish.
ANSWER
Math
You are on your way to visit your Grandma, who lives at the end of the valley. It's her birthday, and you want to give her the cakes you've made.
Between your house and her house, you have to cross 7 bridges, and as it goes in the land of make believe, there is a troll under every bridge! Each troll, quite rightly, insists that you pay a troll toll. Before you can cross their bridge, you have to give them half of the cakes you are carrying, but as they are kind trolls, they each give you back a single cake.
How many cakes do you have to leave home with to make sure that you arrive at Grandma's with exactly 2 cakes?
ANSWER
Mystery
My father has, over the years, restored his magnificent 1956 Chevrolet convertible to near perfect condition. Last weekend, he decided to go on a little spin ('twas a warm day, perfect weather for a convertible). As he was pulling out of the driveway, he noticed he was low on gas - the gauge was practically on empty.
On his way to the gas station, he took a quick stop at the local fast food restaurant. Having nowhere to park, he reluctantly stopped his car down a side street. As he was leaving, he noticed a few young guys eyeing his vehicle. Thinking nothing of it (it's rare to see this model car in such good condition, so people typically stare), he walked into the food establishment to get himself a deliciously awful burger.
The line was long, so it was a while before he returned to where he parked. He returned to his worst nightmare: his car was gone.
He hurriedly called the police and reported his Chevy convertible was stolen. He then went back into the restaurant and ordered a half-pounder with bacon, to go.
About 15 minutes later, the police called him back. Apparently, right after he called, the police received a call from a female worker at a gas station about a mile out of town. The worker reported that a beautiful car was left nearby. She said three young men drove up and pre-paid for $20 of gas.
The three men walked around the vehicle many times, checking under the hood and in the trunk. After a couple minutes of studying the car, the men left without filling up. As they were leaving, the car ran out of gas near the gas station. The men left it there and took off running. The police couldn't think of a reason for the young men paying for gas they didn't use. My father, however, knew exactly what happened.
The question is, why would the three men pay for gas they needed but didn't use?
ANSWER
Optical Illusions
Does this look like a spiral? It's actually a bunch of concentric circles. Use your mouse to trace one circle and you will see that you come back to where you started instead of spiraling into the center.
MORE OPTICAL ILLUSIONS
Other
A man worked for a high-security institution, and one day he went in to work only to find that he could not log in to his computer terminal. His password wouldn't work. Then he remembered that the passwords are reset every month for security purposes. So he went to his boss and they had this conversation:
Man-"Hey boss, my password is out of date."
Boss-"Yes, that's right. The password is different, but if you listen carefully you should be able to figure out the new one: It has the same amount of letters as your old password, but only four of the letters are the same."
Man: "Thanks boss."
With that, he went and correctly logged into his station.
What was the new password?
BONUS: What was his old password?
ANSWER
Probability
You are a prisoner sentenced to death. The Emperor offers you a chance to live by playing a simple game. He gives you 50 black marbles, 50 white marbles and 2 empty bowls. He then says, "Divide these 100 marbles into these 2 bowls. You can divide them any way you like as long as you use all the marbles. Then I will blindfold you and mix the bowls around. You then can choose one bowl and remove ONE marble. If the marble is WHITE you will live, but if the marble is BLACK... you will die."
How do you divide the marbles up so that you have the greatest probability of choosing a WHITE marble?
ANSWER
Rebus
Can you decipher the musical instruments represented below?
1. P O
2. BA BA
3. ECLART
4. @ # $ %
ANSWER
Riddles
You will know that I am coming
From the jingle of my bell,
But exactly who I am is not an easy thing to tell.
Children, they adore me
for they find me jolly,
but I do not see them when the halls are decked with holly.
My job often leaves me frozen,
I am a man that all should know,
But I do not do business in times of sleet or ice or snow.
I travel much on business,
But no reindeer haul me around,
I do all my traveling firmly on the ground.
I love the time of Christmas,
But that's not my vocational season,
And I assure that is because of a sound economic reason.
ANSWER
Science
Joe Thunder
As his name would suggest, Joe was not a meek, quiet fellow. In fact he had such difficulty keeping quiet, both his local and university library banned him. His roommate, being a music major and a sound engineer, said he could solve his problem, but Joe would need to trust him. He gave Joe his 75-watt ghetto blaster, a CD, fake mustache, and a long blond wig. Joe, who is sceptical but intrigued, decided to give it a shot. Joe, disguised as one of the professors, entered the university library. He placed the CD player on the table in front of him; loaded the CD; cranked the volume full and braced himself as he turned it on. Surprisingly there was only a very very faint sshh. Joe then realized that he couldn't hear anything at all. He spoke normally, and then yelled, but no one reacted. Awesome, he thought as he began flailing his arms around and shouting as loud as he could. Unfortunately, the librarian, seeing him moving but hearing nothing, assumed he was choking and performed the Heimlich maneuver on him, knocking his wig off, causing the librarian to perform the hind kick maneuver right out the door. Poor Joe.
But what had his roommate done? What was on that mysterious CD that made everything quiet?
ANSWER
Series
I had a lot of fun putting together the following list of words. Can you figure out the rule I used to develop the list? Once you do, have fun creating your own list!
mount, right, left, roll, mote, lick,
lass, over, rate, aunt, rill, arch,
oral, ever, pine, rice, tip, each,
team, rash, sage, ouch, edge, ray,
earn, any
ANSWER
Situation
Emperor Akbar once ruled over India. He was a wise and intelligent ruler, and he had in his court the Nine Gems, his nine advisors, who were each known for a particular skill. One of these Gems was Birbal, known for his wit and wisdom. The story below is one of the examples of his wit. Do you have it in you to find out the answer?
A farmer and his neighbour once went to Emperor Akbar's court with a complaint.
"Your Majesty, I bought a well from him," said the farmer pointing to his neighbour, "and now he wants me to pay for the water."
"That's right, your Majesty," said the neighbour. "I sold him the well but not the water!"
The Emperor asked Birbal to settle the dispute.
How did Birbal solve the dispute?
ANSWER
Trick
A farmer challenges an engineer, a physicist, and a mathematician to fence off the largest amount of area using the least amount of fence.
The engineer made his fence in a circle and said it was the most efficient.
The physicist made a long line and said that the length was infinite. Then he said that fencing half of the Earth was the best.
The mathematician laughed at the others and with his design, beat the others. What did he do?
ANSWER
Trivia
In this teaser, you have to find the odd ones out in the groups of words. BUT WAIT! There's a catch. Each group of words has TWO words which do not belong. Can you find them both?
EXAMPLE:
Lily - Jane - Tulip - Rose
Jane does not belong as it's the only one which is not a flower
Tulip also does not belong because it's the only one which is not a girl's name
You're on you own for the rest!
1. Dodge - Ford - Lincoln - Hoover
2. King - Earl - Knight - Bishop
3. Yellow - Green - Dead - Black
ANSWER