Riddles

A man can make perfect counterfeit bills. They look exactly like real ones, they're made of exactly the same materials, made the same way, everything. So perfect, one could pretty much call them real bills. One day he successfully makes a perfect copy of another bill. However, he gets caught when he tries to use the copy. How is this possible?

He made a perfect copy of a counterfeit bill.

A man wanted to enter an exclusive club but did not know the password that was required. He waited by the door and listened. A club member knocked on the door and the doorman said, "twelve." The member replied, "six" and was let in. A second member came to the door and the doorman said, "six." The member replied, "three" and was let in. The man thought he had heard enough and walked up to the door. The doorman said, "ten" and the man replied, "five". But he was not let in. What should have he said?

The man had to reply the number of characters in the word the Doorman was asking. He should have replied "Three" instead of "Five".

A glass of water with a single ice cube sits on a table. When the ice has completely melted, will the level of the water have increased, decreased or remain unchanged?

Remain unchanged. When frozen, the ice cube displaces its weight.

What is it? The Pope has it but he does not use it. Your father has it but your mother uses it. Nuns do not need it. Arnold Schwarzenegger has a big one, Michael J. Fox’s is quite small. What is it?

A surname.

The Wisest Son One day, a father went to his three sons and told them that he would die soon and he needed to decide which one of them to give his property to. He decided to give them all a test. He said, "Go to the market my sons, and purchase something that is large enough to fill my bedroom, but small enough to fit in your pocket. From this I will decide which of you is the wisest and worthy enough to inherit my land." So they all went to the market and bought something that they thought would fill the room, yet was still small enough that they could fit into their pockets. Each son came back with a different item. The father told his sons to come into his bedroom one at a time and try to fill up his bedroom with whatever they had purchased. The first son came in and put some pieces of cloth that he had bought and laid them end to end across the room, but it barely covered any of the floor. Then the second son came in and laid some hay, that he had purchased, on the floor but there was only enough to cover half of the floor. The third son came in and showed his father what he had purchased and how it could fill the entire room yet still fit into his pocket. The father replied, "You are truly the wisest of all and you shall receive my property." What was it that the son had showed to his father?

The son had showed his father a match. Whenever he lit the match, it filled the entire room with light, yet it was still small enough to fit into his pocket.

You have 12 black socks and 12 white socks mixed up in a drawer. It's early in the morning and you don't have any light to see the colors. How many socks must you pull out (blindly) to be sure of getting a matching pair?

3 socks. If the first sock is black, the second one could be black, in which case you have a matching pair. If the second sock is white, the third sock will be either black and match the first sock, or white and match the second sock.

Here is a series of numbers. What is the next number in the sequence? 1 11 21 1211 111221 312211 13112221

The next number in the sequence is 1113213211, because the rule for creating the next number is to simply describe the previous number. For example, you start of with 1, with is simply one 1, so the next number is 11. Now you have two 1's, so the next number is 21. Now you have one 2 and one 1, so the next number is 1211. The solution is to simply continue describing the previous number using only numbers.

You have four chains. Each chain has three links in it. Although it is difficult to cut the links, you wish to make a single loop with all 12 links. What is the fewest number of cuts you must make to accomplish this task?

3 cuts. Cut each link in one chain. Separate them, and use the links to join the ends of the 3 intact chains.

You have a lighter and two fuses that take exactly one hour to burn, but they don't burn at a steady rate. For example, one fuse could take 59 minutes to burn the first inch and then burn the rest of the fuse in the last minute. How would you use these two fuses to measure 45 minutes?

Light the first fuse on both ends and the second fuse at only one end. When the first fuse burns out you know 30 minutes have passed. Light the other end of the second fuse and when it burns out, 45 minutes have passed.

Two guards were on duty outside a barracks. One faced up the road to watch for anyone approaching from the North. The other looked down the road to see if anyone approached from the South. Suddenly one of them said to the other, "Why are you smiling? " How did he know his companion was smiling?

They were facing each other. As to why his companion was smiling, the world may never know.

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