brainteasers.9 22

Forward I am heavy, backward I’m not.

What am I?

Ton

What is very unusual about the following words?

BOUGH

COUGH

DOUGH

ROUGH

THROUGH

They all end in O-U-G-H, and none of them rhyme.

Which one of the following words does not belong with the others and why?

Father

Aunt

Sister

Cousin

Mother

Uncle

Cousin. All the others refer to a specific sex.

The letters should be arranged as follows: one word

How would you arrange the letters in the words “new door” to

make one word?(Note: There is only one correct

answer?)

What occurs once in every minute, twice in every moment, yet never in a thousand years?

The letter M

Which one of the four following words does not belong in this group, and why?

ORIOLE

ORANGE

MONTH

OIL

OIL does not belong because it is the only word of the four that can rhyme with another word in the English language

Why are 1990 American dollar bills worth more than 1989 American dollar bills?

1990 American dollar bills are worth $1,990 while 1989 American dollar bills are worth $1,989.

Which is correct to say,

“The yolk of the egg are white” or

“The yolk of the egg is white”?

Neither. The yolk of the egg is yellow.

What do the following pairs of letters represent?

RD ST ND

The letter pairs are the ending of the following words:

THIRD FIRST SECOND

Which is the beginning of the twenty first century

11:59.59 PM December 31, 1999 or

12:00.01 AM January 1, 2000?

Neither. Contrary to what most people think, the first day of the 21st century was January 1, 2001, not January 1, 2000. The beginning of a century will start with the year one, not the year zero.

What is the next letter in the following sequence?

O T T F F S S

E for eight. The letters are the initial letters of the written numbers, one, two, three, etc.

It is estimated that the earth weighs 6 sextillion tons. How much more would the earth weigh if one sextillion tons of concrete and stone were used to build a large wall?

It would weight the same since all materials are taken from the earth’s original weight.

What five-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?

The word short

You throw away the outside and cook the inside. Then you eat the outside and throw away the inside. What did you eat?

An ear of corn

Picture three boxes containing fruit. The first box is marked cherries, the second box is marked bananas, and the third box is marked cherries and bananas. Each of the boxes is labeled incorrectly. How could you label each box correctly if you were allowed to select only one fruit from one of the boxes?

bananas

cherries Cherries and bananas

First you select a fruit from the box marked cherries and bananas. If it was a banana you selected, you would know that that box could only contain bananas. If it was a cherry, you would know that the box could only contain cherries since each box is incorrectly marked. If, for example, a banana was selected, you would mark that box bananas and switch the other two incorrect labels around. Now all three would be correctly labeled.

How long will it take to cut a wooden log into ten equal

pieces if it takes one minute to make each cut?

Nine minutes, since only nice cuts are needed.

The maker doesn’t want it, the buyer doesn’t use it, and the user doesn’t see it. What is it?

A coffin

How many times can you subtract the number 5 from 25?

Once. After the first calculation, you will be subtracting 5 from 20, then 5 from 15, and so on.

All the letters of the alphabet, except for the Z, are printed above or below the line. Where does the Z belong and why?

A EF HI KLMN T VWXY

BCD G J OPQRS U

The Z should go above the line because all the letters on the top are formed with straight lines and all the letters on the bottom are formed with curved lines.

A tree doubled in height each year until it reached its maximum height over the course of ten years. How many years did it take for the tree to reach half its maximum height?

Nine years

Professor Quantum enjoyed ending his lectures by posing a challenging riddle or puzzle to his English students. Quantum instructed his class to write their answers to his question on a slip of paper, and then to wait in a line until he called out their names. Quantum’s question was: “What is a five letter word in the English language whose pronunciation isn’t changed by removing four of its letters?

Queue

Something extraordinarily unusual happened on the 6th of May, 1978 at 12:34 PM. What was it?

At that moment the time and day could be written as: 12:34, 5/6/78

Often talked of, never seen,Ever coming, never been,Daily looked for, never here,Still approaching, coming near.Thousands for it’s visit waitBut alas for their fate,Tho’ they expect me to appear,They will never find me here.

What is this poem about?

The poem is taking about tomorrow

What is at the beginning of eternity, the end of time, the beginning of every end, and the end of every

place?

The letter e

The “Soul-Ace Hotel” held its annual car rally. Sandy Beach was the favourite to win since she won the last three years in a row. Also in the race was Duncan Drivel, Art Bragg and Hardy Pyle. Duncan, who finished three places in front of last place hardy Pyle, came two places in front of seventh place Art Bragg. How many people were in the rally?

Eight

What is the next letter in the following sequence?

M A M J J A S O

The next letter is N for November

What is the product of the following series?:

(X-A) x (X-B) x (X-C) x (X-D) x … x (X-Z)

Zero. Since one of the terms will be (X-X), which is zero, the entire product will result in an answer of zero. Anything multiplied by zero results in an answer of zero.

What word starts with is, ends with nd, and has la in the middle?

Island

What occurs once in every minute, twice in every moment, yet never in a

thousand years?

The letter M

What five letter word does every Harvard graduate

pronounce wrong?

The word wrong

Two coins add to 25p

One is not a 5p coin.

How is this possible?

A 20p coin, and a 5p coin.

(One is not a 5p coin, but the other one is!)