Category: Hard Riddles

Take the number of states before Alaska and Hawaii were added. Double that and add the number of “winds.” Then subtract the number of Ali Baba’s thieves, not counting Ali Baba. Divide by the number of days in May minus 1. Cube the result. What do you get?

Three points are selected at random on a sphere’s surface. What is the probability that they all lie in the same hemisphere?Assume that the great circle, bordering a hemisphere, is part of the hemisphere.

There was once a man who had a very selfish and unkind son. So one day the father sent his son to the market with one coin and said, “I am sick and tired of your selfish ways. Take this coin and buy with it: something to feed the cows, something to plant in the…

What is the five-digit number, no zeroes, in which the second digit is three times the first, the third is one more than the second, the fourth is four times the first, and the last is one-half more than the second?

Two Americans met in broad daylight. In the sight of a number of people, one of them shot and killed the other. The killing was deliberate, the killer was not an officer of the law, nor was the victim a criminal. However, no legal action was taken. How come?

While exploring the wilds of Canada, George was captured by hostile wood fairies. Zion, the powerful chief of the fairies told him he could make one final statement which would determine how he would die. If the statement he made was false, he would be boiled in water. If the statement were true, he would…

What 8 letter word can have a letter taken away and it still makes a word. Take another letter away and it still makes a word. Keep on doing that until you have one letter left. What is the word?

A cyclist rode a mile in three minutes with the wind, and returned in four minutes against the wind. Assuming that he always applies the same force to the pedals, how long would it take him to cycle a mile on a windless day?

The engineering department was arranging for a rather expensive catered lunch to bid farewell to their retiring colleague. They calculated that it would cost each person $30. One good mathematician remarked, “It’s lucky that there aren’t five fewer of us to split the bill, or it would be $10 more from each.”How many engineers split…

Half-hearted Betting Major Watson, despite being short of the readies, was feeling in a good mood, so he decided to gamble with his friend Butterworth on the toss of a coin. Starting with just £1, he bet six times, each time wagering half the money he had at the time. If he won three times…