Riddle Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. Which letter appears once in “minute,” twice in “moment,” and not at all in “a thousand years”?
T
N
O
M
2. Three boxes are labeled Apples, Oranges, and Mixed. Every label is wrong. You may draw one fruit from one box to determine all three contents. Which labeled box should you draw from?
Any box works equally well
The box labeled Apples
The box labeled Oranges
The box labeled Mixed
3. I speak when you call, although I have no mouth. I fade when the sound stops. What am I?
A radio
A recording
An echo
A whisper
4. What number comes next in this look-and-say sequence: 1, 11, 21, 1211, 111221, ___?
212211
312211
111321
311221
5. Which three-letter word names a heavy unit when read forward and becomes a negative word when read backward?
TON
WON
NET
TAR
6. At exactly 3:15, what is the smaller angle between the hour and minute hands of an analog clock?
0 degrees
15 degrees
7.5 degrees
22.5 degrees
7. What has keys but no locks, a space but no rooms, and an Enter key that cannot take you outside?
A computer keyboard
A piano
A building directory
An elevator panel
8. A man with no brothers or sisters points to a photograph and says, “This person's father is my father's son.” Who is in the photograph?
The man himself
His father
His uncle
His son
9. Two fathers and two sons share three apples so that each person receives one whole apple. Who are they?
A father, his two sons, and one son's friend
Two fathers and their two unrelated sons
A grandfather, his son, and his grandson
Three brothers, two of whom are fathers
10. If the day after tomorrow is Friday, what day was yesterday?
Tuesday
Wednesday
Monday
Thursday
11. The more material you take away from me, the larger I become. What am I?
A shadow
A hole
A debt
A footprint
12. Which five-letter word becomes a seven-letter word meaning “less long” when you add E and R to its end?
BROAD
CLOSE
SHORT
LARGE
13. Three switches are outside a closed room; only one controls the bulb inside. You may manipulate the switches, but enter the room only once. Which method identifies the correct switch?
Turn on all three switches, enter, and inspect the bulb's brightness
Flip each switch once in order, enter, and check whether the bulb is lit
Turn one switch on briefly, turn it off, and enter without using the other switches
Leave one switch on, warm the bulb with another before turning it off, and leave the third unused; then check light and warmth
14. A square room has one cat sitting in each corner. Every cat can see the other three cats. How many cats are in the room?
Three
Four
Twelve
Eight
15. During a race, you pass the runner currently in second place. What position are you now in?
First place
Second place
Third place
It cannot be determined
16. Ten candles are burning. Two are blown out, while the other eight are allowed to burn away completely. How many intact candles remain afterward?
Two
Ten
Eight
None