Riddle of the Week

[BobbyJoeCool]

Answer: "I`de rather not Know"

 

lol.

[Callipygous]

 

A curved snake balancing

Atop a single ball

Suspended for eternity

Not to sway nor to fall

 

It always strikes

An inquisitive tone

Always preceded' date='

Sometimes followed,

But never found alone.[/quote']

 

[hide] a question mark[/hide]

 

i dont have another one though... sorry

[Martin]

... my first one that no one has figured out yet (I'm guessing this is because I wrote it myself and you can't look up the answer on the internet lol).

 

A thousand legs but naught can stand

A thin long neck of colour sand

I work only by human hand

 

....

 

that makes me think of a broom

with the long thin neck being the wooden broomhandle

and the thousand legs being the many broomstraws

 

it would be better as a poem if you would swap "work" and "only"

so that it gets a regular rhythm

 

A thousand legs but naught can stand

A thin long neck of colour sand

I only work by human hand

[Kyrisch]

You are correct, feel free to post.

 

I think it sounds better the way I have it; I like the stress on the second syllable of only.

[Martin]

You are correct' date=' feel free to post.

 

...[/quote']

 

thank you Kyrisch.

 

I actually like your style of riddle very much. Would you please take another turn? I would like to give my turn to you (actually I do not know any rhyming riddles like these that I could contribute.)

[Kyrisch]

Thank you for the compliment, and for future reference, the riddles don't have to rhyme. Anyway, here's my next one:

 

I am the daughter of a mother

Whose father is unknown

I travel in streams underground

And can be soft or hard as bone

 

I am that which is under thee

I'm not water, though travel in't

All life depends on me

For I bear wealth infinite

[Callipygous]

[hide]sounds like rock[/hide]

 

but im not sure.

[Kyrisch]

You are correct, but naturally, don't have a riddle at hand?

[MetaFrizzics]

Brothers and sisters have I none,

but this man's father is my father's son.

Who am I?

[Kyrisch]

[hide]You're an only child...[/hide] Pretty simple, but a nice rhythm(sp?) to it, and enough complexity to frighten the passerby

 

Here's a toughie:

 

A mathematician was greeted one day by a man taking a census at his door.

 

"Hello, how may I help you?" The mathematician greeted him cheerfully.

 

"Hello, I need to ask you a few questions. Firstly, are you married?" The mathematician nodded. "Do you have children?" Again, the mathematician shook his head yes. "How old are you children, what are their genders, and how many do you have?"

 

The mathematician's eyes glinted with mischief. "I'm glad you asked. I have three daughters, and the product of their ages is 36."

 

The man seemed flustered by this indirect answer. Thinking to himself, he realized he could not figure it out with only that knowledge. "I need more information to figure this out, sir." He stated.

 

"Yes, you do." The mathematician replied. He glanced at his house number. Pointing to it, he said, "That is the sum of my daughters' ages."

 

Accepting that he wasn't going to get a straight answer out of the mathematician, he pulled out a pad of paper and a pencil, scribbled a few things, and then glanced at the house number. "That's still not enough information, sir."

 

"Of course," the mathematician said, presently gripping the door, "I forgot to tell you that my oldest daughter has blue eyes." And with that, he slammed the door in the man's face.

 

The man squinted at his work, and then a look of realization crossed his face. He strode down the walk with a satisfied gait. He had figured out the ages.

 

HOW OLD ARE THE MATHEMATICIAN'S DAUGHTERS?

[Callipygous]

[hide] ages 9, 2, and 2[/hide]

 

do i need to explain? do i need to stop posting answers when i dont have more riddles? : P

[Kyrisch]

Yes, explain for the rest of the people here because even I couldn't get that one; I just like it because it makes you use both math and logic skills to figure it out. And no, you don't have to stop answering without posting a new riddle. I think people like being able to post without answering one and you make that possible.

 

Here's another:

 

A man left town on Friday and travelled, on his horse, one day south, one day east, one day north, and then rode back home on Friday. How is this possible?

[Callipygous]

forgot hide tags first time : P

[Callipygous]

explanation

 

[hide] his 3 daughters ages multiply to be 36. that means they are some combination of the numbers 2,2,3, and 3. this gives us the following (3 daughters, which means two of the numbers need to be multiplied together): 9,2,2 3,6,2 and 3,3,4. the other thing to bear in mind, is he could have a one year old, which wouldnt effect the product of 36. this means we can add the following: 1,18,2, 1,9,4 1,6,6 1,3,12. the fact that it totals his house number seems worthless, since we dont know what his house number is, but its actually not. we know that his house number wasnt enough info, which means two of the sets of numbers totalled his house number.

9+2+2= 13

3+6+2= 11

3+3+4= 10

1+18+2= 21

1+9+4= 14

1+6+6=13

1+3+12= 16

 

so the two possible number sets are: 1+6+6=13 and 9+2+2= 13

 

he tells us that his oldest daughter has blue eyes. technically two babies cant be born at the same time which means that both scenarios include a single child who is the oldest, but for the sake of a riddle we assume that this is a useful clue, which means they must be referring to the group that has a single oldest child, not two oldest children: 9, 2, 2.[/hide]

[Callipygous]

Yes' date=' explain for the rest of the people here because even [i']I[/i] couldn't get that one; I just like it because it makes you use both math and logic skills to figure it out. And no, you don't have to stop answering without posting a new riddle. I think people like being able to post without answering one and you make that possible.

 

Here's another:

 

A man left town on Friday and travelled, on his horse, one day south, one day east, one day north, and then rode back home on Friday. How is this possible?

 

 

[hide] his horses name is friday[/hide]

[Callipygous]

felt like i should contribute for once:

 

I went into the woods and got it. I sat down to seek it. I brought it home with me because I couldn't find it. What is it?

[YT2095]

it could be several things, but for me it would be...

 

[hide] peace of mind [/hide]

[Callipygous]

you brought it home with you because you couldnt find it?

[Phi for All]

[hide]A tick.[/hide]

[Kyrisch]

[hide]A tick[/hide]

..does fit the criteria, but this is a classic riddle, and its classic answer is...[hide]A splinter[/hide]

[Kyrisch]

A thousand arms with countless fingers

Though no eyes to see where it lingers

 

A bit vague, but let's see if you can get it

[Phi for All]

the box illistrated is resting on a table, projecting slightly more than half its width over the edge. it can remain in this position owing to the weight of something inside it. when the table is bumped vertically, the box falls. what does the box contain? its contents can be found in most households.

[hide]A balanced bowl of water, which sloshes when the table is bumped.[/hide]

imagine a similar box, but projecting less than half way over the edge of the table. in this case it can be made to fall with out bumping, touching, or applying any pressure to it or to the table, directly or indirectly. how? what is in this box?

[hide]A leaning book propped up by a block of ice.[/hide]

[Phi for All]

somewhat correct

i was looking for something else though

On both counts?

[Phi for All]

heres another though

how much would a man living in Quito' date=' Ecuador, weigh if he were 44,000 miles tall? would it be more or less than a thousand tons?[/quote'][hide]Less than a thousand, since that height would put most of him in weightless space. I know Quito is on the equator but I'm not sure what that would have to do with it.[/hide]

[gnpatterson]

geostationary orbit 35,786 km above mean sea level at equator