Here is part 2 of my answer to my 10 year old niece, Abbey’s email on riddles and story ideas. Riddles are only one type of brain teaser and there are many different kinds of riddles which are really puzzles. For a lot of people Sudoku is a popular puzzle as are crossword puzzles which stretch the brain and exercise the memory. As promised here’s some riddles – the first a very popular riddle you might know :
A Well Known Riddle
What has no beginning
What has no end
Goes on forever
Has only one path, never any bend
No one can travel the whole length
In the space of one world
Except times strength
It never varies from its gait
And here’s one more hint
It takes refuge in a figure eight
What is it ?
Answer : Infinity
A Riddle from Memory
When I was going to St. Ives
I met a man with 7 wives.
Every wife had 7 sacks.
Every sack had 7 cats.
Every cat had 7 kittens.
Wives, sacks, cats and kits. How many were going to St. Ives ?
Answer : One – “as I was”
A Mathematical Riddle
If you have a 3 and a 5 gallon jar and lots of water.
How can you measure one gallon of water ?
Answer : First fill up the 3 gallon jar and pour it into the 5 gallon jar.
Next fill up the 3 gallon jar again and pour it into the 5 gallon jar.
There should be one gallon of water left in the 3 gallon jar.
Some riddles you think more (or less) about than others
How can a man go eight days without sleep ?
Answer : He sleeps at night
And finally a silly riddle
Q. What did the doctor say to the invisible man
Answer : You will have to come back later as I can’t see you right now !
So you see there are lots of lots of different types of riddles and I wonder which type of riddle you like. Whichever, learning to solve them is fun and you can always think up your own riddles. Just give it a try! And there you have it – a few riddles for you – and some links below where you will find hundreds more.
Try to learn something about everything and
everything about something.
~ Thomas Huxley
The answer to the riddle at the end of the last article is :
Answer : Fire
Did you work it out?
Notes
- Riddles and other brain teasers are good to do when you have something else on your mind
- If you have a long journey, or time to spare, riddles are another good way to pass the time
- Of course, it is an excellent way to keep your brain busy and active
- Another puzzle craze I remember was the Rubik’s cube
- And here is another puzzle – the maze
- There are lots of brain teaser apps online so ask your Dad and Mum (or teacher at school) to research one for you as you often have to create an account
- Definition of riddle – Free Dictionary1. A question or statement requiring thought to answer or understand; a conundrum.2. One that is perplexing; an enigma.
Links & References
- Wikipedia on riddles
- Lots of puzzles
- A brain teaser app
“Think, think, think.”
A.A. Milne – Winnie the Pooh
