The Throw-and-Take Puzzle

What do you throw out when you want to use it but take in when you don’t want to use it?

An anchor.

The Family Connection

If your uncle’s sister is not your aunt, what relation is she to you?

Answer:
She is your mother.

Explanation:
The uncle’s sister is your parent. Since the riddle specifies that she is not your aunt, the only logical conclusion is that she is your mother.

The Sunday Morning Mystery

A man was found murdered on Sunday morning. His wife immediately called the police. The police questioned the wife and staff, who provided their alibis:

The Wife said she was sleeping.
The Cook was cooking breakfast.
The Gardener was picking vegetables.
The Maid was getting the mail.
The Butler was cleaning the closet.

The police instantly arrested the murderer. Who did it, and how did they know?

The Maid.

Explanation:
There is no mail delivered on Sunday morning, so the Maid’s alibi was a lie. This made her the prime suspect.

The Uncatchable Puzzle

What is harder to catch the faster you run?

Your breath.

The 13-Story Mystery

A man was found dead next to a 13 story building. The police say it was a suicide, but you say it was a homicide (someone killed him). To prove this, you go to each floor on the building, open the window, and toss a penny out. You do this to each floor until you reach the 13th floor, open the window, and toss a penny out. How does this prove it wasn’t a suicide?

If it were a suicide, the window on the floor the man jumped from would already be open. Since you had to open every window yourself, it shows that none of the windows were open, meaning he couldn’t have jumped, proving it was a homicide.

Animal Spelling Riddle

What’s 3/7 chicken, 2/3 cat, and 2/4 goat?

Answer:
Chicago.

Explanation:

3/7 of “chicken” = “chi”
(The first three letters of “chicken”).
2/3 of “cat” = “ca”
(The first two letters of “cat”).
2/4 of “goat” = “go”
(The first two letters of “goat”).

The Mirror Mystery

Open me, and you can’t see me without a mirror. Close me, and you can’t see me at all.
What am I?

Your eye.

The Coffee or Soda Logic Puzzle

George, Helen, and Steve are drinking coffee. Bert, Karen, and Dave are drinking soda. Using logic, is Elizabeth drinking coffee or soda?

Answer:
Elizabeth is drinking coffee.

Explanation:
The people drinking coffee have two e’s in their names: George, Helen, and Steve. The people drinking soda do not: Bert, Karen, and Dave. Since Elizabeth has two e’s in her name, she is drinking coffee.

The Age Puzzle

I am four times as old as my daughter. In 20 years, I shall be twice as old as her. How old are we now?

The daughter is 10 years old, and the parent is 40 years old.

Solution:

Let the daughter’s age be x, and the parent’s age be 4x.
In 20 years:

The daughter’s age will be x + 20.
The parent’s age will be 4x + 20.

The parent will be twice as old as the daughter:
4x + 20 = 2(x + 20)

Simplify:
4x + 20 = 2x + 40
4x – 2x = 40 – 20
2x = 20
x = 10

So, the daughter is 10 years old, and the parent is 4 × 10 = 40 years old.

The Time-Twist Puzzle

Two girls have the same parents and were born at the same hour on the same day of the same month, but they are not twins. How can this be possible?

They were born in different years.