Long Riddles

Long riddles with answers test your problem solving skills. These lengthy puzzles test your ability to piece together information and find the answer.

The Wisest Son

One day, a father went to his three sons and told them that he would die soon and he needed to decide which one of them to give his property to. He decided to give them all a test. He said, “Go to the market my sons, and purchase something that is large enough to fill my bedroom, but small enough to fit in your pocket. From this I will decide which of you is the wisest and worthy enough to inherit my land.”

So they all went to the market and bought something that they thought would fill the room, yet was still small enough that they could fit into their pockets. Each son came back with a different item. The father told his sons to come into his bedroom one at a time and try to fill up his bedroom with whatever they had purchased.

The first son came in and put some pieces of cloth that he had bought and laid them end to end across the room, but it barely covered any of the floor.

Then the second son came in and laid some hay, that he had purchased, on the floor but there was only enough to cover half of the floor.

The third son came in and showed his father what he had purchased and how it could fill the entire room yet still fit into his pocket.The father replied, “You are truly the wisest of all and you shall receive my property.” What was it that the son had showed to his father?

Riddle Answer

Unusual Paragraph

The paragraph below is very unusual. How quickly can you find out what is so unusual about it?

“Gatsby was walking back from a visit down in Branton Hill’s manufacturing district on a Saturday night. A busy day’s traffic had its noisy run; and with not many folks in sight, His Honor got along without having to stop to grasp a hand, or talk; for a mayor out of City Hall is a shining mark for any politician. And so, coming to Broadway, a booming bass drum and sounds of singing, told of a small Salvation Army unit carrying on amidst Broadway’s night shopping crowds. Gatsby, walking towards that group, saw a young girl, back toward him, just finishing a long, soulful oration … “

The above passage is taken from the book “Gatsby” written by Ernest Vincent Wright in the late 1930s.

Riddle Answer

Breakfast in Bed

A man was working on a night shift when he suddenly received a telephone call giving him some information causing him to dash home at breakneck speed.

On bursting into his bedroom quite breathless he found his informant was quite correct and his wife was in bed with someone he had never even clapped eyes on before.

However, far from being angry he greeted them both with a friendly smile and a few hours later was bringing his wife breakfast in bed.

What is the reason for this?

Riddle Answer

Car License Plates

Detective Ixolite was investigating a murder. It was a difficult case, and Ixolite was completely stumped until he noticed a message sent to him by the killer cunningly hidden in a newspaper advertisement selling car licence plates.

Detective Ixolite thought about it for a while, and when he had solved the puzzle, immediately arrested the guilty man.

This is the newspaper advert (car licence plates for sale) that Inspector Ixolite saw.

Car License Plates For Sale:
W  05  NWO
H  13  HSR
O  05  EBM
D  08  UNE
U  10  HTY
N  04  BRE
N  16  TTE
I  26  LHC
T  10  AEE
I  26  CNA
X  22  VDA

How did Ixolite know the advert was a clue for him? Solve the code and determine who Ixolite arrested.

Riddle Answer

Puzzle of the Matches

A friend of mine emptied a box of matches on the table and divided them into three heaps, while we stood around him wondering what he was going to do next.

He looked up and said, “Well friends, we have here three uneven heaps. Of course you know that a match box contains altogether 48 matches. This I don’t have to tell you. And I am not going to tell you how many there are in each heap.”

“What do you want us to do?” one of the men shouted.

“Look well, and think. If I take off as many matches from the first heap as there are in the second and add them to the second, and then take as many from the second as there are in the third and add them to the third, and lastly if I take as many from the third as there are in the first and add them to the first—then the heaps will all have equal number of matches.”

As we all stood there puzzled he asked, “Can you tell me how many were there originally in each heap?” Can you?

Riddle Answer