I turn polar bears white and I will make you cry.
I make guys have to pee and girls comb their hair.
I make celebrities look stupid and normal people look like celebrities.
I turn pancakes brown and make your champagne bubble.
If you squeeze me, I’ll pop.
If you look at me, you’ll pop.
Can you answer this riddle?
Long Riddles
Blind Bartender’s Problem
Four glasses are placed on the corners of a square Lazy Susan (turntable). Some of the glasses are upright (up) and some upside-down (down).
A blindfolded person is seated next to the Lazy Susan and is required to re-arrange the glasses so that they are all up or all down, either arrangement being acceptable.
The glasses may be re-arranged in turns subject to the following rules.
- Any two glasses may be inspected in one turn and after feeling their orientation the person may reverse the orientation of either, neither or both glasses.
- After each turn the Lazy Susan is rotated through a random angle.
- At any point of time if all four glasses are of the same orientation, a bell will ring.
Can you devise an algorithm which allows the blindfolded person to ensure that all glasses have the same orientation (either up or down) in a finite number of turns? The algorithm must not depend on luck.
Riddle AnswerEmperor Akbar’s Advisor
Emperor Akbar once ruled over India. He was a wise and intelligent ruler, and he had in his court the Nine Gems, his nine advisors, who were each known for a particular skill. One of these Gems was Birbal, known for his wit and wisdom. The story below is one of the examples of his wit. Do you have it in you to find out the answer?
A farmer and his neighbour once went to Emperor Akbar’s court with a complaint.
“Your Majesty, I bought a well from him,” said the farmer pointing to his neighbour, “and now he wants me to pay for the water.”
“That’s right, your Majesty,” said the neighbour. “I sold him the well but not the water!” The Emperor asked Birbal to settle the dispute.
How did Birbal solve the dispute?
Riddle AnswerBank Robbery
A bank is getting robbed and one of the robbers tells one of the tellers to give him all of the money. The teller tells him she doesn’t have access to it.
Suddenly the phone rings. The robber tells the teller to answer it and not give them away. She picks up the phone and it happens to be her mother. She tells her mother “Is this an emergency mom? Call me when I get home, I could use some help painting.” Then she hangs up.
The robbers continue to try to get into the vault but twenty minutes later the police show up with the tellers mom and arrest them all.
How did the police know about the robbery?
Riddle AnswerMurder in the Home of Married Couple
One evening there was a murder in the home of married couple, their son and daughter. One of these four people murdered one of the others. One of the members of the family witnessed the crime. The other one helped the murderer.
These are the things we know for sure:
- The witness and the one who helped the murderer were not of the same sex.
- The oldest person and the witness were not of the same sex.
- The youngest person and the victim were not of the same sex.
- The one who helped the murderer was older than the victim.
- The father was the oldest member of the family.
- The murderer was not the youngest member of the family.
Who was the murderer?
Riddle Answer