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.

King and 3 Hats

The King calls in three wise men and tells them to all close their eyes. While their eyes are closed, he goes around and puts a hat on each of them.

“I put a blue or white hat on each of you,” the King says. “I won’t tell you what color each hat is, but I promise you that at least one of you has a blue hat.”

“Now open your eyes,” he continues. “You may not communicate with each other at all. Within one hour, one of you must call out the color of your own hat. If you aren’t able to do this, or if anyone calls out the wrong color, I will have you all exiled from the kingdom.”

The wise men open their eyes and look at the other mens’ hats. They stand there for almost the whole hour in silence, thinking. Just as time is about to run out, all three men figure out the color of their own hats and yell the colors out at the same time.

You can assume that all three men are perfect logicians, that they know that the others are perfect logicians, and that they all think at the same speed.

What colors are the three men’s hats?

Riddle Answer

Two Mathematicians Puzzle

Two mathematicians, Tom and Smith are walking down the street.

Tom: I know you have three sons. What are their ages?
Smith: The product of their ages is 36.
Tom: I can’t tell their ages from that.
Smith: Well, the sum of their ages is the same as that address across the street.
Tom: I still can’t tell.
Smith: The eldest is visiting his grandfather today.
Tom: Now I know their ages.

Do you know the age of the kids?

Riddle Answer

Peas and Lentils

A poor farmer went to the market to sell some peas and lentils. However, as he had only one sack and didn’t want to mix peas and lentils, he poured in the peas first, tied the sack in the middle, and then filled the top portion of the sack with the lentils.

At the market a rich innkeeper happened by with his own sack. He wanted to buy the peas, but he did not want the lentils.

Pouring the seed anywhere else but the sacks is considered soiling. Trading sacks is not allowed. The farmer can’t cut a hole in his sack.

How would you transfer the peas to the innkeeper’s sack, which he wants to keep, without soiling the produce?

Riddle Answer

Row of Soldiers

There is a row of soldiers that is 1km in length and they walk with a constant speed in a straight line, in one direction.

All the way at the end walks a messenger. He has to bring a message to the captain walking all the way at the beginning of the row.

The messenger starts walking past the soldiers and immediately turns around when arriving at the captain and walks back to the end of the row. When the messenger is back at the end, the whole group of soldiers have traveled a distance of 1 km.

The soldiers and captain are walking at the same constant speed. The messenger (walking faster then the soldiers) is also walking a a constant speed.

You don’t know anything about time or speed. How far did the messenger travel from the end of the row to the beginning and back?

Riddle Answer

4 Criminals

4 criminals are caught and are to be punished. The judge allows them to be freed if they can solve a puzzle. If they do not, they will be hung. They agreed.

The 4 criminals are lined up on some steps (shown in picture). They are all facing in the same direction. A wall separates the fourth man from the other three.

4 criminals

So to summarise :
Man 1 can see Man 2 and Man 3.
Man 2 can see Man 3.
Man 3 can see none of the others.
Man 4 can see none of the others.

The criminals are wearing hats. They are told that there are two white hats and two black hats. The men initially don’t know what colour hat they are wearing. They are told to shout out the colour of the hat that they are wearing as soon as they know for certain what colour it is.

They are not allowed to turn round or move. They are not allowed to talk to each other. They are not allowed to take their hats off.

Who is the first person to shout out and why?

Riddle Answer

Long Riddles

King and 3 Hats

Two Mathematicians Puzzle

Peas and Lentils

Row of Soldiers

4 Criminals

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