Teacher’s Bag of Tricks
Brainteasers
Rebus: Rebus brain teasers use words or letters in interesting orientations to represent
common phrases.
But Not All of It!
12:3_ pm
Answer "most of the time"
I Couldn’t Care Less
iwhatt memememe
Answer "what's in it for me"
Warp Speed
Where no one has ______ before.
Answer "gone missing"
Desperate Situation
HANGING
PRANCER
DASHER
COMET
CUPID
LIFE
Answer “hanging on for dear life”
Finger…NOT!
. click
Answer "point and click"
Pump It Up
TWO fail fail
Answer Too big to fail.
A Horse of Course
What's the Rebus, reading from top down?
face
fac-e
fa-c-e
f-a-c-e
Answer "making a long face"
‘Scuse Me!
What's the rebus?
bu mp
Answer bump into
("bump" is divided into "two")
Riddles: Riddles are little poems or phrases that pose a question that needs answering.
Riddles frequently rhyme, but this is not a requirement.
What Am I?
My best friend is man
I love the things that you give me
Do not forget to train me
Or I will not obey your command
What am I?
Answer: A Dog
Here I Stand
Sometimes I boldly say, "Here I stand."
Other times, as in a trick, I hide inside.
I'm almost everywhere, it's not like I'm banned,
So I know you'll easily find me, in time.
If I were to say, "I'm in 'this' and not in 'that,'"
I'm sure you could find me in nothing flat.
So who, or what, am I?
Answer The letter "i".
The Infinite Riddle
My head and tail both equal are
My middle slender as a bee.
Whether I stand on head or heel
Is quite the same to you or me.
But if my head should be cut off
The matter's true, though passing strange
Directly I to nothing change.
What am I?
Hint See title
Answer A figure 8.
Some Like it Not Hot
Gobble it down fast, or nibble or gnaw,
There is a vegetable we mostly eat raw.
It can't be pickled or made into jam.
You can't fry it up to go with your ham.
You can't dry it out or powder it a bit
And freezing or canning will not be a hit.
Some cooks might grill or stir-fry or use a soup pot,
But eating it hot is something that's not done a lot.
Such creative cuisine of everyday food leaves me in awe,
Since everyday, most of us routinely, just eat it raw.
What vegetable is this?
Answer It's lettuce! The stuff in your salad or atop your burger.
I Stand Still
I'm not a plant yet I'm rooted in the ground.
I stand still and wave my arms around.
Doing my daily grind in the fresh air I'm found
Night and day, working away with a steady sound.
What am I?
Answer A windmill.
Give Us a Hand
Inside we're wet and outside we're dry
But the weather we do not defy
Losing our heads, we don't go berserk
But this is when we do our best work
Some of us activate with a click
Although human power makes us tick
We're instruments not found in a band
We're useless unless given a hand
What are we?
Answer pens
lines 1-2: Pens are wet on the inside because of the ink they contain. They are dry on the
outside.
lines 3-4: Some pens have caps ("heads") that need to be removed before one can write
with them.
lines 5-6: Other pens work by pressing their button, which often produces the sound of a
"click". This "click" is not to be confused with the click of a computer mouse. Pens work
via "human power" whereas computers need electric power in order to function.
lines 7-8: Pens are writing "instruments", not musical instruments. Without the aid of
one's "hand", pens are "useless".
Locked in Fight
I'm sometimes used to settle hate,
Around the place I navigate.
I am locked in eternal fight
With those within my user's sight.
A set of spokes dictate my turn,
To leave, my users often yearn.
In a place you'll rarely see,
Many fight for wealth of me.
What am I?
Answer: A ship.
Line 1: war ships used in battles to settle hate (war)
Lines 3-4: "locked in fight" with the waves
Lines 5-6: the ship's wheel (a set of spokes) dictates the way the ship turns; sailors often
yearn to find land after being at sea for a long time
Lines 7-8: when a ship wrecks and sinks to the bottom of the ocean, many people fight
for the treasure (wealth) of it
Logic Puzzles: Logic puzzles require you to think. You will have to be
logical in your reasoning.
Open Up!
It's 3 am, the doorbell rings and wakes you up. It's your parents and they are here for
breakfast. You have strawberry jam, honey, wine, bread, and cheese . What is the 1st
thing you open?
Answer: Your eyes. You were sleeping, remember?
Sums
7+7=2
8+8=4
8+5=1
6+9=3
10 + 11 = 9
In this sense, what is the value of 4 + 9?
Hint It is about time you have known the answer.
Answer 1.
The solution is to add both numbers in the sense of hours, for the first number being the
time in AM, and the second number being the number of hours added. The result is the
time in PM.
For the hint, "It is ABOUT TIME you have known the answer."
Pete’sa Pete’s Pizza Prices
Pete'sa Pete lists prices for his extra toppings in pairs. How much does each topping cost
by itself? Each price is whole-dollar increments.
Pineapple & Hot Peppers $7
Broccoli & Extra Cheese $6
Mushrooms & Onions $2
Black Olives & Hot Peppers $5
Pepperoni & Mushrooms $4
Onions & Black Olives $3
Extra Cheese & Mushrooms $5
Answer From the list above and the note about only whole-dollar amounts we note that if
Mushrooms & Onions are $2 together they must be $1 each. From there it is simple math
to figure out the following.
Onions $1
Mushrooms $1
Pepperoni $3
Black Olives $2
Extra Cheese $4
Broccoli $2
Hot Peppers $3
Pineapple $4
Line Drawings
We all know and love those drawing puzzles in which you have to draw a symbol without
retracing or lifting your pencil. The quickest way to check if a symbol can be drawn with
such restrictions is to count the vertices in which an odd number of line segments meet.
If there are more than three vertices in which this occurs, the symbol cannot be drawn.
Can a symbol have only one vertex in which this occurs?
Hint Odds and ends
Answer It cannot.
There must be an even amount of vertices in which this occurs, as these signify the
ends of a line segment. It cannot have only one, as a line segment with one ending
does not exist.
Hospital Ward
There were 100 patients in a road trauma hospital. Some of the patients had only one leg.
Half the rest had no legs. In total how many legs did the 100 patients have?
Answer 100. The group with one leg each averages one leg per person. The rest are
split into 2 equal groups. One group has no legs, so the other group must have 2 legs
each, meaning these 2 groups average one leg per patient. Therefore, overall, the
average is one leg per patient, therefore there is a total of 100 legs.
Pass the Candy
A group of 9 friends have a package of 40 W&W's chocolate candies to share. They each,
one at a time, take a prime number of W&W's to eat. After that, the bag is empty. Exactly
four of the friends took a number of W&W's that had previously been taken by someone
else. Of the group, the number of people who took exactly 5 is twice the number of
people who wear glasses.
Without any regard to the order in which they were taken, what individual quantities of
W&W's were taken?
Hint Even though no information is given about how many people are wearing glasses,
the last statement is actually completely relevant, and in fact crucial! What does it tell
you about the number of people who took 5 pieces?
Answer 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 5, 5, 7, 11
There is only one way that any number 13 or greater can be included:
{2,2,2,3,3,3,5,7,13}. This would be a valid solution, but... We know that an even number
of people must have taken 5 W&W's, because it is twice the number that wear glasses.
This leaves only 5 unique primes (2,3,5,7,11) that can be involved, and we know they all
are used, because there must be exactly 5 different primes (from the fourth sentence in
the teaser). And we know that 5 must be used an even number of times.
So, that gives us {2,3,5,5,7,11} requiring three more primes whose sum is 7. Obviously,
the other three must be {2,2,3}.
Trick: Trick brain teasers appear difficult at first, but they have a trick that
makes them really easy.
Five Petals
Lucy had five flowers with five petals each. She picked at the flowers until there were
only two flowers with all the petals and the other three had only three petals each. How
many petals are there now?
Answer Twenty-five petals
I said all of them which would include those petals she removed. She began with 25
petals and still had 25 petals at the end.
Huh?
What comes after the sun rises, after it sets, but not during the day or night?
Hint Take it literally
Answer A comma!
Candles
There are 10 lit candles on a table. A strong breeze comes and extinguishes 2 of the
candles. When you come back later, you see that 1 more has been blown out.To make
sure no more flames go out, you shut the window. Assuming the wind doesn't extinguish
any more candles and you don't relight the extinguished candles, how many candles do
you have left in the end?
Hint It may seem simple, but look at the category. It wouldn't be a trick teaser if it was
straightforward.
Answer There are 3 candles left in the end. The 7 candles that manage to stay lit will
melt down completely. The only candles that remain in the end are the 3 that are
extinguished by the wind and therefore stay intact.
Strongest Man!
Arthur was walking in the park when he saw his friend, Daniel. He saw that Daniel had
his eyes closed. Arthur asked Daniel if he was OK and Daniel said he was very tired
because he had carried a tree for five miles. Arthur told Daniel he was either a liar or
completely mad! However, Daniel was able to prove he did, in fact, carry a tree for five
miles. How was that possible?
Hint There are many types of trees!
Answer He had carried a Bonsai Tree. Daniel showed the tiny tree to Arthur. It was the
five mile walk that made Daniel tired!
Strange Island
You are touring an island, but it is not any old island. All the residents here are either a
type T or L person.
Type T people ALWAYS tell the truth.
Type L people ALWAYS lie.
Now a person comes up to you and says, "I am a Type L person."
What type of person are they?
It doesn't hurt to take a hard look at yourself from time to time. This little test should help
you get started.
During a visit to a mental asylum, a visitor asked the Director what the criteria is that
defines if a patient should be institutionalized.
"Well," said the Director, "we fill up a bathtub. Then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup, and a
bucket to the patient and ask the patient to empty the bathtub."
Okay, here's your test:
1. Would you use the spoon?
2. Would you use the teacup?
3. Would you use the bucket?
"Oh, I understand," said the visitor. "A normal person would choose the bucket, as it is
larger than the spoon."
What was the director's response?
Answer "No," answered the Director. "A normal person would pull the plug."
So, how did *YOU* do?
Answer A tourist.
A type T could not say that, because he would be lying. A type L couldn't say it, because
he would be telling the truth. So the person couldn't be either. Also, since you are touring
the island, there are probably others too. And a tourist could either lie or tell the truth. In
this case, he would be lying
Band of Brothers
There are seven brothers who are all doing something. Can you figure out what brother
number seven is doing?
Brother number one is reading a book
Brother number two is cooking dinner
Brother number three is playing tennis
Brother number four is doing a Sudoko puzzle
Brother number five is washing clothes
Brother number six is planting vegetables in the garden
What is brother number seven doing?
Hint Look at the activities the other brothers are doing
Answer He is playing tennis! Brother number three cannot play tennis by himself!
Whole and Half
David showed a piece of paper to Kenneth, while covering the top part of it with his
hand. The visible portion below his hand read as follows:
THIRD
FOURTH
FIFTH
SIXTH
SEVENTH
EIGHTH
NINTH
TENTH
David said, "My hand is covering two words, the first two words in this list of ten words.
The list follows a completely and indisputably logical sequence. None of the words are
repeated. I'll bet you $50 that you cannot tell me what those two words on your first try.
You can say the two words in either order." Kenneth could not see any reason not to
accept this wager, and said "First and second" for the easy $50 win. However, after David
moved his hand away, Kenneth realized he had lost, and indeed, there was not even an
argument to be made. What were the two hidden words?
Answer "Whole" and "Half." The obvious idea is that the list is of ordinal numbers.
However, it is actually a list of the names of the inverse fractions of the natural numbers.
That is, 1/1, 1/2, 1/3, etc.
Group Puzzles: These brain teasers rely on your ability to recognize groups of common
attributes. For each of these puzzles you'll need to figure out why the words or letters are
grouped as they are. Sometimes you will be asked to pick the odd-one-out or to place a
new word into the correct group.
Thespian
What is one word that can be added to the following group of four words to create a new
group of four words or phrases with mutual commonality?
“down, left, right, up"
Hint Title is a hint.
Answer "stage" (downstage, stage left, stage right, upstage)
In live theatre and from the actors' view facing the audience;
Downstage is the direction toward the audience, stage left is toward the left of the actors,
stage right is toward the right of the actors, upstage is the direction away from the
audience.
Where Y’a From?
What four different words (of a common group) could you add (one each) to the four
words below to create a new common group?
“back, down, out, up”
Hint Title is a hint.
Answer "back east, down south, out west, up north"
All are common expressions signifying geographical areas of the United States.
"North", "south", "east", & "west" are the four principal points of a magnetic compass.
Your Own Devices
Which word below does not belong in the group?
saw
urge
awed
lop
drew
Answer urge
For all of the other words in the group, each consecutive letter in the word is produced by
an adjoining key on a QWERTY standard English language keyboard.
Compound Confusion 1
Below there are five words. Four of the five words can be paired with one word to create
a compound word, and the left over one is the odd one out. Find the odd one out.
Man
Ball
Mobile
Flower
Flake
Answer "flower". All of the words can be paired with snow:
Language Puzzles: Language brain teasers are those that involve the
English language. You need to think about and manipulate words and letters.
5 Letters, 3 Combinations
What 5 letter word can be rearranged 3 times to get 3 different words each containing 1
more syllable? The word has no duplicates of letters
Hint
First word starts with a A, ends with a S.
Answer
The words are aides (1 syllable), aside (2 syllables), ideas(3 syllables).
Word Defragmentation
For each item below, construct the answer word which has been fragmented, by joining
together its "fragment" words which are smaller words that you must figure out from the
clues provided.
The hint gives the respective number of letters in each "fragment" word, and the number
of letters in each answer word (shown in brackets).
Example: rectangular block + advance/profit Hint: 3 letters + 4 letters (= 7 letters)
Answer: bargain (bar + gain)
1) repair + consumed
2) symbolic piece of cloth + scold
3) rendered inoperable + extreme anger
4) commercial + fair
5) separated/split + turmoil/bustle
6) search systematically + first person singular pronoun + country
Hint
1) 3 letters + 3 letters (= 6 letters)
2) 4 letters + 4 letters (= 8 letters)
3) 5 letters + 4 letters (= 9 letters)
4) 2 letters + 4 letters (= 6 letters)
5) 4 letters + 3 letters (= 7 letters)
6) 4 letters + 1 letter + 6 letters (= 11 letters)
Answer
1) fixate (fix + ate)
2) flagrant (flag + rant)
3) brokerage (broke + rage)
4) adjust (ad + just)
5) tornado (torn + ado)
6) combination (comb + I + nation)
Anagram and Dictionary Puzzles: the letters and word parts are key- great
vocabulary development.
Anagram
Seven letters are we,
Four different words we make..
The first has pictures,
Paintings and such.
The second causes sneezing,
From ragweed or dust.
The third is an adverb,
It's hard to explain
It's the same as immensely
But it's much more plain.
If you can act like a king,
this word you will sing.
These clues are sparse
This riddle may be tough.
But if you keep at it
Then it will be enough.
Answer
Gallery, Allergy, Largely and Regally
A gallery has pictures and paintings
Allergies make you sneeze
Largely is somewhat difficult to describe - it is certainly a synonym for immensely, but
not as strong.
Regally means to act royally, or kingly.
Anagram Dictionary
You are given five words and five definitions. Each of the words can be anagrammed into
a two word phrase that fits one of the definitions. Your task is to assign each definition to
its corresponding word.
Example - cobalt: to hit a feline in a high arc (cat lob)
Words: believe, democracy, favorite, kerosene, rattlesnake
Definitions:
a humorous skit for automobiles
a job that lasts forever
a painful patella
a wicked insect
an impartial election
Answer
believe: a wicked insect (evil bee)
democracy: a humorous skit for automobiles (car comedy)
favorite: an impartial election (fair vote)
kerosene: a painful patella (sore knee)
rattlesnake: a job that lasts forever (eternal task)
Re- Words
In English, "re" is a prefix usually meaning "again", such as in "rebuild" (build again).
However, there are many words starting with "re" which have a totally different meaning
without the "re".
You will be given two definitions, one for a word starting with "re", and one for the
remaining word without the "re" (either definition could be given first).
Example: vehicle wheel / cease employment
Answer: tire / retire
1. newspaper employee / hotel employee
2. one who belongs / bring past event to mind
3. unit of money / not long ago
4. money for the poor / kingdoms
5. income / event location
6. couple / fix
7. arrived at / felt long-term pain
8. at ease / cause sharp pain
Answer
1. reporter / porter
2. member / remember
3. cent / recent
4. alms / realms
5. revenue / venue
6. pair / repair
7. reached / ached
8. resting / sting