Riddles....

Well, why not? Since we're so good at posting FF7 and FFX fiddles, why not just plain riddles?

Same rules apply to this thread as the others, meaning, the person who guesses the riddle correctly (confirmed by the asker of the riddle) gets to choose a riddle of their own. If they do not wish to propose a riddle, they may simply say "pass". Have at it!

To start us off, here we go.

(I got this straight from the IQ challenge test). Jane is both 50th best and 50th worst in her class. How many people in her class?

50?

42.

100....

99, of course.

Not 50 (that would mean she is the 50th best but not worst)
Not 42 (the answer to life the universe and everything)
Not 100.

Yes, 99 Rainecloud. Your go.

Okay.

You approach two talking doors. One door leads to the City of Truth, while the other door leads to the City of Liars. You do not know which door is which. They are both identical in appearance. You are able to ask only one question to one of the doors in order to determine which door is which (you can choose which door to ask). The door that leads to the City of Liars always speaks lies, while the door that leads to the City of Truth always speaks the truth. You want to go to the City of Truth. What question do you ask to determine which door leads to the City of Truth?

If you're a classic movie fan, you'll know the answer to this one.

I know, but wont answer quite straight forward.

?Que puerta usted escoge?

Ask either door which way the other door would tell you to go, and then go the opposite way.

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Originally Posted by I Took the Red Pill

Ask either door which way the other door would tell you to go, and then go the opposite way.

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Well done. I love that riddle.

I had to rewatch the scene from Labyrinth to see if you were correct.

I'm pretty sure that is a possible answer.

A: You ask the door of truth which door would the other door say is the door to the land of Truth
The door of truth would point to the door of lies, because he knows it would lie.

B: You ask the door of lies which door would the other door say is the door to the land of truth.
The door would lie and tell them the door of truth would tell them to go into the door of lies.

Both doors point to one of the doors, the wrong one, so they go in the opposite one. I'm not saying it's the only solution but definitely a solution. :p Unless I've missed something, which I'm pretty sure I didn't.

edit: Wtf, I could've sworn you said he was incorrect. Did you? D:

He said it was interesting, as he had to go and check.

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Wtf, I could've sworn you said he was incorrect. Did you? D:

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I misread his reply, and then went off to check. =/

In the following code, each symbol stands for one of five letters.

) stands for T, E, S, A, or L
< stands for F, E, C, R, or P
> stands for E, R, L, K, or S
[ stands for F, S, E, D, or R
] stands for W, M, J, U, or Y
( stands for N, A, H, O, or B

The six letter code word, <([])>, can be translated into two English words that are opposites. What are the two words?

Teldub and budlet. LoLzOrDs.

Oh, nice riddle! Never seen it before.

The answer is schpoilerCasual and formal

Next Riddle:

One day, you woke up in a place you havent seen before. There, you saw three rooms, all bring you to the exit. But, on the doors to those rooms, there were notes. It said: 1: room is filled with poison gas 2: room has more than 15 lions that havent eaten for 5 years 3: room is fiiled with snipers that would kill anyone who steps in You have no other choice, but to choose one of the three. Which room would be the way that could get you out without being harmed?

(SPOILER)The poison gas one if you hold your breath? Or possibly the door that did not have a note on it? If one note said all three of the said warnings.

Good one, I'm not sure if I have this figured out but,

(SPOILER)Maybe open door 3 and then door 2, and stand back while the hungry lions go for the snipers they see as food, getting them shot by the snipers in the process. Then walk through door 2.

That was a total guess, so it's likely to be wrong.

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Originally Posted by Rainecloud

Okay.

You approach two talking doors. One door leads to the City of Truth, while the other door leads to the City of Liars. You do not know which door is which. They are both identical in appearance. You are able to ask only one question to one of the doors in order to determine which door is which (you can choose which door to ask). The door that leads to the City of Liars always speaks lies, while the door that leads to the City of Truth always speaks the truth. You want to go to the City of Truth. What question do you ask to determine which door leads to the City of Truth?

If you're a classic movie fan, you'll know the answer to this one.

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That movie always pissed me off, because there's an easier way to find this out. Simply ask either door if it's a door. If the door says "No" then it's the Door of Lies.

EDIT: I think the answer to Lev's is go through the door with the lions. If they haven't eaten in five years, they're dead.

Foam bath is correct, the lions are dead. Now you make one, honey.

I kick ass!

I'm better than God and worse than the Devil. Dead people eat me everyday and Live people who eat me die slow. What am I?

lol. tht was funny.

I'm pretty sure the answer is (SPOILER)nothing.

If that's right someone else can post one.

You are correct. Anyone who has a riddle may go next.

This is more of a joke, so there's a riddle below it.

A man really like three different women, and is considering marrying one of them. So, he gives them all $1000 and tells them to spend it.

The first one spends it on a makeover and tells him it's because she wanted to look good for him.

The second one spends it on a makeover for him and says that he deserves a good look.

The third one invests the money and makes over $15,000 on the booming stock market and gives it back saying, she invested the money for him.

Being a guy, he thinks long and hard about his decision. Finally he makes a choice. Who was it?


Actual Riddle now:

Two people were on the stand were asked if they saw what happened on the night of a murder. There was the man accused, the man accusing.

Testimony of the first: "It was freezing outside. So cold that there was ice on my glasses that I had to break off. I got to my door when I heard a noise. I opened it to the warm air of the house and saw the door and saw that man right there (points to the accused) in plain sight. He had a gun in his hand, blood on his shirt, and was standing right over the dead body. I got a real good look at him when he ran away."

Testimony of the second: "I did have a gun in my hand, I did have blood on my shirt, and I was standing over the dead body. Then that man (points to accusing) jumped right out in front of me and scared me, so I ran away. But I didn't do it."

Now, it may not be possible to prove one right, but it is definitely possible to prove one is lying. Who is it and why?

The accuser's probably lying, because after coming inside from such a cold day his glasses were likely to have fogged up, preventing him from seeing the accused clearly. So his claim to have "got a real good look at him when he ran away" is false.

Very good. And the answer to the joke above is "He chose the woman with the biggest boobs."

Thanks :)

Who killed one-fourth of mankind?

Cain. Killed Abel.

That's not true. There were other people in the Bible than Cain, Abel, Adam, and Eve. The first woman (other than Eve) mentioned is Cain's wife (unnamed), but there were clearly other people out there.

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Originally Posted by My_car_is_faster_than_you

Cain. Killed Abel.

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Originally Posted by abrojtm

That's not true. There were other people in the Bible than Cain, Abel, Adam, and Eve. The first woman (other than Eve) mentioned is Cain's wife (unnamed), but there were clearly other people out there.

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Fine, but the answer I was given was Cain, so I'm accepting it. My_car's turn.

;)

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Originally Posted by Rainecloud

Okay.

You approach two talking doors. One door leads to the City of Truth, while the other door leads to the City of Liars. You do not know which door is which. They are both identical in appearance. You are able to ask only one question to one of the doors in order to determine which door is which (you can choose which door to ask). The door that leads to the City of Liars always speaks lies, while the door that leads to the City of Truth always speaks the truth. You want to go to the City of Truth. What question do you ask to determine which door leads to the City of Truth?

If you're a classic movie fan, you'll know the answer to this one.

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That reminds me of a forest with different coloured flowers in Shadow Hearts: Covenant.

I have a super hard riddle posted underneath this one. It's there if anyone wants to answer it. But for the sake of keeping the riddles coming, I posted a slightly easier one to be answered. If someone answers below, then you post the next riddle.

There were three things on a table, and there were 4 people. They each got 1 thing, how did this happen?






Hard Riddle 10 straight-jacketed prisoners are on death row. Tomorrow they will be arranged in single file, all facing one direction. The guy in the front of the line (he can't see anything in front of him) will be called the 1st guy, and the guy in the back of the line (he can see the heads of the other nine people) will be called the 10th guy. An executioner will then put a hat on everyone's head; the hat will either be black or white, totally random. Prisoners cannot see the color of their own hat. The executioner then goes to the 10th guy and asks him what color hat he is wearing; the prisoner can respond with either "black" or "white". If what he says matches the color of the hat he's wearing, he will live. Else, he dies. The executioner then proceeds to the 9th guy, and asks the same question, then asks the 8th guy ... this continues until all of the prisoners have been queried.

This is the night before the execution. The prisoners are allowed to get together to discuss a plan for maximizing the number of lives saved tomorrow. What is the optimal plan?

Hint: Guaranteed that 9 survive.

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Originally Posted by My_car_is_faster_than_you

Hard Riddle 10 straight-jacketed prisoners are on death row. Tomorrow they will be arranged in single file, all facing one direction. The guy in the front of the line (he can't see anything in front of him) will be called the 1st guy, and the guy in the back of the line (he can see the heads of the other nine people) will be called the 10th guy. An executioner will then put a hat on everyone's head; the hat will either be black or white, totally random. Prisoners cannot see the color of their own hat. The executioner then goes to the 10th guy and asks him what color hat he is wearing; the prisoner can respond with either "black" or "white". If what he says matches the color of the hat he's wearing, he will live. Else, he dies. The executioner then proceeds to the 9th guy, and asks the same question, then asks the 8th guy ... this continues until all of the prisoners have been queried.

This is the night before the execution. The prisoners are allowed to get together to discuss a plan for maximizing the number of lives saved tomorrow. What is the optimal plan?

Hint: Guaranteed that 9 survive.

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I'm working under the assumption that the only sources of information available to each prisoner are 1) Seeing the hats of the people in front of him in line, and 2) The answers of the people behind him in line. And possibly 3) The knowledge of whether the person behind him in line has died or not, after answering.

1) Given that the hats are "totally random", seeing the colors of the hats in front of you doesn't give you any help as to what color YOUR hat is. No information is imparted.

2) By extension, given that 9 out of 10 people have to say the correct colors of their OWN hats, and given that their hats are "totally random", that means that 9/10 people are going to say an answer that is totally random, from the perspective of all other people in line. That means the prisoners are precluded from imparting any information to the people in front of them by way of their own answers, i.e. their answers will be as "totally random" as each of their individual hats.

3) Given that 9/10 people survive, their life / death will impart no information to the people in front of them. Each will live regardless of whether the hat on his head is white or black.

That leaves everything to the 10th person in line; since he's assumed to die anyways, he's free to use any means to communicate with people in front of him. i.e. his answer is the only one that's variable. So what means of imparting information are available to the 10th person?

The 10th person in line has no control over his own death, because as I said, it's a 50/50 chance for him. So this leaves him with one bit of information: he can say either black or white. It's impossible to impart 9 yes/no answers to the people in front of him, via one bit of information.

I think the riddle is stated incorrectly, unless I'm missing something. I see two ways this riddle could work:

1) There is more starting information for the prisoners. Do they perhaps know beforehand how many hats of each color there are?

2) There is another method of imparting information, i.e. I'm either missing something or the prisoners break the rules (*cough" before answering means "The guy's hat in front of me is black"). The latter is not a very satisfying answer to the riddle.

Amazingly enough, you don't need any more information than is stated to solve this riddle, and the only thing that the guys can say is black or white. Like it states in the title, it's very difficult, but good observations.

Does anyone know the answer to the items riddle?

Probably not right but:

1 cough black 2 coughs white(or vice-versa). They cough before they're shot so the person in front can guess right.

EG: (9 = white.)

10:*guessing* "cough... black cough"
he coughs 2 times so 9 knows he's white. That way at least 9 people would survive.

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Probably not right but:

1 cough black 2 coughs white(or vice-versa). They cough before they're shot so the person in front can guess right.

EG: (9 = white.)

10:*guessing* "cough... black cough"
he coughs 2 times so 9 knows he's white. That way at least 9 people would survive.

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yeh but the first dude that has nobody in front of him cud probly see what colour was goin on.....

M&M's No.1 Fan is on the right track, but you can't cough during asking time.

Hint: The actual survival rate of everyone is 95%, but it's guaranteed to allow 90% to survive.

Each prisoner can see the hat of the person in front of them? Well, the tenth prisoner ahs a 50/50 shot at dying because no one can see his hat, but the best plan to work out would be to say the color or the opposite of the color of the person in front of you's hat. But then that doesn't make sense either. I don't know. Hmm.

Then there could be something like, kick the left heel of the person in front of you for black, and kick the right heel of the person in front of you for white, or visa versa.

Well, something of the like, it seems to make sense to me. Also, it would be possible to pull this sort of thing off without attracting the attention of the guard, or executioner.

Well, good guess, but assume you can only say "black" or "white" during examination time.

No. 10 says the colour of the hat in front of him. There is a chance he has the same colour hat.
No. 9 then says what 10 said. BUT, if the colour of No. 8's hat is the same he says "Whiiite." or "Blaaack." As if he was thinking as he was saying it.
No. 8 then says what 9 said, if 9 said "Whiiiite" or "Blaaack". If the colour of the hat in front is not the same colour as yours, you just say "White." or "Black." and the person in front knows that they should say the opposite.

It may not be what you're thinking, but it works with a guaranteed 90% living, and possible 100%.
I'd prefer it if they all died however.

That or "They can see the hat as it goes on their heads lolololololololololol"

Riddles aren't like that, though. Most riddles are fairly easy things to figure out if you're logical. Answers aren't hidden, aren't varying, and are generally pretty equitable if you're a decently functioning human being. So it doesn't follow that using a variant in the way you commmunicate would be the answer. My_car etc. has already said that one can't cough while they're speaking, so why would they be able to stretch their words?

The more I think on it, the more I believe this is a joke or a bad riddle. Not because I can't deduce it, but because I can't see how it could be dedeuced.

I looked up the answer. Neat.

I guess no one wanted to answer the table riddle. Well, I'll post this answer tomorrow.

Pfffrt....my answer works...

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There were three things on a table, and there were 4 people. They each got 1 thing, how did this happen?

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The last person took the table?

hey....how many hoods wre there.....like 5 white and 5 black....???
if threr was wouldnt he jus be able to say...huh.....5 blacks...that mus leave me with a white or somehtin...and then the rest of my answer is like m&m......

There are an infinite amount of hoods/hats. It is very possible to have 10 blacks hats or 10 white hats.

Well, for it to work the tenth prisoner has to pass along information about the whole line, but only in a "true or false" kind of way. Something like "there are more black hats than white hats in front of me, so I say black", but not just that because, well, it doesn't work from what I can see.

Seeing as the other 9 prisoners don't have a choice of answer if they want to live (which they will have to if the riddle should solve), the information these prisoners use to gain their hat colour must be puzzled together from all the previous answers, not just the one most recent.

So, there's (probably) the way to go about, when the key is found (what the tenth prisoner will inform the others about). :)

Answer is below.

10 hats for 10 prisoners: The key here is the code that the 10th person will use to communicate with the other prisoners. Since he sees 9 of the 10 hats, there will be an odd number of one color. He will say the color that is odd as his guess when the guard asks him. That is his communication to the prisoners that there are an odd amount of black hats in the group. He has no way of knowning what his hat is, so he will have to use his answer to communicate to the others. If he sees an even amount of Black hats in front of him and an odd about of White hats, he’ll say “White” as his answer. That tells person number 9 that there are an odd amount of white hats, so if he sees an even amount of White hats, he knows he’s got a White hat. If he sees an odd amount of White hats, he knows that his must be Black. Say he has a Black hat, so he guesses Black.

Observe:
10 = “Black” because an odd amount of black hats are in front of him. 9B, 8B, 7W, 6B, 5W, 4W, 3W, 2B, 1B.

9 = Will see that there are 4 black hats in front of him, so he must logically be Black if 10 said Black (constituting the odd number of hats). He says Black.

8 = knows 9 is right and sees an odd amount of hats in front of him. He deduces that because there were an odd amount of Black hats to begin with and that he sees an odd number of hats in front of him, he too must be Black.

7 = knows that White was the even number and sees 3 hats in front of him. He must be White.

6 = Keeping track, Black was odd, and 2 prisoners were Black, so that equals an odd number remaining. Since he sees an even amount of hats, he knows he’s Black.

So on and so forth.

Then only thing you have to hope for is that the 10th person doesn’t have a grudge against the other 9.

Now it's your turn for another riddle.

Wow, that was a complicated system. I was thinking you could just say your color loudly for person in front of you=black and softly for person in front of you=white.

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Originally Posted by I Took the Red Pill

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There were three things on a table, and there were 4 people. They each got 1 thing, how did this happen?

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The last person took the table?

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Agreed.

Yep, there's multiple ways to do that one, really.

Anyway:

One morning a man is leaving on business trip and finds he left some paperwork at his office. He runs into his office to get it and the night watchman stops him and says, "Sir, don't get on the plane. I had a dream last night that the plane would crash and everyone would die!" The man takes his word and cancels his trip. Sure enough, the plane crashes and everyone dies. The next morning the man gives the watchman a $1,000 reward for saving his life and then fires him. Why did he fire the watchman that saved his life?

You might have to read this one twice...

He was sleeping on the job.

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Originally Posted by Decessus

He was sleeping on the job.

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I'd agree, because he said "I had a dream last night." and he is the Night watchman

Nice work, detectives. Your turn.

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 champane bubble.
If you sqeeze me, I'll pop.
If you look at me, you'll pop.
Can you guess the riddle?

The sun?

Incorrect.

Air? Or wind...something like that

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Originally Posted by Decessus

Incorrect.

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Is the answer 'No'?

I wanna say bubbles cause the last line. You squeeze a bubble and it will pop but if you look at it, you'll pop. like your reflections goes pop. but i dunno how that works with the rest of the riddle. :love: :choc2:

This should be easy:

A precious gift this
Yet it has no end or beginning
And in the middle nothing

What am I?

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Originally Posted by Rusty

Is the answer 'No'?

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That was the right answer.

The last line of the riddle is 'Can you guess the riddle?' You just have to say no.

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97% of Harvard graduates can not figure this riddle out, but 84% of kindergarten students were able to figure this out in 6 minutes or less.

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As for the other riddle, I'll say a ring or something.

Yea, probably a ring.

Correct. ^_^ Ring is the correct answer. :D

Ok, NEXT.

It flies without wings
Drops without fear
But held in warm hands
It will soon disappear

What is it?

Bubbles.

Nope, though I guess it makes sense.

A snowflake! :love: :choc2:

If someone solves a riddle, shouldn't they get to post the next one?

^ is right.

Yes Quin. Whomever solves the last riddle gets to ask the next riddle. Please don't have multiple riddles going at the same time, and please don't take anyone else's turn.

Well, I'll add a riddle then.

I have a beginning, but no end
I can bring down the mightiest warrior,
or the smallest insect.
I nuture the young and kill them afterwards
No one can kill me
No one can escape me
No one can outlast me
Even the mighty pyramids wont stand against me
I am never ending and bring an end to life, yet few fear me.

What's the answer?

Death?

Time

And I have no riddles, so if this is right... move on without me xD

Awww, that went quick. Time is right. :love: :kaocheer: :kaobeg:

My turn!

What can you put in a barrel to make it lighter?

A hole.

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Originally Posted by Shiny

A hole.

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Yeah, pretty much. Have at it, Shiny.

I am the black child of a white father, a wingless bird, flying even to the clouds of heaven. I give birth to tears of mourning in pupils that meet me, even though there is no cause for grief, and at once on my birth I am dissolved into air. What am I?

Smoke?

Is black and cigarettes? are white. Or embers too. Smoke has no wings. Smoke amkes you cry because it hurts your eyes. Then it disappears.

Noooo-yes. The correct answer is smoke.

What's wet, slimy, organic, and goes 160 km/h?

I could make a joke about another member here, but it won't.

It's actually been proven that sneezes don't go that fast.

Your go abrojtm. I was just going by the first thing I saw on a google search for "sneeze speeds".

Here's a pretty common one (but don't look it up).
I have rivers but no water
Forests but no trees
And roads but no cars.
What am I?

A map? I dunno, it's just a guess.

Yea

What beloved snack has enough calorie power that, if used all in propulsion, can launch it's mass to the moon?

Sorry adbortjm, you can have another go at a riddle. I'll stop answering everything.

(Is that an actual riddle?)

A man is at home minding his own business when he sees a thief running towards him. He looks to his friends, but to no avail, because the thief is already on his way there to steal again. When all is said and done, the man calls for help, but when the officials arrive the thief incurs no penalty. What happened here?

A twinkie! :love:

The man himself was the thief...?

Nope.

He didnt actually take anything?

The thief cuts himself on broken glass and sues them?

The Theif escaped - duh!

*slaps forehead*

D'OH

Well I am not sure. Cause he is technically alleged theif until he is caught and convicted! So lets see what the mystic broom has to say!

None of these.

I'll say the "thief" is actually a dog or some other animal. And since animals cannot be charged for human crimes, including theft, the dog would not incur any charges.

Oh [img]/xxx.gif[/img][img]/xxx.gif[/img][img]/xxx.gif[/img][img]/xxx.gif[/img]. They are playing baseball. He stole home again. His friends are other players. There is not penalties for stealing home.

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Originally Posted by bipper

Oh ****. They are playing baseball. He stole home again. His friends are other players. There is not penalties for stealing home.

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Yeah. That. I'm changing my answer to that. >_>;;

Makes sense.

Baseball! Very good!
The catcher is at Home plate when he sees a runner coming to steal home. He looks to the other players (for the ball), but to no avail, because the runner is already on his way home. When all is said and done (the catcher has the ball), the man calls for help (the umpire), but when the officials arrive the thief incurs no penalty (the umpire calls him safe). What happened here?

This one is rather easy, but I love it:

Four men sat down to play,
They played all night 'till break of day.
They played for gold and not for fun
With separate scores for everyone.
When they came to square accounts,
They all had made quite fair amounts.
Can you the paradox explain,
If no one lost, how could all gain?

...Were they on the stock market (lol)?

no, but 1 point for great creative answer lol

they weren't playing each other?

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Originally Posted by Eminem's_No.1_Fan

they weren't playing each other?

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no you sick little man!

Lawl. Were they in the Olympics, all going for the gold medal? When they finished, they all had awards?

Were they playing music? I'm lost...

Was there a fifth man not mentioned?

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo i gonna give one :-)

Although I am far from the point
I don't make mistakes
I fix yours

Really easy

BizarroSephiroth, you have to solve a riddle before you can put a riddle into play.

Oh!!! I just read the riddle again and think I have it! They were a quartet on the side of the road. The scores are what threw me off, but then I realized that it was referring to scores of music. I think...I could be wrong though.

Seems right to me :)

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Originally Posted by oddler

Were they playing music? I'm lost...

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Correct. They were playing music. GOE! NOW!

I heard this way back in like second grade and it's crazy abstract. I'm suprised I figured it out back then.

What walks on four legs at dawn, two legs at twilight, and three legs at sunset?

Probably the most common riddle ever, it's apparently what the Sphinx asked Oedipus.

A man.

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Originally Posted by abrojtm

Probably the most common riddle ever, it's apparently what the Sphinx asked Oedipus.

A man.

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Word. Get to it, abrojtm.

Another riddle to keep our minds spinning.

Three men went into a hotel to rent a room. The desk clerk said they had one upstairs and that it would be 30.00 so each man gave him a 10 dollar bill.

Later the hotel manager came in and the clerk told him that he rented the last room upstairs and got the 30.00 for it. The manager said that he overcharged and the room was only 25.00 so he told him to take 5.00 back up with apologies

The desk clerk got into the elevator with five one dollar bills. On the way up he wondered how he would split 5 dollars between three men. Finally he decided to give them each a dollar back and keep 2 dollars for a tip.

So.... How much did each man originally pay for the room? ans: 10 dollars

The clerk gave them each a dollar back so now how much did each man pay? ans: 9 dollars

Well if 9 times 3 is 27 and the clerks two dollars makes 29 dollars, where is the other dollar to make 30?

9 times three is indeed 27, and that is what the men paid including the clerk's tip. The remaining three is those which are split up between the three men.

It's still abrojtm's turn though, right?

Each man should have paid $8.33.
Taking $2 from all three men is taking $0.66 from each man; $8.33 + $0.66 = $9.
Including this, they have paid $27.
The $3 remaining dollars are given back to them, making the total amount $30.

Yeah, I it's their turn, but me wanted a riddle to go on.

Anyway, yeah. It's all about wording. You can't add to something you don't have.

Yea and I haven't been paying attention.

There's a man that lives on the tenth floor of his apartment building. He only takes the elevator when it's raining. Why does he usually take the steps?

This one is dumb.

He is a dwarf.

OK. Totally confounded with this one.

Yea, he's a dwarf/midget. He only rode the elevator when it rained because he couldn't reach the buttons, but when it rained he took his umbrella and pressed the button with it!

Silently he stalks me
Running as I run
Creeping as I creep
Dressed in black
He disappears at night
Only to return with the sun

What is it?

Shadow, but isn't it o_O's turn?

A whodunnit:

Mr. Jones, a well known, wealthy businessman arrives home from work around 5pm one Saturday afternoon to find a ransom note at his door; "If you want to see your son again, tonight you will bring $250000 to the largest tree in the park and leave it in the bag there."

He immediately calls the police, who begin investigating.
When questioned about everyone who was near his house that day, he replies that his wife had been home during the day as it was her day off.
His neighbour's son had his birthday party as well, which Mr. Jones' son had attended. At the party there had been Bobo the clown to entertain, and the neighbour, but otherwise, no other adults.
He also said that a plumber had been around near 4pm to fix the kitchen sink, as the pipe beneath had sprung a leak.

The policeman began questioning these people and they gave the following accounts:

Mr. Jones' neighbour:
"Yeah, my kid had a party, there were 20 screaming children until about 4, when they started to leave. Most of the kids lived on the same street, so they just walked home.
There was a clown here too, "Bozo", or something like that. I thought he was rubbish; the kids liked him though. He kept making these dumb balloon animals, he'd puff them up making stupid faces. He left around 4:30, as he had to pack up his stuff. I left at around 4:20, to drop off the kids that don't live on our street."

Mr. Jones' wife:
"I didn't even notice, I thought he was still next door. The plumber arrived at 4, and fixed the kitchen sink and then my husband came in waving this ransom note and I fainted. I was out back in the garden for most of the day, which is on the other side of the house to where the party was, so I barely heard them all day."

Bobo the clown:
"The kids were good, they loved my balloon tricks. I don't remember the kid you're talking about though, there were about 50 of them. The guy's other kid is having a party next month, so maybe he'll ask me to come back. I wouldn't mind doing a party for the guy next door though, he lives in a mansion. Must have a ton of dough to waste on clowns."

Plumber:
"I arrived to do some work on their kitchen around 4. It was a pretty easy job, only took about half an hour, but when I was leaving, I heard a bit of a noise next door. The fence was too high for me to see over, but I saw a balloon rise into that big tree, so I climbed up to have a look. I saw a clown muscle a kid into the back of a van and drive off.

The policeman arrested one of these people immediately after taking their account. Who was it, and why?

Either Bobo the clown or the Plumber must be lying, since their stories differentiate. After re-reading them a couple of times I realized that the balloon would not rise up into the tree if the clown had "puffed them up" himself.

The plumber is my answer.

I saw that the first time too (balloon), so it must be the plumber.

Well Jones said there were 20 kids, and the clown said there were like 50!

But I think Jones' neighbor did it. He says my kid had a birthday today, and the clown seems to think he had more than one child.

I am ignoring the balloon thing for now :)

Also, how did Jones know the clown's name?

It was the balloon thing. :p

Ok, this one's kind of easy :p:

How can a woman living in New Jersey, legally marry 3 men, without ever getting a divorce, be widowed, or becoming legally separated?