10 Tricky Riddles To Sharpen Your Brain

Do you remember the last time you solved a tricky riddle? Wasn’t it fun and enjoyable? Riddles are not just meant for kids. Adults can solve riddles for a great solo pastime or a fantastic family time. 

Solving puzzles or riddles is a wonderful way to keep your brain sharp even in old age. Brain studies show that solving tricky puzzles triggers the growth of the new brain connections. improves short-term memory, increases the speed of processing information, improves problem-solving skills, IQ score, and lowers stress levels. 

I think there are plenty of reasons why you should not compromise on solving riddles irrespective of your age. 
Are you ready to rack your brain? 

Here Are 10 Tricky Riddles That Will Make Your Brain Strain 

1. The Bat And Ball Riddle

The total cost price of bat and ball together is $1.10. The bat costs $1 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?

Solution:

The ball costs 5 cents. 

If the ball costs 5 cents and a bat that costs $1.05, that sums to the total cost price $1.10.

Also, $1.05 is exactly  $1 more expensive than 5 cents. 

Related: Brain Test: Can You Make A Square By Moving Only One MatchStick

2. The Lily Pad Patch Size Problem

The patch of lily pads in a lake doubles in size every day. It takes 48 days for the patch to cover the entire lake. So, how long would it take for the patch to cover half the lake?

Solution:

The lily pads would cover half the lake in 47 days. 

Since the lily pads double in size every day it would only take one day to cover half the lake in comparison to fully covering it. So, 48-1 = 47.

 3. The 7 Candles Tricky Riddle

A big round cake has 7 candles placed on its edges in a circle. You need to blow out all of the 7 candles. But there are certain rules. 

Once you blow a candle, the candles near it will also be extinguished. When you blow again on the extinguished candle, it will reignite. Blowing on a candle means, it will go from lit to unlit, and vice versa (as well as the candles on either side). 

Please remember that blowing on the same candle twice is equivalent to not blowing at all. On the other hand, if you blow on the same candle thrice, it is the same as blowing on it once. 

How can you extinguish all of the candles with the fewest blows?

Solution:

You can extinguish all of the candles with 7 blows. 

Start from the first candle, then blow on each candle one by one continuing around the circle. In doing so you will relight several candles. But eventually, candles will be extinguished by an adjacent blow. 

Related: What Is The Biggest Possible Number You Can Make By Moving Only 2 Matches?

4. Apples And Oranges Brain Teaser

You have three boxes. 

The first box contains – only oranges.
The second box contains – only apples 
The third box contains – both apples and oranges

Sadly, all 3 boxes are labelled wrong, so you have to fix them. But, you can’t peek inside any of the boxes! You can ask for a sample from any box to know what is inside it.

What is the minimum number of samples that you need to ask in order to label all the boxes correctly?

Solution: 

The minimum number of samples that you need to ask to label the boxes correctly is just one. 

Ask a sample from the box labelled as “apples and oranges”

Say you got an apple. The box may contain only apples or both apples and oranges. 

Please remember that the label is wrong. So, the box contains only apples. 

Moving to the box labelled as “oranges”, since the labels are wrong and you know that the previous box contains only apples, this box must have both apples and oranges. And surely the last box contains only oranges. Therefore, all you need is just one sample to solve the riddle. 

5. Can You Open The Lock?

Solution 

You can open the lock with code – 042

6. The Hourglass Tricky Riddle

There are 2 hourglasses in front of you. One hourglass measures 7 minutes, the other one measures 4 minutes. How do you time 9 minutes by using only these 2 hourglasses?

Solution:

Let both hourglasses start at the same time. As the four-minute hourglass runs out, turn it over to start again (4 minutes have already elapsed). 

Now let the 7-minute hourglass run out, turn it over to start again (7 minutes total have already elapsed).

When the 4-minute hourglass runs out for the second time, a total of 8 minutes has elapsed. 

At this time, the 7-minute hourglass now has sand at the bottom for 1 minute. 

Now turn the 7- 7-minute hourglass over again and wait for this 1 minute to run out. Once the hourglass runs out, 9 minutes will have elapsed. 

Related: Which Entrance Scares You Most? Your Choice Reveals What You Are Looking For In Life: Quiz

7. One Light And 3 Switches

There is one lightbulb inside the closet, which is closed. You can’t see if the light is on or off through the door. All you know is that the light is off from the start. There are 3 light switches outside the closet and one of the switches controls the lightbulb. You are allowed to flip the switches in whatever way you want, but once you open the door, you are not allowed to touch the switches anymore.

Which switch controls the light?

Solution:

1. Flip switch number 1 and wait for few minutes before you flip it back to its original position. 
2. Then flip the second switch.
3. Open the door and check if the light is on. 
4. If the light is on, then switch number 2 controls the lights. If the light is off, gently touch the bulb with your hands. If it’s hot, then switch number 1 controls the light. 
5. And if the bulb is cold then, switch number 3 (the one you didn’t touch) controls the light.

8. What Is The Missing Number In Parking Spot?

Solution: 

87

The trick is to reverse the Image and See. When you do like that you can see the numbers follow an ordered pattern.

9. In 1990 A Person Is 15 Years Old Riddle

In 1990, a person is 15 years old. In 1995, that same person is 10 years old. How can this be?

Solution:

The person was born in 2005 BC.

So, now if you calculate he was 5 years old in 2000 B.C (Before Christ), 10 years old in 1995 B.C, and 15 years old in 1990 B.C. 

Related: Who Dies if ‘E’ Pushes The Stone? Brain Test

10. Clock In The Mirror Riddle

A boy is getting ready to go to school. Before leaving home, he looks at the clock in the mirror. The clock has no number indication and for this reason, the boy makes a mistake in interpreting the time (mirror-image). He assumed that clock must be out of order, the boy cycles to school, where he arrives after twenty minutes. At that moment the clock at school shows a time that is two and a half hours later than the time that the boy saw on the clock at home.

At what time did he reach school?

Solution:

The boy reaches school at twenty-five minutes past seven!

The difference between the real-time and the mirror image is = 2 hours 30minutes – 20 minutes of cycling  = 2 hours 10 minutes.

Therefore, the original time on the clock at home that morning could only have been five minutes past seven, which is (4:55 in the mirror).

Because the difference between these clocks is exactly 2 hours and ten minutes (note that also five minutes past one can be mirrored in a similar way, but this is not in the morning!). 

Conclusion: The boy reaches school at five minutes past seven-plus twenty minutes of cycling, which is twenty-five minutes past seven!

Happy to be riddled? Which tricky riddle did you like the most?

Share your experience in the comments.