BRAIN TEASERS

1. From what number can you take away half and get zero?
2. A friend has 5 sons. Each of her sons has one sister. How many children does she have?
3. A doctor has a brother who is a lawyer. But the lawyer does not have a brother. How can this be?
4. What was the biggest ocean in the world before an explorer discovered the Pacific Ocean?
5. A dog is tied to a 15-foot-long leash. How can he reach a bone that is 20 feet away?
6. A farmer has 5 hens, 10 goats and 15 cows. If he decides to call the hens cows, how many cows will he actually have?
7. Something appears once in a minute, twice in a week, and once in a year. What is it?
8. My sister dropped her chain into a cup full of coffee. But the chain did not get wet. How could this be?
9. A plane crashed on the border of India and Nepal. In which country will the survivors be buried?
10. A man got caught in the rain. He did not have an umbrella or a hat and his clothes got completely wet. But not one hair on his head got wet. How is this possible?
11. What is the middle of a stair?
12. Eight flies were troubling me when I was sitting at a table trying to work. I killed three with one swipe at the table. How many flies were left on the table?
13. An electric train was running south at 160 k.m. per hour. The wind was blowing in the opposite direction at 100 km per hour. In what direction will the smoke from the train blow?
14. Acting alone, 2 killer whales take 2 minutes to catch 2 big fish. How long will it take a group of 10 killer whales to catch 10 big fish?
15. You are running a race and at the end of the race, you pass the person in 2nd place. What place did you finish the race in?
16. A bus driver was going down a busy street in the city at a fast trot. He passed 3 STOP signs without stopping, went on the wrong side of the street, and talked to someone on his phone. But the bus driver didn’t break any traffic laws. How can that be?
17. There is a single-storey house. Everything in the house is red, the walls are red, the bathroom is red, the floor is red, kitchen is red, all bedrooms are red, so what colour are the stairs?
18. What word contains all of the 26 letters?
19. I am a slow-moving animal with a hard shell on my back. I love to munch on leafy greens. Who am I?
20. I am a colourful bird with a curved beak. I love to imitate human speech. Who am I?
21. I have black and white stripes and live in Africa. Who am I?
22. I am the tallest land animal in the world. Who am I?
23. When Ram was 8, his brother Sham was half his age. Now Ram is 14, how old is his brother Sham?
24. How many sides does a circle have?
25. Billy’s mother had five children. The first was named Bala, the second was named Bele, the third was named Bili, the fourth was named Lolo. What was the fifth child named?
26. Choose the correct sentence: “The yolk of the egg is white” or “the yolk of the egg is white.”
27. It is as light as air. Yet even the strongest man cannot hold it for more than 5 minutes. What is it?
28. The more there is, the less you see. What is it?
29. You can find it in Mercury, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, but not in Venus or Neptune. What is it?
30. It likes food, but water kills it. What is it?
31. What’s full of holes but can still hold water?
32. Which is heavier, a kilo of feathers or a kilo of rocks?
33. You’re driving a city bus. At the first stop, three women get on. At the second stop, one woman gets off and a man gets on. At the third stop, two children get on. The bus is blue and it’s raining outside in December. What colour is the bus driver’s hair?
34. What travels faster: heat or cold?
35. A farmer has 19 sheep on his land. One day, a big storm hits and all but seven run away. How many sheep does the farmer have left?
36. How many months of the year have 28 days?
37. What has hands and a face, but can’t hold anything or smile?
38. It is yours, but your friends use it more often than you do. What is it?
39. Arun’s mother has three children: Ajana, Rakesh and ___?
40. If you don’t keep me, I’ll break. What am I?
41. There’s only one word in the dictionary that’s spelt wrong. What is it?
42. You are running in a race and close to the end, you pass the person who was second in the race. What place did you finish the race in?
43. I have a tail and a head, but no body. What am I?
44. What 2 things can you never eat for breakfast?
45. Which word becomes shorter when you add 2 letters to it?
46. There are 3 apples in the basket and you take away 2. How many apples do you have now?
47. I am an odd number. Take away a letter and I become even. What number am I?
48. I go all around the world, but never leave the corner. What am I?
49. I can fill a room, but I take up no space. What am I?
50. It’s the only place in the world where today comes before yesterday. Where is it?
51. If I have it, I don’t share it. If I share it, I don’t have it. What is it?
52. What goes away as soon as you talk about it?
53. What can run but cannot walk?
54. What has one eye but still cannot see?
55. Everyone has me but no one can lose me. What am I?
56. What starts with T, ends with T, and has T inside it?
57. I am orange, I wear a green hat and I sound like a parrot. What am I?
58. The English alphabet goes from A to Z but my name goes from Z to A. What am I?
59. What happens once in a minute, twice in a moment but never in one thousand years?
60. What word starts and ends with E but only has one letter?
61. I can only point, yet I guide people all over the world.
62.What can you catch but not throw?
63. What has thirteen hearts, but no other organs?
64.What is easier to get into than out of?
65. Remove my skin and I won’t cry, but you will! What am I?
66. What is always ahead of you but can never be seen?
67. What has legs but cannot walk?
68. What question can you never answer yes to?
69. If you drop me, I will break, but if you smile at me, I will always smile back. What am I?
70. I shave many times a day and still have a beard? What am I?
71. What kind of band never plays music?
72. What breaks the second you say its name?
73. What is made of water, but if you put it into water it vanishes?
74. What has to be broken before you can use it?
75. What has a face and two hands but no arms or legs?
76. Which word is least like the others? Third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth?
77. 1 rabbit saw 9 elephants while going to the river. Every elephant saw 3 monkeys going toward the river. Each monkey had 1 parrot in each hand. How many animals are going towards the river?
78. What can you break, even if you never pick it up or touch it?
79. What goes up but never comes down?
80. What can you keep after giving it to someone?
81. You walk into a dark room holding a matchstick and find a kerosene lamp, a candle, and a fireplace. Which do you light first?
82. What can’t talk but will reply when spoken to?
83. The more of this there is, the less you see. What is it?
84. What gets bigger when more is taken away?
85. What invention allows people to look right through a wall?
86. What goes up and down without moving?
87. Which word is always spelled incorrectly in the dictionary?
88. Three doctors said that Robert was their brother. Robert said he has no brothers. Who’s lying?
89. A girl goes to the store and buys one dozen eggs. As she walks home, all but three break. How many eggs are left unbroken?
90. What five-letter word has one left when two are removed?
91. As I was going to Mumbai, I met a man with seven wives; each wife had seven sacks; each sack had seven cats; each cat had seven kits; kits, cats, sacks, and wives. How many were there going to Mumbai?”
92. I follow you all the time and copy every move of yours, but you can’t touch me or catch me. What am I?
93. What is black when it’s clean and white when it’s dirty?
94. Rahul goes to a shop to buy 10 tomatoes. Unfortunately, on the way back home, all but 9 get ruined. How many tomatoes are left in good condition?
95. Before Mt Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain in the world?
96. You were alone at home and you were asleep when your friends rang the doorbell. They came for breakfast. You have cornflakes, bread, jam, a carton of milk, a bottle of juice. What will you open first?
97. What’s black and white and read all over?
98. What gets bigger the more you take away from it?
99. Kids can make this in a classroom, but can never hold it or see it. What is it?
100. What four-letter word can be written the same forward and backward, as well as upside down?
101. What has to be broken before you can eat it?
102. The more you take as you walk, the more of us you leave behind. What are we?
103. People buy me for eating, but I cannot be eaten. What am I?