Long Riddles in 2023

This is an unusual paragraph. I’m curious as to just how quickly you can find out what is so unusual about it. It looks so ordinary and plain that you would think nothing was wrong with it. In fact, nothing is wrong with it! It is highly unusual though. Study it and think about it, but you still may not find anything odd. But if you work at it a bit, you might find out. Try to do so without any coaching.

I weaken all men for hours each day. I show you strange visions while you are away. I take you by night, by day take you back, None suffer to have me, but do from my lack.

A man who made spears and shields once came to Akbar’s court.

“Your Majesty, nobody can make shields and spears to equal mine,” he said. “My shields are so strong that nothing can pierce them and my spears are so sharp that there’s nothing they cannot pierce.”

“I can prove you wrong on one count certainly,” said Birbal suddenly.

“Impossible!” declared the man.

How Did Birbal Proved him wrong ?

I spend most of my day eating white, but when I am quick enough I get to eat fruit and sometimes some blue things. I’m in a dark room, where the walls are blue, I run from a ghost that roams the halls and haunts me all the time. What am I?

One night, a woman receives a call from the police. They tell her that her husband was murdered, and she should come to the crime scene as soon as possible. The woman drops the phone, shocked, and drives 20 minutes to the crime scene. As soon as she reaches the crime scene, the police arrest her and she is convicted of murder. How do the police know she committed the crime?

I’m the beginning of ideas, since nearly the start of time. I’m a simple object but what you use me for can often be quite frustrating. You can make me beautiful or a complete mess. I can help you solve problems and tell people you love them. I have some of the most valuable things in the world on me, but most people own me. You can use me to make anything. What am I?

A man needs to send important documents to his friend across the country. He buys a suitcase to put the documents in, but he has a problem: the mail system in his country is very corrupt, and he knows that if he doesn’t lock the suitcase, it will be opened by the post office and his documents will be stolen before they reach his friend.

There are lock stores across the country that sell locks with keys. The only problem is that if he locks the suitcase, he has no way to send the key to his friend so that the friend will be able to open the lock: if he doesn’t send the key, then the friend can’t open the lock, and if he puts the key in the suitcase, then the friend won’t be able to get to the key.

The suitcase is designed so that any number of locks can be put on it, but the man figures that putting more than one lock on the suitcase will only compound the problem.

After a few days, however, he figures out how to safely send the documents. He calls his friend who he’s sending the documents to and explains the plan.
What is the man’s plan?

You are standing next to three switches. You know these switches belong to three bulbs in a room behind a closed door – the door is tight closed, and heavy which means that it’s absolutely impossible to see if any bulb is on or not. All three switches are now in position off.

You can do whatever you want with the switches and when you are finished you open the door and go into the room. While in there you have to tell which switch belongs to which bulb.

How will you do that?

I dig out tiny caves, and store gold and silver in them.
I also build bridges of silver and make crowns of gold.
They are the smallest you could imagine.
Sooner or later everybody needs my help,
yet many people are afraid to let me help them.

What am I?

In a one-story house at the corner of the road, the bedrooms were yellow, the kitchen was orange, the living room was red, the garage was blue, the entry hall was green and the sitting room was purple. What color were the stairs?

A father told his three sons he would die soon and he needed to decide which one of them to give his property to. He said, “Go to the market and buy something that is large enough to fill my bedroom, but small enough to fit in your pocket. From this, I will decide which of you is the wisest and worthy enough to inherit my land.” They all went to the market, and each came back with a different item. The father told his sons to come into his bedroom one at a time and try to fill up his bedroom with their item. The first son came in and put some pieces of cloth he bought and laid them across the room, but it barely covered the floor. The second son came in and laid some hay on the floor, but there was only enough to cover half the floor. The third son came in and showed his father what he bought. He wound up getting the property. What did the third son show his father?

A girl says this to her best friend: “I was born in 1955, and I celebrated my 17th birthday last weekend.” Her best friend thinks she’s lying, but she’s actually correct. How is that possible?

What does man love more than life, and hate more than death or mortal strife; that which satisfied men want; the poor have, and the rich require; the miser spends, the spendthrift saves, and all men carry to their graves?

In a cave there is a treasure within a big metal box with a lock on it. There is also a monster in the cave that has two keys with him; one gold and the other silver. The monster will give you only one chance to open the lock using one of the keys. If the box doesn’t open, the monster will kill you. Since the monster is a bit helpful it would give you a clue in finding out the correct key. Can you choose the correct key by deciphering the below clue?

A GKOY OEPD LYEO DCNO EAAR NNN

A homicide team enters a crime scene where a dead body of a fat old man lies there on the floor with blood oozing out of his head. The victim is holding a gun and a tape recorder lies there by his side. One of the detective picks up the recorder and plays it “I am tired of this life and hence I have decided to relieve myself from the worldly pains”. A gunshot follows the message.

The teams starts investigating a murder investigation.

Why?

A young peasant wanted to marry the king’s daughter. The king didn’t like the idea of his daughter marrying a peasant, but he wanted to appear fair in front of his subjects. The king said that he would put two pieces of paper into a hat, one reading “exile” and the other reading “marriage”. Later that day, the peasant overheard the king saying that both pieces of paper would read “exile”, thus ensuring that the peasant would be out of his way for good. The peasant remained undaunted and, as arranged, arrived at the king’s court where a large crown gathered for the big event. The peasant then did something that assured him the hand of the king’s daughter. What did he do?

Once upon a time, in the West Lake village, a servant lived with his master. After service of about 30 years, his master became ill and was going to die.

One day, the master called his servant and asked him for a wish. It could be any wish but just one. The master gave him one day to think about it. The servant became very happy and went to his mother for discussion about the wish. His mother was blind and she asked her son for making a wish for her eye-sight to come back. Then the servant went to his wife. She became very excited and asked for a son as they were childless for many years. After that, the servant went to his father who wanted to be rich and so he asked his son to wish for a lot of money. The next day he went to his master and made one wish through which all the three (mother, father, wife) got what they wanted. You have to tell what the servant asked the master.

There’s a girl who has a large family. She has an equal amount of brothers and sisters, but each brother only has half as many brothers and sisters. What’s the correct amount of brothers and sisters?

Consider this: Arnold Schwarzenegger has a big one. Michael J. Fox has a small one. Prince doesn’t have one. The Pope has one but never uses it. Bill Clinton has one and uses it all the time. What is it?

A man comes to a small hotel where he wishes to stay for 7 nights. He reaches into his pockets and realizes that he has no money, and the only item he has to offer is a gold chain, which consists of 7 rings connected in a row (not in a loop).

The hotel proprietor tells the man that it will cost 1 ring per night, which will add up to all 7 rings for the 7 nights.

“Ok,” the man says. “I’ll give you all 7 rings right now to pre-pay for my stay.”

“No,” the proprietor says. “I don’t like to be in other people’s debt, so I cannot accept all the rings up front.”

“Alright,” the man responds. “I’ll wait until after the seventh night, and then give you all of the rings.”

“No,” the proprietor says again. “I don’t like to ever be owed anything. You’ll need to make sure you’ve paid me the exact correct amount after each night.”

The man thinks for a minute, and then says “I’ll just cut each of my rings off of the chain, and then give you one each night.”

“I do not want cut rings,” the proprietor says. “However, I’m willing to let you cut one of the rings if you must.”

The man thinks for a few minutes and then figures out a way to abide by the proprietor’s rules and stay the 7 nights in the hotel. What is his plan?