Trick Questions
We’ve collected the best trick questions to put your mind to work.
Remember, what makes these tricky is that the obvious answer is usually incorrect. There’s a hidden level of difficulty. You’re forced to think beyond your first solution.
Examples:
- A rancher had 500 cows and took one shot that got them all. How did he do it?
A panoramic photo. - In Nova Scotia, you cannot take a picture of a man with a wooden leg. Why not?
You’d need a camera of some kind. - Tom’s father has five sons: Ten, Twenty, Thirty, Forty, and…guess what would be the name of the fifth?
Tom would be the fifth son.
Best Trick Questions With Answers
1.) 12 blackbirds sat on the branches of a tree. A man shot one blackbird with his gun. How many were left on the tree?
None. The rest flew away.
2.) What was the President’s name in 1992?
The same as it is today.
3.) John’s mother had three children. The first child was named April. The second child was named May. What was the third child’s name?
John
4.) Before Mount Everest was discovered, which was the tallest mountain in the world?
Mount Everest
5.) Imagine falling into a deep hole full of poisonous spiders and snakes. How would you survive?
Stop imagining.
See Good Questions To Ask A Friend.
Good Mind Trick Questions
6.) If you were running a race and passed the person in second place, what place would you be in now?
Second place. (If you passed the person in the first place, you’d be in first.)
7.) A boy kicks a soccer ball. It goes 10 feet and comes back to him. How is this possible?
He kicked it up in the air right above him. Gravity!
8.) A truck driver goes down a one-way street the wrong way and passes at least five police officers. Why is he not caught?
He’s walking on the sidewalk, not driving at the time.
9.) How can you lift an elephant with one hand?
Don’t worry about it, as you won’t find one.
10.) If you had only one match and entered a dark room containing an oil lamp, a newspaper, and some kindling wood, which would you light first?
The match.
Tricky Riddles With Answers
11.) What do you call a woman who always knows where her husband is?
A widow.
12.) A rancher had 500 cows and took one shot that got them all. How did he do it?
A panoramic photo.
13.) If you threw a red stone into a green sea, what would it come back as?
Wet. (Don’t overthink this.)
14.) How do you make number one disappear?
Add the letter “G” to the front, and it’s gone.
15.) How many sides does a circle have?
Two. Inside and outside.
16.) What gets bigger and bigger the more you take away from it?
A hole.
17.) Why is it against the law for a man living in North Carolina to be buried in South Carolina?
You shouldn’t bury a person who is alive.
Hard Trick Questions
18.) What two words in combination hold the most letters?
Post and Office.
19.) In Nova Scotia, you cannot take a picture of a man with a wooden leg. Why not?
You’d need a camera of some kind.
20.) You have two coins that add up to 30 cents, and one is not a quarter. Which two coins are they?
A quarter and a nickel – one is not a quarter, but one is.
21.) There was a terrible plane crash. Every single person on board died, but two people survived. How is this possible?
The surviving couple was married.
22.) How many 6” by 6” books can you put in a (2ft x 2ft) container so that it is not empty anymore?
One, after that, it is no longer empty.
23.) Which English alphabet letter flies, sings, and stings?
“B.”
24.) John fell from a ladder 20 feet high. Yet, he was not hurt in the least. Why?
He was on the bottom rung close to the ground.
Hard Questions to Answer
25.) What gets broken without being held?
A promise.
26.) What kind of tree can you carry in your hand?
A palm.
27.) Some months have 31 days, and others have 30 days. How many have 28 days?
All 12 of them do.
28.) Which word in the dictionary is always spelled incorrectly?
Incorrectly.
29.) What do an island and the letter “t” have in common?
They are both in the middle of the water.
30.) She has married many men but has never been married. Who is she?
The Minister.
31.) What is at the end of a rainbow?
The letter “w.”
32.) What’s the best way to drop a raw egg on a concrete floor without cracking?
Just drop it. The egg will likely crack, but the floor won’t.
33.) A woman dressed in all black is walking down a city street. Suddenly, a large black car without lights on comes around the corner and screeches to a sudden stop. How did the car know the woman was there?
It was daylight.
34.) Can you spell enemy in three letters?
FOE.
35.) I am an insect, and the first part of my name is the name of another insect. What am I?
A BEEtle.
36.) What wants to be answered but never has a question?
A doorbell.
Brain Teaser Questions
37.) Is the capital of Kentucky pronounced Louisville or Luee-ville?
Neither. The capital is Frankfurt.
38.) The maker doesn’t want it; the buyer doesn’t use it, and the user doesn’t see it. What is it?
A coffin.
39.) What has four fingers and a thumb but isn’t living?
A glove.
40.) On which side of a chicken are there more feathers?
The outside.
41.) What always ends everything?
The letter “g.”
42.) How can a man who shaves several times a day still sport a long beard?
He’s a barber.
43.) What coat goes on best wet?
A coat of paint.
44.) How many letters are in the alphabet?
Eleven letters are in “the alphabet.”
Riddle Questions
45.) How do you go 20 days without sleep?
Sleep at night.
46.) If Brenna had four piles of sand and Sara had five piles of sand, and they put them all together, how many piles would there be?
One big pile!
47.) The teacher asked the two girls who looked exactly like the following questions: a.) Are you from the same family? b.) Do you have the same parents? c.) Were you born on the same day? They answered truthfully “yes” to those questions and yet told the truth when they indicated they were not twins. How can this be?
They were triplets.
48.) How long is the answer to this question?
How long.
Confusing Questions
49.) John’s father had three sons: Snap, crackle, and …. who?
John.
50.) What are the next three letters in this sequence: OTTFFSS?
ENT. One, two, three… It’s the first letter to every number, counting up from one.
51.) John is a butcher. He is 5’ 10” tall and wears a size 11 shoe. What does he weigh?
Meat.
52.) What is full of holes but still holds liquid?
A sponge.
53.) A man claimed to have special powers by saying that he could predict the score of any baseball game before it began. And he was right. How did he do it?
The score is 0 – 0 before the game begins.
54.) A woman pushes her car to a hotel and tells the owner that she is bankrupt. Why?
She’s playing the game of Monopoly.
Trick Questions For Kids
55.) What’s the next number in the sequence: 8 5 4 9 1 7 6 10 3 _?
Two. The numbers are in sequence by the alphabet.
56.) Brothers Ben and Bob played checkers in the park. Each played five games. Ben told his mother he won 4 games. Bob told his mother he won 3 games. Both were telling the truth. How was this so?
They didn’t play against each other.
57.) In a lake, there is a patch of lily pads. Every day, the patch doubles in size. If it takes 50 days for the patch to cover the entire lake, how long would it take to cover half?
49 days. Because when it doubles on that day, it will have covered the entire lake.
Funny Trick Questions
58.) Why was six afraid of seven?
Because seven, eight [ate], nine.
59.) What is round and extremely violent?
A vicious circle.
60.) How do you know when a clock is hungry?
It goes back four seconds.
61.) What word is the longest in the English language?
Smiles because there’s a mile between the start and finish. Check out the more straightforward answer to the longest word.
62.) How do you catch a unique animal?
Unique up on ’em.
63.) How do you catch a tame animal?
The tame way.
64.) Why do hippos wear red sneakers?
To hide in cherry trees.
Have you never seen a hippo in a cherry tree?
See how well it works?
65.) What did the person who invented the door-knocker win?
The No-bell prize.
66.) Which one is correct? “Penguins flies” or “A Penguin flies”?
Neither, a penguin doesn’t fly.
67.) Who is bigger, Mr. Bigger, Mrs. Bigger, or their baby?
Their baby is a little Bigger.
Check out more Funny Riddles.
Funny Brain Teasers
68.) How do you put an elephant in a refrigerator?
Open the door, put the elephant in, and close the door.
69.) How do you put a giraffe in a refrigerator?
Open the door, take the elephant out, lead the giraffe in, and close the door.
70.) The Lion King throws a party and invites every animal. All the animals attend except one. Which one?
The Giraffe. He’s still in the refrigerator.
71.) You receive an invite to the Lion King’s party. Five miles from Lion’s house, you have to cross a river noted for being full of crocodiles. How do you get across?
Swim across. Remember, all of the animals except the giraffe are at the party.
72.) A rope tied to a bull’s neck is 10 feet long, and his food trough is 15 feet away. How did the bull eat successfully without breaking the rope or cutting it?
Walked over. The rope wasn’t tied to anything beyond the bull’s neck.
73.) Four football players stood under one umbrella and didn’t get wet. How could that be?
It wasn’t raining.
Trick Questions Image
Tricky Riddles Meme
Confounding Bafflers
74.) How could Tom go outside into the pouring rain without a hat or protection and yet not have a single hair on his head get wet?
Show the answer: Tom was bald.
75.) The cowboy rode his mule into town. Why?
He couldn’t carry it.
76.) How does the smoke blow if an electric train moves north at 100mph and the wind blows to the west at ten mph?
An electric train has no smoke.
77.) A rooster laid an egg on top of the barn roof. Which way did it roll?
It didn’t roll, as roosters don’t lay eggs. Hens do.
78.) What goes up and down but remains in the same place?
Stairs.
79.) How many times can you subtract ten from 100?
Once. The next time you’d be subtracting ten from 90.
80.) A plane crashes on the border of the U.S. and Canada. Where do they bury the survivors?
You don’t bury survivors…only the dead.
81.) Which President is on the U.S. $100 bill?
There isn’t one. Benjamin Franklin was never the President.
82.) How far can you walk into the woods?
Half-way. After that, you’re walking out of the woods.
83.) If I have it, I don’t share it. If I share it, I don’t have it. What is it?
A secret.
84.) Tom’s father has five sons: Ten, Twenty, Thirty, Forty, and…guess what would be the name of the fifth?
Tom would be the fifth son.
85.) Two mothers and two daughters went out to eat, everyone ate one slice of pizza, yet only three were eaten. How’s that possible?
The group eating included a grandmother, her daughter, and her daughter’s daughter.
Word Puzzles
86.) How do you interpret this: “Ban ana”?
Banana split.
87.) How about this: OdOoOmO
Dominoes.
88.) Try this: “land time.”
The land before time.
89.) And this one: nasandwich, nasandwich
Tuna sandwiches.
90.) A hard one…what does this mean? R.P.I.
A grave error. (Should read “RIP”)
91.) An easier one: age beauty
Age before beauty.
92.) I love this one: pol mom ice
Mother-in-law.
93.) And one more: HoRobod
Robin Hood.
94.) Harder than you think… I/8
I overate.
95.) Can you name a word pronounced differently when capitalizing the first letter?
Herb or Polish.
96.) What’s the answer here? noon good
Good afternoon.
97.) How about this? |r|e|a|d|
Read between the lines.
98.) And this? A pic in kle.
In a pickle.
99.) Try this:
0
Ph.D
BA.
MBA
Three degrees below zero.
Super Tough Trick Questions
Get ready for some super tough trick questions.
100.) If you have three, you have three. If you have two, you have two. But, if you have one, you have none. What is it?
Choices
101.) A man lives on the 100th floor of an apartment building. On rainy days he rides the elevator all the way up. However, on sunny days, he goes halfway and takes the stairs the rest of the way. Why?
The man is short and can only reach the button for the 50th floor on the elevator. On rainy days, he uses his umbrella handle.
102.) There are eight men sitting on a couch. Three legs break off, and six men leave. How many legs are remaining?
Five; the legs of the two remaining men and the remaining couch leg.
103.) What English word retains the same pronunciation, even after you take away four of its five letters?
Queue.
104.) A young boy was rushed to the hospital emergency room, but the ER doctor saw the boy and refused to operate. “This boy is my son,” the doctor said. But the doctor wasn’t the boy’s father. How could this be?
The doctor was the boy’s mom.
Thought-Provoking Trick Questions
105.) If you have a bowl with six apples and you take away four, how many do you have?
The four you took.
106.) If a plane crashes on the border between the United States and Canada, where do they bury the survivors?
Survivors aren’t buried.
107.) A 10-foot rope ladder hangs over the side of a boat with the bottom rung on the water’s surface. The rungs are one foot apart, and the tide goes up at the rate of 6 inches per hour. How long will it be until three rungs are covered?
Never because the boat rises with the tide.
108.) Is it legal for a man to marry his widow’s sister?
No. He’s already dead!
109.) A man dressed in all black is walking down a country lane. Suddenly, a large black car with no lights on comes around the corner and screeches to a halt. How did the car’s driver know he was there?
It was daytime.
Silly Brain Teasers
110.) If a monkey, a squirrel, and a bird are racing to the top of a coconut tree, who will get the banana first?
None of them; you can’t get a banana from a coconut tree.
111.) What four days of the week start with the letter T?
Tuesday, Thursday, Today, and Tomorrow.
112.) What happens if you throw a white hat into the Black Sea?
The hat gets wet.
113.) If you spell “sit in the tub” as s-o-a-k, and you spell “a funny story” as j-o-k-e, how do you spell “the white of an egg”?
E-g-g w-h-i-t-e.
114.) What is the biggest problem with snow boots?
They melt.
Easy Brain Teasers
116.) I have teeth but can’t eat. What am I?
A comb.
117.) Which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of bricks?
Neither. They both weigh exactly one pound.
118.) A truck driver is going the wrong way down a one-way street. Despite passing at least ten cops, why is he not caught?
He was walking, not driving.
119.) How many months have 28 days?
12 months.
120.) How do oceans greet each other?
They wave.
Most Famous Trick Question Ever
121.) The Greeks believed that the Sphinx of Egypt would devour all travelers who could not answer the riddle correctly: “What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three in the evening?” This is an excellent example of a What Am I Riddles
The Greek hero Oedipus came up with the winning answer, “Man.” This caused the Sphinx’s death.
So, the story’s moral is that you have a lot of power if you know the answers to tricky riddles. Do you now want to go back and review the answers above one more time?
By Michael O’Halloran
Michael, a writer and editor of Greeting Card Poet, has always loved a good trick question. Yet, even in putting this collection together, he was stumped more than a few times.
Etcetera
You’re on the Trick Questions page.
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