Trivia Thursday – Riddles and Brainteasers

The last Thursday of the month is going to be dedicated to presenting you with a series of 10 riddles and brain teasers. Not quite trivia, but we will still be turning the wheels in our heads and giving our gray matter a workout!

Below are our ten riddles for this week. Due to the need to schedule posts in advance, answers will not be in the comments, but will be placed below the questions. I will separate them with a graphic, just in case you get too scroll-happy!

Tell us in the comments how you did!

The Questions

1. I have cities but no houses. I have mountains but no trees. I have water, but no fish. What am I?
2. What is seen in the middle of March and April that can’t be seen at the beginning or end of either month?
3. What word in the English language does the following: the first two letters signify a male, the first three letters signify a female, the first four letters signify a great man while the entire word signifies a great woman. What is the word?
4. A girl has as many brothers as sisters, but each brother has only half as many brothers as sisters. How many brothers and sisters are in the family?
5. What are the next three letters in this combination:  OTTFFSS
6. This belongs to you but everyone else uses it. What is it?
7. You have 2 jugs before you, a 5-litre jug, and a 3-litre jug. Your task is to fill one of the jugs with exactly 4 litres of water using a nearby tap. How do you do this?
8. What English word retains the same pronunciation, even after you take away four of its five letters?
9. If eleven plus two equals one, what does nine plus five equal?
10. There are three playing cards in a row on the table in front of you, left to right, Position 1, Position 2, and Position 3. There is a two to the right of a king. A diamond is to the left of a spade. An ace is to the left of a heart. A heart is to the left of a spade. What are the three cards, in order?

The Answers

1. A map
2. The letter R
3. Heroine (He, Her, Hero, Heroine)
4. Four sisters and three brothers
5. ENT (One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten)
6. Your name
7. Follow these steps:
   1. Fill the 3L jug (3L jug has 3L of water in it, 5L jug is empty).
   2. Transfer the water in the 3L jug to the 5L jug (3L empty, 5L has 3L of water in it).
   3. Fill the 3L jug again (3L jug has 3L of water, 5L jug has 3L of water in it).
   4. Transfer water from the 3L jug to the 5L jug until the 5L jug is full (5L jug is now full, 3L jug has 1L water that would not fit in the 5L jug).
   5. Dump out the 5L jug (3L jug still has 1L of water, 5L jug is now empty)
   6. Transfer the 1L of water in the 3L jug to the 5L jug (3L jug is now empty, 5L jug has 1L of water in it.
   7. Fill the 3L jug (3L jug has 3L of water, 5L jug has 1L of water in it).
   8. Transfer the water from the 3L jug into the 5L jug (3L jug is now empty, 5L jug now has 4L in it!)
8. Queue
9. 2. 11 o’clock plus 2 hours = 1 o’clock, so 9 o’clock plus 5 hours = 2 o’clock
10. Ace of Diamonds, King of Hears, Two of Spades
    • (Explanation: It’s easiest to figure out the Suits order then the card number. Both the diamond and the heart are to the left of the spade, so spade is in Position 3. Because there is an ace to the left of the heart, the heart cannot be in Position 1, meaning it must be in Position 2, leaving the diamond in Position 1. Next, work on the order of the card numbers. We already know that the ace is to the left of the heart (which is in position 2), so the ace must be in Position 1. And since the two is to the right of the king, the king must be in Position 2 and the two must be in Position 3).