1. A boy and his father are injured in a car accident
A boy and his father are injured in a car accident. Both are taken to a hospital. The father dies at arrival, but the boy lives and is taken to surgery. A grey-haired, bespectacled surgeon looks at the boy and says, "I cannot operate on this boy -- he's my son.

2. A husband coming home hears his wife call "Bill, don't kill me. "
A husband coming home hears his wife call "Bill, don't kill me!". He walks in and finds his wife dead. Inside are a postman, a doctor, and a lawyer, none of whom the husband knows. The husband immediately realizes the postman killed his wife.

3. A man called to a waiter in a restaurant, "There's a fly in my tea
A man called to a waiter in a restaurant, "There's a fly in my tea!" "I will bring you a fresh cup of tea," said the waiter. After a few moments, the man called out, "This is the same cup of tea!" How did he know?

4. A man was walking along some railroad tracks when he noticed that train was coming. He ran toward the train before stepping aside.

5. An Arab sheikh tells his two sons that are to race their camels to a distant city to see who will inherit his fortune. The one whose camel arrives last will win. The brothers, after wandering aimlessly for days, ask a wise man for advise. After hearing the advice they jump on the camels and race as fast as they can to their destination.

6. A man lives on the tenth floor of a building
A man lives on the tenth floor of a building. Every day he takes the elevator to go down to the ground floor to go to work or to go shopping. When he returns he takes the elevator to the seventh floor and walks up the stairs to reach his apartment on the tenth floor. He hates walking so why does he do it?

7. A man is lying dead in a field
A man is lying dead in a field. Next to him there is an unopened package. There is no other creature in the field. How did he die?

8. Anthony and Cleopatra are lying dead on the floor of a villa in Egypt
Anthony and Cleopatra are lying dead on the floor of a villa in Egypt. Nearby is a broken bowl. There is no mark on either of their bodies and they were not poisoned. How did they die?

9. A woman had two sons who were born on the same hour of the same day of the same year. But they were not twins, and they were not adopted. How could this be so?

10. A man went to a party and drank some of the punch. He then left early
A man went to a party and drank some of the punch. He then left early. Everyone else at the party who drank the punch subsequently died of poisoning. Why did the man not die?

11. A blind beggar had a brother who died
A blind beggar had a brother who died. What relation was the blind beggar to the brother who died? (Brother is not the answer).

12. The 22nd and the 24th Presidents of the USA had the same father and the same mother, but were not brothers. How can this be?

13. Deep in the forest was found the body of a man who was wearing only swimming trunks, snorkel and facemask. The nearest lake was 8 miles away and the sea was 100 miles away. How had he died? This is supposedly based on a true incident. Does this make it an urban legend? Many urban legends can be restated as lateral thinking puzzles. This is a very good one of this type.

14. One day Kerry celebrated her birthday
One day Kerry celebrated her birthday. Two days later her older twin brother, Terry, celebrated his birthday. How come?

15. A man lay dead in a field. Next to him was a gun
A man lay dead in a field. Next to him was a gun. One shot had been fired and because of that shot the man had died. Yet the man was not shot; in fact, there was no wound or mark on the body.

16. A man tells his boss, "Don't take your planned flight today
A man tells his boss, "Don't take your planned flight today! I had a dream last night that if you do, your plane will crash and you'll die." The boss fires the man.

17. A man is sitting in bed. He makes a phone call, saying nothing, and then goes to sleep.

18. A man is born in 1972 and dies in 1952 at the age of 25.

19. Amy drives her car due west for a quarter mile, without turning
Amy drives her car due west for a quarter mile, without turning. When she stops, the car is facing east.

20. A boy goes up to the counter in a shop, puts down 50p and asks for a lemonade. He is asked by the shopkeeper whether he wants a diet lemonade or a normal lemonade. A second boy comes in a few minutes later, also goes up to the counter, puts 50p on the counter, asks for a lemonade and is immediately given a normal lemonade.

21. How could you cut a cake into eight equal parts with just three cuts of a knife?

22. Imagine that there is a shortage of London taxi-drivers
Imagine that there is a shortage of London taxi-drivers. However, currently it takes five years to train each driver, who has to know all the streets and routes of London to be able to find any destination in London from any other point in London. How could you increase the number of effective taxi-drivers immediately? A taxi still needs to be able to go to any destination in London, starting from any other point in London.

23. A man is standing by a full-length window seven floors up in a block of flats. The window is fully open. Suddenly, on an impulse, he jumps straight through the window. He lands safely, on his feel, unhurt. There were no rivers, swimming pools or any other water for him to land in, no trampolines or suchlike to bounce on and he has no parachute or similar device. How did this happen?

24. If a man goes from A to B at 30 km/h, how fast does he have to travel back from B to A to average 60 km/h for the total journey from A to B and back again?

25. If you are organizing tennis knock out tournament in which there are 128 entrants. How can you simply calculate the number of matches you will need to arrange in total counting every round?

26. Two trains start out 80 miles apart and move towards each other at 40 miles/h. A bird sitting on the front of one train flies off at 50 miles/h in the direction of the other train. When it reaches it, it immediately flies back to the first train, which of course has now come closer. It immediately turns around flies back to the other train and continues like this until the two trains meet. Adding up all these journeys, how far will the bird have travelled by the time the trains meet?

27. There are two bottles filled to the same level, one with oil, the other with vinegar. Take a spoonful of oil, put it into the vinegar bottle and stir. Then take a spoonful of the resultant mixture and put it back in the oil bottle. Will there be more oil in the original vinegar bottle or more vinegar in the original oil bottle?

28. Move only one coin in the following arrangement to make 2 lines of 3 coins each.

29. A man has a swimming pool in his garden situated between four splendid oak trees as shown below. He wants to double its size but keep it square, and doesn’t want to cut down any of the trees. Possible?

30. There are five matches here, forming two triangles
There are five matches here, forming two triangles. Use just one more match to form four triangles, each the same size as the two shown here.

31. Name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Thursday and Saturday.