1. Each puzzle has a point rating 1-10 with 10 being the most difficult.
Puzzles
The answer for each puzzle is in the notes section of each slide. You may need to scroll down. Pictures are include on most slides. Some will help, others will lead you astray!

2. If you know the answer already, don’t spoil it!
Eskimos live in the North towards the Arctic whereas penguins live in the South in the Antarctic region.
If you know the answer already, don’t spoil it!

3. The puzzles are in 3 sections: general, maths and longer lateral thinking puzzles.
Eskimos live in the North towards the Arctic whereas penguins live in the South in the Antarctic region.

4. What is a green house made of?
1 point
A brown house is made with brown bricks, a white house is made with white bricks.
What is a green house made of?
glass

5. 2 points
You go on holiday to Norway. When you arrive at your cabin, you find that there is no heat or electricity. However there is wood in the fireplace, a wood-burning stove, a candle and an oil lamp. You search through your pack and find you only have one match. What should you light first?
The match

6. 1 point
What occurs once in a minute, once in a second, once in a month and once in a century but not at all in a year, an hour or a week?
The letter n

7. Why won’t a starving eskimo eat a penguin egg?
2 points
Why won’t a starving eskimo eat a penguin egg?
Eskimos live in the North towards the Arctic whereas penguins live in the South in the Antarctic region.

8. 2 points
Sam is a bus driver. He drove 10 miles to the bus depot. He then drove 10 miles with an average of 16 passengers before driving 10 miles to the garage where the bus was serviced. The mileometer on the bus showed that 20 miles had been driven that day. Explain.
Sam drove the 10 miles to the depot in his own car.
Eskimos live in the North towards the Arctic whereas penguins live in the South in the Antarctic region.

9. 1 point
Mrs Penworthy’s bungalow is decorated completely with her favourite colour – purple. She has purple walls, purple furniture and purple carpets. Why does she not have purple stairs?
Bungalows don’t have stairs.

10. 2 points
Six buckets are placed in a row. The first 3 are full of water and the other 3 are empty. By moving only one bucket, how can you get an arrangement where it goes full, empty, full, empty, full, empty?
Pick up bucket 2 and empty it into bucket 5 before replacing it. 1 2 3 4 5 6

11. 5 points
What 5 letter word has 1 consonant followed by 4 vowels? If you remove the vowels, the sound is not altered.
queue

12. Where can I put my right hand where I can’t put my left hand?
1 point
Where can I put my right hand where I can’t put my left hand?
On my left elbow.

13. 2 points
You are driving a bus. At the start of your journey, there are 6 people on the bus: Fred, Bert, Sam, Jane, Bertha and Orla. At the first stop, Fred and Bert get off while Susan and John get on. At the second stop Bertha gets off and Callum gets on. At the last stop everyone gets off. What is the name of the bus driver?
Your name
Eskimos live in the North towards the Arctic whereas penguins live in the South in the Antarctic region.

14. What 5 letter word becomes shorter when you add 2 letters to it?
3 points
What 5 letter word becomes shorter when you add 2 letters to it?
Short + er = shorter

15. 1 point
The caretaker is raking leaves in the playgrounds. In the front playground, there are 7 piles of leaves and in the back playground, there are 3 piles of leaves. How many piles will he have when he puts them all together?
one

16. 3 points
A village has 2 men who cut hair: Bert who is the only barber in “Hair today, gone tomorrow” and Fred who is the only barber in “Hair Peace.” Fred’s hair is well cut whilst Bert looks like he has had a fight with a lawnmower. Who would you choose to cut your hair? Why?
Bert because he will have cut Fred’s hair and made a good job of it.
Eskimos live in the North towards the Arctic whereas penguins live in the South in the Antarctic region.

17. 4 points
A man flew from London to Chicago on Tuesday. He stayed for 2 days and then flew back to London on Tuesday. Explain.
The plane is called Tuesday.

18. Who played for both England and Germany at Wembley on the same day?
5 points
Who played for both England and Germany at Wembley on the same day?
The band.

19. 5 points
The first copy of this book was published in 1878 in America. Since then it has been reprinted many times. American copies of this book are completely different from British ones. Branches of WH Smiths will have this book but won’t sell it to you and libraries will have a copy but won’t lend it to you. There is probably a copy in your home. What is the book?
Telephone directory
Eskimos live in the North towards the Arctic whereas penguins live in the South in the Antarctic region.

20. 4 points
England are leading Germany 4-1 in an international football match at Wembley.
88 minutes of the match have been played but not one man on either side has scored a goal.
It is a women’s international match.

21. 5 points
A woman has 2 sons born within 5 minutes of each other. They appear to be identical but they are not twins.
They are 2 or a triplet.

22. 4 points
A man has a fox, a hen and a bag of corn. He needs to take all 3 across the river. The boat will take him and one of them. He cannot leave the fox and the hen together or the hen and corn together. How does he get all 3 across uneaten?
Take the hen across first
Return and put either the fox or the corn in the boat.
Take the hen back to the starting point and leave it there.
Take fox or corn over.
Return to get hen and take over again.

23. 3 points
A plane travelling from England to Germany crashes mid-way in France. Where would the survivors be buried?
Survivors aren’t buried.

24. Where is a day longer than a year?
6 points
Where is a day longer than a year?
Venus

25. 4 points
Mr Smith and Mr Jones are next door neighbours. Mr Smith has a beautiful peacock. He told Mr Jones that if the peacock laid an egg in Mr Jones’ garden, the egg would still belong to him. Mr Jones disagreed saying that if it laid an egg in his garden it would be his. Who is right?
Neither. Peacocks don’t lay eggs. Peahens do.

26. What’s white when it’s dirty and black when it’s clean?
2 points
What’s white when it’s dirty and black when it’s clean?
A blackboard.

27. 2 points
Bert’s father is Professor Maths. He has 4 children. 3 of them are called Add, Subtract and Divide. What is the fourth child called?
Bert
A blackboard.

28. 4 points
Rearrange the letters of NEW DOOR to make one word. You are not allowed to leave any letters out or put in any extra letters. d o e n o w
One word r

29. 7 points
There was a boy who was 12 years old in In 2012 he was 2 years old. Explain.
The dates are both BC not AD

30. 3 points
Jessica was born on 20th December She says that this year her birthday will be in the summer. Explain.
Jessica will be in Australia (or another southern hemisphere country)

31. 7 points
You are at a junction. One road leads to the town you want to go to, the other leads to a marsh. There are no signs. However, there are two men: one who always tells the truth and the other who always lies. You are allowed to ask one of them one question to find the way to go. You do not know which man is which. What do you ask?
Which direction would the other man say is the way to the town? Then take the opposite from the reply.

32. 3 points
A family has 2 parents, 3 daughters and each daughter has 4 brothers. How many in the family? 9

33. What 7 letter word do most people pronounce wrongly.
2 points
What 7 letter word do most people pronounce wrongly.
wronglyh

34. 6 points
5 men are going to church together. It starts raining. 4 of them get wet. The 5th man, who does not have an umbrella, and was less than 1m from the other 4 remained completely dry. Explain.
The 4 men were carrying the 5th man in a coffin to church for his funeral.
Eskimos live in the North towards the Arctic whereas penguins live in the South in the Antarctic region.

35. 3 points
Rats can breed very quickly. Joe starts with 2 rats and finds that 6 months he ends up with 40 rats. How many rats would he end up with after 6 months if he started with 1 rat? 1

36. 4 points
Joe has 4 white rabbits, 6 brown rabbits and 5 black rabbits. How many rabbits could say that they are the same colour as another of Joe’s rabbits?
None, rabbits can’t talk.

37. 3 points
There were two mothers and two daughters in a train carriage. The train stopped and one of them got out. Two people remained. Explain.
There were 3 women: a grandmother, a mother and her daughter. Two of the three are mothers and 2 of the 3 are daughters.
A blackboard.

38. 5 points
2 men played chess for 9 hours. They played 5 games. Each man won the same number of games. No games were drawn or abandoned. Explain.
The 2 men were playing different opponents.

39. How can you take I away from I9 and get 20?
8 points
How can you take I away from I9 and get 20?
Roman numerals: - XIX = 19
Take the I away and you get XX =20

40. 8 points
The Roman numeral for 9 is IX. Add one character to this to make it an even number.
S in front -- six

41. 7 points
New Year’s Day is 7 days after Christmas Day. You would think that they would be on the same day of the week. However in 2009, Christmas Day was on Friday whereas New Year’s Day was on Thursday. Explain.
The New Year’s Day of the following year (the new year) is the same day as Christmas always. But New Year’s Day and Christmas Day in the same year are not on the same day of the week.

42. Read this out loud: YYURYYUBICURYY4ME 8 points
Too wise you are, too wise you be. I see you are too wise for me.

43. Read this out loud: 11 was a racehorse 12 was 12 111 a race 12112
7 points
Read this out loud:
11 was a racehorse
12 was 12
111 a race
12112
One One was a racehorse
One Two was one too
One One won a race
One Two won one too.

44. 2 points
Fred the postman has a round which takes him 1¾ hours. On Friday he takes 105 minutes.
Explain.
There is no difference 105 minutes = 1¾ hours

45. 6 points
You have 9 red balls which appear to be identical. One ball is slightly lighter than the others. Using the scales below twice only, how could identify the lighter ball?
Split the balls into groups of 3. Put two groups on either side of the scales. If one side goes up, that 3 contains the lighter ball. If they balance, the group of 3 not on the scales has the lighter ball.
Take the group of 3 with the lighter ball and put 2 of the balls on the scales. If one side goes up, that is the lighter ball. If they balance, the ball not on the scales is the lighter ball.

46. 9 points
There is a room with 3 light bulbs in it. Each bulb is controlled by one switch. The switches are down a corridor away from the room. You are allowed to go to the switches ONE time and then to the room with the bulbs to work out which switch controls which bulb. You are on your own and have no mirrors!
Turn the first switch on and leave it on. Turn the second switch on for 2 minutes. Don’t touch the third switch.
Go to the light bulbs. There should be one that is on – that is controlled by the first switch. Feel the other 2 bulbs, the one that is warm is controlled by the second switch (having been on for 2 minutes). The remaining cold bulb is controlled by the third switch.

47. What goes up but never goes down?
3 points
What goes up but never goes down?
Your age.

48. What can be wasted but never bought?
3 points
What can be wasted but never bought?
Time

49. 3 points
What has 2 arms and 4 legs?
An armchair.

50. 3 points
What has 3 hands?
A watch

51. 3 points
What is usually filled in the morning and emptied at night except at Christmas when it is filled at night and emptied in the morning?
A sock

52. 5 points
What do you find in the middle of Derby that you don’t find at all in Sheffield or Nottingham?
The lettter r

53. 7 points
Alison works at the greengrocer’s. When she was born, she weighed 3kg and measured 30cm. She is now 20 years old and is 150cm tall. What does she weigh now?
Fruit and vedge

54. 3 points
In a drawer there are 5 pairs of pink socks and 4 pairs of blue socks. The socks are loose. What is the largest number of socks you need to take out of the drawer in order to be sure of getting a matching pair? 3

55. 8 points
If you travel 6 miles south, followed by 4 miles north, what is the furthest distance you can be from your starting point?
10 miles – if you start 6 miles south of the South Pole. When you get there, every direction is North.

56. 7 points
In which sport do all the contestants except one on each team move backwards?
rowing

57. 4 points
As I was going to St Ives, I met a man with 7 wives. Each wife had 7 sacks, each sack had 7 cats, each cat had 7 kittens. Kittens, cats, sacks and wives, how many were there going to St Ives?
1 – all the rest were going in the opposite direction.

58. 5 points
Connor comes into school and tells his teacher that his mother is the same age as his granny and that they are both 50 years old today. How can this be?
His granny is his Father’s mother.

59. My aunt’s brother is not my uncle. Who is he?
4 points
My aunt’s brother is not my uncle. Who is he?
My Dad

60. 5 points
You normally say, “I am, you are and he is.” Is it ever correct to say, “I is”?
I is the 9th letter of the alphabet.

61. When does April come before March?
6 points
When does April come before March?
When the months are arranged alphabetically.

62. 9 points
Sam was in big trouble with his Dad. He was told to say something. If what he said was true, he would have no pocket money for a year. If he lied, he would be banned from TV for 2 months. What can he say to avoid any consequences?
I will be banned from TV for 2 months

63. 9 points
Sam is in trouble at school. In front of the class, Sam’s teacher Mrs Smegly tells him to pick one of two pieces of paper from a box. According to her, one piece has “lunchtime detentions for 2 months” while the other one has “another chance.” However Sam knows that Mrs Smegly always writes the detention consequence on both pieces of paper. What can he do to escape detention?
Take one piece of paper and eat it. Then suggest that the way to find out what it said is to look at the remaining one – which says detention. So Sam says, “The one I picked must have said “another chance”!”

64. 10 points
By moving one match stick only, can you turn this arrangement into a shop?
Answer on next slide
Answer on next slide.

66. 7 points
A man is dozing during a church service. He is dreaming about the French revolution and the guillotine. His wife, seeing that he is nodding off taps him on the back of the neck. He has a heart attack and dies instantly. True or false? Give a reason.
False. If he died instantly, he would’t be able to tell them about his dream.

67. The next 3 puzzles work only if read, not viewed

68. 7 points
What game has 4 letters, starts with a tee and is played all over the world?
golf

69. 7 points
There are 20 fore heads in a boat 50 miles off land. The boat sinks and the lifeboat rescues 20 people. Nobody drowns and no other boat rescues anyone. Explain.
Fore heads not four heads.

70. 4 points
How many p’s in a pod?
1 p in pod

71. Some are a little quirky!
Maths Puzzles

72. 3 points
A new hotel has 100 rooms. The decorator needs to put numbers on all the doors. How many number 1’s does he need to buy?
Twenty one:

73. 3 points
A certain type of seaweed doubles in length every year. After 6 years it is 12m long. How long would it have been after 5 years? 6m

74. 9 points
You have a 5 litre bottle and a 7 litre bottle. You have a tap and a sink. How can you measure 1 litre. You can pour from one bottle to another, refill and pour away as much as you need to. The bottles do not have a regular shape.
Method 1
Fill 5l
Empty 5l into 7l
Refill 5l
Pour as much as you can from the 5l into the 7l (2l leaving 3l in 5l0
Empty 7l
Pour 3l from 5l to 7l
Pour as much as you can from the 5l into the 7l (4l)
1l remains in the 5l bottle.
Method 2
Fill 7l
Fill 5l from 7l (leaving 2l in 7l)
Empty 5l
Pour 2l from 7l to 5l
Refill 7l
Pour as much as you can from 7l to 5l (3l leaving 4l in 7l)
Pour 4 litres from 7l to 5l
Pour as much as you can from 7l to 5l (1l leaving 6l in 7l bottle)
Empty 5l bottle
Fill up 5l bottle from 7l bottle (5l poured in leaving 1l in 7l bottle. 7l 5l

75. 9 points
A man goes into B & Q to buy something for his house. He is told that 1 costs 80p whereas 5 costs £1.20. His total bill is £ What does he buy?
Numbers for his house ( 2 x x 0.80 = 3.20) His house number is 155.

76. 10 points
Stephanie runs a clothing shop. She sells shorts for £36, trousers for £48 and a hat for £18. What would she charge for boots?
£30 - it’s £6 per letter of the item.
£36
£18
£48 £?

77. How many acorns would you find on a 40 year old sycamore tree?
5 points
On average 25 acorns grow on a branch. Here is a chart showing how many branches trees have at different ages.
How many acorns would you find on a 40 year old sycamore tree?
Age
Branches 10 5 20 30 15 40 50 25 60
None sycamore trees don’t have acorns.

78. 8 points
A snail is at the bottom of a 30m well. Every day it crawls up 3m before slipping back 2m every night. How many days will it take it to escape from the well?
28 days. On the 28th day it reaches the top and doesn’t slip back.

79. 6 points
Mr Green is giving out sweets to the Stars of the Week in Blogly Primary School. He gives 5 sweets to infants and 6 sweets to juniors. Altogether he gives out 56 sweets to 10 children. How many infants and juniors make up the 10?
4 infants and 6 juniors (4 x x 6 =56)

80. 10 points
A 100kg sack of potatoes is 99% water and 1% potato stuff. It is allowed to dry out until it is 98% water and 2% potato stuff. How heavy is the sack of potatoes now?
50 kg The 1kg of potato stuff doesn’t dry at all. So for 1kg to be 2%, you need a total weight of 50kg.

81. 4 points
A ship is at anchor in a harbour. At low tide, the water is 2.6m below the deck. Over the next 6 hours, the tide rises by 1.5m. How far from the deck will the water be now?
2.6m – the boat rises with the tide.

82. 10 points
A man has 10 sons. To the first son, he gives 10 oranges, the second son 20, third son 30 etc. His 10th son has 100 oranges. Each son goes out and sells the oranges to one customer. They use the same pricing policy and they each bring back the father £2. What was the pricing policy?
Buy all the oranges – it’s 20p for 11 and then 20p for every single orange not in an 11. eg 60 oranges – 5 x 11 = 55 (5 x 20p = £1) leaving 5 single oranges at 20p each (5 x 20p = £1) (Total = £1 + £1 = £2)

83. Add one character to make this equation correct.
9 points
Add one character to make this equation correct.
I0 I0 I0 = 9.50
IO TO IO = (Ten to ten = nine fifty) Time

84. 4 points
Bert and Fred have the same amount of money. How much does Bert need to give Fred so that Fred has £10 more than Bert? £5

85. 5 points
A bottle of perfume costs £20. The whisky is worth £19 more than the bottle. How much is the bottle worth?
50p

86. 10 points
The occupants of Bagley Close live in houses numbered Each occupant has an 8 digit telephone number starting with 1 which is a multiple of their house number. What are the telephone numbers? Use a calculator.
Clue on the next slide. (Lose 3 points if you use it!)

87. 7 points
You need to find the 8 digit number which starts with 1 and is divisible by numbers By adding 1, 2, 3, 4 etc onto this number, you will get the phone numbers.
Think prime numbers.
2 x 3 x 5 X 7 X 11 X 13 X 17 X 19= This has only 7 digits and does not begin with 1. However if you multiply this by 2, you get This is the starting number.

88. 4 points
If Fred gives one marble to Bert, they will have the same number. If Bert gives one marble to Fred, Bert will have half the amount of marbles Fred has. How many marbles do they each have?
Fred has 7; Bert has 5

89. 5 points
A box of chocolates costs £2 plus half its price. How much does it cost? £4

90. 7 points
Two friends are playing cards for 5p a game. At the end Joe has won 3 games and Ben is 30p up. How many games did they play altogether?
9 games. Ben has to win 6 to make up for the 3 he lost and make 30p in winnings.

91. 5 points
Bill and Bertha start a romantic meal by lighting 2 candles. They are both the same thickness but different lengths. One will burn for 7 hours and the other for 5 hours. At the end of the meal, they blow out the candles and find that one candle is twice the length of the other. How long was the meal?
3hrs leaving the candles with 4 & 2 hours burning left.

92. 4 points
A builder dug a hole 5m long, 3m wide and 2m deep. Hoping to improve his daughter’s Maths skills, he asked her, How many m³ of soil in the are the hole?
0 – the soil had all been dug out.

93. 4 points
I have 9 sweets in a bag. I give 3 to Mark, 3 to Rebekah and 3 to India. At the end, there are still 3 sweets in the bag. Explain.
I gave India her sweets in a bag.

94. 5 points
3 workers each get paid depending on how many hours they have worked. The plumber worked for 3 times a long as the painter and the painter worked 5 times as long as the electrician. The total wage bill was £630. How much was each man paid?
Electrician £30 Painter £150 Plumber £450

95. Longer Lateral Thinking Puzzles
These next few puzzles cannot usually be solved by a quick flash of inspiration. Children need to ask yes/no questions over a longer period of time to build up enough information to enable the Eureka moment!
Longer Lateral Thinking Puzzles

96. 9 points
3 pieces of coal are lying on the grass in a garden in early Spring. How did they get there?
They fell off a snowman as it melted.

97. 8 points
A man walks into a pub and asks for a glass of water. The barman pulls a gun on him. They shake hands and the customer walks out satisfied.
He had hiccups and the shock cured him.

98. A man walks into a bar and falls immediately falls down unconscious.
8 points
A man walks into a bar and falls immediately falls down unconscious.
He walked into an iron bar and was knocked out.

99. 8 points
A man lives on the 16th floor of a block of flats. Every day he takes the lift from down to the ground floor and then goes to work. On his way back from work, he takes the lift to the 5th floor and then walks the rest of the way. If it is raining in the morning, on his return, he takes the lift to the 11th floor before walking the rest of the way.
The man is a midget. He cannot reach the button for the 16th floor. If it is raining, he takes his umbrella and can reach the button for the 11th floor.

100. 6 points
A father and his son are travelling in a car. The car crashes and the father is killed. The boy is taken to hospital and needs an operation. The surgeon comes into the operating theatre, looks at the boy and says, “I can’t operate, he’s my son.”
The surgeon is the boy’s mother.

101. 9 points
Romeo and Juliet are lying side by side on the floor. Beside them is some water and broken glass. The window is open.
Romeo and Juliet are goldfish. The cat has come in the window and knocked over the bowl.

102. A man went into a field with a pack on his back and died.
9 points
A man went into a field with a pack on his back and died.
His parachute did not open.

103. 9 points
A man is hanging 3m from a beam in a barn. Underneath him is a pool of water. Outside is a tractor. He is dead.
Suicide. He used the tractor to pull a block of ice into the barn then used it to climb up and put the noose round his neck. Later the ice melted.

104. While the soup simmered, Johnny missed his train.
10 points
While the soup simmered, Johnny missed his train.
The soup simmering on the fire prevented Santa from coming down the chimney and delivering Johnny’s train.

105. A man who is broke, is parked outside a hotel.
9 points
A man who is broke, is parked outside a hotel.
In a game of Monopoly a player has landed on a property with a hotel on it and is broke.

106. 10 points
A man is lying in a telephone box. He has injured his hands. The phone is off the hook. Outside is a fishing rod.
In describing “the one that got away” the fisherman stretched out his hands and injured them on the side of the phone box.

107. 8 points
Two men are rescued from a desert island. In port one of them goes straight into a restaurant. He orders a bowl of Albatross Soup. He takes one sip of the soup and then returns to the boat and shoots the other man rescued from the desert island.
While on the island, the man who eventually got shot served up what he said was albatross soup. It wasn’t – it was human soup. The man who went to the restaurant realised that the taste was different.
In describing “the one that got away” the fisherman stretched out his hands and injured them on the side of the phone box.