| What can you do to get riddle answers? This | | | | feet deep. He could jump 3 feet, but he slid |
| depends on the type of riddle. Consider the | | | | back a foot each time he jumped. How many |
| following examples of a few different ones, | | | | jumps does it take him to get out of the |
| and the simple "rules" or techniques you can | | | | hole? |
| use to solve them. | | | | |
| | | | This riddle answer might appear to be 8 |
| Find The Key Element Of The Riddle | | | | jumps, since the frog only makes 2 feet of |
| | | | progress each time he jumps. It seems that |
| Suppose your sock drawer has 6 black socks, 4 | | | | since he is at 14 feet after 7 jumps, he |
| brown socks, 8 white socks, and 2 tan socks. | | | | needs one more jump to get out. However, he |
| How many socks would you have to pull out in | | | | actually jumps 3 feet each time. Though he |
| the dark to be sure you had a matching pair? | | | | normally slides back a foot, his 7th jump, |
| | | | starting from 12 feet, would take him up and |
| With riddles like this, the fastest way to an | | | | out of the hole. Look for the "trick." |
| answer is usually to find the "key element." | | | | |
| Mentioning the numbers of socks of each color | | | | Riddle Answers You Won't Get |
| is meant to mislead you. In reality, the key | | | | |
| element is the total number of different | | | | What English word is nine letters long, and |
| colors. Imagine trying to get a matching pair | | | | can remain an English word at each step as |
| out of a hundred different colors, and you'll | | | | you remove one letter at a time, right down |
| understand this. There are four colors in | | | | to a single letter? List the letter you |
| this case, so taking out five socks | | | | remove each time and the words that result at |
| guarantees that two will match. Look for the | | | | each step. |
| key element. | | | | |
| | | | This is more like "word trivia" than a |
| Watch For Misleading Clues | | | | riddle. To find the answer, you would |
| | | | probably have to just start going |
| Are you good at math? Complete the last two | | | | word-by-word through the whole dictionary, |
| in this sequence: 1=3, 2=3, 3=5, 4=4, 5=4, | | | | testing each nine-letter word. Of course, you |
| 6=3, 7=5, 8=5, 9=4, 10=3, 11=?, 12=? | | | | could try "reverse engineering" your own |
| | | | solution, starting with a one letter word, |
| Since a riddle usually tries to mislead, as | | | | like "I," and adding a letter at a time: I, |
| soon as you read "Are you good at math?" you | | | | in, tin, tint, stint, stints... |
| should suspect that this is more than a math | | | | |
| problem. The answers for both are 6, because | | | | That one only makes it to six letters, but |
| that is the number of letters in the name of | | | | you get the point. Unfortunately, this |
| the numbers. Look for misleading clues. | | | | doesn't give you the answer to the original |
| | | | riddle. This is a way to create new riddles, |
| Watch For The "Trick" | | | | though, and that is one way to always have |
| | | | the riddle answers. |
| The frog fell into a hole that was 14 1/2 | | | | |