Tricky questions with answers
These tricky questions with answers look hard at first, but each one hides a simple twist of logic, maths or wordplay. Here you will find 50 questions, from funny tricky questions for kids to maths tricky questions that catch out even toppers, plus logic and word puzzles for grown-ups.
Every answer comes with a short explanation, so you can see exactly where the trick lies. Ask them in class, at a family dinner or in your friends' group, and watch how many people fall for the obvious answer before finding the right one.
Funny tricky questions with answers
Riddle 1
What gets sharper the more you use it, even though nobody ever sharpens it?
Show answer
Your mind.Sharp here means quick and clever, not pointed. The more you think, the sharper your mind gets.
Riddle 2
A farmer has 5 haystacks in one field and 4 in another. He puts them all together. How many haystacks does he have now?
Show answer
One big haystack.Hay piled together becomes a single stack, so adding 5 and 4 does not give 9 here.
Riddle 3
Which fruit can you also write on a calendar?
Show answer
A date.Date is both a sweet dried fruit and a day of the month.
Riddle 4
Which letter of the alphabet is a hot drink loved all over India?
Show answer
T, because it sounds like tea.Say the letter T aloud and it sounds exactly like tea, or chai.
Riddle 5
You can catch one in the rainy season, but nobody can ever throw it back to you. What is it?
Show answer
A cold.Catch here means getting ill, not catching a ball, so there is nothing you can throw.
Riddle 6
Which is more: the days in a week or the colours in a rainbow?
Show answer
Neither. Both are seven.A week has 7 days and a rainbow is described with 7 colours, so they are equal.
Riddle 7
A room has 2 dogs, 3 chairs, a bed and a girl sitting on the bed. How many legs are in the room?
Show answer
26 legs.Dogs 2 x 4 = 8, chairs 3 x 4 = 12, the bed 4 and the girl 2, so 8 + 12 + 4 + 2 = 26. The twist is that furniture has legs too.
Riddle 8
Which room has no walls, no floor, no door and no window?
Show answer
A mushroom.Mushroom ends with the word room, but it is a fungus that grows in damp soil, not a part of a house.
Riddle 9
Which two letters of the alphabet sound like a word that means jealousy?
Show answer
N and V, which sound like envy.Say N and V quickly together and you hear envy, another word for jealousy.
Riddle 10
When does a doctor lose his temper?
Show answer
When he runs out of patients.Patients sounds just like patience, so running out of patients also means running out of patience.
Tricky questions for kids
Riddle 11
Your mother's brother's only sister's child is reading this question. Who is it?
Show answer
You.Your mother's brother's only sister is your mother, and her child reading this is you.
Riddle 12
Which letter of the alphabet do you use to see?
Show answer
I, because it sounds like eye.Say the letter I aloud and it sounds just like eye, the body part you see with.
Riddle 13
Which month of the year has the shortest name?
Show answer
May.May has only 3 letters. Every other month name is longer.
Riddle 14
Which camping item turns into a number when you take away its last letter?
Show answer
A tent, which becomes ten.Remove the final T from TENT and you are left with TEN.
Riddle 15
Priya's mother has four daughters: Nita, Rita, Gita and who else?
Show answer
Priya.The question begins by telling you Priya is one of her mother's daughters.
Riddle 16
What sits right in the middle of INDIA?
Show answer
The letter D.INDIA has five letters, and the third one, in the exact middle, is D.
Riddle 17
Which fruit becomes a part of your body when you remove its first letter?
Show answer
A pear, which becomes ear.Take P away from PEAR and the word left is EAR.
Riddle 18
Neha finished 4th in a race and was also second last. How many runners were in the race?
Show answer
5 runners.If 4th place is second last, only one runner came after her, so there were 4 + 1 = 5.
Riddle 19
Which letter of the alphabet asks a question?
Show answer
Y, because it sounds like why.Say the letter Y aloud and it sounds like the question word why.
Riddle 20
What runs all the way around the school playground but never moves?
Show answer
The boundary wall (or fence).Runs around here means goes around, so it describes the wall that surrounds the ground.
Maths tricky questions with answers
Riddle 21
Using only addition, how can you make 1000 with exactly eight 8s?
Show answer
888 + 88 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 1000.That uses 3 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 8 eights, and 888 + 88 = 976, plus 24 makes 1000.
Riddle 22
A bat and a ball cost Rs 110 together. The bat costs Rs 100 more than the ball. How much is the ball?
Show answer
Rs 5.If the ball is Rs 5, the bat is Rs 105, and 5 + 105 = 110. The quick guess of Rs 10 makes the total Rs 120.
Riddle 23
Lotus leaves on a pond double every day and cover the whole pond on day 30. On which day was it half covered?
Show answer
Day 29.Because the leaves double every day, the pond was half covered one day before it was fully covered.
Riddle 24
Which is more: six dozen dozen or half a dozen dozen?
Show answer
Six dozen dozen.Six dozen dozen is 6 x 12 x 12 = 864, while half a dozen dozen is 6 x 12 = 72.
Riddle 25
How many times do you write the digit 5 when you write all the numbers from 1 to 50?
Show answer
6 times.The 5 appears in 5, 15, 25, 35, 45 and 50, which is 6 times. Many people forget 50.
Riddle 26
Mohan is 10 and his sister is half his age. When Mohan turns 50, how old will his sister be?
Show answer
45.His sister is 5 now, so she is always 5 years younger. When Mohan is 50, she is 50 - 5 = 45, not 25.
Riddle 27
What do you get if you multiply together all ten digits on a phone keypad?
Show answer
0.The keypad includes the digit 0, and anything multiplied by 0 is 0.
Riddle 28
How can 9 + 5 = 2 be correct?
Show answer
On a clock: 5 hours after 9 o'clock is 2 o'clock.A clock face starts again after 12, so 9 + 5 = 14, which shows as 2.
Riddle 29
Riya cycles to school at 12 km/h and walks back home along the same road at 4 km/h. What is her average speed?
Show answer
6 km/h.For a 12 km road she takes 1 hour going and 3 hours coming back, so 24 km in 4 hours is 6 km/h, not 8.
Riddle 30
A shirt is 50% off, and then you get another 50% off the sale price. Is it free?
Show answer
No. You still pay 25% of the original price.Half of half is a quarter, so two 50% discounts leave 0.5 x 0.5 = 25% to pay.
Riddle 31
A price goes up by 10% and then comes down by 10%. Is it back where it started?
Show answer
No. It ends up 1% lower.Rs 100 rises to Rs 110, and 10% of 110 is 11, so it falls to Rs 99.
Riddle 32
What is 111,111,111 x 111,111,111?
Show answer
12,345,678,987,654,321.Multiplying these repunits makes the digits climb from 1 to 9 and then fall back to 1.
Riddle 33
A tailor cuts a 10 metre cloth into 1 metre pieces, making one cut every minute. How long does it take?
Show answer
9 minutes.Only 9 cuts are needed, because the ninth cut leaves the last two pieces at once.
Riddle 34
Which two whole numbers, both bigger than 1, multiply to give 13?
Show answer
None. 13 is a prime number.13 can only be made as 1 x 13, so no pair of numbers both above 1 works.
Riddle 35
If 3 hens lay 3 eggs in 3 days, how many eggs will 13 hens lay in 9 days?
Show answer
39 eggs.One hen lays one egg every 3 days, so in 9 days each hen lays 3 eggs, and 13 x 3 = 39.
Logic tricky questions and answers
Riddle 36
If the day before yesterday was Thursday, what day will the day after tomorrow be?
Show answer
Monday.If the day before yesterday was Thursday, today is Saturday, and two days after Saturday is Monday.
Riddle 37
Some people celebrate their real birthday only once every four years. Why?
Show answer
They were born on 29 February.29 February appears only in leap years, which come about once every four years.
Riddle 38
Seema has as many brothers as sisters, but each of her brothers has only half as many brothers as sisters. How many children are there?
Show answer
7 children: 4 girls and 3 boys.Seema sees 3 sisters and 3 brothers. Each boy sees 2 brothers and 4 sisters, and 2 is half of 4.
Riddle 39
A school bell rings every 40 minutes, and the first bell rings at 8:00 am. When does the 5th bell ring?
Show answer
10:40 am.There are 4 gaps between 5 bells, and 4 x 40 = 160 minutes, so 8:00 am plus 2 hours 40 minutes is 10:40 am.
Riddle 40
A farmer must row a fox, a hen and a sack of grain across a river, one at a time. The fox eats the hen and the hen eats the grain if left alone. What does he take first?
Show answer
The hen.The fox does not eat grain, so those two are safe together. He takes the hen, then brings it back while ferrying the others.
Riddle 41
Before Mount Everest was measured, what was the tallest mountain in the world?
Show answer
Mount Everest.Measuring a mountain does not change its height. It was the tallest even before anyone knew it.
Riddle 42
A train leaves Mumbai for Delhi at 60 km/h and another leaves Delhi for Mumbai at 80 km/h at the same time. Which is closer to Mumbai when they meet?
Show answer
Neither. They are at the same place.When two trains meet they are side by side, so they are exactly the same distance from Mumbai.
Riddle 43
An electric train runs north while the wind blows south. Which way does the smoke go?
Show answer
There is no smoke.An electric train runs on electricity, so it does not give out any smoke.
Wordplay tricky questions
Riddle 44
Eleven plus two equals twelve plus one. What else is special about these two phrases?
Show answer
They use exactly the same letters.ELEVEN PLUS TWO and TWELVE PLUS ONE are anagrams of each other, and both also equal 13.
Riddle 45
How many letters are there in 'the alphabet'?
Show answer
11 letters.T-H-E A-L-P-H-A-B-E-T has 11 letters. The twist is reading the question word by word.
Riddle 46
Which number, written in English, has all its letters in alphabetical order?
Show answer
Forty.F, O, R, T, Y already run in alphabetical order. No other number word from zero to 999 does.
Riddle 47
Which word means midday and reads exactly the same backwards?
Show answer
Noon.N-O-O-N spelled backwards is still N-O-O-N, and noon is 12 o'clock in the day.
Riddle 48
Which English word is the longest, because there is a whole mile between its first and last letters?
Show answer
Smiles.S-MILE-S has the word mile sitting between its two S letters. It is a joke, not a real measurement.
Riddle 49
Where does Friday come before Thursday?
Show answer
In the dictionary.Words in a dictionary are in alphabetical order, and F comes before T.
Riddle 50
Turn me upside down and I become 3 more than before. Which digit am I?
Show answer
6.Turn 6 upside down and it becomes 9, and 9 - 6 = 3.
Tricky questions: images to share
Save any card and share it. The answer is printed upside down at the bottom of each card.
How to use these riddles
Tricky questions are perfect for breaking the ice. Teachers can start a maths period with one of the number questions and ask students to explain their reasoning before showing the answer. At parties, read a question aloud, let everyone shout their first guess, and then reveal the twist. Most people answer too fast, and that is where the fun is.
To crack a tricky question, slow down and read every word. Ask whether a word has a second meaning, whether the question is really asking what you think it is, and whether something obvious has been left out, like the legs on a chair or the digit 0 on a keypad. For maths questions, test your answer by putting it back into the question. If Rs 10 for the ball makes the total Rs 120, you know it cannot be right.
Tips
- Pause for five seconds before answering, because the first answer that pops into your head is usually the trap.
- Check every maths answer by plugging it back into the question and seeing if it still fits.
- Say the question aloud, since many wordplay tricks only show up when you hear how the words sound.
More riddles and puzzles
Questions people ask
What are tricky questions?
Tricky questions are questions that seem to point to an obvious answer but actually hide a twist. The twist can be a double meaning, a missing detail or a maths shortcut that people overlook.
What are some funny tricky questions with answers?
Favourites include asking how many haystacks a farmer has after joining 5 and 4 together, which is one, or what you can never eat for breakfast, which is lunch and dinner. They are funny because the answer is so simple once you see it.
Are there maths tricky questions for students?
Yes, the maths section has 15 questions on percentages, speed, digits and primes, each with the working shown. They are good for classes 5 to 10 and help students learn to check their first guess.
How can I get better at answering tricky questions?
Read slowly, pay attention to every word and look for anything the question assumes without saying. Practising a few every day trains your brain to spot the twist faster.
Can kids solve these tricky questions?
Many of them, especially the kids section, are made for children aged 7 and up. The logic and maths sections are better for older students and adults.
Every riddle on this page is written and checked by the Paheli World team. How we make our riddles.