90 Impossible Riddles to Stretch Your Brain to Its Limits
Yeah, we know that word impossible itself says; I-am-possible, but let me tell you my, dear fellows, that these impossible riddles are genuinely impossible and are meant to trip you for sure!
Impossible riddles are one of the best entertaining games that could be played with your friends and family on any occasion. Be it at the dinner table, during office break, or on a casual Friday night, impossible riddles with answers will spark up the “Ah-ha!” moment when they finally hear the answer to the riddle, which is usually a lot of fun.
So, if you think that you can take on this challenge and can make the impossible riddles possible, keep the ball rolling because we have got a bunch of puzzles for you!
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Table of Contents
Most Impossible Riddles
Are you also tired of old, tedious riddles? If so, then get yourself hooked to this page because we are going to cover the most impossible riddles that you have never heard of. Try solving them, and don’t forget to share with your pals as well.
1. An old man dies, leaving behind two sons. In his will, he orders his sons to race with their horses, and the one with the slower horse will receive his inheritance. The two sons race, but since they’re both holding their horses back, they go to a wise man and ask him what they should do. After that, the brothers’ race again — this time at full speed. What did the wise man tell them?
Answer: Once they switch horses, anyone that wins the race will receive the inheritance as they are still technically own the losing horse.
2. I enter the garden. There are 34 people in the backyard. You kill 34 people. How many people are in the garden?
Answer: If the backyard and garden are two different locations then there would be one person left in the garden. This is because the murderous rampage took place in the backyard, not the garden. However, the riddle solver considers that the backyard and the garden is the same place then, then zero people would be left, as the killer would technically be counted amongst the 34 people.
3. What is so fragile that saying its name breaks it?
Answer: Silence.
4. I only lie down once in my life—when I die. What am I?
Answer: A tree.
5. What falls but never breaks?
Answer: Day.
6. 123=0, 4235=0, 656=2, 5390=2, 8890=6, 1001=2, 19235=1. What is 123456789?
Answer: 4. You need to count the number of closed circles.
7. The following sentence is false. The preceding sentence is true. Are these two sentences true or false?
Answer: They are neither. It is a paradox. For first to be true, second must be false which makes the first false as well. Thus it does not work.
8. A detective who was mere days from cracking an international smuggling ring has suddenly gone missing. While inspecting his last-known location, you find a note: 710 57735 34 5508 51 7718 Currently there are 3 suspects: Bill, John, and Todd. Can you break the detective’s code and find the criminal’s name?
Answer: The criminal is Bill. If you look at the note upside down, you’ll notice that the numbers resemble letters and that those letters form legible sentences. The message is “Bill is boss. He sells oil.”
9. Cindy throws a ball from a 90 feet building. The ball is quite bouncy and when it hits the ground, it bounces back half way up. It keeps bouncing back to half way up. How many bounces will the ball take before it comes to a permanent halt?
Answer: The ball will take infinite bounces before it is stopped. As per the question it will keep on bouncing half way up every time it hits the ground. But gravity will play its part at certain point of time which will make it stop.
Impossible Riddles Quiz
For thousands of years, the riddle has appeared in many forms of literature and continues to be recreated in the most difficult manner. If you are an avid solver of puzzles and brain teasers, the given impossible riddles quiz is the perfect match for you!
1. I move very slowly at an imperceptible rate, although I take my time, I am never late. I accompany life and survive past demise; I am viewed with esteem in many women’s eyes. What am I?
Answer: I am your hair.
2. If today is four days before the day immediately before two days after Wednesday, WHAT DAY comes immediately before the day that is two days after the day immediately after the day which comes two days before the day which comes three days after the day before yesterday?
Answer: Monday. “Today” is Sunday. Now, starting at Sunday and working backwards (from “the day before yesterday”), we have the following: – 2 + 3 -2 + 1 + 2 – 1 …So, we go from Sunday to Fri. to Mon. to Sat. to Sun. to Tues. to Monday.
3. If 11 plus two equals one, what does nine plus five equal?
Answer: 11 a.m. plus two hours = 1 p.m., 9 a.m. plus five hours = 2 p.m.
4. One knight, a ninja, and a pirate were on a ship. The ship began to sink. The ninja and the pirate jumped into a lifeboat before the ship went underwater. Who died?
Answer: The Knight.
5. I am the reason you run. I am the reason you scream. I am the cause of your pain. I am a cage from which you will never be free.
Answer: Your body.
6. I have billions of eyes, yet I live in darkness. I have millions of ears, yet only four lobes. I have no muscle, yet I rule two hemispheres. What am I?
Answer: Human Brain.
7. Power and treasure for a prince to hold, Hard and steep-cheeked, wrapped in red. Gold and garnet, ripped from a plain. Of bright flowers, wrought – a remnant. Of fire and file, bound in stark beauty. With delicate wire, my grip makes. Warriors weep, my sting threatens. The hand that grasps gold. Studded. With a ring, I ravage heir and heirloom. To my lord and foes always lovely and deadly, altering face and form.
Answer: A sword.
8. You have two ropes. Each rope takes one hour to burn. These ropes are not identical, nor are they uniform; i.e. it does not necessarily take half an hour for half the rope to burn (if you have trouble visualizing this, imagine a rope of varying thickness across its length). With only these two ropes and a way to light them, how do you measure out 45 minutes?
Answer: Light both ends of one rope, and only one end of the other rope. This will cause the first rope to burn out in 30 minutes. When the first rope burns out, there will be 30 minutes left on the second rope. So then, light the other end of the second rope, and the rest of it will burn out in 15 minutes. 30 + 15 = 45 minutes.
9. I can only live where there is light, but I die if the light shines on me. What am I?
Answer: A Shadow.
10. Mary, Anne, Martha and Isobel are all best friends and sisters but each of them is an only child. How is this possible?
Answer: They are all Nuns.
Impossible Riddles with Answers
Do you consider yourself a pro at cracking riddles? Then, take your time and prove yourself by utilizing your brainpower in decoding these impossible riddles with answers and earn the title of riddle master. Try them out!
1. I know a thousand faces and count the tailed heads, feasting bright upon the eyes, of many who have died—wielding well a mighty power, who hath but humble stature. Masses fall upon their knees, to scarce behold my only side.
Answer: Coin.
2. Which one has two zero and two four, 0044; 2024; 0024; 2024?
Answer: When you pronounce a number say, 3006, it is pronounced as three thousand six. But, it is not pronounced as three two zero and six. Because, it will result in 3206. It might be grammatically but mathematically wrong or vice versa. The pronunciation does not say how many but what the number is at the particular position. Hence, 2024 has two zero and two four.
3. When I’m used, I’m useless. Once offered, soon rejected. In desperation, I’m often expressed. What am I?
Answer: An excuse.
4. They can be harbored, but few hold water. You can nurse them, but only by holding them against someone else. You can carry them, but not with your arms. You can bury them, but not in the earth.
Answer: Grudges.
5. How is Ron 10 years old in 1870, but only 5 years old in 1875?
Answer: Ron was born in 1880 B.C.
6. I never was, am always to be, No one ever saw me, nor ever will And yet I am the confidence of all To live and breathe on this terrestrial ball. What is it?
Answer: Tomorrow.
7. A cowboy gallops into town on Monday, stays for two days, and leaves town on Monday. How can this be?
Answer: His horse’s name is Monday!
8. Fatherless and Motherless, born without sin, Roared when it came into the world, and never spoke again.
Answer: Thunder.
Impossible Riddles to Solve
The provided hard riddles are the toughest riddles you will ever come across. Attempt to decipher the given impossible riddles to solve, as these brain teasers require some great problem-solving skills and will drive you to use your intellect to its greatest potential.
1. There are three chests, each of which contains 100 coins. One chest has 100 gold coins, one has 100 silver coins, and the third has an equal split of 50 gold coins and 50 silver coins. Each chest is labelled, but all are mislabeled. You are allowed to pick one coin from just one of the cases, and after this, you must correctly identify each of the three chests. What should you do?
Answer: Take a coin from the chest labelled 50/50. If you get a gold coin, you are going to learn that the chest possesses gold coins alone. Therefore, the one marked silver ought to be the 50/50 chest, and the one labelled gold is the silver chest.
2. Can you write down eight eights so that they add up to one thousand?
Answer: 888 + 88 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 1,000.
3. How much dirt is in a hole that measures four feet by four feet by five feet?
Answer: None.
4. When does 11 + 3 = 2?
Answer: On a clock.
5. How is 7 different from the rest of the numbers from 1-10?
Answer: 7 (seven) is the only one with two syllables.
6. Our product and our sum always give the same answer. Who are we?
Answer: 1, 2, 3.
7. How do you go from 98 to 720 using just one letter?
Answer: Add an “x” between “ninety” and “eight”. Ninety x Eight = 720.
8. Ten = 20, 5, 14.Men = 13, 5, 14. What do Women equal using the same logic?
Answer: Women = 23, 15, 13, 5, 14. The numbers represent the letter’s position in English alphabets.
9. If 66 = 2, 99 = 2, 888 = 6, 00 = 2, 7777 = 0, 667= 2, 276 = 1, 833 = 2, then what does 2876 equal?
Answer: Three. Each circle within a number is equivalent to one. For example, the numbers 9 and 6 are equivalent to one because they have one circle in them, whereas the number 8 is equal to 2 because of its two loops.
Hardest and Impossible Riddles
The harder the riddles are, the more your brain will exercise to figure out the solution. Hence, if you are ready for some challenging, difficult riddles, look no further as we are going to assist you in providing the hardest riddles ever!
1. You should keep me as straight as can be, yet very few do. Most of the time, I am slightly bent or curved. Your sadness usually causes me to bend further, but don’t bend me for too long, or I may never be able to straighten out again fully. What am I?
Answer: Your posture.
2. I was visiting a friend one evening and remembered that he had three daughters. I asked him how old they were. The product of their ages is 72, he answered. Quizzically, I asked, Is there anything else you can tell me? Yes, he replied, the sum of their ages is equal to the number of my house. I stepped outside to see what the house number was. Upon returning inside, I said to my host, I’m sorry, but I still can’t figure out their ages. He responded apologetically, I’m sorry, I forgot to mention that my oldest daughter likes strawberry shortcake. With this information, I was able to determine all three of their ages. How old is each daughter?
Answer: 3, 3, and 8. The only groups of 3 factors of 72 to have non-unique sums are 2 6 6 and 3 3 8 (with a sum of 14). The rest have unique sums: 2 + 2 + 18 = 22, 2 + 3 + 12 = 18, 2 + 4 + 9 = 15, 3 + 4 + 6 = 13. The house number alone would have identified any of these groups. Since more information was required, we know the sum left the answer unknown. The presence of a single oldest child eliminates 2 6 6, leaving 3 3 8 as the only possible answer.
3. Lily is a lily pad in a small pond. Lily doubles her size each day. On the 20th day, she covers the whole pond. On what day was Lily half the size of the pond?
Answer: Day 19, it’s not 10 because on day 20 she doubled from day 19, so 19 must be half the size of the pond.
4. My thunder comes before the lightning. My lightning comes before the clouds. My rain dries all the land it touches. you don’t want to be near me when I blow my top. What am I?
Answer: A Volcano.
5. Why is it that when you have lost something, it’s always in the last place you look?
Answer: Because you stop looking when you find it.
6. Two men are in a desert. They both have packs on. One of the guys is dead. The guy who is alive has his pack open, the guy who is dead has his pack closed. What is in the pack?
Answer: A parachute.
7. Swap one letter from each of the words “Right” and “Blight” to make two related words.
Answer: Light and Bright.
8. A man wants to enter an exclusive club, but he doesn’t know the password. Another man walks to the door and the doorman says 12, the man says 6, and is let in. Another man walks up and the doorman says 6, the man says 3, and is let in. Thinking he had heard enough, he walks up to the door and the doorman says 10, he says 5, and he isn’t let in. What should he have said?
Answer: Three. He should have said how many letters were in the number he said.
9. A limo driver is going the wrong way down a one way street. He goes past four police officers along the way, yet none of them stop him. One even smiled and waved. Why didn’t the police stop him?
Answer: Because the limo driver was walking, not driving.
Impossible Riddles and Brain Teasers
It is a human tendency to seek answers and explanations for a difficult situation, and impossible brain teasers are ideal examples of it. Perhaps stimulate your intellect or simply pass the time by racking your brain to solve the written mind puzzles.
1. When liquid splashes on me, none seeps through. When I am moved a lot, liquid I spew. When I am hit, a colour I change, and colours I come in quite a range. What I cover is quite complicated, yet I am elementary to flex. What am I?
Answer: Skin.
2. What common English verb becomes its own past tense by rearranging its letters?
Answer: Eat and ate.
3. Who spends the day at the window, goes to the table for meals, and hides at night? He’s also not a particularly welcome dinner guest.
Answer: A fly.
4. When I get multiplied by any number, the sum of the figures in the product is always me. What am I?
Answer: The answer is 9. (9×2 = 18. 1+8 = 9. 9×3 = 27. 2+7 = 9 etc).
5. An old man wanted to leave all of his money to one of his three sons, but he didn’t know which one he should give it to. He gave each of them a few coins and told them to buy something that would be able to fill their living room. The first man bought straw, but there was not enough to fill the room. The second bought some sticks, but they still did not fill the room. The third man bought two things that filled the room, so he obtained his father’s fortune. What were the two things that the man bought?
Answer: The wise son bought a candle and a box of matches. After lighting the candle, the light filled the entire room.
6. I drive at an average speed of 30 miles per hour to the railroad station each morning and just catch my train. On a particular morning there was a lot of traffic and at the halfway point I found I had averaged only 15 miles per hour. How fast must I drive for the rest of the way to catch my train?
Answer: The train is just about to leave the station and there is no way I will be able to catch it this time.
7. Peter Drinks more water in January than in February but the same amount of water in August as in January. Why?
Answer: There are more days in January than February and the same amount of days in January and August.
8. I am whole but incomplete. I have no eyes, yet I see. You can see, and see right through me. My largest part is one fourth of what I once was. What am I?
Answer: A Skeleton.
Impossible Riddles for Adults
Not all adults grew out of riddles, puzzles, or corny jokes; some people are still fond of them, and if you lie in this category, have a look at the impossible riddles for adults jotted down below, and don’t shy aware to share with other fellow beings as well.
1. I am something people love or hate. I change people’s appearances and thoughts. If a person takes care of themself, I will go up even higher. To some people, I will fool them. To others, I am a mystery. Some people might want to try and hide me, but I will show. No matter how hard people try, I will never go down. What am I?
Answer: Age.
2. When the day after tomorrow is yesterday, today will be as far from Wednesday as today was from Wednesday when the day before yesterday was tomorrow. What is the day after this day?
Answer: Thursday.
3. A barrel of water weighed 60 pounds. Someone put something in it and now it weighs 40 pounds. What did the person add?
Answer: A hole.
4. You walk into a dark room. In the room there is only an oil lantern, a Candle and a fireplace. Which do you light first?
Answer: You can’t. You don’t have anything to light them with.
5. In a contest, four fruits (an apple, a banana, an orange, and a pear) have been placed in four closed boxes (one fruit per box). People may guess which fruit is in which box. 123 people participate in the contest. When the boxes are opened, it turns out that 43 people have guessed none of the fruits correctly, 39 people have guessed one fruit correctly, and 31 people have guessed two fruits correctly. How many people have guessed three fruits correctly, and how many people have guessed four fruits correctly?
Answer: It is not possible to guess only three fruits correctly: the fourth fruit is then correct too! So nobody has guessed three fruits correctly and 123-43-39-31 = 10 people have guessed four fruits correctly.
6. Four jolly men sat down to play, And played all night till the break of day. They played for cash and not for fun, With a separate score for everyone. When it came time to square accounts, They all had made quite fair amounts. Now, not one has lost and all have gained, Tell me, now, this can you explain?
Answer: Four men in a dance band.
7. What is next in this sequence of numbers: 1, 11, 21, 1211, 111221, 312211, ______?
Answer: 13112221. Each sequence of numbers is a verbal representation of the sequence before it. Thus, starting with 1, the next sequence would be “one one,” or “11.” That sequence is followed by “two one,” or “21,” and so on and so forth. The first number is just ONE (amount) “1” (0-9 numeral). So if you say there’s One “1” (seriously just say it aloud) the next number would be an 11. Then there are Two “1’s”, creating 21. Then One “2” and One “1” which creates 1,211. Then One “1”, One “2”, and Two “1’s” creating 111,221 … and so on.
8. Born in an instant. I tell all stories. I can be lost. But I never die. What am I?
Answer: Memories.
9. What is the smallest number that can be divided by each of the numbers from 1 to 10 without any remainder?
Answer: 2520.
10. Mr. and Mrs. Mustard have six daughters and each daughter has one brother. How many people are in the Mustard family?
Answer: There are nine Mustards in the family. Since each daughter shares the same brother, there are six girls, one boy, and Mr. and Mrs. Mustard.
Impossible Riddles for Kids
What better way to keep the youngsters occupied than with a riddle? Below are a few average impossible riddles for kids to push their creativity and force them to think out of the box. Have a look at these riddles and choose the appropriate riddles for your child, depending on their age.
1. What are the subsequent three letters in this combination? OTTFFSS.
Answer: ENT. Each letter is the first letter of a number beginning with One. So what comes after six and seven? Eight, nine, and ten.
2. Pete and repeat went fishing. Pete fell of the boat. Who was left?
Answer: Repeat…Pete and repeat went fishing. Pete fell of the boat. Who was left? (keeps continuing because you are saying repeat)
3. The more you take, the more you leave behind. What are they?
Answer: Footsteps.
4. I can be long or can be short, I can be black, white, brown, or purple. You can find me the world over and I am often the main feature. What am I?
Answer: Rice.
5. What’s black when you get it, red when you use it, and white when you’re all through with it?
Answer: Charcoal.
6. If Tom’s father is Tony, then Tony is the ____ of Tom’s father.
Answer: Name.
7. I am the outstretched fingers that seize and hold the wind. Wisdom flows from me in other hands. Upon me are sweet dreams dreamt. My merest touch brings laughter. What am I?
Answer: A feather.
8. There are 500 coffins and 500 men who need them. The undertaker asks the first man to go to every coffin and open them. Then he tells the second man to go to everyone and close it. The third one goes to every third coffin and so on. How many are open?
Answer: 22.
Impossible Riddles to Test Your Brain
Sometimes people are so clever that they decipher the riddle very quickly and answer them right off the bat. But believe us, these tricky riddles with answers are really very hard to solve. Try to trick them with given riddles and watch them scratching their heads.
1. A woman shoots her husband. She plunges him underwater for several minutes, then hangs him. Right after, they enjoy a lovely dinner. What happened?
Answer: She took a picture of him and developed it in her darkroom.
2. What is special about the number 854917632?
Answer: It is the numbers from 1 to 9 in alphabetical order. Eight, Five, Four, Nine, One, Seven, Six, Three, Two.
3. With pointed fangs, I sit and wait; with piercing force, I crunch out fate; grabbing victims, proclaiming might; physically joining with a single bite. What am I?
Answer: A stapler.
4. What walks on four feet in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three at night?
Answer: A man. The times of day represent a lifetime. He crawls as a baby, walks as an adult, and walks with a cane as an elder man.
5. Seymour wants to travel around the world. He had only travelled halfway around the world before he had to start travelling back home. Why was this?
Answer: If you travel halfway around the world away from your starting point the next half you start to travel back towards your starting point.
6. There are three bags. The first bag has two blue rocks. The second bag has two red rocks. The third bag has a blue and a red rock. All bags are labeled but all labels are wrong. You are allowed to open one bag, pick one rock at random, see its color and put it back into the bag, without seeing the color of the other rock. How many such operations are necessary to correctly label the bags?
Answer: Just One! Example: If u get Blue rock with label as “blue+red” => this is red as all labels are wrong.
7. A thief enters a shop and threatens the clerk, forcing him to open the safe. The clerk says, “The code for the safe is different every day, and if you hurt me you’ll never get the code”. But the thief manages to guess the code on his own How did he do it?
Answer: The code is “different.” The clerk told him this.
8. This is a famous paradox which has caused a great deal of argument and disbelief from many who cannot accept the correct answer. Four balls are placed in a hat. One is white, one is blue and the other two are red. The bag is shaken and someone draws two balls from the hat. He looks at the two balls and announces that at least one of them is red. What are the chances that the other ball he has drawn out is also red?
Answer: There are six possible pairings of the two balls withdrawn, Red+Red, Red+White, White+Red, Red+Blue, Blue+Red, White+Blue. We know that the White + Blue combination has not been drawn. This leaves five possible combinations remaining. Therefore the chances that the Red + Red pairing has been drawn are 1 in 5. Many people cannot accept that the solution is not 1 in 3, and of course it would be, if the balls had been drawn out separately and the color of the first ball announced as red before the second had been drawn out. However, as both balls had been drawn together, and then the color of one of the balls announced, then the above solution, 1 in 5, must be the correct one.
9. Whoever makes me tells me not. Whoever takes me, knows me not. Whoever knows me, want me not. What am I?
Answer: Counterfeit money.
Impossible Riddles That’ll Stump Even the Brightest Minds
Do you think you’ve got what it takes to solve some of history’s most difficult puzzles? Well, then this page is all yours because it consists of some of the most difficult, impossible riddles that are no child’s play. Check these out!
1. You’re escaping a labyrinth, and there are three doors in front of you. The door on the left leads to a raging inferno, and the centre one leads to a deadly assassin. The door on the right leads to a lion that hasn’t eaten in three months. Which door do you choose?
Answer: The lion would have died after not eating for three months.
2. I Can’t be seen, I can’t be touched. When you see me you can’t have me forever. I can give you anything you want, but when I’m gone everything is normal again. What am I?
Answer: I am a dream.
3. McFarland has 86 goats. All but 6 die. How many are left?
Answer: 6 goats are left.
4. A professor thinks of two consecutive numbers between 1 and 10.’A’ knows the 1st number and ‘B’ knows the second number A: I do not know your number. B: Neither do I know your number. A: Now I know. There are four solutions for this. What are they?
Answer: 2-3, 3-4, 7-8, 9-10.
5. A prisoner is told: “If you tell a lie, we will hang you and if you tell the truth, we will shoot you”. What did the prisoner say to save himself?
Answer: “You will hang me”.
6. Two brothers were watching a horror film on video late one night. One brother dozed off and dreamed that he was being chased by the crazy man from the movie, who was trying to kill him. In the dream, he hid in a cupboard. There was no sound except his heart pounding, and he had no idea where his crazed captor was. He was terrified! At that moment, the video finished, and his brother put his hand on the shoulder of his sleeping sibling to wake him. The shock at that tense moment was enough that the sleeping brother suffered a massive heart attack and died instantly. True or false?
Answer: False- if he had instantly died, how would anybody know his dream.
7. You are walking down a road and come to a fork. One path leads to certain death; the other leads to eternal happiness. You don’t know which is which. In the middle of the fork, you come across two brothers who know which road is which. One brother always tells the truth and the other always lies. You can only ask them one question. How would you determine which road to take?
Answer: Ask each brother, “If you were your brother, which road would you say leads to eternal happiness?”. Let’s say the path on the right leads to eternal happiness. After you ask your question, both brothers will tell you the exact same thing: “He would say the left path leads to eternal happiness.”
8. What is it that, given one, you’ll have either two or none?
Answer: A choice.
9. Two girls ate dinner together. They both ordered iced tea. One girl drank them very fast and had finished five in the time it took the other to drink just one. The girl who drank one died while the other survived. However, all of the drinks that were served turned out to contain poison. How did the girl who drank the most survive?
Answer: The poison was in the ice. When the girl drank the iced tea, the ice was still fully frozen. Gradually, as the ice cubes melted the poison was released into the drink.
Final Thoughts on Impossible Riddles
For generations, humans have used impossible riddles to entertain themselves, pass the time, and test their brains. They are amusing at times and serious at others, but they always provide challenging questions to answer.
A riddle solver is constantly forced to think beyond the box by a trick, twist, or anything else, and you always end up cracking them after a lot of re-reads.
Therefore, the goal is to make people squirm a little while they consider the various options before revealing the correct answer to the impossible riddles! Also, to make this more interesting, bear in mind not to repeat a riddle several times because that might give up the answer!
Certainly, riddles present an innovative and brief approach by putting the intellect to the test and exercising your mental muscles.
So, to activate your problem-solving ability and critical thinking, get your hands on these amazing impossible riddles with answers now and make sure to bamboozle your buddies with the same riddles.
Enjoy and have a fun day ahead with the provided brain teasers!
