8 Riddles for Thanksgiving Dinner

Today is a day to spend quality time with the ones you love. So, instead of a special product or offer, we'd thought we'd share some of our favorite riddles, brain teasers and logic problems. Hopefully, they'll spread a bit of wonder around your table this year, or at the very least, help steer the conversation away from politics...

1. Two boys are born to the same mother, on the same day of the same year, yet they are not twins. How is this possible?
    
2. The poorest have it, the richest want it and if you eat it, you'll die. What is it?
    
3. A photographer is approaching the middle of a clearing in the forest when he realizes he is going to die. He is totally alone, in perfect health and there are no dangerous animals in the area. He does not commit suicide, yet when he reaches the middle of the field, he is dead. Why?
    
4. At the start of eternity, at the end of time and space, lies the beginning of the end and the end of every place. What is it?
    
5. A famous basketball player is lying on an operating table in the hospital. He is there for routine surgery and he's not nervous at all. They place the gas mask over his face and he hears a nurse say, "Just relax. Everything is going to be fine." This statement makes him extremely nervous. Why?
    
6. A math professor lives on the 20th floor of a building. Every afternoon when he returns from the university, he takes the elevator up to the 18th floor and walks up the last two flights. It is a custom he follows nearly every day (though, it is not for exercise). He only rides the elevator all the way up to the top floor if there is someone else riding with him or, if there was rain in the forecast that morning. Why?
    
7. Dan leaves San Diego for Los Angeles driving 60mph. Dave leaves Los Angeles for San Diego driving 80mph. Assuming there is no traffic and they both drive non-stop without changing speeds, how far apart will Dan and Dave be one hour before they pass each other?
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8. Ricky has three light switches in his basement that control three lightbulbs in his attic. Unfortunately, he doesn’t know which switch controls which bulb. If Ricky works alone and starts in the basement where he can’t see the bulbs, how can he determine which switch controls which bulb after going upstairs only once?

ANSWERS

There are answers to each riddle below in white. Highlight to reveal, or copy/paste into a word processor. And if you peek before sharing, allow your family and friends to ask yes or no questions so that you can provide helpful hints.

1. They are triplets. 2. Nothing. 3. He is skydiving when his parachute fails. 4. The letter E. 5. The nurse is talking to the surgeon. 6. The professor is very short and cannot reach the top button without help (or the tip of his umbrella). 7. 140 miles. 8. Ricky flips one switch on and leaves it for 20 minutes. Next, he flips that switch off and flips a second switch on. Finally, he walks upstairs to see which bulb is off, which bulb is on and which one is warm.