Carved into an old wooden box are three problems: XC minus LXXXI, II times II, and XXI divided by III. The box has a three-digit lock. What's the code?
Hint: These are the numbers you see on some fancy clocks.
Answer94790 minus 81 is 9, 2 times 2 is 4, and 21 divided by 3 is 7, so the code is 947.
A sticky note says: 'I have a head and a foot but no body, and you lie in me every night. Turn my name into numbers: A=1, B=2, C=3...' The lock has three digits. What's the code?
Hint: It's a three-letter word.
Answer254The answer is BED, and B, E and D are the 2nd, 5th and 4th letters.
Finish each pattern, then put the three missing numbers together: 64, 32, 16, __ ... 13, 11, 9, __ ... J, F, M, A, M, J, __ (give this one as a number). What's the code?
Hint: The third pattern is a calendar.
Answer877Halving 16 gives 8, counting down by twos gives 7, and J, F, M, A, M, J are the first letters of the months, so the next is July, month 7.
A word lock has four letters. The note says: 'LOCK, then ROCK, then me. Change just one letter each time. I'm the thing the dryer always seems to eat.' What's the word?
Hint: It goes on before your shoe.
AnswerSOCKChanging the R in ROCK to S makes SOCK, and socks are famous for vanishing in the dryer.
The three-digit code is two numbers stuck together. First: the hours from 7:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Then: the minutes it takes a clock's minute hand to travel from the 12 to the 3. What's the code?
Hint: Don't let midnight trip you up.
Answer6157:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. is 6 hours, and the minute hand takes 15 minutes to go from 12 to 3, giving 615.
A coin purse holds one quarter, twice as many dimes as quarters, and one more penny than dimes. The two-digit lock wants the total value in cents. What's the code?
Hint: First work out how many of each coin there are.
Answer48There's 1 quarter (25 cents), 2 dimes (20 cents) and 3 pennies (3 cents), for 48 cents.
I'm a closet that's always cold. I hum all day without singing, my light turns on the moment you open me, and you've never once seen it turn off. The key is inside me. Where is it?
Hint: Is it running? Then you'd better go catch it.
AnswerIn the refrigeratorA fridge is cold, hums, and its light switches on when the door opens and off once it's closed.
I'm always lying, yet I greet every guest with an honest WELCOME. Everyone walks all over me and wipes their feet on my face, and I never complain. The key is under me. Where is it?
Hint: Look down before you knock.
AnswerUnder the doormatA doormat lies at the door, often says WELCOME, and gets walked on and used to wipe shoes.
We're a bank with no tellers. Loose change, lost remotes and popcorn get deposited in the gap between us, and making a withdrawal means lifting one of us up. The key fell into our vault. Where is it?
Hint: Check the living room, and be ready to lift.
AnswerBetween the couch cushionsCoins and remotes slip between couch cushions, and you have to lift them to find what fell in.
I stand by the curb with a flag I never wave on my own. Once a day someone in a uniform feeds me, and I hand over everything I'm given without reading a word. The key is inside me. Where is it?
Hint: Check the end of the driveway.
AnswerIn the mailboxA curbside mailbox has a flag, gets mail from the carrier daily and holds letters it never reads.
Every so often someone hands me a bouquet, but I never get to smell it. I hold my water better than anyone at the table, and I look best with my neck full. The key is at the bottom of me. Where is it?
Hint: Look at the centerpiece on the table.
AnswerIn the flower vaseA flower vase holds a bouquet and its water, can't smell the flowers, and looks its best when the stems fill its neck, so the key is at the bottom of the vase.