Number riddles you can solve in your head, no calculator needed.
Add me to myself and you get the same answer as multiplying me by myself. I'm not zero. What number am I?
Hint: Try the small numbers first.
Answer
Two
2 + 2 = 4 and 2 × 2 = 4. Zero also works, but the riddle rules it out.
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I'm an odd number. Take away one letter and I become even. What number am I?
Hint: Spell the numbers out.
Answer
Seven
Remove the S from "seven" and you get "even."
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There are three apples and you take away two. How many apples do you have?
Hint: Who's holding them?
Answer
Two
You took two apples, so you have two.
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A bat and a ball cost $1.10 together. The bat costs $1.00 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?
Answer
5 cents
If the ball is $0.05, the bat is $1.05, and together they make $1.10.
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Which three positive whole numbers give the same answer whether you add them or multiply them?
Hint: Start counting from one.
Answer
1, 2 and 3
1 + 2 + 3 = 6 and 1 × 2 × 3 = 6.
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How can you add eight 8s together to get exactly 1,000?
Hint: Some of the 8s can team up.
Answer
888 + 88 + 8 + 8 + 8
888 + 88 = 976, and adding three more 8s gives 1,000. That's eight 8s in total.
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A farmer has 17 sheep. All but 9 run away. How many are left?
Hint: "All but" is the key.
Answer
Nine
"All but 9" means every sheep except nine ran off, so nine are left.
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If two's company and three's a crowd, what are four and five?
Hint: Don't overthink it.
Answer
Nine
Four plus five is nine.
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Divide 30 by half and add 10. What do you get?
Hint: Dividing by half isn't the same as halving.
Answer
70
Dividing 30 by 1/2 gives 60, and 60 + 10 = 70.
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A clock reads exactly 3:15. What's the angle between the hour hand and the minute hand?
Hint: The hour hand doesn't sit still.
Answer
7.5 degrees
At 3:15 the minute hand is on the 3, but the hour hand has moved a quarter of the way to 4, which is 7.5 degrees.
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Multiply me by any number you like, and the answer is always me. What number am I?
Hint: Think nothing of it.
Answer
Zero
Any number times zero equals zero.
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I'm a two-digit number. My digits add up to 9, and if you swap them, I get 27 bigger. What number am I?
Hint: Try numbers in the 30s.
Answer
36
3 + 6 = 9, and swapping the digits gives 63, which is 27 more than 36.
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