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COM → Knowledge → Brain Games
16 Math Riddles Only the Smartest Can
Get Right
Morgan Cutolo
Updated: Oct. 30, 2023
You might want to break out a calculator, because it takes a genius
to solve these tricky math riddles
MARYNA TERLETSKA/GETTY IMAGES
It’s math o’clock!
Whether you take math classes regularly or it’s been a minute since you
last quadraticked an equation, math riddles are for everyone. From math
for adults (like calculating the tip at a restaurant and dividing the check
among six friends) to solving Sudoku puzzles, math is a part of all our lives.
Don’t worry: You don’t have to be a math whiz to challenge yourself with
these puzzles. We’ve ranked them from easy to hard, so you can warm up
with some simpler math riddles and end with the real head-scratchers.
After all that number crunching, you’ll be ready for some math puns or
even more challenging riddles. There’s nothing like that “A-ha!” feeling
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when you crack a dif cult riddle (or even an easier one), so let’s get
started!
NANCY C. ROSS/GETTY IMAGES
Crazy 8s
Riddle: Using only addition, add eight 8s to get the number 1,000.
Answer: 888 + 88 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 1,000. This is the kind of math riddle you can work out
with times tables, or by simple logic. First, get as close to 1,000 as you can (888).
From there, it’s easy to gure out the rest.
RMATEOS/GETTY IMAGES
Farm life
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Farm life
Riddle: In reply to an inquiry about the animals on his farm, the farmer says: “I only
ever keep sheep, goats and horses. In fact, at the moment they are all sheep bar
three, all goats bar four and all horses bar ve.” How many does he have of each
animal?
Answer: The farmer has three sheep, two goats and one horse. You can solve this
animal riddle with a quick hypothetical. Take sheep: We know there are three
animals that are goats and horses, so we suppose there are two goats and one
horse. Checking this hypothesis gives us three sheep, which works out because
there are four non-goats: three sheep, and one horse!
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FUSE/GETTY IMAGES
Age gap
Riddle: One brother says of his younger brother: “Two years ago, I was three times
as old as my brother was. In three years time, I will be twice as old as my brother.”
How old are they each now?
Answer: One way to solve this math riddle is to use even numbers: The older
brother will be twice as old as his younger brother in three years’ time. This
immediately rules out the older brother currently being 8, 11 and 14, so he must be
17, and the younger brother 7. Two years ago, they were 15 and 5 respectively, and in
three years, they will be 20 and 10.
ARTISTEER/GETTY IMAGES
Perplexing problem
Riddle: I add six to eleven, and get ve. Why is this correct?
Answer: Tricksy tricksy! You have to think more broadly Here’s a hint: Think about
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Answer: Tricksy, tricksy! You have to think more broadly. Here s a hint: Think about
the numbers on a clock. When it is 11 a.m., adding six hours makes it 5 p.m.
OLYASOLODENKO/GETTY IMAGES
Inheritance
Riddle: Old Granny Adams left half her money to her granddaughter and half that
amount to her grandson. She left a sixth to her brother, and the remainder, $1,000,
to the dogs’ home. How much did she leave altogether?
Answer: This math riddle might have tripped you up! But the trick is not to focus
on the hypothetical amounts, but on the fractions: Adding one half, one quarter
and one-sixth tells us that the total is a fraction of twelfths (2 + 4 + 6 = 12). You can
also think about it as 6/12, 3/12, 2/12, which equals 11/12. If the remainder is $1,000,
that must be one-twelfth, so the total is $12,000.
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ILONA NAGY/GETTY IMAGES
What’s the frequency?
Riddle: What single digit appears most frequently between and including the
numbers 1 and 1,000? Hint: Look for a pattern!
Answer: The most common digit is 1! Did you gure out why? Every number 1–9
appears exactly the same number of times in every ten numbers. But because we
included the number 1,000, there’s an extra occurrence of the number 1. In total, the
number 1 appears 301 times, and every other number appears 300 times.
CHRISTOPHE LEHENAFF/GETTY IMAGES
Eggquation
Riddle: If a hen and a half lay an egg and a half in a day and a half, how many eggs
will half a dozen hens lay in half a dozen days?
Answer: Two dozen. If you increase both the number of hens and the amount of
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y
time available four-fold (i.e., 1.5 x 4 = 6), the number of eggs increases 16 times: 16 x
1.5 = 24.
DUTCHSCENERY/GETTY IMAGES
House numbers
Riddle: My twin lives at the reverse of my house number. The difference between
our house numbers ends in two. What are the lowest possible numbers of our
house numbers?
Answer: These math riddles aren’t easy to solve! The lowest possible numbers for
the houses are 19 and 91. The difference is 72.
INTI ST CLAIR/GETTY IMAGES
Hotel stay
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Hotel stay
Riddle: Three friends are on a road trip, and they rent a triple room for a night.
When they get to the hotel, they pay the fee of $30 and go up to their room. The
porter brings up their bags and refunds them $5 because the hotel is running a
weeknight special. The three friends each keep one of the dollars and give the
porter a $2 tip. Later, they sit down to work out their expenses for the weekend and
nd they have a problem.
They each paid $10 for the room and each got $1 back, making their contributions
$9. Then they gave the porter a $2 tip. However, 9 times 3 is 27, plus 2 is $29. Where
did the extra dollar go?
Answer: This one is a bit twisty, but what it boils down to is that the three friends’
math is wrong: clearly they need to solve more math riddles! They didn’t spend $29,
they spent $27: $25 on the room, and $2 for the porter’s tip. The three remaining
dollars were returned to them!
MALERAPASO/GETTY IMAGES
Card games
Riddle: A small number of cards has been lost from a complete pack. If I deal
among four people, three cards remain. If I deal among three people, two remain
and if I deal among ve people, two cards remain. How many cards are there?
Answer: This math riddle is pretty tricky, but the answer is: There are 47 cards. To
get the answer, you need to know that there are 52 cards in a pack. Then, nd the
lti l ff th d l t t th t b d if f th
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multiples of four, three and ve closest to that number, and see if any of them are
the same. For example, you can deal 42, 44 and 48 cards among four people, which
would mean nine, ve or one cards are missing (with three remaining). However,
the only one that works for multiples of three and ve people is when ve cards are
missing, which gives us a total of 47 cards.
GOODMOMENTS/GETTY IMAGES
Knight moves
Riddle: I have a calculator that can display 10 digits. How many different 10-digit
numbers can I type using just the 0–9 keys once each, and moving from one
keypress to the next using the knight’s move in chess? (In chess, the knight moves
in an L shape: one square up and two across, two squares down and one across, two
squares up and one across, and other like combinations.)
Answer: This is an easy math trick on a calculator: You can form the numbers
5034927618 and 5038167294. You can also form their reverses: 8167294305 and
4927618305. Hence four different numbers can be made. The key point is to realize
that the number must start or end on the “5” key, followed/preceded by the “0” key,
otherwise, there is no way of using all 10 keys during the route.
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IGRADESIGN/GETTY IMAGES
Three’s company
Riddle: You know 2 + 2 comes to the same as 2 x 2. Now nd a set of three different
whole numbers whose sum is equal to their total when multiplied.
Answer: The three different whole numbers whose sum is equal to their total when
multiplied are 1, 2 and 3.
SHERSOR/GETTY IMAGES
Apple harvest
Riddle: Mrs. Jones was very proud of her apple tree. One autumn, after harvesting
her apples, she called her three sons together. “Here are 150 apples,” she said. “I
want you to take them to the market tomorrow and sell them for me.” She gave
Paul 15 apples, Nick 50 and Ben 85. “Your job,” added Mrs. Jones, “is to sell the
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apples in such a way that each of you brings home the same amount of money.”
How do they do it?
Answer: The rst buyer purchases 12 dozen apples at $1 per dozen. Paul sells him
one dozen and has three apples left; Nick sells him four dozen and has two apples
left; and Ben sells him seven dozen and has one apple left. Then a second buyer
comes along and buys all their remaining apples for $3 apiece. The three brothers
head home with $10 each. A math riddle with a happy ending!
BAONA/GETTY IMAGES
Seven times
Riddle: What is the smallest whole number that is equal to seven times the sum of
its digits?
Answer: The answer to this math riddle is 21. You probably just guessed the answer
(which is ne), but you can also work it out algebraically. The two-digit number ab
stands for 10a + b since the rst digit represents tens and the second represents
units. If 10a + b = 7(a + b), then 10a + b = 7a + 7b, and so 3a = 6b, or, more simply, a =
2b. That is, the second digit must be twice the rst. The smallest such number is 21.
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THE_BURTONS/GETTY IMAGES
Lunch money
Riddle: John noticed that the amount he was paying for his lunch was a
rearrangement of the digits of the amount of money he had in his pocket and that
the money he had left over was yet another rearrangement of the same three
digits! How much money did John start with?
Answer: John started with $9.54. The money can be written with just three digits,
so it must be between $1.01 and $9.99. Trial and error shows that there is only one
set of numbers that ts this question: $9.54 = $4.59 + $4.95.
FLAVIO COELHO/GETTY IMAGES
Upside-down numbers
Riddle: What is the smallest number that increases by 12 when it is ipped and
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turned upside-down?
Answer: The answer is 86. When it is turned upside-down and ipped, it becomes
98, which is 12 more than 86.
Originally Published: June 11, 2021
Morgan Cutolo
Morgan Cutolo is a former senior production editor at Trusted Media Brands. She
graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 2016, where she received her
Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. In her free time, she likes exploring the seacoast of
Maine, where she lives, and snuggling up on the couch with her corgi, Eggo, to watch
HGTV or The Of ce.
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