NIEHS Kids Page -- Riddle Me This I

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It is a part of us, and then replaced.
It escapes our bodies to a better place.
The world becomes its sizable home.
Its passions unrestrained, the planet it roams.

I have a face, yet no senses. Time is of the essence to me, but I do not really care what time it is.

What five letter word would be pronounced the same if its last four letters were removed?

If nine-thousand nine-hundred and nine dollars is written as $9,909, how should twelve-thousand twelve-hundred and twelve dollars be written?

What are the minimum number of modifications needed to make the equation: 1 + 1 + 1 = 142 true?

My scale is something that does not weigh in grams, ounces, or pounds. However I may be heavy or light. What am I?

I am in a place where weight does not exist, and every direction I face is up. Where am I?

Weight in my belly, trees are my back, nails in my ribs, feet I do lack.

Double my number, I'm less than a score,
Half of my number is less than four.
Add one to my double when bakers are near,
Days of the week are still greater, I fear.

What force and strength cannot get through, I with a gentle touch can do.
And many in the street would stand, were I not a friend at hand.

For all times it's unchanging, it divides without traces;
it's powers are limited to itself and it's bases.

What word in the English language, when written, can be turned upside-down to result in an abbreviation of the antonym of the original word?

What is yours, but is used by others more than yourself?

What does everyone have that goes up, but never comes down.

Nearly bright as the sun,
Sometimes dark as space. Like a pearl on black velvet,
with diamonds twinkling in my case.
What am I?

Many many keys I have, but no door I unlock.
Four strong legs and enchanting voice,
Yet I never run or talk.
What am I?

I'm a house with two boarders (sometimes one, but rarely three).
Break my walls, eat my boarders, then throw away the rest of me.
(speaking of throwing things away, don't miss our Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle tips!)

A truck leaving New York for West Virginia weighs exactly 2 tons. About halfway through the trip, it crosses a bridge with a maximum capacity of 2 tons -- any more weight on it, and the bridge will instantly collapse. Just before the truck crosses the bridge, a 2 pound tree limb falls and lands on the roof of the truck and remains there as the truck crosses the bridge. But the bridge does not collapse. Why?

Nothing inside, nothing outside, at least that you can see.
I'm as light as a feather, yet ten men can't lift me!
What am I?

We are five little things of a similar sort. You will find us all on a tennis court.

What makes my left hand, my right?

What is the only 6-letter word in the English language that gives you 12 when you take away 1?

Though liquid to start, don't push me too far,
For then I will break, and the damage may scar.
What am I?

A man drove all the way from New York to San Francisco only to discover at the end of the trip that he had a flat tire from the very start. Yet his car was completely unaffected by it? How is this possible?

My timpini play a rhythmic song,
With hammer on anvil I play along.
Down my canal no ship sets course,
And I have a stirrup that fits no horse.
What am I?

Past mountain, meadow, field, and hill, it follows a river while standing still.

I am all that I am and all that you see,
Yet I'm nothing at all and from you I flee.
Formed of distortion, perceptions awry,
I play the horizon where always I lie.
What am I?

A strange attraction compels me to hold your things most dear, yet I know it not, and feel no warmth in my holding. My brothers and I stick close together until one faces me, and then is pushed away. What am I?

Throughout history, there have been thousands of well-documented cases of horses jumping over towers and landing on clergy and small men, forcing their removal. When does this bizarre-sounding phenomenon occur?

"One third of six and two thirds of eleven make seven." Explain why this statement is correct.

Name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.

I am found on land and in sea, yet I neither walk nor swim. I travel by foot, but have no toes. No matter where I roam, I'm never away from home. What am I?

I am made of the stuff around me, but lighter than it. More of me is hidden than seen. What am I?

What is always coming but never truly arrives?

I am not alive, but I grow; I don't have lungs, but I need air; I don't have a mouth, and water kills me; What am I?

There is a word in the English language in which the first two letters signify a man, the first three signify a woman, the first four signify a great man, and the whole word represents a great woman. What is the word?

A shepherd has one wolf, one lamb, and a bundle of grass. He needs to get all three things from one hill to another. He has to prevent the wolf from eating the lamb and the lamb from eating the grass. The hills are connected by a bridge. He can only carry one thing at a time, so he cannot carry all three at the same time. The wolf will not eat the lamb, and the lamb will not eat the grass as long as the shepherd is there. How does he get them across without one eating the other?

What is black when you buy it, red when you use it, and gray when you throw it away?
(speaking of throwing things away, don't miss our Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle tips!)

What do you throw out when you want to use it, but take in when you don't want to use it?

When can you add 2 to 11 and get 1 as the correct answer?

You are given three sacks. Each sack has any number of gold pieces of equal size and shape. However, one sack has only pieces of iron pyrite. The pieces of iron pyrite are equal in size and shape and appearance to the gold pieces, but there is a difference in weight between the gold and the fools gold. Let's say that the pyrite weighs one-half ounce and the gold weighs one ounce. The pieces all look essentially identical, so you cannot tell which sack contains iron pyrite by looking at the pieces. You are then handed a scale, and are allowed to take only one measurement in which you weigh pieces from all three sacks simultaneously. You can decide how many pieces from the sacks that you would like to include in the single weighing. How do you prove which sack has the "fool's gold"? Assume that you cannot tell the difference in weight when you are handling the pieces -- you must determine which bag is which only by the total weight reflected on the scale.

Apples and Oranges: In the garage behind your house, you have three big boxes. One of the boxes is labeled "Apples", another one "Oranges" and the last one "Apples and Oranges". The only thing you know is that none of the labels is correct! How can you correctly re-label all the boxes, if you are only allowed to take out ONE fruit from ONE of the boxes?

Waiting For A Train: Every day, a wife picks up her husband at the train station at 5:00 p.m. One day he arrives early, at 4:00, and he decides to walk along the same road that his wife will be traveling. She meets him along his way, and takes him home from there. If he had waited at the train station, she would have arrived exactly at 5:00. But having met him along the way, they were able to get home 20 minutes early. So what time was it when she actually picked him up?

I know a word of letters three. Add two, and fewer there will be. What word could this be?

While exploring the unknown, three scientists get caught by a group of criminals. A game is played to give the scientists an opportunity to go free. In the game, the scientists are tied in a row so that one scientist can see the backs of the other two in front of him, the scientist in the middle can only see the back of the one scientist in front of him, and the one in the very front cannot see any of the others. They are shown five colored feathers, among which there are three white feathers and two black ones. They are blindfolded and each of them is given a feather from the group of five to put in the back of his hair. Then the blindfolds are taken off, and they are asked to call out the color of their own feather as soon as they can tell what it is, without discussing it with the others first. If even one of them can guess the correct color of his feather, all three of them will be released. A little time passes and none of them speaks...then the man bound to the very first stake (who actually can't see anybody) correctly names the color of his own feather. What thoughts lead to his conclusion?

The Family Reunion: At a recent family reunion, the family consisted of 1 grandfather, 1 grandmother, 2 fathers, 2 mothers, 4 children, 3 grandchildren, 1 brother, 2 sisters, 2 sons, 2 daughters, 1 father-in-law, 1 mother-in-law, and 1 daughter-in-law. How many people at the reunion and describe them?

Who am I? With thieves I consort, with the vilest in short, I'm quite at my ease in depravity, yet all divines use me and savants can't lose me, for I am at the center of gravity. Who am I?

There was once a soldier who had a brother that was wounded in battle. But the wounded man did not have a brother! How could that be?

The maker doesn't want it; the buyer doesn't use it; and the user doesn't see it. What is it?

A child is born in Boston, Massachusetts to parents who were both born in Boston, Massachusetts. But the child is NOT a United States citizen. How is this possible?

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