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Critical Thinking and Decision-Making  - Using Brain Teasers to Build Critical Thinking Skills

Critical thinking and decision-making  -, using brain teasers to build critical thinking skills, critical thinking and decision-making using brain teasers to build critical thinking skills.

Critical Thinking and Decision-Making: Using Brain Teasers to Build Critical Thinking Skills

Lesson 4: using brain teasers to build critical thinking skills.

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Using brain teasers to build critical thinking skills

Here's a brain teaser: A rooster is on the roof of a barn facing east. The wind is blowing to the west at 10 miles per hour. The rooster lays an egg. Which direction does the egg roll?

The answer appears below the image.

Answer: There is no egg. The rooster didn't lay one because roosters are male. Did you get it right? Let's pick this apart and see why so many people have difficulty with this brain teaser, and so many others.

Watch the video below to learn more about how you can use brain teasers to improve your critical thinking.

The answer is in the details

It's easy to overlook details or accept them without questioning. In the brain teaser above, the answer could be found in the second word: r ooster .

In hindsight, we realize it's impossible for roosters to lay eggs. But it's easy to overlook this when it's casually mentioned in the brain teaser.

Misdirection

Another process at work in this brain teaser is misdirection . There were several details included that we may have paid too much attention to: The fact that the rooster was facing east, and that the wind was blowing west at 10 miles per hour.

In the end, these details had nothing to do with the actual answer. However, they seemed important in the context of the brain teaser! This directed us away from the relevant information.

Applying these ideas to the real world

The same techniques we use to solve brain teasers can also be applied to real-world situations . When you're trying to figure something out, it's important to analyze the information that's available to you and ask the following questions:

• Are there any key details I may be missing?
• Am I being misled by something?
• Could I be thinking about this in another way?

Brain teasers not only help to keep your mind sharp, but can help improve your critical thinking skills as well.

Let's finish things off with another brain teaser...

You are in a dark room with a single match. The only objects available to you are a candle, an oil lamp, and a gas stove. Which item do you light first?

Answer: The match!

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Latest stories, 73 brain teasers for adults that will definitely leave you stumped, brain teasers for adults can help sharpen cognition and improve memory..

We do get older , but we don't always grow wiser. It's true—as we age, we lose brain cells and experience a slowdown in mental processing. Don't worry, it's not as bad as it sounds. These occurrences are completely normal and don't indicate any major malfunction in the way we operate. But we can participate in activities to sharpen our cognitive abilities. Brain teasers for adults are a popular pastime among individuals looking to improve their memories and activate specific neural networks, which is why we decided to put together our very own collection. Check out the list below to get started!

READ THIS NEXT: 75 Riddles for Adults: Funny, Challenging, and Weird!

73 Tricky Brain Teasers for Adults

Not only do brain teasers help improve cognitive function, but they can also be used as icebreakers. Refer to the list below the next time you're in need of entertainment.

Hard Brain Teasers

• Question : A man dives into a swimming pool, but not a single hair on his head gets wet. How is this possible?
• Question : You are at a place called Wally's World and there is only one law. You can look in the mirror, but you won't see your reflection. You can have pizza with cheese, but not sausage. There is pepper, but no salt. You can see a door, but there is no entrance or exit. What is the law?
• Question : A man left home running. He ran straight, and then turned left; ran the same distance, and turned left again. Once more, he ran the same distance and turned left. When he got home, he saw two masked men. Who were they?
• Question : What's special about the words job, polish, and herb?
• Question : Sam was given a large money box, 12 inches wide and 6 inches tall. How many coins can she fit into her empty money box?
• Question : A man is going through a photo album with his friend and asks about an individual spotted in a photo. The man replies, "Brothers and sisters, I have none. But that man's father is my father's son." Who is the picture of?
• Question : There is a house that contains four walls, all of them facing south. The owners spot a bear in the yard. What color is it?
• Question : Name the next word in the following sequence: Spots, tops, pots, opts.
• Question : What is unique about the following words: grammar, uneven banana, assess, revive, potato, dresser, and voodoo?
• Question : I'm holding two newly minted coins in my hand. Together, they total 30 cents. One is not a nickel. What are the coins?
• Question : An elevator is on the ground floor holding five people, including Mike. One person gets out and two people get in once the elevator reaches the first floor. By the time it gets to the second floor, three people get out and five people walk in. Halfway up to the next floor, the cable snaps, and the elevator plummets to the floor. Everyone dies, except for Mike. How did he survive?
• Question : Name the next three letters in the sequence: N, T, N, T, L.
• Question : A boy goes to a restaurant with a doctor. The boy is the doctor's son, but the doctor is not the boy's father. How is this possible?
• Question : If a red house is made of bricks, and a blue house is made of blue bricks, then what material is used to build a green house?
• Question : Two mothers and two daughters went out to dinner. Everyone ordered a burger, but only three burgers were eaten. How is this possible?
• Question : A man is stuck in a closed room with only two doors. One leads to a fire-breathing dragon. The other leads to a room covered in sunlight and magnifying glasses. Whichever room the man goes into, he will be burnt immediately. How does he escape?
• Question : An Arab sheik has two sons. He tells them that they must compete on their camels to inherit his fortune. Whichever camel crosses the finish line last wins. Both sons jump on their camels, wandering around the desert aimlessly. Neither one wants to cross first. Finally, they stumble upon a wise man and ask him for advice. He whispers something to them, and the brothers immediately jump onto the camels and charge toward the finish line. What did the man say to them?
• Question : Which four letters can be written forward, backward, or upside down and still be read from left to right?
• Question : You are standing in a hallway with three switches that control three light bulbs located behind a closed door. Once you open the door, you won't be able to revisit the switches, so how can you tell which lamp the switches are connected to?
• Question : I am the beginning of sorrow and the end of sickness. You cannot express happiness without me yet I am in the midst of crosses. I am always in risk yet never in danger. You may find me in the sun, but I am never out of darkness.
• Question: What is the next letter in the following sequence? D, R, M, F, S, L, T?
• Question: Two girls played five games of chess. Each of them wins the same number of games, and there were no ties. How is that possible?
• Question : How does a man maintain his long beard if he shaves multiple times a day?
• Question : A woman is sitting in her home at night with no light on. There is no fire, and there aren't any candles lit. How is she able to read in these conditions?
• Question: You walk into a room containing a match, a kerosene lamp, a candle, and a fireplace. What do you light first?
• Question : A man stands at the edge of a river with his dog standing on the other side. The man calls for the animal, who immediately crosses the river. There is no bridge or boat to help him cross, and yet the dog does not get wet. How is this possible?
• Question : There are 14 girls in a class. Eight of the kids are wearing striped shirts. Two of the kids who are not wearing striped shirts are boys. If five of the kids wearing striped shirts are girls, how many kids are there in the class total?
• Question : Brandon is six feet tall. He works at a butcher's shop. He wears size nine shoes and each of his hands is eight inches long. What does he weigh?
• Question : Name four days of the week that begin with the letter "T."
• Question : A man takes his car to a hotel. Once he gets there, he must immediately declare bankruptcy. Why?
• Question : The person who makes this item has no need for it. The person who buys it does not use it. The person who uses it does not realize what they are doing. What is it?
• Question : Is the capital of Kentucky pronounced Louisville or Luee-ville?
• Question : What contains forests but no trees, cities but no buildings, and water but no fish?
• Question : A family contains two parents and six sons. Each son has one sister. How many members of the family are there?
• Question : What do an island and the letter "T" have in common?
• Question: Why is the letter “F” similar to death?
• Question : If tomorrow I tell you that the day before yesterday was Saturday, what day is it today?
• Question : Josh fell off his bike and broke his leg. He arrived at the hospital on Monday, November 1, and left on November 30. What day of the week did he leave the hospital?
• Question : Something is filled with keys, but has no locks. There is space, but no extra room. You can enter, but there is no exit. What is it?
• Question : Ben tells his sister Lexi that he is twice as old and twice as smart as she is right now. Lexi responds by saying that in five years, she will be twice as old as she is now and that Billy won’t be. How old will the siblings be in five years?
• Question : If a sundial has the fewest moving parts of any timepiece, what has the most?
• Question : A man places a coin into an empty bottle before corking it. How does he get the coin out without removing the cork or breaking the bottle?
• Question : Two boxers are scheduled for a match lasting 12 rounds. One is knocked out after just six rounds, even though no man throws a punch. No kicking, wrestling, or shoving is permitted. How is this possible?
• Question : Four cars come to a four-way stop from different directions. They cannot decide who got there first, so they all start moving forward at the same time. They don't crash into each other, even though none of them stop. How is this possible?

Answer : The man is bald.

Answer : Each word in Wally's World must contain double letters.

Answer : The catcher and the umpire.

Answer : They are all pronounced differently when the first letter is capitalized.

Answer : Just one, after that it will no longer be empty.

Answer : His son.

Answer : The only place this is possible is at the North Pole. Only polar bears live there, so the bear is white.

Answer : "Stop." All the words are anagrams of each other.

Answer : You can take the first letter of each word and place it at the end to spell the same word backward.

Answer : A quarter and a nickel.

RELATED: 40 Hard Riddles That'll Leave You Totally Stumped .

Answer : He got off on the first floor.

Answer : I, T, S. Each letter in the sequence corresponds with the first letter of each word in the sentence.

Answer : It's simple, the doctor is the boy's mother.

Answer : Glass.

Answer : The group consisted of a grandmother, her daughter, and her granddaughter.

Answer : He waits until dark to escape through the room covered in magnifying glasses.

Answer : He told them to switch camels. Technically, the rules stated that the owner of the camel that crosses the finish line last wins the fortune.

Answer : NOON.

Answer : Turn on the first two switches. Leave them on for five minutes. After the five minutes have passed, turn one of the switches off. Leave the last switch off and go through the door. Whichever bulb is warmest belongs to the second switch. The bulb that is cold belongs to the switch that was never turned on.

Answer : The letter "S."

Answer : "D." Each letter represents one note in the diatonic musical scale: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do.

Answer : The girls didn't play each other, they competed against different opponents.

Answer : He's a barber

Answer : The woman is blind. She is reading braille.

Answer : The match.

Answer : The river was frozen.

Answer : 19.

Answer : Meat.

Answer : Tuesday, Thursday, Today, and Tomorrow.

Answer : The man is playing Monopoly. He lands on a property with a hotel but doesn't have enough "money" to pay the rent.

Answer : A coffin.

Answer : Neither. The capital of Kentucky is Frankfurt.

Answer : A map.

Answer : Nine. Two parents, six sons, and one daughter.

READ THIS NEXT: 75 Trivia Questions Only Geniuses Can Answer .

Answer : They are both in the middle of water.

Answer : Because without it, life becomes a lie.

Answer : Sunday.

Answer : Tuesday.

Answer : A keyboard.

Answer : Ben will be 15 and Lexi will be 10.

Answer : An hourglass. It contains thousands of grains of sand.

Answer : He pushes the cork into the bottle and then shakes the coin out.

Answer : Both boxers are female.

Answer : They all made right-hand turns.

Math Brain Teasers

• Question : When do two and eleven result in one as the correct answer?
• Question : A person is 15 years old in 1990. In 1995, that same person turned 10. How is that possible?
• Question : A reservoir doesn't contain much water, but the amount doubles every day. It takes a full 60 days to fill it completely. How many days does it take for the reservoir to become half filled?
• Question : What number is most frequently used between the numbers 1 and 1,000?
• Question : What's so special about the number 8,549,176,320?
• Question : If you had to write down all whole numbers between 1 and 100, how many times would you have to write the number 8?
• Question : What mathematical symbol can you add between 55555 to make it become 500?
• Question : A seller can fit either eight large boxes or 10 small boxes into a carton for shipping. In one shipment, he sent off a total of 96 boxes. If there are more large boxes than small boxes in the shipment, how many cartons did he send?
• Question : If there are 20 people in a room, and everyone shakes each other's hands once, then how many handshakes were there in total?

Answer : When you're talking about time. Two hours past eleven is one.

Answer : The person was born in 2005 BC.

Answer : 59 days. If the water level doubles every day, then on any given day, the reservoir is half the size it was the day before.

Answer : The number 1.

Answer : It's the only number where all the digits are arranged in alphabetical order.

Answer : 20 times.

Answer: 555-55=500

Answer : 11 cartons.

Answer : 190 handshakes.

Funny Brain Teasers

• Question : Susan lives in a one-story pink house with pink stairs, a pink shower, a pink computer, a pink couch, a pink chair, a pink fish, and even a pink cat. Can you guess what color the stairs are?
• Question : What five-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?
• Question : Sarah's family lives on the tenth floor of an apartment building. Every day, she uses the elevator to get to the ground floor and goes to school. When she returns, she uses the elevator to go to the sixth floor and walks the remaining four stories. Why?
• Question : There is a yellow house, a blue house, and a white house. If the yellow house is to the left of the house in the middle, and the blue house is situated to the right of the house in the middle, where is the white house?
• Question : In what month do people get the least amount of sleep?
• Question : A Gladiator is asked to walk into one of three chambers. The first room contains a raging fire. The second contains a group of men armed with swords, and the third contains lions that have been starving for years. Which one should he choose?
• Question : What kind of tire doesn't move after you turn on the car?
• Question : Katie's mother had four children. She named the first one Monday, the second Tuesday, and the third Wednesday. What is the name of the fourth child?
• Question : Is it possible for a man to legally marry his widow's sister in the state of Oregon?
• Question : How far can a dog run into the woods?

Answer : There are no stairs, it's a one-story house.

Answer : Short.

Answer : Because she can't reach any buttons higher than six.

Answer : In Washington D.C.

Answer : February. Remember, the month contains fewer nights than the rest.

Answer : The third room. If the lions have been starving for years, they might already be dead.

Answer : A spare tire.

Answer : Katie. Remember, her mother only had four children.

Answer : It's not illegal, it's just impossible. If his wife is a widow, then the man is dead.

Answer : Halfway. Any further than that and he'll be running out of the woods.

BONUS ROUND: Brain Teasers for Kids

We can't let adults have all the fun! Besides, brain teasers for kids can be just as beneficial. Studies show that these puzzles can help little ones strengthen their problem-solving and critical thinking skills. They can also help them learn how to sit still . Read on below to test out a few of our favorites. And if you're interested in more activities like this, be sure to check out these riddles for kids .

• Question : What six-letter word becomes 12 after removing one letter?
• Question : What jungle animal can be found "inside" the following letters: L, P, H, N?
• Question : If ten copycats were sitting in a boat and one jumped out, how many were left?
• Question : What begins with the letter "T," is filled with "T," and ends with "T"?
• Question : Twelve apples were growing in an orchid. Twelve men passed by. Each picked an apple off the tree, but there were eleven left hanging. How is that possible?
• Question : What can rock but cannot roll?
• Question : A woman describes her daughters by saying, "They are all blonde, but two; all brunette, but two; and all redheaded, but two." How many daughters does she have?
• Question : You are driving a bus. At the first stop, three children get on. At the second stop, three men board the bus, but two women get off. At the third stop, a couple and their child get on the bus, and it begins to rain. What color is the bus driver's hair?
• Question : Can you think of something that weighs nothing but even the strongest person in the world couldn't hold it for much longer than a minute?
• Question : What three letters can scare a robber off?

Answer : Dozens.

Answer : An elephant.

Answer : None. They're all copycats so everyone jumped out.

Answer : A teapot.

Answer : "Each" was a man's name.

Answer : A rocking chair.

Answer : Three—a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead.

Answer : Whatever color your hair is. Remember, you're the bus driver!

Answer : Your breath.

Answer : I, C, U.

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Critical thinking puzzles for adults (with answers)

Critical thinking can help to better navigate the information-dense and complex world we live in. By thinking critically we can better identify priorities, take a sensible approach to problem-solving and reach conclusions logically in line with evidence. Puzzles are an excellent way both to learn and practice critical thinking skills.

If you’d like to learn more about critical thinking or simply practice your skills with some puzzles, then this is the article for you. Read a little bit more about critical thinking skills and how to apply them first, or just skip straight to the puzzles and see how you get on.

What is critical thinking?

Critical thinking is a broad approach to problem solving and analysis based on logic and evidence. It brings together a wide range of intellectual competences and the ability to combine and cross-reference them. Some of the most important elements of a critical thinking approach include:

Analytical skills:

• understanding of questions and concepts
• differentiation of relevant / irrelevant evidence and information
• identification of similarities, connections and differences
• use of metaphors or analogies to communicate ideas

Powers of inference:

• extraction of meaning from data using inductive or deductive reasoning
• extrapolation of data or abstraction into concepts and patterns
• correct identification and deployment of analogies and assumptions
• grasp of causal relationships, allowing development of conclusions and theories.

Data and theory evaluation:

• assessment of how strong, important or credible a theory might be
• taking on board new data and new arguments which alter understanding of ideas and theory

Rational decision-making:

– application of all the skills and competences above in order to come to a rational conclusion.

Problem-solving attitude: In addition to being able to think critically , you must also be personally inclined to think critically when facing a difficult or complex challenge. Developing qualities including curiosity and fairness, while distancing yourself from ideologies and group-think, should all help to create the kind of psychological landscape where critical thinking can flourish.

How can I learn critical thinking?

Critical thinking skills are hard to develop from only reading books or listening to lectures. The most effective way to sharpen and deepen critical thinking faculties is to practice critical thinking . Critical thinking puzzles offer a fun way to learn and the eight critical thinking puzzles we’ve chosen for this article should help you make a good start.

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Eight critical thinking puzzles – with answers

Puzzle 1 – letter puzzles.

What common feature do the following words share?

Answer: All of these words begin with a vowel. This type of puzzle may send your mind off in the wrong direction, thinking about the objects or concepts described by the words, and the properties they might share. In fact, the solution lies in a far more simple consideration of the alphabet. Puzzle 1 is a simple example of a common type of letter or word puzzle.

Puzzle 2 – Commonalities and differences

What do the following items have in common and which is the odd one out?

Orange Juice

Answer: These items are all liquids and the odd one out is petrol, since all the others are drinkable liquids.

Puzzle 3 – Falling on his feet

A man who lives in a high-rise building decides to exit through the window one morning rather than using the door. Somehow he survives the fall without a scratch and walks away to work. How did this happen?

Answer: The man lived on the ground or first floor and merely stepped or jumped down to the pavement outside. By stating early on that the building in question was a high-rise building, it’s easy for someone reading quickly to assume that the man jumped from a window on a high store but this it s not necessarily the case.

Puzzle 4 – Walk this way

A group of five people enter a windowless meeting room together. An hour later when the meeting ends, four walk out of the door, leaving the room empty. What has happened to the fifth member of the group?

Answer: The fifth person was in a wheelchair and wheeled out of the room rather than walked. Solving this puzzle requires you to think laterally about the question and the possible solutions. The answer can be found by asking yourself whether the emphasis of the question is on the emptiness of the room or the means by which the other four people left.

Puzzle 5 – Shapes and symbols

When lying on my side, I am everything, but when cut in half, I am nothing. What am I?

Answer: The number 8. This puzzle requires that you think about a shape being repositioned or cut in a way that can change it to “everything” or “nothing”. Number 8 on its side is the mathematical symbol for infinity (i.e. everything) and also shaped like two small number 0s put together.

Puzzle 6 – Three hard options

The hero is escaping the lair of an evil super-villain and is faced with three possible exits:

• Door A leads into a pit of bubbling lava
• Door B leads to a room housing a deadly hitman
• Door C leads to the den full of lions that haven’t had a meal for a year.

Which door should the hero choose?

Answer: Door C. If the lion hasn’t eaten in a year, it will definitely be dead by now. This type of puzzle requires you to consider the full implications of the information given, rather than being drawn into a comparison of the relative dangers of lava, hitmen and lions…

Puzzle 7 – The bus driver’s eyes

You are a bus driver. Today the bus is empty at the start of your route but at the first stop, four people get onto the bus. Eight people get on at the second stop, while three alight. When the bus reaches the third stop, one more gets off, and three get on.

At the fourth stop, two people get off the bus and one gets on. The bus is traveling at an average speed of 30mph and its tires are new.  What color are the bus driver’s eyes?

Answer: You are the bus driver so the color will be the color of your own eyes. This type of puzzle tries to confuse you and obscure the single piece of relevant information by presenting large quantities of irrelevant information.

Puzzle 8 – Losing weight

A man walks into a room, closes the doors behind him and presses a button. In a matter of seconds the man is 20lb lighter. Despite this, he leaves the room at the same weight he entered it.

Answer: The room in question is actually an elevator. When the man gets in and presses the button, the elevator moves downwards with an acceleration that reduces the effect of gravity and makes the man temporarily 20lb lighter. Once the lift stops moving, the man’s weight is subject to normal gravity, just the same as before. Solving this puzzle requires a small piece of general physics knowledge.

A final word…

We hope you’ve enjoyed our critical thinking puzzles for adults and that your critical thinking skills are feeling refreshed and sharpened after reading our article. Whether at school, in the workplace, or in general life, critical thinking can be a valuable tool for success and anyone can learn to use it.

Get more critical thinking puzzles on our Youtube channel:

20 Challenging Lateral Thinking Puzzles That Are Harder Than They Seem

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7 Puzzles to Challenge Your Critical Thinking

Can you spot the connections and sort these items.

Posted March 5, 2015 | Reviewed by Ekua Hagan

The theme of this post is critical thinking—and the kinds of puzzles that can be constructed around it. This term is used frequently in psychology and education . There are various definitions, but the one that best suits our purpose and which is, in the end, perhaps the best, is the ability to comprehend the logical connections among ideas, words, phrases, and concepts . In the relevant scientific literature, of course, the term is used much more broadly as a framework for understanding human cognition . But in my opinion, the best way to understand things is to construct puzzles to illustrate their basic essence.

Critical thinking involves skill at recognizing a pattern in given information and especially recognizing how the information is connected to the real world. Here are a couple of very simple examples. First, consider the five words below:

• Cruise ship
• Walking on foot
• Automobile (not a race car)

Now, put them in order from the slowest to the fastest, when they are going at maximum speed. The solution, of course, is: 4-2-5-1-3.

As with all such puzzles, there might be slightly different solutions—one could claim that some automobiles go faster than cruise ships. This “indeterminacy” characterizes this kind of thinking. However, some puzzles are straightforward. For instance, what do the following five things have in common?

The answer? These are all words referring to shades of blue.

The seven puzzles below are to the ones above, though hopefully more challenging. Some involve knowledge of facts, but critical thinking is still involved in such cases because the organization of the facts according to some principle is always involved—for example, a puzzle may ask you to put five items in order of their dates of invention.

The following tongue-in-cheek definition of critical thinking by Richard W. Paul, a leading expert on critical thinking theory, says it all: “Critical thinking is thinking about your thinking while you’re thinking in order to make your thinking better.”

I. What do the following 5 things have in common?

• Orange juice

II. Put the following buildings or structures in order of height, from the shortest to the tallest.

• Typical camping tent

III. What do the following animals have in common?

IV. Put the following inventions in order from earliest to most recent.

V. What feature do the following words have in common?

• Imagination

VI. Put these bodies of water in order in terms of volume, from smallest to largest .

VII. What do the following landmasses have in common?

I. They are all drinkable liquids. II. 5-1-4-3-2 III. They all have a tail. They are also all quadrupeds. IV. To the best of my knowledge: 5-4-3-1-2 V. They start with a vowel: a, e, i, o, u VI. 4-2-1-5-3 VII. They are all peninsulas.

Marcel Danesi, Ph.D. , is a professor of semiotics and anthropology at Victoria College, University of Toronto. His books include The Puzzle Instinct and The Total Brain Workout .

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The Ultimate Collection of Brain Teasers To Keep You Thinking All Day

• December 4, 2020

Brain teasers are fun. People have been solving them for millennia and still we enjoy them. Putting the brain to the test, pushing beyond cognitive thinking, and utilizing logic and creativity, brain teasers satisfy our inherent urge to solve problems.

So, here we have compiled an ultimate list of brain teasers — from logic and lateral thinking to visual puzzles, from math and numbers brain teasers to riddles, and more — all that’ll challenge your thinking and keep you busy for hours. Can you solve them all? 

Logic and Lateral Thinking Brain Teasers

Logic and lateral thinking brain games provide a complete mental exercise by working on both logic and creative thinking. Some of these brain teasers require you to find the logic behind the puzzle to get the solution while some require out-of-the-box thinking that breaks from the traditional notions. Try these ones to get started.

1. Which Way Is the Bus Going? (This Is a Bus in the US.)

Answer: The bus is traveling left.

Look at the bus — the doors are not visible. This means the passengers would get on the bus from the opposite side. And since the bus is in the US — where they drive on the right side — the bus is traveling left.

Did you know kids are slightly quicker in answering such visual brain teasers (although they can be inaccurate sometimes)? And research by the University of London found out this is because children under 12 perceive visual information differently from adults.

2. This Brain Teaser Requires High Observation Skills: Guess Who’s Married?

This brain teaser is all about observation and some logic-lateral thinking. Look at pictures carefully, do you see any signs or indications to identify a married woman? Yes, the second woman has a ring on her ring finger.

3. Find Which Glass Will Fill up First? (Tip: Look at the Pipes Carefully.)

If you thought it is 6, it’s wrong. Look at the pipes connected to beakers. The lower pipe connected with the first beaker is closed — the water won’t go through it.

So now eliminating options with closed pipes, it’s the beaker number 5 that’ll fill up first.

4. This Logic Brain Teaser Will Test Your Visual Judgment.

Just look at the opposite sides of the triangle. You’ll get the answer.

5. Guess the Car’s Parking Spot Number.

To solve this you’ll need to look at the puzzle from a different angle. What you see are inverted numbers, the actual sequence is 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91.

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6. guess the correct top view of the tower..

First, look at the reference tower carefully. It has orange on the top, yellow beneath it  — but of equal size so won’t be visible from the top, a larger yellow with a slightly larger orange at the bottom.

So the aerial view of the tower should consist of a pattern from a smaller orange pattern followed by a larger yellow base and again comparatively larger orange. That’s the first pattern — A.

7. Can You Guess the Total Number of Blocks?

Did you count the blocks that are hidden behind? The bottom layer has 5 blocks, the second layer has 3 and the top layer has 1 block.

Visual Puzzles and Brain Teasers

Visual puzzles test your ability to visualize things. If you have a knack for visual-spatial judgment, you might have visual-spatial intelligence — one of the intelligences as per Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences — that enables you to think in three-dimension and picture concepts in mind.

8. Can You Spot the Panda?

9. Can You Spot the Pig?

10. Can You Find Which Butterfly Will Reach the Flower First?

So how long did you take to find out?

Mazes are great brain teasers because it really makes you think. To navigate through a complex labyrinth and find out a way, you indeed have to use enough cognitive resources.  Mazes are also great brain games for kids as they help build their problem-solving and visual-motor skills.

11. Guess the Correct Shadow.

12. quick — can you find the mistake.

Answer: “Mitsake” is the mistake.

It’s funny how our mind fails to recognize the simple mistake. This phenomenon is called intentional blindness in which we fail to notice other things while focusing on one particular object. Here, you were focusing on numbers and missed the word.

13. Stroop Test

Stroop effect is the phenomenon when you recognize the semantic meaning of the word instead of the color. If you’re doing it for the first time, it can be difficult to recognize the color as the meaning of the words conflicts with your brain. Try it yourself.

Speak the color of the words — not the semantic meaning — from the following graphic.

14. Advanced Stroop Test

Along with the colors, shapes are added in this Stroop test to challenge your brain. Try it.

Speak out the color and shapes — not the semantic meaning of the word — in the following graphic.

Riddle Brain Teasers

Riddles are the old but goodie brain teasers that have stood the test of time. They are fun, engaging, enable you to think creatively, and of course, utterly satisfying. Here, let’s start with some easy ones.

15. What’s the Thing That Shoots but Never Kills?

Answer: Camera

Okay, that was an easy one. Let’s see if you can solve the next riddle.

16. Who’s the Doctor?

Answer: The doctor is the boy’s mother.

The picture of fishing with the son conjures a “son-dad time” picture. Our mind perceives it must be the son’s dad or a male figure who went fishing.  Well, that’s how these riddles play with our minds.

17. A Woman Born in 1975 and Died in 1975. She Was 22 Years Old at the Time of Death. How?

Answer: One of the numbers (1975) could be the hospital room or even a postal code.

Science-Based Brain Teasers

At some point, we all have studied the basic principles of physics, chemistry, and other science. But what’s funny is these basic principles and laws have washed away from our memory, sometimes making us wonder about the basic science behind the things. 

These science-based will take you back to the science class and test your knowledge with some brain-teasing science problems.

18. Look at the Picture: Will the Scale Remain Balanced or Will Tilt To One of the Sides?

Answer: It will tilt.

It’s because of the principle of Buoyancy. Although the two objects are of the same weight, when they are immersed in water they go through weight loss. And the weight loss is equal to the water displaced. So the larger object — the stone — will displace more water than the iron weight. So the scale will tilt.

19. Brain Trivia: Name One Animal That Has Blue Blood

Answer: Octopus, Squid, Horseshoe Crabs 

The reason why these animals have blue blood is because of hemocyanin, a copper-rich protein present in their blood. While animals with red blood including humans have Hemoglobin, an iron-containing protein responsible for the red color.

Math and Number Brain Teasers

Math brain teasers are a treat for every math lover. Some require pure logic and a knack for calculations while others are just lateral thinking problems masquerading in numbers. We’ve put together some of these brain teasers to get you started.

20. What’s the Missing Number?

This brain teaser requires you to observe the number and find-out the logic. Look carefully the number in the center circle of each line is half the sum of numbers towards its left and right. So, for the last line, the answer’ll be: 9 + 3 = 12 (÷ 2) = 6.

21. Find the Total Number of Students in the Class.

Since Alex ranked 9th from the top there are 8 students ahead of him. And he ranked 38th from the bottom that means 37 students are behind him.

So the total number of students will be 8 + Alex + 37= 46.

22. Number Brain Teaser – Guess the Missing Number.

Here’s the trick. The wheel is a piechart. Each number and the section represents the percentage. So 100 – 66 (total of the numbers) = 34. Were you baffled?

23. Can You Guess the Number?

The trick is to count the total number of intersections. In the first the lines intersect 9 times, in the second it’s just 1 and in the third one it’s 4 times.

24. What Should Be the Time in the Last Watch?

Answer: 7:05 

Observe the time difference in each watch, there’s a pattern.

(1st watch) 9:05 – 12 mins = 8:53 (2nd watch)

8:53 – 24 mins = 8:29 (3rd watch )

8:29 – 36 mins = 7:53 (4th watch)

7:53 – 48 mins = 7:05 (5th watch)

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Brain Teasers with Answers

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How do puzzles help the brain.

It’s easier for children to develop imagination, mindfulness and diligence, short-term memory, creativity, and critical thinking skills with funny picture brain teasers.

Adults are used to solving puzzles in books, magazines, and in mobile apps. The best thing about this is even if you are solving brain teasers to relax, you improve your memory, and make the brain sharp and active.

Are you ready to challenge your skills and solve a couple of puzzles? We have something cool for you.

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The collection of brain-teasing puzzles, logic questions and tricky riddles by LogicLike is updated every week!

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Fun puzzles for kids

Name the opposite: Tasty, ripe or sweet?

Choose the red shape with corners.

Red square.

solve 10-20 problems and riddles a day. Can you do more?

Logic Riddles with answers

How many jump ropes are there in the box, assuming we can see all the ends?

There were 2 blocks. Then there were 9 blocks. How many cuts were made?

How to Solve Brain Teasers?

We are happy to share some life hacks with you, which will help you cope with brain puzzles quickly and joyfully.

• Logic puzzles can be solved either by reasoning or by specific methods. In one case, you should think about the common features that some items have. In "N times greater questions," drawing blocks of the same size on a list of paper or in your imagination may help you. In "Random pick puzzles," it is a good idea to think about the worst-case scenario. There are many other interesting tricks on the Logiclike platform.
• There are tricky riddles and questions . If you face them, read attentively. Such puzzles are full of distracting facts. Ignore them and focus on the main things! Sometimes it is useful to reread the beginning of the question. What if there is a clue?
• To solve matchstick puzzles , we need to activate our imagination. There may be various options where to move or just remove one or more matches. Try ways of guessing or thinking from the opposite. Keep in mind that sometimes you should rotate a matchstick.
• Solving number series or pattern puzzles requires requires not only logic but also math skills like addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc. To find the answer, sometimes you need to do operations in an unordinary way. For example, to perform the addition of a two-digit number's parts or multiply the numbers in a row.

Math Puzzles with answers

There are 4 floors above Tattie's apartment and 3 floors below it. How many floors are there in the building?

Challenging Puzzles for adults and kids

Annie, Tim, and Clarissa are doing a new puzzle. Tim does it twice as fast as Clarissa. Clarissa does it twice as fast as Annie. The three of them assembled this puzzle in 3 hours. How many hours would Annie need to do this puzzle by herself?

One box contains roller skates, and two boxes are empty. Where can the roller skates be if only one hint is true?

Brain training puzzles for adults

The red box is lighter than the green one. Two blue boxes weigh the same as the green and red ones combined. Arrange the boxes from lightest to heaviest.

Red - Blue - Green.

An empty suitcase weighs seven times less than Steam, and Steam weighs 36 lbs more than the suitcase. How much do Steam and the suitcase weigh together?

36 : 6 = 6 6 + 6 ∙ 7 = 48

Add the right symbols.

8×2−4=12

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