Gearing up for a family reunion? Already RSVP'd to a party with people you don't know? Or maybe you're headed to happy hour with your co-workers? No matter the occasion, there's always room for a little awkwardness. When that's the case, an ice-breaker can come definitely in handy. Below, we've listed some of our favorite trick questions to help get the conversation flowing. At worst, you'll make a few new friends. At best, you'll stump all the swellheads around!
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81 Best Trick Questions, Riddles & Ice-Breaker Games
Share the list of trick questions below with family, friends, and co-workers. See how many you can answer correctly. We've even broken things down into separate categories to make the list easier to navigate.
Hard Trick Questions for Adults
- Question: You see a truck driver going down a one-way street the wrong way. He passes at least 10 cops but doesn’t get stopped. How come?
- Question: Two mothers and two daughters ordered a pizza for dinner. Each had one slice, so how were only three slices eaten?
- Question: A woman ran away from home, turning left three times only to return home, where she came face to face with two guys wearing masks. Who were those guys?
- Question: How is it possible that every single person in an airplane crash died, but two people survived?
- Question: Should we assume that a professional pole vaulter can vault higher than a double-decker bus?
- Question: What's one question that nobody can honestly say “no” to?
- Question: An electrician and a plumber were waiting in line for lunch at a local cafe. One of them was the father of the other's son. How could this be possible?
- Question: You see two girls on the street who look identical. You ask them the following questions: Do you come from the same family? Do you share the same parents? Are your birthdays on the same day? Both girls answered yes to all your questions, but when you asked if they were twins, they said no. How is that possible?
- Question: A man dressed in a black suit with a black hat and a black mask covering his face was walking down a country lane. Suddenly, a black SUV without any lights on was speeding but screeched to a halt before it could hit the man. How did the car know he was there?
- Question: A girl fell off a 30-foot ladder but didn't sustain any injuries, not even a bruise. How is that possible?
- Question: Two men are caught in the rain and are soaked from head to toe. Why did only one get his shoes wet?
- Question: What's something you make but no one, not even you, can see it?
- Question: Two security guards arrive for work at the same time in the morning. They have both guarded the same bank vault for the past 10 years, neither of them ever takes a sick day, but they have never once laid eyes on each other. How is this possible?
- Question: Before Mount Everest was discovered, what was the tallest mountain on Earth?
- Question: Some months have 31 days, others have 30 days, but how many have 28 days?
- Question: You’re riding an electric train at 120 mph moving north with the wind blowing east at 15 mph. Which way does the smoke blow?
- Question: There was a terrible plane crash on the border of the United States and Canada. Only half the people survived. Ethically speaking, where do you bury the survivors?
Answer: Because he was walking on the sidewalk.
Answer: The dinner group included a grandmother, her daughter, and her granddaughter (her daughter’s daughter).
Answer: The umpire and the catcher.
Answer: The two people were married.
Answer: Yes—buses are unable to pole vault.
Answer: "Are you awake?"
Answer: They were husband and wife.
Answer: Because they aren't twins, they are triplets.
Answer: The incident happened in the middle of the day.
Answer: She was standing on the bottom rung when she fell.
Answer: Because only one was wearing shoes, the other was barefoot.
Answer: Noise.
Answer: They guard the vault on different days.
Answer: It was still Mount Everest.
Answer: All 12 months have 28 days.
Answer: Nowhere. It's an electric train, so there is no smoke.
Answer: Nowhere. It's not ethical to bury survivors.
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Easy(ish) Trick Questions for Kids
Shutterstock / TY Lim
- Question: If you had only one match and entered a dark room containing an oil lamp, some kindling wood, and a newspaper, which would you light first?
- Question: If there are 10 birds sitting in a tree and one gets shot by a hunter, how many birds are left?
- Question: What do you call a person who doesn’t have all his fingers in one hand?
- Question: What superpower do you need to allow you to drop a raw egg onto a concrete floor without cracking it?
- Question: What is something you might buy for dinner, but would never dream of eating?
- Question: Eskimos are very good hunters, but they never hunt penguins. Why not?
- Question: Which is heavier, 100 pounds of rocks or 100 pounds of feathers?
- Question: Beth’s mother has three daughters. One is called Lara, the other one is Sara. What is the name of the third daughter?
- Question: What's something that belongs to you but everyone else gets to use it much more frequently?
- Question: What can travel around the world while staying in the same corner?
- Question: There are three important rooms in a house. One is filled with money, another is filled with important papers, and the last is filled with jewelry. One day, all of these rooms burst into fire. Which room did the policemen put out the fire in first?
- Question: How can a girl go 25 days without sleep?
- Question: How many sides does a circle have?
- Question: A farmer usually collects 15 eggs from his barn each day. One morning, he went out to see how many eggs his rooster had laid. How many was he able to collect?
- Question: What only has one foot, one head, and four legs?
- Question: There's only one thing that goes up and down but remains in the same place. What is it?
- Question: A teenage boy was rushed to the hospital emergency room in need of surgery, but the ER doctor refused to do it, claiming the patient was their son. But the doctor wasn’t the boy’s father. How is that possible?
- Question: A young boy was practicing soccer. He kicked the soccer ball 10 feet away from him and each time it came back to him on its own. How is this possible?
Answer: The match.
Answer: None. One bird got shot, and the rest flew away.
Answer: Normal. Most people only have half their fingers on one hand.
Answer: None. Ordinary people can do it because concrete floors are extremely hard to crack.
Answer: A fork and knife.
Answer: Eskimos live in the North Pole; penguins live in the South Pole.
Answer: They both weigh 100 pounds.
Answer: Beth.
Answer: Your name.
Answer: A stamp.
Answer: None of them, because policemen do not put out fires; firemen do.
Answer: She sleeps at night.
Answer: Two, an inside and an outside.
Answer: None—roosters don’t lay eggs.
Answer: A bed.
Answer: A staircase.
Answer: The doctor was the girl’s mother.
Answer: The boy was kicking the ball straight up in the air.
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Word Play
allme/Shutterstock
- Question: How many letters are in the alphabet?
- Question: What five-letter word becomes smaller when you add two letters, and even smaller when you add three?
- Question: Which is correct to say, "The yolk of the egg is white" or "The yolk of the egg is white?"
- Question: What heavy seven-letter word can you take two away from and be left with eight?
- Question: Which letter of the alphabet has the most water?
- Question: If your dog has four legs, but you count his tail as one leg, how many legs does your dog have now?
- Question: There are two words that, when combined, hold the most letters. What words are they?
- Question: What starts with the letter T, is filled with "T," and ends in "T?"
- Question: What is the one word spelled incorrectly in every English dictionary?
- Question: What five-letter word, no matter how you pronounce it, is always pronounced wrong?
- Question: How do you make the number one disappear?
- Question: What starts and ends in “e” but only contains one letter?
- Question: If you spell “sit in the tub” s-o-a-k, and you spell “a funny story” j-o-k-e, how do you spell “the white of an egg”?
- Question: Which English word holds the same pronunciation even if you take away four out of its five letters?
- Question: What three-letter word sounds like a letter it does not contain?
- Question: What contains 10 letters but only starts with gas?
- Question: What has black spots and a white face, is fat not thin, and helps you to win, but tumbles all over the place?
Answer: There are 11 letters in “the alphabet.”
Answer: "Short."
Answer: Neither is correct. Egg yolks are yellow, not white.
Answer: Weights.
Answer: The "C."
Answer: Still four—calling your dog’s tail a leg doesn’t make it one.
Answer: "Post" and "Office."
Answer: A teapot.
Answer: "Incorrectly."
Answer: The word "wrong."
Answer: Add the letter "G" to the front and it's "gone."
Answer: An envelope.
Answer: E-G-G W-H-I-T-E.
Answer: "Queue."
Answer: "Eye."
Answer: An automobile.
Answer: Dice.
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Funny Trick Questions
Shutterstock / spaxiax
- Question: Is it legal for a man to marry his widow’s sister?
- Question: How many animals did Moses allow onto the ark?
- Question: You invited a bunch of friends over for a dinner party, but not one single person showed up. What happened?
- Question: Chad went outside and into the pouring rain without an umbrella, hat, or protection. How come not a single hair in his head got wet?
- Question: If you found yourself daydreaming about being stranded in a sinking rowboat surrounded by sharks, how would you survive?
- Question: Is it legal for a man living in North Carolina to be buried in South Carolina?
- Question: How can you lift an elephant with one hand?
- Question: What has four wheels and flies?
- Question: In France, a cat is called “un chat.” In Germany, it would be “eine Katze.” What is a cat in Antarctica?
- Question: What type of dress can never be worn?
- Question: What has three feet but can't walk?
- Question: What do you call a woman who knows where her husband is at all times?
- Question: What do you sit on, sleep on, and brush your teeth with?
- Question: In South Africa, you can't take a picture of a man with a wooden leg. Why not?
- Question: A man lives on the 100th floor of an apartment building. On rainy days he rides the elevator all the way up. However, on sunny days, he goes halfway and takes the stairs the rest of the way. Why?
Answer: Of course not. He’s already dead!
Answer: None. Moses wasn’t on the ark!
Answer: All of your friends are married!
Answer: Chad is bald!
Answer: Stop daydreaming!
Answer: No, because he's still alive!
Answer: You can't, because you'll never find an elephant with one hand!
Answer: A garbage truck!
Answer: Freezing!
Answer: An address!
Answer: A yardstick!
Answer: A widow!
Answer: Easy—a chair, a bed, and a toothbrush!
Answer: You can't take a picture with a wooden leg, you need to use a camera!
Answer: The man is short and can only reach the button for the 50th floor on the elevator. On rainy days, he uses his umbrella handle!
Number Questions
Shutterstock / bohemama
- Question: There are eight men sitting on your new couch, when three legs break. Five men stand up and leave. How many legs are left?
- Question: Three kids are playing on the beach. The first kid has four piles of sand, the second kid has three piles, and the last kid has six piles. If they put all piles of sand together, how many piles of sand would there be?
- Question: Lucy has five eggs, Matthew will have 50 eggs, and Robert had 20. Who has the most eggs?
- Question: Aunt Mary had 24 sheep in her barn. She accidentally left the door open one night and all but seven sheep escaped. How many sheep are there left?
- Question: If it took eight men 10 hours to dig a swimming pool, how long will it take four men to perform the same task?
- Question: A 30-foot rope ladder hangs over the side of a ship with its bottom rung touching the surface of the water (the rungs are spaced one foot apart). During high tide, the water level rises at a rate of 12 inches per hour. How long will it take before five rungs get covered in water?
- Question: When Dennis was 12, his sister was half his age. Dennis is now 23. How old is his sister?
- Question: There are five apples in a basket and five people in a room. How can you give an apple to each person in the room and yet leave one apple in the basket?
- Question: How much dirt is there in a hole that is three feet deep, six feet long, and four feet wide?
- Question: If two’s company and three’s a crowd, what do four and five make?
- Question: You are in a horse race, and manage to gallop past the riders in fourth, third, and second place before you cross the finish line. Where did you finish?
- Question: Josh, a 45-year-old blacksmith, is seven feet tall, and eats all day long. What does he weigh?
- Question: My dog’s leash is five feet long. He is desperate to eat an ice cream cone that someone has dropped about eight feet away. How does he manage to reach it?
- Question: An elevator in a tall building, starting from the third floor, climbs eight stories. After descending nine stories again, then climbing seven stories, it descends three stories before climbing up seven stories again. What floor is it on?
Answer: Seven. The legs of the three remaining men and the remaining couch leg.
Answer: Just one big pile of sand.
Answer: Lucy.
Answer: Seven sheep.
Answer: No time at all. The pool has already been dug.
Answer: It won't ever happen. The boat will rise as the tide goes up, and so will the ladder.
Answer: 17.
Answer: You give one of them an apple in the basket.
Answer: None. A hole doesn't have any dirt in it.
Answer: Nine.
Answer: Second place.
Answer: Iron.
Answer: I'm not holding his leash.
Answer: The thirteenth floor.
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How Trick Questions Can Help Your Brain
Trick questions aren't just a fun way to get one over on your friends—they're actually good for your brain. Mind-benders are particularly useful when it comes to exercising the "use it or lose it" principle. In other words, these types of puzzles help stimulate certain brain functions that we may not otherwise tap into on the daily.
The results have been shown to help sharpen critical-thinking skills and even improve short-term memory. It's also worth noting that experts suggest other brain-boosting activities like jigsaw puzzles can even help transition us into a meditative-like state.
And if you think these results sound well, nice, but also like something that won't pay off for a long time, think again.
Back in 1993, a group of scientists at Penn State University discovered students have a much harder time discerning between normal test prompts and "trick" questions than previously thought (their results were later published in the Journal of Education Measurement). The further you push your understanding of reason and logic, the sooner you can expect it to pay off in the real world.
Wrapping Up
That's it for our list of trick questions. Be sure to check back with us soon for more brain teasers to share with the ones you love. You can also sign up for our newsletter so you don't miss out on what's coming next!
