Make the Line Smaller

Sherlock Holmes was challenged to make a pre-drawn line smaller without erasing it. He did it in fractions of seconds. How?




Similar Riddles

I am a three digit number.
My tens digit is five more than my ones digit.
My hundreds digit is eight less than my tens digit.
What number am I?

Asked by Neha on 17 May 2021


When a clock is observed, the hour hand is at a minute mark and the minutes hand is six minutes ahead of it.

When the clock is observed again after some time, the hour hand is precisely on a different minute mark and the minute hand is seven minutes ahead of it.

Can you calculate how much time has elapsed between the two observations?

Asked by Neha on 07 Jul 2021

Consider this: Arnold Schwarzenegger has a big one. Michael J. Fox has a small one. Prince doesn’t have one. The Pope has one but never uses it. Bill Clinton has one and uses it all the time. What is it?

Asked by Neha on 29 Jun 2025


What is the Surname of Barbie Doll?

Asked by Neha on 25 Jul 2023

A girl says this to her best friend: “I was born in 1955, and I celebrated my 17th birthday last weekend.” Her best friend thinks she’s lying, but she’s actually correct. How is that possible?

Asked by Neha on 12 Jun 2025

After a heavy Thanksgiving meal, the night watchman went to work. In the morning, he told his boss he had dreamed that a saboteur planted a bomb in the factory and that he felt it was a warning. The boss promptly fired him. Worker confused, Why boss fire him?

Asked by Neha on 28 Dec 2025


Henry has been caught stealing cattle and is brought into town for justice. The judge is his ex-wife Gretchen, who wants to show him some sympathy, but the law calls for two shots to be taken at Henry from close range. To make things a little better for Henry, Gretchen tells him she will place two bullets into a six-chambered revolver in successive order. She will spin the chamber, close it, and take one shot. If Henry is still alive, she will then either take another shot, or spin the chamber again before shooting.

Henry is a bit incredulous that his ex-wife would carry out the punishment, and a bit sad that she was always such a rule follower. He steels himself as Gretchen loads the chambers, spins the revolver, and pulls the trigger. Whew! It was blank. Then Gretchen asks, 'Do you want me to pull the trigger again, or should I spin the chamber a second time before pulling the trigger?'

What should Henry choose?

Asked by Neha on 16 Mar 2026

What is the centre of gravity?

Asked by Neha on 10 Nov 2023

In the Wild West, you are challenged into a death match by two bounty hunters nicknamed Golden Revolver (GR) and Killer Boots (KB). You accept the challenge. None of you want to waste any of the bullet and so a certain rules are laid down:

1) All of you will shoot in a given order till the last man standing.
2) Each of you shoots only once upon his turn.
3) If any one of you is injured, the other two will finish him off with an iron rod.
4) The worst shooter of all (which is you) shoots first and the best one shoots at the last.

Now, how will you plan things if you know that you hit every third shot of yours, KB hits every second shot and GR hits every shot ?

Asked by Neha on 15 Dec 2025


A man was telling some of his war stories to his grandchildren.
"When the World War I was on the verge of end, I was awarded for my bravery for I had saved a group of my men." He coughed and then added, "When we were fighting in northern France, an enemy soldier threw a grenade at us. Before it could explode, I picked it up and threw it away. For my act of bravery, right before the war ended, A General gave me a sword engraved with the words "Awarded for Display of Bravery and Heroism in World War 1"."

Hearing this, one of the grandson spoke up. "Grandpa, this is not a true story. It can"t be true!"

The truth is that it was not. How did the grand children know it?

Asked by Neha on 22 Feb 2023

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Amazing Facts

Out of the Box

The phrase “thinking outside the box” was popularised from the solution to a topographical puzzle involving 9 dots in a box shape.