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

A number with an interesting property:

When I divide it by 2, the remainder is 1.
When I divide it by 3, the remainder is 2.
When I divide it by 4, the remainder is 3.
When I divide it by 5, the remainder is 4.
When I divide it by 6, the remainder is 5.
When I divide it by 7, the remainder is 6.
When I divide it by 8, the remainder is 7.
When I divide it by 9, the remainder is 8.
When I divide it by 10, the remainder is 9.

It's not a small number, but it's not really big, either.
When I looked for a smaller number with this property I couldn't find one.

Can you find it?

Asked by Neha on 21 Nov 2024


John and Jacob are twin brothers. One of them is a liar whereas the other one is a truth-teller.

I called their home number and one of them picked up.
I asked. 'Does John lie?' The person replied with a yes.

Whom did I talk with, John or Jacob?

Asked by Neha on 23 Nov 2024

John is on an island and there are three crates of fruit that have washed up in front of him. One crate contains only apples. One crate contains only oranges. The other crate contains both apples and oranges.

Each crate is labelled. One reads 'apples', one reads 'oranges', and one reads 'apples and oranges'. He know that NONE of the crates have been labeled correctly - they are all wrong.

If he can only take out and look at just one of the pieces of fruit from just one of the crates, how can he label all of the crates correctly?

Asked by Neha on 07 Jan 2024


Baseball bat and ball cost $100. If the bat cost $99 more than the ball, what is the cost of each?

Asked by Neha on 23 May 2021

Can anyone tell me a word in the English dictionary which has a silent 'z'?

Asked by Neha on 13 Jan 2024

One absent-minded ancient philosopher forgot to wind up his only clock in the house. He had no radio, TV, telephone, internet, or any other means for telling time. So he travelled on foot to his friend's place a few miles down the straight desert road. He stayed at his friend's house for the night and when he came back home, he knew how to set his clock. How did he know?

Asked by Neha on 29 Feb 2024


How many words can a pen with half refill write?

Asked by Neha on 03 Feb 2025

If one and a half boys, eat one and a half burgers in one and a half hours.

How many burgers can 9 boys eat in 3 hours?

Asked by Neha on 20 May 2023

There is a jar in which there are two types of candies.
20 blueberries and 16 strawberries. You perform the following steps:
1) You take out two candies.
2) If the two candies are of the same flavour, you add a blueberry one otherwise, you add the strawberry one.

You repeat these two steps till there is just one candy remaining in the jar. Which flavoured candy will be left?

Asked by Neha on 30 Aug 2023


On a beautiful Sunday morning, You ordered a hot tea to your hotel room and suddenly you remember an important thing that needed to be done right now will take around 3 minutes to complete.
Like most people you like your tea to be hot while drinking so, when should you pour cream in the tea?
1. straight away
2. Just people, you drink the team
3. Its does not matter

Asked by Neha on 24 Jun 2023

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Gambling

In Canada, a mathematical puzzle must be solved in order to win the lottery to classify it as a “game of skill” not gambling.