Make the Line Sorter

Birbal was jester, counsellor, and fool to the great Moghul emperor, Akbar.
The villagers loved to talk of Birbal's wisdom and cleverness,
and the emperor loved to try to outsmart him.
One day Akbar (emperor) drew a line across the floor.
"Birbal," he ordered, "you must make this line shorter, but you cannot erase any bit of it."
Everyone present thought the emperor had finally outsmarted Birbal.
It was clearly an impossible task.
Yet within moments the emperor and everyone else present had to agree that Birbal had made the line shorter without erasing any of it.
How could this be?




Similar Riddles

If "P" means "-", "Q" means "/", "R" means "+", and "S" means "*" then find the value of the following:

21 Q 7 R 9 S 10 P 13

Asked by Neha on 16 Oct 2025


Before Mount Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain in the world?

Asked by Neha on 04 Aug 2021

Shyla was sleeping in her apartment when suddenly a robber broke into her house. He asked her to stay quiet and started looting the cash and jewelry. Suddenly the landline phone started ringing. The robber pointed a gun at Shyla and asked her to pick up and talk without giving away the situation.

She picked up the phone and it happened to be her husband. She spoke, Is it an emergency darling? Do give me a call when your flight lands, I will prepare your favorite food that will help you relieve the stress. Then she hanged up.

10 minutes after, the police arrive at the scene and catch the robber. How did the police know about the robbery?

Asked by Neha on 31 Mar 2023


When I asked a girl's name she told me her name is the date '07/09/2001'.

I thought for a few seconds and then I got her name. Do you?

Asked by Neha on 02 Dec 2025

There was a blind man. He had four socks in his drawer either black or white. He opened it and took out two socks. Now the probability that it was a pair of white socks is 1/2.

Can you find out the probability that he had taken out a pair of black socks ?

Asked by Neha on 19 Mar 2023

What animal walks on four legs in the morning, two legs during the day, and three legs in the evening?

Oedipus, the king of Thebes, figured out the answer to the riddle:

Asked by Neha on 13 Sep 2025


A boy and his father are caught in a traffic accident, and the father dies. Immediately the boy is rushed to a hospital, suffering from injuries. But the attending surgeon at the hospital, upon seeing the boy, says 'I cannot operate. This boy is my son.' How is this situation explained?

Asked by Neha on 20 Dec 2024

You need to complete the maze by entering from the entrance marked below in the figure near the yellow circle, bottom left and leaving from the exit point near the green circle, bottom middle.

Rule of Game: You can move only by exchanging green and yellow circles.

Cross the Gate

Asked by Neha on 21 Oct 2023

Your job is to measure 45 minutes if you have only two cords and matches to light the cords.

1. The two cords are twisted from various materials, so their different segments can burn at different rates.
2. Each cord burns from end to end in exactly one hour.

Describe your way of measuring the 45 minutes.

Asked by Neha on 15 May 2024


There is a shop where written:
Buy 1 for $1
10 for $2
100 for $3
I needed 999 and still only paid $3. How could this be financially viable for the shop-keeper?

Asked by Neha on 24 Dec 2025

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

No Solution

In 2007, a puzzle was released and $2 million prizes were offered for the first complete solution. The competition ended at noon on 31 December 2010, with no solution being found. Wiki