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

Only one color, but not one size,
Stuck at the bottom, yet easily flies.
Present in sun, but not in rain,
Doing no harm, and feeling no pain.
What is it?

Asked by Neha on 14 May 2021


I get hot but I never sweat,
I cook food but I am not a chef,
I have a door but you can't enter me,
I have a light but I am not a lamp.
Who am I?

Asked by Neha on 15 Feb 2021

Rose, Lily and Jasmine decided to buy flowers for their moms on Mother's Day. One of them bought lilies, the other roses, and the third one jasmines.
'It's funny!' said the girl with roses, 'we bought roses, jasmines and lilies, but none of us bought the flowers matching her name'.
'You're right!', said Lily.
What kind of flowers did each of the girls buy?

Asked by Neha on 07 Apr 2025


One night, a woman receives a call from the police. They tell her that her husband was murdered and that she should come to the crime scene as soon as possible. The woman drops the phone, shocked, and drives 20 minutes to the crime scene. As soon as she reaches the crime scene, the police arrest her and she is convicted of murder. How do the police know she committed the crime?

Asked by Neha on 01 Jul 2025

A sundial has the fewest moving parts of any timepiece. Which has the most?

Asked by Neha on 07 Jul 2025

Steffi's daughter Jazelle needs to be picked up from school every day.
Steffi asks one of her colleagues to pick up Jazelle from the school. Steffi devised a password system to confirm that Jazelle goes with the correct colleague only.

The password on Monday was SJM16.
The password on Wednesday was TAW39.

What will the password be for Friday?

Asked by Neha on 28 Jan 2026


I have one of the three numbers: 1, 2, or 3 in my mind. I speak only truth. You can ask me just one question for which I will only reply in yes or no or don't know. What question will you ask from me so that you are able to know the number?

I Speak only the Truth

Asked by Neha on 15 May 2023

What question can you never answer yes to?

Asked by Neha on 09 May 2022

ENEMY = 2 * LINK
LINK + 2 = HELL

Then what will be TAXI + HELL? Select from the options below:
a) ROTTEN
b) DANGER
c) HEAVEN
4) MORTAL

Asked by Neha on 26 Aug 2021


I add 5 to 9 and get 2. The answer is correct, so what am I?

Asked by Neha on 04 Aug 2025

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Gamers

In 2011, people playing Foldit, an online puzzle game about protein folding, resolved the structure of an enzyme that causes an Aids-like disease in monkeys. Researchers had been working on the problem for 13 years. The gamers solved it in three weeks.