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

What has a ring but no finger?

Asked by Neha on 13 Apr 2024


I am the black child of a white father, a wingless bird, flying even to the clouds of heaven. I give birth to tears of mourning in pupils that meet me, even though there is no cause for grief, and at once on my birth, I am dissolved into air. What am I?

Asked by Neha on 20 Apr 2023

A brand new Mobile Phone was on sale at 20% as a promotional offer. By what per cent must the Mobile price be increased to sell it at the original price again?

Asked by Neha on 26 Oct 2023


👉 I am a 7 letter word.
👉 I like mornings
👉 If you remove my 1st letter you can drink me
👉 If you remove my 1st & 2nd letters 👉 you may not like me
👉 If you remove my last letter, you will see me on television
👉Answer is really very interesting
Let us see who solves this....

Asked by Neha on 14 May 2021

I have some blue and red sock in my drawer. I have a total of 4 socks. I pick 2 socks and the chance that I get a pair of red socks is 1/2.

What is the chance of picking a pair of blue socks?

Asked by Neha on 22 Mar 2023

In order to complete the racing competition, the Mexico racetrack has to submit its top and the most famous three horses to win the competition. Due to an electrical storm, all the records are cleared and no one knows which horse holds the record. They all look identical and it becomes even more difficult to differentiate the horses. There are 25 horses in the Mexico racetrack. But there can be only five horses at a time on the track. What will the least number of races that can be conducted to find out the three fastest horses?

Horse Race in Mexico

Asked by Neha on 24 Mar 2021


Can you start the fire using two pieces of wood?

Asked by Neha on 04 Sep 2024

If we tie a Sheep to one peg, a circled grass is been eaten by the Sheep. If we tie the Sheep to two pegs with a circle on its neck, then an eclipse is eaten out of the grass by the Sheep. If we want an eclipse then we put two pegs and then put a rope in between them and the other end of the rope is tied up on the Sheep's neck.

How should we tie the peg and the Sheep so that a square is eaten out from the garden grass? We only have one Sheep rope and the peg and the rings.

Asked by Neha on 18 Oct 2025

Can you find the dog hidden in a group of pandas?

Dog amongst Pandas

Asked by Neha on 16 Feb 2025


There are two beautiful yet remote islands in the South Pacific. The Islanders born on one island always tell the truth, and the Islanders from the other island always lie.
You are on one of the islands and meet three Islanders. You ask the first which island they are from in the most appropriate Polynesian tongue, and he indicates that the other two Islanders are from the same island. You ask the second Islander the same question, and he also indicates that the other two Islanders are from the same island.
Can you guess what the third Islander will answer to the same question?

Asked by Neha on 03 Jan 2026

Hot Articles

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.