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

I am first found in caves, now prolific online; I am a depiction, a drawing, a symbol, or sign. I will convey whichever mood you could wish; or for that matter, a fist, flask, or fish. What am I?

Asked by Neha on 14 Apr 2022


How many letters are in the alphabet?

Asked by Neha on 01 Sep 2025

An inspection by the superintendent of St. Joseph School was scheduled on the next day. The class teacher Jenifer knew that he would be asking questions from her class and she would have to choose a pupil to answer. To offer a perfect impression over him, the teacher explained certain instructions to the students to maximise the chances of getting correct answer every time.

What did she say to the students?

Asked by Neha on 14 Jul 2021


A murder has been committed in a house. You are a detective and have to find out the murderer.

You investigate by asking three questions to each of the six suspects. Out of those six suspects, four are liars. It is not necessary that they speak everything a lie. But in their answers, there must be at least one lie. One of the six is the murderer.

There are eight rooms in the house in which the murder has been committed: Kitchen, Living Room, Bathroom, Garage, Basement, 3 Bedrooms.

At the time of the murder, only the murderer was present in the killing room. Any number of people can be present in any of the other rooms at the same time.

Can you identify the murderer and the four liars? Also, can you find out who was in which room?

The responses of all the suspects are mentioned below.

Joseph:
Peter was in the 2nd bedroom.
So was I.
David was in the bathroom.

Mandy:
I agree with Joseph that David was in the bathroom and Peter was in the 2nd bedroom.
But I think that Joseph was in the living room, OH MY GOD!

Peter:
Mandy was in the kitchen with Christopher.
But I was in the bathroom.

David:
I still say Peter was in the 2nd bedroom and Jennifer was in the bathroom.
Joseph was in the 1st bedroom.

Jennifer:
Peter was in the bathroom with Christopher.
And Mandy was in the kitchen.

Christopher:
David was in the kitchen.
And I was in the 2nd bedroom with Peter.

PS: The corpse was found in the Living Room.

Asked by Neha on 22 May 2023

What goes through cities and fields, but never moves?

Asked by Neha on 10 Mar 2025

Solve the rebus riddle in the picture below.

Millionaire Riddle

Asked by Neha on 14 Feb 2026


Solve the mathematical equation in the picture below.

Math Equation Picture

Asked by Neha on 16 May 2023

To tease, King Akbar told his most clever advisor Birbal to give his daughter one thing that she can eat when hungry, drink if she feels thirsty and can burn if she feels cold. King Akbar was shocked when Birbal gave Akbar's daughter one such thing that satisfies all of the above.

What did Birbal give to Akbar's daughter?

Asked by Neha on 28 Jan 2023

I am thinking of a five-digit number such that:
The first and last digits are the same, their submission is an even number and multiplication is an odd number and is equal to the fourth number. Subtract five from it and we obtain the second number. Then divide into exact halves and we get the 3rd number.

What number I am thinking of?

Asked by Neha on 16 Nov 2024


How can one talk without saying a single word?

Asked by Neha on 25 Nov 2023

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