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

Make eight squares by moving only two matchsticks.
Note- Square can be of different sizes.

Make the Square

Asked by Neha on 12 Apr 2021


You have 10 balls with you. A friend of yours out of nowhere asks you to place those ten balls in five lines such that each of the lines has exactly 4 balls on them. He needs to check your intelligence. Prove him by doing the task.

Asked by Neha on 17 Mar 2023

How much will a 38° angle measure when looked at under a microscope that magnifies ten times?

Asked by Neha on 17 May 2021


Count the number of triangles in the picture below:

Counting You Should Know

Asked by Neha on 16 Jul 2024

John was visiting his friend Jacob. He found out that his friend's wife had just killed a burglar in self-defense.
John asks Jacob about what happened and he told that "His wife was watching television when suddenly the bell rang. She thought that it is her husband Jacob but she found the burglar who attacked her instantly and she got so frightened that she killed the burglar immediately with the knife.
John asked the police to arrest his friend's wife. Why?

Asked by Neha on 10 Mar 2023

There are four 3-link chains. All you have to do is join them into a big 12-link chain. For joining two closed links, one of the links must be cut and placed onto the other link for closing.

How many minimum links will you have to cut to make the big chain?

Asked by Neha on 27 Sep 2023


A couple went on a climbing trip. But only the husband returned from the vacation and said that his wife slipped off while climbing and died. On investigating, the local sheriff arrested him saying, 'Your travel agent called. You murdered your wife.'

The man did not inform anyone about the trip. Then how was the agent so sure that it was a murder?

Asked by Neha on 17 May 2026

What goes up but never comes down?

Asked by Neha on 11 May 2022

At a bar, three friends, Mr Green, Mr Red and Mr Blue, were having a drink. One man was wearing a red suit; one a green suit; and the other a blue suit. 'Have you noticed,' said the man in the blue suit, 'that although our suits have colours corresponding to our names, not one of us is wearing a suit that matches our own names?' Mr Red looked at the other two and said, 'You're absolutely correct. What colour suit is each man wearing?

Asked by Neha on 03 Dec 2023


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

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Crossword puzzles

In the 1920s, people feared that crossword puzzles would contribute to illiteracy.