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

Why do people go to bed?

Asked by Neha on 08 Jan 2024


You walk into a room that contains a match, a kerosene lamp, a candle and a fireplace. What would you light first?

Asked by Neha on 12 Feb 2022

John is selling fruits.
He sells grapes at $30, Dates $25, and a Wolfberry $45.
At what price does he sell fig?

PS: Logical Thinking

Asked by Neha on 01 Jul 2023


I go up and I go down.
I go up towards the beautiful sky and down toward the green ground.
I am present tense.
I am past tense too
Children love me.

Who Am I?

Asked by Neha on 16 Jan 2025

What has lots of eyes, but can’t see?

Asked by Neha on 20 Feb 2022

How can one talk without saying a single word?

Asked by Neha on 25 Nov 2023


Use the numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5 and the symbols + and = to make a true equation. Conditions: Each must be used exactly once and no other numbers or symbols can be used.

Asked by Neha on 30 Sep 2021

A man is lying dead in a field where no one is around. His head is split open and his legs are disfigured. Near to him, there is an unopened package. No living organism can be found anywhere at the crime scene.

How did he die?

Asked by Neha on 04 Apr 2023

Rahul decided to meet Simran so he boards a local train from Bombay station. Just after the station, there is a 1km long tunnel. The train starts and is now accelerating. Rahul is a claustrophobic guy, so what is the best position for him to sit?

Asked by Neha on 25 Mar 2023


French Police inspects a room where there are no windows, no doors, no tables and is almost empty expect there is just a puddle of water. They found a dead man who obviously hung herself from the ceiling, but they are not able to figure out how this had happened.

John and Jacob entered the crime scene and easily able to solve the case.

How did the man die?

Asked by Neha on 09 Sep 2021

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Crossword

The day before the 1996 U.S. presidential election, the NYT Crossword contained the clue “Lead story in tomorrow’s newspaper,” the puzzle was built so that both electoral outcomes were correct answers, requiring 7 other clues to have dual responses.