Smiling Guards

Two guards were on duty outside a barracks. One faced up the road to watch for anyone approaching from the North. The other looked down the road to see if anyone approached from the South. Suddenly one of them said to the other, "Why are you smiling?"

How did he know his companion was smiling?




Similar Riddles

A monk has a very specific ritual for climbing up the steps to the temple. First, he climbs up to the middle step and meditates for 1 minute. Then he climbs up 8 steps and faces east until he hears a bird singing. Then he walks down 12 steps and picks up a pebble. He takes one step up and tosses the pebble over his left shoulder. Now, he walks up the remaining steps three at a time which only takes him 9 paces. How many steps are there?

Asked by Neha on 16 Apr 2026


A bridge is about to collapse. There are four people P, Q, R and S on one of the sides. Before the bridge collapses, they want to cross it. Now since the bridge is too weak, it can only stand the weight of two people at a time. Also, it is night time and nothing is visible. They have just one torch with them.

Now P takes one minute to cross the bridge, Q takes two minutes to cross, R takes five minutes to cross and S takes ten minutes to cross.

The bridge will collapse in seventeen minutes. How will they be able to cross the bridge before it collapses?

Asked by Neha on 01 Apr 2024

In a school, there are four subjects. Seventy percent of students study English, seventy five percent of students study Science, eighty five percent of students study Mathematics and eighty percent of students study Spanish.

Can you calculate the percentage of students that study all four subjects?

Asked by Neha on 16 Apr 2023


All of Jacob's shoes are red except two.
All of Jacob's shoes are green except two.
All of Jacob's shoes are yellow except two.

How many shoes does Jacob have?

Asked by Neha on 15 Feb 2025

Three men in a cafe order a meal the total cost of which is $15. They each contribute $5. The waiter takes the money to the chef who recognises the three as friends and asks the waiter to return $5 to the men.

The waiter is not only poor at mathematics but dishonest and instead of going to the trouble of splitting the $5 between the three he simply gives them $1 each and pockets the remaining $2 for himself.

Now, each of the men effectively paid $4, the total paid is therefore $12. Add the $2 in the waiters pocket and this comes to $14. Where has the other $1 gone from the original $15?

Asked by Neha on 06 Sep 2021

I never stop running even when I standstill. If I am formed by joining two identical bodies together, can you guess who I am?

Asked by Neha on 28 Mar 2023


Double it and multiply it by 4. Then divide it by 8 and you’ll have it once more. What number is it?

Asked by Neha on 23 Oct 2025

Lifeless eyes on my smiling face and watch your child's sleeping place. In their dreams they hold me tight. What am I?

Asked by Neha on 17 Oct 2021

Four children having five rocks each were playing a game in which they had to throw the rock at a particular solid area in the water. Child 1- Succeeded in throwing three rocks at a solid area but one of the rocks sunk. Child 3 - His aim was so bad that all rocks got sunk. Child 4- He was awesome and none of the rocks got sunk. Child 2 - Was the winner but was struck by a rock in the head and died. Who killed Child 2?

Asked by Neha on 21 Oct 2024


You are trapped in a room with two doors. One leads to certain death and the other leads to freedom. You don't know which is which.
There are two robots guarding the doors. They will let you choose one door but upon doing so you must go through it.
You can, however, ask one robot one question. The problem is one robot always tells the truth, the other always lies and you don't know which is which.
What is the question you ask?

Asked by Neha on 08 May 2026

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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.