A quiz that seems easy but is actually hard: trick questions that make you think flexibly

9

An equation that looks disjointed at first glance: “tongue = 3, eye = 4, nose = ?”. In fact, it’s a quiz that replaces the five senses with numbers. The tongue is associated with taste, so the number is 3. The eye is associated with sight, so the number is 4. The nose is associated with smell, so the number is 9. The numbers themselves don’t carry any deep meaning, so the more you try to find some ulterior intent, the more you might tie yourself in knots. It’s a refreshing, insight-based riddle that falls into place once you shift your perspective.

10 pages

The problem statement says that a person who likes books reads “10 pages per day.” In other words, they read the same number of pages every day, namely 10 pages. There is no change in the number of pages they read on the 10th day either. Since the question is not asking for a total, the number of pages read on the 10th day is also 10 pages.

speed

A truck doesn’t necessarily drop anything physical when taking a curve, but slowing down—in other words, “dropping speed”—is a common driving maneuver. The phrasing suggests mistakenly that a specific fruit is being dropped, but it’s a typical trick question that seeks the abstract answer “speed.”

Because I'm indoors

The answer to this trick question is: “Because they’re indoors.” Even though it’s raining, you can avoid getting wet without using an umbrella if you’re inside, right? If you’re indoors rather than outside where it’s raining, you don’t need an umbrella. In this quiz, the problem statement deliberately doesn’t specify the “location,” so it’s easy to get tripped up if you assume an outdoor situation.

sea

This isn’t a question about which prefecture or municipality catches the most tuna; the answer is simply “the sea.” If you overthink it, you might have a hard time arriving at the answer. Try thinking more simply and easily!

20 yen

You might be tempted to simply do 200 yen - 80 yen = 120 yen, but when you buy something that costs 80 yen, you only hand over a 100-yen coin, right? If you don’t get misled by the fact that the problem mentions having 200 yen and instead picture what you’d normally do when shopping, you’ll arrive at the answer right away.

3 pieces

In this riddle, interpret the “another three” as being on a plate rather than in the basket. If there are three in the basket and three on the plate, then there are only three breads in the basket. The key to finding the answer is not to be misled by the hiragana!