10 Quick Quizzes and Riddles — Some Take 5 Seconds, Some Teach You to Solve Them Step by Step Without a Calculator

1. The trick is adding everything from left to right. Do the multiplication first, which is the order of operations rule that multiplication comes before addition.

1. Find the multiplication: 8 × 0 = 0. Anything times zero is zero.
2. Rewrite the problem: 6 + 6 + 6 + 0.
3. Add the rest: 6 + 6 = 12, and 12 + 6 = 18.

5-second trick: Spot the “× 0” and cross out that whole piece. You’re left with 6 + 6 + 6 = 18.

2. It’s the same rule, so solve the multiplication first. 7 + 3 + 0 × 8 + 4 = ?
Answer: A (14)

1. Find the multiplication: 0 × 8 = 0.
2. Rewrite the problem: 7 + 3 + 0 + 4.
3. Add: 7 + 3 = 10, and 10 + 4 = 14.

3. Multiplication still comes first. Then you add and subtract from left to right.

1. Find the multiplication: 1 × 1 = 1.
2. Rewrite the problem: 1 + 1 + 10 + 1 − 11.
3. Work from left to right: 1 + 1 = 2, then 2 + 10 = 12, then 12 + 1 = 13, then 13 − 11 = 2.

5-second trick: Add the numbers that go up (1 + 1 + 10 + 1 = 13), then subtract 11. You get 2.

4. Answer: Grandpa is bald.

Riddles like this one work by making you picture the wrong thing. Here’s how to solve it step by step.

1. Read the clue carefully. “No umbrella or hat” means nothing covered his head, so the rain landed on it.
2. Find the trick in the wording. The riddle says “not a hair on his head was wet,” not “his head stayed dry.” Those are different statements.
3. Ask what would make both true. If his head got wet but there was no hair to get wet, he must have had no hair.

5. Answer: 81

For number patterns, look at how each number gets from one to the next.

1. Compare the first two numbers: 1 → 3. That’s × 3.
2. Check the pattern: 3 × 3 = 9, and 9 × 3 = 27. It holds.
3. Continue: 27 × 3 = 81, and 81 × 3 = 243. That matches the last number.

5-second trick: Work backward from the end. 243 ÷ 3 = 81.

6. Answer: A candle

1. Think of something that shrinks over time. Most things grow with age, so this one is the opposite.
2. Ask what gets used up. A lit candle burns down as time passes.
3. Check the clues. A new candle is tall (young), and a burned one is short (old).

7. Answer: 444 + 44 + 4 + 4 + 4 = 500

The trick is that you don’t have to use each 4 as a single digit. You can join them into bigger numbers.

1. Start with the biggest chunk. Join three 4s to make 444. That uses three 4s, leaving five.
2. Make a second chunk. Join two 4s to make 44. That leaves three 4s.
3. Add the rest. 444 + 44 = 488. You need 12 more, and 4 + 4 + 4 = 12.
4. Count your 4s: 3 + 2 + 3 = 8. The total is 488 + 12 = 500.

5-second trick: 500 is close to 444, so start there and see what’s left.

8. I add 2 to 11 and get 1. How can this be?
Answer: It’s a clock.

1. Notice the odd result. Normal math makes 11 + 2 = 13, so the riddle must be using a different kind of counting.
2. Ask where numbers reset. Think of something that counts up to 12 and starts over.
3. Try a clock. 11 o’clock plus 2 hours is 1 o’clock.

9. Answer: NOON

1. Think about what these words share. It must read the same forward and backward, so it’s a palindrome.
2. Test four-letter palindromes. The letters mirror each other: N-O-O-N.
3. Check “upside down.” Turn NOON 180 degrees and the letters flip and reverse and it still reads NOON.

10. Answer: 6

1. Look for a pattern in the names, not the ages.
2. Count the letters. Garik has 5 letters (5 years old), Emma has 4 (4), Sarah has 5 (5) and Martha has 6 (6).
3. The age equals the number of letters in the name.
4. Apply it to Ronnie. R-O-N-N-I-E is 6 letters, so Ronnie is 6.

5-second trick: When the numbers have no obvious pattern, check the names. Count the letters.