Mike
Puzzles can be a fun challenge—until they’re so mind-bending and hard you need to call in backup.
Enter the r/puzzles subreddit, where people share the toughest riddles, brainteasers, and rebus puzzles they just can’t crack.
We’ve rounded up some of the most frustratingly clever puzzles from the subreddit, guaranteed to make you think (and maybe pull your hair out a little).
Don’t worry—answers are at the end of the post, so you won’t be stuck in puzzle purgatory forever. Let’s see if you’re up for the challenge.
1. From a 100 year old newspaper.
2. I’m not sure where to put this and no idea what it means
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Answers:
1.
2.
It’s obscure on purpose, a test of Fandom if you’re able to correctly figure it out.
Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith, its the first letter of every word in a very heavily memed scene where Anakin and Obi Wan fight. Full dialogue follows:
Anakin Skywalker: I have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new empire.”
Obi Wan Kenobi: Your new empire?
Anakin Skywalker: Don’t make me kill you.
Obi Wan Kenobi: Anakin, my allegiance is to the Republic, to deMOCracy!
Anakin Skywalker: If you’re not with me, then you’re my enemy.
Obi Wan Kenobi: Only a Sith deals in absolutes.
Obi Wan Kenobi (again): I will do what I must.
Anakin Skywalker: You will try.
Whether this whole mess is dumb, or fun, is up to you.
3.
Assuming that the second coin that fell (coin B) has equal chances of being a 1€ coin or a 2€ coin, there’s two possibilities for what fell:
50%: A:1€ B:2€
50%: A:1€ B:1€
So when you pull a coin out you had equal chances of grabbing coin A or coin B, so the possible outcomes were:
25%: 1:A1 2:B1
25%: 1:A1 2:B2
25%: 1:B1 2:A1
25%: 1:B2 2:A1
4.
It’s political humor. The cat represents economic prosperity. The gun represents… well, guns. The ninja symbolizes subterfuge. The donkey in a suit is invocative of political cartoons as a symbol of the Democratic Party.
In total, this basically means “a solid economy plus an armed populace minus hidden machinations leads to some very unhappy Democrats”. YMMV beyond that.
5.
She likes words you can type entirely with your left hand, but doesn’t like words you can type entirely with your right.
6.
Cat + table -tortoise= 170
Table – cat + tortoise =130
Add the equations and you get 2 tables (+ cat – cat which cancels out) (+ tortoise – tortoise which cancels out) = 300
so table = 150
7.
1. Whistle while you work (whistle whale ewe wok)
2. Whiter shade of pale (waiter shade o pale)
3. Raindrops keep falling on my head ( raindrops keep four link on my head)
4. Mull of Kintyre. ( mole o kin tyre)
5. Green green grass of home ( grin grin grass o foam)
6. Let’s twist again ( let’s twist egg hen)
8.
The misleading pattern is to assume you take the difference of the two numbers.
Instead you should take the sum of the digits in the two numbers above. 2+1 + 3+6 = 12.
9.
L + eye + fizz + jester + bowl + off + chair + Es
Life is just a bowl of cherries.
10.
Do not litter. (Do-nut + litter = an object used to carry another person)
11.
All in favor, say “aye”.
12.
3486 — basically each pair forms a number with the left part on top and the right part underneath.
13.
172.
14.
$100. Ignore the beginning part about the bill being stolen for now. A person walks into a store and pays for $70 worth of goods with a $100 bill and correctly receives $30 change. This is a fine business transaction and the store does not record a loss on it. Now add the theft of $100. It is totally separate from the regular business transaction. It doesn’t matter that the bill was a stolen bill. The store loses 0 in the sale, and loses 100 in the theft for a total loss of 100.
15.
The end of each word is a muscle group.
16.
From the top:
Call the initial number x. If you add 3 to x, you get 7 times the amount you get if you take 3 away from x. Can you write that out as an equation?
The equation is:
3 + x = 7(x – 3)
3 + x = 7x – 21
24 = 6x
Added (21 – x) to both sides. It’s a well-known step in algebra called “combining like terms”. Sorry for any confusion.
So you can see the answer is four sheep .
17.
18.
Jennifer
Place J anywhere on the circle as she has the most rules that allow placement of the others. Two spaces to her right is V. Keep S and M together. With only J’s left having at least two open spots, S and M go immediately to her left, allowing U to be placed in the only spot away from J – directly across. N then sits to J’s right and V’s left. This creates J,M,S,U,V,N as the order.
Now we can rotate the order using U who has the most useful rule – at least two seats away from 1. U can only be on 3, 4, or 5. If on 3, it’s M’s birthday which breaks rule 1. If on 5, S is directly across from 1, also breaking rule 1. This leaves U on 4 and everyone else is placed according the the order we previously determined.
19.
478
20.
Supply.
21.
1 goes to 6
2 goes to 7
3 goes to 9
4 and 5 both go to 13
22.
”drink your beer” – Dr[ink bottle] y[oar] [bee][ear]
23.
See eye to eye.
24.
Add an angular line to one side of the first plus symbol to make it a 4. Now out says 545+5+5=555.
25.
If day 1 is true then day 3 must be a lie. For day 3 to be a lie they must tell the truth on either Wednesday or Friday (can’t be both as they only tell the truth on one day). If day 1 is a Wednesday then day 2 is a Thursday. If day 1 is a Friday then day 2 is a Saturday. However if day 1 is true then day 2 must be false. So day 2 cannot be a Thursday or Saturday. Therefore day 1 cannot be true
If day 2 is true then day 1 is false which means they must tell the truth on either Monday or Tuesday. However day 3 must also be false so they have to tell the truth on either Wednesday or Friday. They can’t tell the truth on two days so this isn’t possible
If day 3 is true then day 1 is a lie. This means they must tell the truth on either a Monday or a Tuesday. If day 3 is a Monday day 2 would be a Sunday. This can’t be right though as day 2 must be false and therefore can’t be a Thursday, Saturday or Sunday. However if day 3 is a Tuesday day 2 is a Monday which is possible. So day 1 is a Sunday and a lie. Day 2 is a Monday and a lie. Day 3 is a Tuesday and the truth.