Q: Someone’s mom has 4 sons. North, East, and West. What is the name of the fourth son?
A: The name of the fourth son is “Someone.”
Just for fun, let’s decipher it. First, Someone is apparently the name of a person – one of the 4 sons.
Someone’s mother has 4 sons. Secondly, the three sons of the mother are named North, East, and West.
As a matter of information, this riddle is often told using different cardinal directions.
Thirdly, we would assume that the fourth son’s name must be South. This assumption would make your answer wrong.
Let’s look at the beginning of the riddle. Read the question very carefully.
This will help you see the answer at the beginning of the sentence. It is mentioned in the question. “Someone” is the name of the fourth son.
If you think that this is the end of this riddle you would be mistaken. When this mother and son riddle is repeated, other interpretations are presented.
For example, when the question within the riddle asks the name of the last son, this could be interpreted to mean that the son’s name could be “What.”
Also, in asking the question “Do you know the name of the son? An answer could be given as a simple response, which is “Yes.” Therefore, when this riddle is retold, its interpretation can become converted.
This riddle can reveal different answers including “someone,” “South,” or “What.” No matter how you retell this riddle, it remains a fun brain teaser.
Riddles, in general, make you laugh and allows you to become relaxed. Especially during these “stay in place” requirements, riddles are a great way for the whole .
As problem-solvers, riddles greatly improve our comprehension and thought processes. Riddles are the perfect workout for our brains.
As an endnote, a riddle is a game consisting of different types of questions.
When posed to individuals, it is used to describe something in a difficult and confusing way. But its ending is clothed to be clever or funny.
What is a riddle?
Riddles are a shared historical global literary contribution.
Riddles have been unearthed by anthropologists through images on various types of pottery and written on literary scrolls.
In modern American literature, riddles have been written into award-winning movie scripts.
These have included Batman (Edward Nygma as the Riddler), Steven King movies, and J.R.R. Tolkien’s Hobbit trilogy riddles between Gollum and Bilbo.
My favorite rhyming riddle by Gollum stated the following: “This thing all things devour, birds, beasts, trees, flowers, gnaws iron, bites steel, grinds hard stones to meal, slays king, ruins town, beats high mountains down.”
The answer is “Time.”
Remember when Harry Potter in the Goblet of Fire enter the Tri-Wizard Tournament?
Harry had to answer a rhythmic riddle given by a Sphinx. He answered it successfully.
Riddles don’t have to be so intricate, they can be short, long, funny, filled with simple logic, and much more.
Riddles challenge people with questions or proclamations. Riddles require critical thinking. They are also allowed to be humorous.
For this reason, riddles by kids are all the more entertaining. Here is a very popular riddle submitted by kids – “what is black and white and red all over?”
Yes, we know the answer which is “newspaper.” You must admit that you have to laugh at this.
There are many famous riddles from famous individuals. They are identified in award-winning animations, action movies, and throughout literature.
A famous biblical riddle was the one that Samson posed to the people. If they figured what the riddle meant, Samson would reward them with an equivalent of a closet full of rich clothing.
The riddle went like this – “Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet.”
If you read this story in church or you saw the movie then you know the answer. The eater was the lion and honey is the sweet where bees had made a hive inside the lion’s carcass.
As you can see, Samson made-up this riddle based on an experience that only he knew about. The answer would never have been solved.
What about the classical riddle entitled “As I was going to St. Ives .” At the end, you must answer the question abut how many were going to St. Ives?”
Even though this riddle was originally written for kids, it threw me for a mathematical loop. There are two categories of riddles.
The first type is known as an “enigma.” This riddle requires careful thought. It is a mystery or a puzzle to be solved.
The second type of riddle is known as a “conundrum.” A conundrum riddle requires a person to figure out the answer through a question or pun.
Typically, riddles require a hidden slant to look at what appears to be a common joke. But riddles portray a question whose answer is veiled, or it contains several meanings.
Slang terms for riddles include “brain teasers,” “brain twister,” or “a poser.” Riddles can be very challenging, thus helping to stimulate our cognitive functions.
Specialized physicians like neurologists utilize riddles when working with patients.
Riddles are given to young children and to higher education students as helpful educational tools.
Riddles and puzzles are also encouraged for older adults to help improve their intellect, memory, and cerebral power.
They are a favorite pastime for social media users who pose riddles to the rest of us. A little more than a year ago, an interesting riddle was posted.
This viral riddle grew exponentially among websites like YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and others.
If you guessed the answer, did you win anything?
No, not exactly.
If you go the answer wrong, many posters may have required you to repost it. Other social media users would have asked anyone who did not guess the right answer to do something idiotic.
However, for the most part, if you answered correctly your reward was simply satisfaction. Just the satisfaction that your cognitive powers are working on all cylinders.