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Step into an infinite world of stories

Listen and read

Peter Keyne

This family-sized compendium presents 250 of the greatest riddles and puzzles of all time.

There are classical logic puzzles, lateral thinking puzzles, “who am I?” riddles, mathematical brain teasers, word ladders, ditloids, and a large selection of illustrated pen and paper, coins, cups, and toothpicks puzzles (please view the preview of this book for a full listing).

This is the first time a collection of such breadth has been compiled and formatted especially for e-reader devices. The puzzles have been carefully organized into 25 chapters, and each question is hyperlinked to its solution, to provide utmost ease of navigation. Alongside the world’s most famous riddles, are some lesser known gems, and some brand new puzzles, in print here for the first time.

Our aim was to create a definitive compendium of riddles and puzzles to bring enjoyment to people of all ages. We hope you will enjoy unraveling them as much as we enjoyed creating and editing them. Here are a handful of sample riddles:

Outside the Box Riddles:
You need to divide a round birthday cake into eight pieces, so each of your guests will have something to eat. How can you do this by making only three straight cuts with a knife, and without moving any of the pieces?

The king’s two bodyguards developed an ingenious method for assuring the king’s safety. With the king standing between them, they would face in opposite directions; one looking to the west and the other to the east, but at the same time, and without the use of any reflective surfaces, they would both be able to observe the king clearly. How was this possible?

Pure Logic Riddles:
There are two glasses. One contains water, and the other contains an equal quantity of wine. A teaspoon of water is removed and mixed into the glass of wine. A teaspoon of the wine-water mixture is then removed and mixed into the glass of water. Which of the mixtures is now purer?

The sorcerer’s tower was enchanted in such a way that it was able to build itself. Bricks, slates, tiles, and panes of glass, all flew to it of their own accord and danced into position. The tower doubled in size every day until after 100 days it reached a height that provided fine views over the entire realm. How many days did the tower take to reach half its full height?

Lateral Thinking Puzzles:
Five men are going to church. It starts to rain, and four of the men begin to run. When they arrive at the church, the four men who ran are soaking wet, whereas the fifth man, who didn’t run, is completely dry. How is this possible?

Think Twice Riddles:
If you are running a race, and you overtake the person in second place, what place do you move into?

Word Riddles: 
SOS is read the same forwards, backwards, and even upside-down. What four-letter word also shares these properties?

Number Puzzlers:
How many letters are there in the answer to this question?

You have an opportunity to buy a hen. In fact, you have been offered a choice between two quite remarkable animals. One of the hens produces six dozen dozen eggs per month, and the other produces a half dozen dozen.
Admittedly, both seem impressive. Does it matter which hen you choose?

Traditional Poetic Riddles:
Five creatures cross a field of snow;
But leave a single track behind
Whose loops and bows are soon, I know,
Unravelled by the mind.

Coins, Cups, and Toothpicks Illustrated Riddles:
A coin is dropped into an empty bottle and a cork is then inserted in the neck of the bottle. How is it possible to remove the coin without taking out the cork, or breaking the bottle?

At Elsinore Books we pride ourselves on creating beautiful e-books, and devote great attention to formatting, and ease of navigation. This book contains a cleanly styled contents page that permits easy movement between puzzles. You can return at any time to the contents page by clicking on the name of each chapter.

Elsinore Books

The Great Books Series

The Great Book of Riddles: 250 Magnificent Riddles, Puzzles and Brain Teasers

“Life is more fun if you play games.” ― Roald Dahl, My Uncle Oswald

This compendium brings together a selection of the very best games. There are parlour games, travel games, trivia games, riddles, puzzles and more. Traditional family favourites feature alongside an array of newly created games.

The centrepieces of this collection are the six games: 

Descriptionary, Just a Minute, Lost for Words, Ultimate Charades, Quick Draw, and Trivial Disputes.

In total, these six games alone include 1350 game cards (one e-reader page each). Most of the cards offer multiple gameplay options, so you can return to them again and again. These games require no set-up time, and can be instantly enjoyed with friends or family wherever you are.

At Elsinore Books we pride ourselves on creating beautiful e-books, and devote great attention to formatting, and ease of navigation. This book contains a cleanly-styled contents page that permits easy movement between games. Each game occupies its own chapter, so you can move between games by pressing a single button on your e-reader.

You can view a full listing of the games inside by clicking on the preview of this book and viewing the contents page. Some of the collection highlights are outlined below:

Speaking Games

Descriptionary: Players aim to describe as many words as possible in a 30-second time limit. 300 game cards are included. Each card has five words, one in each of the following categories: Places, Objects, Nature, Adjectives, and Random.

Just a Minute: The popular game where players have to speak on a given topic for one minute without hesitation, repetition or deviation. 250 games cards are included. On each card players will find three topics to choose from. 

Lost For Words: Players face two challenges in this game: 1) To describe a given word without using any of the forbidden words listed beneath it 2) To describe a given word using no more than three words (and sometimes using only one word!) 300 game cards are included, and two challenges appear on every card.

Acting and Character Games

Ultimate Charades: Ultimate charades brings together elements of three games: classic charades, reverse charades, and adverbs. It’s a great game for families to enjoy together. You’ll find 200 cards here, each offering a choice of three options. Players will act out the titles of films, books, songs, and TV programmes, as well as proverbs, actions, famous people, and fictional characters.

Pen and Paper Games

Quick Draw: A sketch-off, where artists from each team race to depict words and phrases. There are 400 drawing challenges, spread across five categories: People and Animals, Things, Creative Works, Idioms, and Challenges.

Travel and Trivia Games

Trivial Disputes: A general knowledge listing quiz that can be played in teams or with everyone out for themselves. Among the things players must put in order: buildings by size, animals by weight, cars by top speed, films by box-office profits. There are 100 Cards, divided into ten games.

Riddles and Puzzles.

Five complete chapters from The Great Book of Riddles, also by Elsinore Books, are included in this compendium.

You’ll have 50 of the finest riddles, puzzles and brainteasers to make your way through.

There are classical logic puzzles, lateral thinking puzzles, mathematical brain teasers, word ladders, ditloids, and illustrated coins, cups, and toothpicks puzzles 

Here is one of the riddles you’ll find inside:

The king’s two bodyguards developed an ingenious method for assuring the king’s safety. With the king standing between them, they would face in opposite directions; one looking to the west and the other to the east, but at the same time, and without the use of any reflective surfaces, they would both be able to observe the king clearly. How was this possible?

The Great Book of Games: A Compendium of Fun

It is our pleasure to present The Great Quiz Book: 1000 Questions and Answers to Engage all Minds.

We’ve brought together a host of fresh and intriguing questions that will test the limits of your knowledge across a huge range of subjects. The book is divided into 5 parts:

Part 1 presents 400 challenging general knowledge questions, divided into 40 rounds.

Part 2 introduces the “specialist rounds” at three levels of difficulty: medium, challenging and fiendish. Here you’ll find questions on geography, history, sport, science and nature, literature, art and architecture, and movies and TV. There are 200 questions in 20 rounds.

Part 3 brings a lighter touch with 20 “bonus round” quizzes (200 questions in total), where you’ll be asked to spot connections, identify years from a series of clues, recognize famous monuments, and sort out lists of famous people, places and things.

Part 4 contains 20 “family fun” quizzes (200 questions in total) that will be especially enjoyable for younger minds. There are straightforward general knowledge questions, alongside rhyming and alphabet quizzes.

As a special bonus, the complete Elsinore Books Guess the Initial Quiz is included as the 5th part of this book. Here you’ll find 200 guess the initial challenges, also known as “ditloids”.

You can access the answers to each quiz by following the links at the top and bottom of the question page. On the answer pages you’ll find each question rewritten and followed by its answer in bold.