A riddle from an old folklore collection, traced to Kirksville, Missouri, around the turn of the 20th century: “Within a fountain crystal clear / A golden apple doth appear / No doors or locks to this stronghold / Yet thieves break in and steal the...
A seven-letter word riddle asks what becomes longer when its third letter disappears. The trick depends on treating the word both as something with a meaning and as a string of characters, with a pun waiting at the end. This is part of a complete...
Here’s a riddle: What flies when it’s born, lies when it’s alive, and runs when it’s dead? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Life Cycle Riddle” I have a riddle for you, Grant. What flies when...
It’s the art of constructive feedback: If you’re a teacher with a mountain of papers to grade, you may find yourself puzzling over which kinds of notes in the margins work best. Martha and Grant discuss strategies for effective paper...
The disgruntled consumer who tweeted “My ‘prize’ in my Cracker Jack box…whoever does quality control needs to get fired” accidentally did something miraculous. This message includes all 26 letters of the alphabet...
If you’re on tenterhooks, it means you’re in a state of anxious anticipation or suspense. But what IS a tenterhook? The answer goes back to a 15th-century manufacturing process. Also, you probably have a term for those crumbs that...
