🪤 Trick Question Trap
Short questions with sneaky answers. Think twice, or get caught in the trap.
How to play
- Pick a set: Quick Traps, Math Traps or World Traps. Stars open the later ones.
- Choose a way to play: pick from four, race the clock, or Catch a friend.
- Read each question slowly. The trap is usually in the wording.
- In Catch a friend, read the question out loud, let your friend answer, then show the answer.
- After each answer, read why it works, so you can catch someone else with it.
- Win up to 3 stars for each set and mode.
Trick questions that catch nearly everyone
Trick Question Trap is a free quiz full of tricky questions with answers. Each one looks simple until you notice what it is really asking. How long did the Hundred Years' War last? What do cows drink? What is half of 2 + 2? Your first answer is probably wrong, and that is the fun of it. Play right here in your browser with no download, or scroll down for the full list of questions to ask your friends and family.
Tricky questions to ask your friends
Trick questions are made for sharing. Choose Catch a friend mode and take turns reading them out loud, and only reveal the answer when your friend is sure of themselves. They work well at the dinner table, on a long car ride, at a sleepover or as a warm-up in class. Because each answer comes with a short why, you'll also be able to explain the trick afterward, which is half the fun.
How trick questions fool your brain
Your brain is quick because it uses shortcuts. When you hear a question, it guesses what the question is probably about, and it grabs the first answer that fits. Trick questions take advantage of that. "What do cows drink?" gets your brain thinking of cows and milk, so "milk" jumps out before you think about it. Math traps do the same with numbers that look like they belong together. Psychologists have studied these slips for years, and they catch smart people as often as anyone else. The best defence is to slow down and read every word.
Three kinds of trap
Quick Traps are about words and meanings. Math Traps have simple sums with sneaky wording, so you need to think before you calculate. World Traps check facts that many people believe but that aren't quite right, such as the colour of a plane's black box or where Panama hats are made. You will learn something real from these, even when you get caught.
Trick questions with answers
What do cows drink?
Answer: Water. Most people say milk, but cows drink water. Calves drink milk.
What weighs more: a pound of gold or a pound of feathers?
Answer: They weigh the same. A pound is a pound.
How many sides does a circle have?
Answer: Two: inside and outside. A joke answer that always gets a groan.
What is the first thing you do in the morning?
Answer: Wake up. You can't do anything else until you wake up.
How many birthdays does the average person have?
Answer: One. You are born once, and the rest are anniversaries of that day.
What can you never eat for breakfast?
Answer: Lunch or dinner. Whatever you eat then is breakfast.
What do you sit on, sleep on and brush your teeth with?
Answer: A chair, a bed and a toothbrush. It sounds like one thing, but it is three.
What is the opposite of "not in"?
Answer: In. "Not in" means out. Its opposite is in.
If you divide a pizza in half, then in half again, how many pieces are there?
Answer: 4. Half of a half makes quarters.
What is the last letter of the alphabet?
Answer: T. The last letter of the word "alphabet" is T.
How many letters are in "the alphabet"?
Answer: 11. Count them: T-H-E-A-L-P-H-A-B-E-T.
Which came first: the chicken or the egg?
Answer: The egg. Scientists say the egg: other animals laid eggs long before chickens existed.
Which is correct: 7 + 8 is 13 or 7 + 8 are 13?
Answer: Neither, 7 + 8 is 15. Check the math first!
How many animals can you fit in an empty box?
Answer: One: after that, it isn't empty. Once one is in, the box is no longer empty.
What word looks the same upside down and backward?
Answer: SWIMS. In capital letters, SWIMS looks the same either way.
If you are running a race and you pass the runner in third, what place are you in?
Answer: Third. You took third place, and not second.
Do they have a fourth of July in England?
Answer: Yes. Every country has a July the fourth. It's a date!
Which month has 28 days?
Answer: All of them. Every month has at least 28 days.
Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?
Answer: A fruit. It has seeds and grows from a flower, so botanists call it a fruit.
Trick math questions with answers
What is half of 2 + 2?
Answer: 3. Half of 2 is 1, plus 2 is 3. Do the half first.
What is 8 ÷ 2 × 4?
Answer: 16. Work left to right: 8 ÷ 2 = 4, then 4 × 4 = 16.
How many 3-cent stamps are in a dozen?
Answer: 12. A dozen is always twelve.
If there are 6 apples and you take 4, how many do you have?
Answer: 4. You took four, so you have four.
How many times does the digit 9 appear from 1 to 100?
Answer: 20. Ten in the ones place and ten in the tens place, including 99 twice.
What number do you get when you multiply all the digits on a phone keypad?
Answer: 0. One of the digits is 0, and anything times zero is zero.
You are driving a bus with 10 people. 3 get off, then 5 get on. What colour are the driver's eyes?
Answer: The same as yours. You are the driver!
A shepherd has 26 sheep and 10 goats. How old is the shepherd?
Answer: You can't tell. Nothing in the question tells you the age.
How many sides do three triangles have altogether?
Answer: 9. Three triangles with three sides each.
If it takes 3 towels 3 hours to dry on a line, how long do 9 towels take?
Answer: 3 hours. They all dry at the same time.
Add 1000, 40, 1000, 30, 1000, 20, 1000, 10. What do you get?
Answer: 4100. Many people say 5000, but it's 4100.
Which is more: six dozen dozen or half a dozen dozen?
Answer: Six dozen dozen. Half a dozen dozen is only 72. Six dozen dozen is 864.
How many squares are on a chessboard?
Answer: 204. 64 small ones, plus every larger size of square.
If you have 12 fish and half of them drown, how many are left?
Answer: 12. Fish don't drown.
How many ones are there in all the numbers from 1 to 10?
Answer: 2. Just 1 and 10.
Which number is spelled in alphabetical order?
Answer: Forty. F-O-R-T-Y is in alphabetical order.
What weighs more: 1 kg of steel or 2 kg of feathers?
Answer: The feathers. This one tries to fool people who know the old trick.
A rope ladder hangs over a ship's side with rungs 1 foot apart. The tide rises 3 feet. How many rungs go under?
Answer: None. The ship floats up with the tide.
A book's pages are numbered from 1 to 100. How many sheets of paper does it use?
Answer: 50. Each sheet has two pages.
If a doctor gives you 3 pills to take one every half hour, how long do they last?
Answer: 1 hour. One now, one in half an hour, and one in an hour.
Which is the only even prime number?
Answer: 2. Every other even number can be divided by 2.
How many legs does a chicken have if you call its wing a leg?
Answer: 2. Calling a wing a leg doesn't make it one.
How much dirt is in a hole 3 feet wide and 3 feet deep?
Answer: None. It's a hole.
How long would it take to cook 3 eggs if one egg takes 4 minutes?
Answer: 4 minutes. Cook them all at the same time.
Mark bought a toy for 7 dollars, sold it for 8, bought it back for 9 and sold it for 10. How much profit did he make?
Answer: 2 dollars. He made 1 dollar on each of the two deals.
Trick questions about the world, with answers
How long did the Hundred Years' War last?
Answer: 116 years. It lasted from 1337 to 1453.
Which country do Panama hats come from?
Answer: Ecuador. They only got the name when they were sold in Panama.
What is a koala?
Answer: A marsupial. Koalas aren't bears. They carry their young in a pouch.
What's the largest desert in the world?
Answer: Antarctica. A desert is a place with little rain or snow, however cold.
What colour is a polar bear's skin?
Answer: Black. Its fur looks white, and the skin under it is black.
What colour is the black box on an airplane?
Answer: Bright orange. It's orange so it's easier to find.
Where does a bat sleep during the day?
Answer: Upside down. It hangs by its feet.
Which is the tallest mountain from base to peak?
Answer: Mauna Kea. Everest is highest above sea level, but Mauna Kea starts deep under the sea.
What do bulls hate about red capes?
Answer: Nothing: bulls are colour-blind to red. It's the movement they react to.
Do goldfish really have a three-second memory?
Answer: No, they can remember for months. Scientists have taught goldfish tricks that they remember for months.
What metal is a "tin can" mostly made of?
Answer: Steel. It is steel with a very thin coat of tin.
Does lightning ever strike the same place twice?
Answer: Yes, often. Tall buildings are struck many times every year.
Where do penguins live: the North Pole or the South Pole?
Answer: South. Wild penguins live in the southern half of the world.
Which animal can see behind itself without turning its head?
Answer: A rabbit. A rabbit's eyes sit high on the sides of its head.
What is a shooting star?
Answer: A bit of space rock burning up. It is a tiny meteor burning up in the air.
More tricky games
Want more? Try Hard Riddles Challenge, the giggles in Funny Riddles or the trivia in Kids Trivia Arena. Every quiz and puzzle is on the Brain Games page.
Free and safe
Trick Question Trap is free to play, with no download, no sign-up and nothing to buy. There is no chat, and your stars are saved only on your own device. See the Parents & Safety page for more.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good trick question to ask?
Try "How many months have 28 days?" Most people say one, but all twelve do. Or try "What do cows drink?" Many people say milk, but cows drink water.
Are the answers explained?
Yes. Each question has a short explanation after you answer, and every question and answer is listed on this page.
Can I play with a group?
Yes. Choose Catch a friend mode, read the questions out loud and reveal the answer once everyone has guessed.
What age is this quiz for?
Quick Traps suit children from about seven. Math Traps and World Traps also challenge teens and adults.
Is Trick Question Trap free?
Yes. It is free to play in the browser with no download, no account and nothing to buy.