St. Paul’s Riddle

Mental_Floss recently listed the “25 most important questions in the history of the universe.” They forgot one.

Mental_floss recently catalogued the “25 most important questions in the history of the universe.” They left out one.

Some questions for you. Not important questions, but questions nonetheless:

Why do snooze buttons only give you nine more minutes of sleep?

Why can’t you tickle yourself?

Those big clocks in the parlor — why do we call them “grandfather clocks?”

It’s unlikely that these questions have crossed your mind, but they’ve crossed someone’s mind. The editors at Mental_Floss, a trivia magazine, have even included them in an article called “The 25 most important questions in the history of the universe” (November-December 2004).

Tongue firmly planted in cheek.

These questions and more — like “Why does Hawaii have Interstate highways”? — are adult versions of the riddles we used to ask as kids.

How do rabbits travel? By hareplane.

What did the sock say to the foot? You’re putting me on.

What do ...