Nationality: American

Primary Language: English

Other Language(s): N/A

Age: 21

Occupation: Student

Residence: Los Angeles, CA

Performance Date: 02/17/2024

N.N is 21 years old and is from Burbank, CA. I am close friends with N.N and asked him to tell me about any jokes or riddles that he knows of. N.N tells me about a riddle that his uncle has asked before and is sometimes found in IQ tests. 

“When I was about 14, I think in the springtime, my uncle asked me a riddle: ‘A lilypad in a pond doubles in size every single day for 48 days. What day will it take up half the pond?’ I remember this moment vividly because I thought about the riddle and, to my pride, answered correctly: the 47th day. When I first heard it, I was eager to hear more similar riddles, and now I enjoy sharing it with others. Maybe because it was a riddle I got correct, I remember it the clearest. A few years later, I asked E (11) and M (9), my uncle’s children, the same riddle.They were intrigued, never having heard it before. They loved the riddle and the thinking process behind it. Now, it has become a common riddle that we love to share with guests as a fun icebreaker at family gatherings. 

N.N’s interpretation and memory of it was quite endearing for me. It showed how people, even children, love to be challenged and to think.  It also highlights how such riddles, once shared, can become a treasured part of family and social interactions. I also think it is such a fun way to break the ice because it isn’t too challenging, and even if you get it wrong, there’s no harm done since it is worded in a strange manner to confuse just about anyone.