The informant in a 26-year old man, born and raised in Long Island, New York.

BF: My uncle used to tell us all riddles. He’d tell us the riddle, but he wouldn’t tell us the answer until we were thirteen. And the cruel thing was that he’d tell us when we were–me and my cousins–were all like ten years old, so we’d have to wait years. We should’ve just googled them, if we’d known.

What was one of those riddles?

BF: This one, it’s the only one I still remember. So, a guy is visiting another guy in jail. The guard asks Guy A if he knows Guy B, and A says “Brothers and sisters, I have none. But that man’s father is my father’s son”.

So who is the prisoner?

BF: My uncle never even told me the answer, I forgot until I was seventeen! So, “that man’s father is my father’s son”. “My father’s son” just means “myself”, so “that man’s father is myself”.. so he is the guy’s father–the prisoner is the son. The father refers to himself, which is why it’s tricky. 

The riddle is told in many different ways with other setups, but the main question usually remains the same.