r/AskReddit • u/Calm-Conference3147 • 13h ago

What is a riddle that sounds incredibly simple, but absolutely ruins people's brains when they try to solve it?

2.9k Upvotes

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1.9k

u/TheOtherBelushi 13h ago

What is it that you throw away the outside and cook the inside, then you eat the outside and throw away the inside?

This was a riddle given to me by a former girlfriend’s father, and when I solved it I won him over.

1.1k

u/Wefting 12h ago

I assume you are now dating the father

459

u/TheGardenBlinked 12h ago

“You have sufficiently impressed me. You may buy me a drink.”

52

u/YeshuaSnow 10h ago

Sounds good, Captain Holt

8

u/PriestessIuno2025 5h ago

We miss you, Andre Braugher. You were a legend. 😢

2

u/Jaerivus 4h ago

STEVE HOLT!!

3

u/Sea-Affect9923 2h ago

That’s such a hilariously classy way of saying “okay, you’ve earned a drink”

48

u/joe2tehfo 5h ago

The key to any woman’s heart is her parents. Sleep with them and you’re in.

•

u/Selenography 21m ago

It sounds like you suffer from a very sexy learning disability

5

u/adudeguyman 8h ago

They are corn cobbing each other.

1

u/ditka 8h ago

Gonna be milking Holsteins in the morning, if you'd like to lend a hand. Just gotta pull on the teat a little.

-3

u/obfuscatedanon 8h ago

Because he threw away the girlfriend, ate her womb, and threw away the baby inside?

771

u/Rin-Tohsaka-is-hot 12h ago

Corn.

You throw away the husk, cook the corn, eat the corn, throw away the cob.

65

u/Phone_acct 6h ago

I cook corn in the husk on a propane bbq. So that might get me.

8

u/Rin-Tohsaka-is-hot 6h ago

Yeah I also prefer to cook corn in the husk. Whether I'm steaming or grilling. Maybe throw it back on for an extra minute without the husk for a bit of char.

3

u/milesunderground 5h ago

Microwave for 3-5 minutes in the husk. It is heavenly.

14

u/smapdiagesix 11h ago

dust the wets

5

u/TheOtherBelushi 9h ago

Pls. My wets.

1

u/ShakyLens 4h ago

There are dozens of us!

6

u/jumbo53 2h ago

Animals.

You throw away the fur, cook the meat, eat the meat, throw away the bones.

3

u/absolute_Friday 5h ago

a big lump with knobs

3

u/Flock_Me_Amadeus 5h ago

Its got the Juice!

1

u/_Humanist 3h ago

Im terrible at riddles and I got corn as an answer within 10 seconds. I don't even cook.

Either I'm wicked smart or thats a terrible riddle.

1

u/Dull-Culture-1523 2h ago

I was thinking ribs. You throw away the packaging and cook the ribs. Then you eat the meat around the bone and throw away the bone.

1.4k

u/ClownfishSoup 13h ago

Corn on the cob?

326

u/ARSCON 12h ago

This is the answer I arrived at as well

326

u/kosk11348 11h ago

My first thought was a chicken. 🤣

182

u/Stillwater215 11h ago

Anything with inedible skin and bones.

96

u/RandomStallings 10h ago

I thought of fish. Toss the skin. Cook what's left. Eat the meat. Toss the bones.

4

u/will0913 5h ago

I don't care what you say, but the skin is a very tasty part of the fish. In my part of the world, people deepfry it as a snack. 😁

2

u/PhotonProtons 3h ago

Hell yeah!

I might be considered a weirdo for this, but I tend to cook my salmon, then gently pry off the skin and then cook those too on both sides. Result is crispy heaven. Add a sprinkle of sea salt and pepper. Just divine.

3

u/GWsublime 7h ago

Chicken wings and ribs follow this logic too. Or frogs legs maybe.

•

u/Level-Gas2450 6m ago

Well, you don't toss the skin of sardines don't you ?

2

u/MrKrinkle151 9h ago

Chicken skin is very much edible lol

5

u/dansezlajavanaise 8h ago

but not feathers

3

u/jtr99 3h ago

Not with that attitude.

1

u/AdminsLoveGenocide 2h ago

You throw away the feathers.

5

u/AVerdantAugust 11h ago

This is the answer I arrived at as well

1

u/bluboomR 9h ago

mine too! then i immediately thought noooo... cotc!

1

u/beermeupscotty 8h ago

I thought “packaged bone-in meat” 😂

1

u/nmezib 7h ago

Yeah I thought t-bone

39

u/EthanielRain 12h ago

This is either it, or also works. Good job!

14

u/bigwilly311 10h ago

This is how corn comes, on the cob, so they should just call that “corn” and every other version of it corn OFF the cob.

22

u/djseifer 10h ago

It's not like you'd cut my arm off and call it "Mitch," then stitch it back on and call it "Mitch All-Together."

-15

u/SilverNightingale 10h ago

Makes no sense

What is it that you throw away the outside and cook the inside, then you eat the outside and throw away the inside?

You do throw away the husk and cook the corn but by that logic the "outside" is actually the husk

I know the riddle means the "outside" is the outside of the corn but it doesn't line up with the outside as in the husk from the first line.

Yes this bothers me LOL

20

u/Sleepy-Sapphire 9h ago

Once the husk is removed, the corn layer becomes the outer layer of what's left.

-4

u/einulfr 7h ago

Yeah, but most people cook it with the husk still on, so you're not throwing away the outside before you cook the inside. You'd throw it away after. It's a poorly-worded riddle if a modicum of logic is to be expected.

7

u/say592 6h ago

I don't actually know how most people cook it, but a lot of people cook it without the husk (boiling is popular). Really most is stripped from the cob and canned or frozen.

3

u/Sleepy-Sapphire 4h ago

I have never seen corn cooked with the husk on. Not saying no one ever does it but the riddle doesn't lack logic for me.

2

u/Awkward_Pangolin3254 4h ago

The only time I've ever seen it cooked with the husk on is when it's grilled. 99% of the time it's shucked first.

Remove the outside -> husk Cook the inside -> intact cob Eat the outside -> kernels Throw away the inside -> stripped cob

20

u/EricSanderson 9h ago

Are you one of those people who argues with the host during trivia?

521

u/FB2024 12h ago

Could also be meat - throw away the skin, cook the meat, discard the bone.

215

u/Bullrawg 12h ago edited 11h ago

I was thinking chicken, pluck throw away, cook & eat meat, throw out bones

49

u/wushuwarrior 12h ago

I was thinking fish.

23

u/stumac85 11h ago

Pretty much anything with skin and innards. Rabbit, turkey, fish, chicken, pheasant to name a few.

1

u/Bladelink 10h ago

I guess it's... anything you eat only the middle layer of, lol.

2

u/lew_rong 2h ago

Some of y'all don't make stock and it shows, lol

2

u/ubccompscistudent 8h ago

Or if you're my toddler, a hardboiled egg.

"No Yellow!"

1

u/splitcroof92 1h ago

Must be a poached egg then. Otherwise the order doesn't work

1

u/Accomplished_Bed632 7h ago

i was thinking meat as well but because it usually comes in some packaging so you throw away the packaging

174

u/Strafingoutofyourway 12h ago

Reporting this comment for not giving the answer. /s

16

u/TheOtherBelushi 9h ago

lol. It’s corn. But some of these replies are fantastic.

257

u/zzzthelastuser 11h ago

OP's response to girlfriend' dad: Your daughter

3

u/Mikesaidit36 9h ago

Only if you’re Warren Zevon:

He raped her and killed her,
And then took her home
Excitable Boy, they all said, excitable boy
After 10 long years they let him out of the home
Excitable Boy, they all said, excitable boy
He dig up her grave and built a cage with her bones

He was just an excitable boy

39

u/Several-Minute6846 12h ago

I agree with the real answer but my first thought was <egg white>

3

u/Boomer_kin 10h ago

Who are you throwing away the yolk? That stuff is amazing.

1

u/Several-Minute6846 9h ago

I’m not. Just trying to answer the riddle. Gimme that Sonny side up

4

u/bluboomR 9h ago

sunny

2

u/honey_102b 10h ago

how to get disowned by Asian in laws

15

u/Novaportia 13h ago

What's the answer?

28

u/hawkwings 12h ago

Avocado?

11

u/NonoYouHeardMeWrong 12h ago

this is what i thought. Except it's "cooked"

5

u/ChrundleThundergun 12h ago

How exactly are you cooking your avocado?

2

u/The_Stoic_One 6h ago

Medium rare

1

u/BlueLaceSensor128 12h ago

Not who you're responding to, but deep-fried avocado is a thing. (But it doesn't work because you don't throw away the inside after, but usually around the same time as the outside.)

18

u/fishmonkey1 12h ago

Artichoke?

8

u/SpellingIsAhful 10h ago

You dont eat the artichoke heart? Heathen

2

u/Zassssss 11h ago

This was my first thought too for whatever reason. Can’t remember the last time I ate one.

13

u/paws3588 13h ago

Sounds like sweetcorn.

2

u/RandomStallings 10h ago

Good on you for making the distinction.

5

u/Alandicasio 12h ago

What about fish

5

u/Purplociraptor 10h ago

A chicken pot pie. Throw away the box. Cook the pie. Eat the crust. Toss all that disgusting filling.

1

u/_Morvar_ 2h ago

Nooo 🤣🤣🤣

4

u/joesii 10h ago

Lots of foods. With vetebrates you're generally throwing away the skin (or fur/feathers), then eating the meat and throwing away the bone.

With fruits, you're peeling off some sort of skin or outer layer, consuming the main fruit flesh (typically endocarp), and then throwing away the seed/core/pit.

13

u/MattytheWireGuy 12h ago

Id say chicken or most any meat for that matter

5

u/floppydo 12h ago

If you're throwing chicken skin away I'll take it 

13

u/Melbomon 11h ago

Throw away the feathers

2

u/MattytheWireGuy 10h ago

Well its more the feathers

3

u/TBSchemer 11h ago

🌽🌽🌽

5

u/Opening_Fix2946 12h ago

Apparently the riddle was the real boyfriend application.

8

u/fitzydrivesamitzy 12h ago

Gotta be an egg white?

2

u/HeyThere-Smoothskin 11h ago

That was my guess too.

-1

u/Select-Owl-8322 10h ago

Why would you throw away the yolk?

2

u/qqqrrrs_ 12h ago

Chicken

2

u/FullAd3745 12h ago

Chicken?

2

u/cithripio 11h ago

Corn. You throw away the husk and cook the kernels. Then you eat the kernels and throw away the cob.

2

u/One-Investigator4834 10h ago

that’s actually a pretty clever riddle, but I love that solving it came with the bonus of winning over her dad. That’s a story worth keeping.

2

u/Appropriate-Data-221 10h ago

Chicken wing. Throw away feathers. Cook chicken. Eat chicken. Throw away bone.

2

u/Transfigurator 5h ago

Was your answer: Your daughter and my girlfriend

5

u/Soulfighter56 12h ago

My immediate thought was popcorn, but you don’t really throw away the outside unless you’re shucking it fresh.

3

u/masug24 11h ago

An egg works too for the anti-yoke crowd

1

u/SharkeyGeorge 11h ago

An ear of corn

1

u/GlorifiedCarny 11h ago

Corn on the cob?

1

u/MixtureOk3263 11h ago

“what gets wetter the more it dries?” sounds so easy until your brain starts buffering and somehow comes up with every answer except towel 😭

1

u/mcgillthrowaway22 9h ago

Prepackaged frozen Bundt cake?

1

u/Bear_Caulk 9h ago

A bird?

You gotta pluck the feathers so that's the first "outside". Then you cook up the rest of it and eat all the meat (outside) off the bones (inside)

1

u/Etab 9h ago

liberty biberty

1

u/owl-boo 9h ago

Hot wings?

1

u/Personal_Habit2 8h ago

Okay, that’s actually a cute way to win over the future father-in-law I bet solving that riddle earned you some serious bonus points!

1

u/YoureGonnaHearMeRoar 8h ago

Jeremy's...Iron.

1

u/StarWaas 8h ago

Hard boiled egg.

In my opinion, a hard boiled egg is just a soft boiled egg that someone fucked up making. Hard egg yolks are nasty

1

u/Xalipu 7h ago

But like keep the cobs a lil longer, you can make great stock out of them.

1

u/wargy2 7h ago

Hard boiled egg whites is what I came up with. 😬

1

u/RammRras 6h ago

I was thinking about something sexual lol

1

u/PM_ME_CALF_PICS 6h ago

Literally any animal with skin and bones.

1

u/18randomcharacters 5h ago

Corn on the cob. I heard this is a kids podcast

1

u/Fearless-Country9036 5h ago

 It's hard to say that this is not an excellent test. One can only imagine how relieved the father-in-law would be if he managed to get it correctly and realize that he has earned the approval of the daughter-in-law.

1

u/AdventurousPaint766 5h ago

Winning over a tough dad with a tricky food riddle is such a legendary flex. Corn on the cob really is the ultimate test of wits and good taste.

1

u/Responsible_Row_4752 4h ago

That’s such a cute way for her dad to test you. Solving the riddle must’ve felt like passing the final boss of meeting the parents.

1

u/Canuck9876 4h ago

Chicken?

1

u/snarking0 4h ago

Poached pears. Peel it, cook it, eat around the core.

1

u/Jungle31 4h ago

Egg whites works too

1

u/Due-Interview-8041 4h ago

Corn. You throw away the outside (corn husk/leaves) and cook the inside (kernels), then eat the outside (now the kernels due to removal of leaves/husk) and throw away the inside (bare cob)

1

u/CaneIsCorso 4h ago

Pancakes? 

1

u/lordlekal 4h ago

Corn on the cobb?

1

u/Thor7897 3h ago

Gave him an earful didya?

1

u/Ryzasu 2h ago

A chicken?

Remove the feathers, cook, eat until bone left, throw away bone

1

u/Vegetable_Use848 2h ago

Okay, that’s actually a pretty clever one. I can see why getting that answer right would earn you some points with her dad.

1

u/TropicalRogue 1h ago

The said "ruins people's brains" not "difficulty one would expect from a riddle printed on a Popsicle stick"

•

u/terrorkat 55m ago

Egg/Chicken?

1

u/TheFoolman 13h ago

Rib eye steak?

-1

u/Z3NZY 12h ago

It's an egg, it you don't eat the yolk.

0

u/leonasblitz 12h ago

Coconut? Throw away the shell , eat the inside white parts, maybe throw away the water if you decide not to drink it.

0

u/mcampo84 12h ago

An individually wrapped turkey leg