The Surgeon's Dilemma

A man and his son were in a terrible car accident. The man died on the way to the hospital, while the boy was rushed into surgery. The surgeon refused to operate on the boy, however, and said honestly, "I can't operate on him, because he's my son!" The boy was never adopted. How is this possible?

Hint: Although the solution isn't the first we're inclined to think of, it should be fairly obvious if you can throw away biases.

Solution: The surgeon is the boy's mother. This can be tricky because our first thought of a surgeon is usually a man.

Try another riddle

Games

Land the Boat

Land the Boat

Don't hit the walls, or you'll sink!

Word Magnets

Word Magnets

Just like word magnets you might find on a fridge, but online!

Pac-Man Made Easy

Pac-Man Made Easy

Because being chased by ghosts is way too hard.

Hold the Button

Hold the Button

Press and hold the button for a long as you can endure. You might even get on the leaderboard!

More games

Puzzles

Toothpick Squares

Toothpick Squares

Move two toothpicks to form exactly four squares instead of five.

Connect the Colors

Connect the Colors

Connect the colors without crossing lines.

Connect the Dots

Connect the Dots

Draw four straight lines, without lifting your imaginary pencil, that touch all nine dots in the grid.

Toothpick Equality

Toothpick Equality

Add a single toothpick to form a mathematically true equality.

More puzzles