When asked how old she was, Suzie replied, "in two years I will be twice as old as I was five years ago." How old is she?

Why this works

To solve this riddle, let’s break down Suzie's statement. If we let her current age be \( x \), then five years ago she was \( x - 5 \). In two years, she will be \( x + 2 \). According to her, in two years, her age will be twice what it was five years ago: \[ x + 2 = 2(x - 5) \] Expanding the right side gives us \( x + 2 = 2x - 10 \). Rearranging this equation leads to \( 2 + 10 = 2x - x \), or \( 12 = x \). Therefore, Suzie is currently 12 years old! The trick here is understanding how the age changes over time and translating her statement into a solvable equation.