easymath

Two is company and 3 is a crowd. What is 4 and 5?

9, 4 and 5 is 9.

Why this works

This riddle plays with the expectation of a social context while actually leading to a simple mathematical conclusion. The first part establishes a familiar saying about social gatherings, but when it asks about "4 and 5," it shifts from social commentary to arithmetic. Here, the answer is simply the sum of the two numbers: 4 + 5 equals 9, cleverly diverting the listener's mind from the original phrasing to a straightforward calculation.

Common Wrong Answers

“12”

This guess incorrectly adds 4 and 5 together, but the riddle actually plays on the concept of numbers rather than simple addition.

“8”

This guess may come from a misinterpretation of the riddle, as it suggests a wrong arithmetic operation or a misunderstanding of the phrase '4 and 5'.

“45”

This guess wrongly treats '4 and 5' as a concatenation instead of a mathematical addition, leading to an incorrect interpretation.

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