How it works
These riddles about family are 18 old riddles about parents, grandparents, brothers, uncles and babies. Each answer stays hidden until you tap Show answer, so the whole table can guess.
Read the full guide
Puzzles and puns
Who is related to whom holds 8 puzzles to work out, such as the family party with a grandfather, 2 fathers, 4 children and only 7 people. Babies and children holds 8 lighter ones, and Word play marks the 10 that turn on a sound.
Where they come from
Each riddle is in an old riddle or puzzle book, free to read at Project Gutenberg and named under the full list; the family party is from Henry Dudeney's Amusements in Mathematics (1917). We told each one again in plain words.
Tips
- Draw the family tree on paper for a Who is related to whom riddle: the answer usually shows up by the third box.
Questions and answers
What is a good family riddle for a reunion?
The family party: a grandfather, a grandmother, 2 fathers, 2 mothers, 4 children and 3 grandchildren, yet only 7 people. The answer is two girls and a boy, their parents and their father's parents. Ask the table to count themselves the same way.
Can two people really be each other's uncle?
Two people can each be the other's uncle and nephew. If two men each marry the other's mother and each couple has a son, each son is half-brother to the other's father. Dudeney used it in a puzzle in 1917.
Where is the riddle about Sam, Tom and the grandfather?
On the main riddle page, with the uncle's sister who is your mother and Elizabeth, Betsy and Bess. None of the 18 here repeats them.