The how many times can you subtract 5 from 25 riddle looks like an easy subtraction problem, but the wording changes the answer. If you immediately calculate 25, 20, 15, 10, and 5, you may miss the trick hidden in the question.
The classic answer is once because after subtracting 5 from 25, you are subtracting from 20, not 25. This simple twist makes the riddle a great test of careful reading and logical thinking.
Below are 100 short math, number, logic, and trick riddles. Try solving each one before checking the answer.
The Subtract 5 From 25 Riddle 🔢
Riddle 1: How many times can you subtract 5 from 25?
Answer: Once.
Explanation: After the first subtraction, the number is 20, not 25.
Riddle 2: What is 25 minus 5?
Answer: 20.
Riddle 3: What number is 5 less than 25?
Answer: 20.
Riddle 4: Start with 25 and take away 5. What remains?
Answer: 20.
Riddle 5: How many fives make 25?
Answer: Five.
Riddle 6: What is 5 × 5?
Answer: 25.
Riddle 7: What is 25 ÷ 5?
Answer: 5.
Riddle 8: What number comes after 24?
Answer: 25.
Riddle 9: What number comes before 25?
Answer: 24.
Riddle 10: Add 5 to 20. What do you get?
Answer: 25.
Short Subtraction Riddles ➖
Riddle 11: What is 30 minus 10?
Answer: 20.
Riddle 12: What is 40 minus 15?
Answer: 25.
Riddle 13: Take 7 from 17. What remains?
Answer: 10.
Riddle 14: What is 50 minus 25?
Answer: 25.
Riddle 15: What is 18 minus 9?
Answer: 9.
Riddle 16: What is 21 minus 7?
Answer: 14.
Riddle 17: Take 4 from 16. What remains?
Answer: 12.
Riddle 18: What is 35 minus 5?
Answer: 30.
Riddle 19: What is 60 minus 20?
Answer: 40.
Riddle 20: What is 100 minus 1?
Answer: 99.
Tricky Number Riddles 🧩
Riddle 21: What number is greater than 10 but less than 12?
Answer: 11.
Riddle 22: What number stays unchanged when you add zero?
Answer: Any number.
Riddle 23: What number is even and prime?
Answer: 2.
Riddle 24: What number comes next: 2, 4, 6, 8?
Answer: 10.
Riddle 25: What comes next: 5, 10, 15, 20?
Answer: 25.
Riddle 26: What comes next: 3, 6, 9, 12?
Answer: 15.
Riddle 27: What comes next: 10, 20, 30, 40?
Answer: 50.
Riddle 28: What number is halfway between 20 and 30?
Answer: 25.
Riddle 29: What number is one more than 99?
Answer: 100.
Riddle 30: What number is one less than 50?
Answer: 49.
Simple Math Riddles 🔢
Riddle 31: What is 7 + 8?
Answer: 15.
Riddle 32: What is 9 + 6?
Answer: 15.
Riddle 33: What is 12 + 8?
Answer: 20.
Riddle 34: What is 14 + 6?
Answer: 20.
Riddle 35: What is 11 + 9?
Answer: 20.
Riddle 36: What is 15 + 10?
Answer: 25.
Riddle 37: What is 20 + 5?
Answer: 25.
Riddle 38: What is 13 + 7?
Answer: 20.
Riddle 39: What is 16 + 4?
Answer: 20.
Riddle 40: What is 17 + 8?
Answer: 25.
Number Pattern Riddles 🔍
Riddle 41: 1, 2, 3, 4, what comes next?
Answer: 5.
Riddle 42: 5, 10, 15, 20, what comes next?
Answer: 25.
Riddle 43: 2, 4, 8, 16, what comes next?
Answer: 32.
Riddle 44: 10, 15, 20, 25, what comes next?
Answer: 30.
Riddle 45: 100, 90, 80, 70, what comes next?
Answer: 60.
Riddle 46: 1, 3, 5, 7, what comes next?
Answer: 9.
Riddle 47: 20, 18, 16, 14, what comes next?
Answer: 12.
Riddle 48: 4, 8, 12, 16, what comes next?
Answer: 20.
Riddle 49: 6, 12, 18, 24, what comes next?
Answer: 30.
Riddle 50: 25, 20, 15, 10, what comes next?
Answer: 5.
Funny Math Trick Riddles 😄
Riddle 51: You have 5 apples and take 2. How many do you have?
Answer: 2.
Riddle 52: If you have 10 dollars and spend 10, what remains?
Answer: Nothing.
Riddle 53: What can you add to 9 to make it 10?
Answer: 1.
Riddle 54: What number has no value when written alone?
Answer: 0.
Riddle 55: What happens when you add 0 to 100?
Answer: It stays 100.
Riddle 56: If one plus one is two, what is two plus two?
Answer: Four.
Riddle 57: What is half of 10?
Answer: 5.
Riddle 58: What is double 5?
Answer: 10.
Riddle 59: What is triple 5?
Answer: 15.
Riddle 60: What is 5 more than 25?
Answer: 30.
Easy Logic Riddles 🧠
Riddle 61: Two numbers total 10. One is 4. What is the other?
Answer: 6.
Riddle 62: Two numbers total 20. One is 12. What is the other?
Answer: 8.
Riddle 63: I am greater than 5 and less than 7. What am I?
Answer: 6.
Riddle 64: I am an even number between 8 and 12. What am I?
Answer: 10.
Riddle 65: I am an odd number between 10 and 14. What am I?
Answer: 11 or 13.
Riddle 66: Double me to get 14. What am I?
Answer: 7.
Riddle 67: Double me to get 20. What am I?
Answer: 10.
Riddle 68: Add 3 to me to get 10. What am I?
Answer: 7.
Riddle 69: Subtract 4 from me to get 6. What am I?
Answer: 10.
Riddle 70: Multiply me by 2 to get 18. What am I?
Answer: 9.
Tricky Arithmetic Riddles 🧮
Riddle 71: What is half of 50 plus 5?
Answer: 30.
Riddle 72: What is 10 × 2 + 5?
Answer: 25.
Riddle 73: What is 20 ÷ 2 + 5?
Answer: 15.
Riddle 74: What is 5 × 4 − 5?
Answer: 15.
Riddle 75: What is 30 ÷ 5 + 4?
Answer: 10.
Riddle 76: What is 3 × 5 + 5?
Answer: 20.
Riddle 77: What is 25 − 10 + 5?
Answer: 20.
Riddle 78: What is 5 + 5 × 2?
Answer: 15.
Riddle 79: What is 20 − 5 × 2?
Answer: 10.
Riddle 80: What is 40 ÷ 5 + 2?
Answer: 10.
Harder Number and Wordplay Riddles 🔤
Riddle 81: I am a number. Remove my first letter and I become a word. What am I?
Answer: One. Remove O and “ne” remains, so this is a wordplay challenge with no single standard answer.
Riddle 82: What number has the same number of letters as its value?
Answer: Four.
Riddle 83: What number comes after nine and before eleven?
Answer: Ten.
Riddle 84: What number has two digits and adds to 5?
Answer: 14, 23, 32, 41, or 50.
Riddle 85: What number is both a square and even?
Answer: 4.
Riddle 86: What is the smallest positive even number?
Answer: 2.
Riddle 87: What is the smallest odd number?
Answer: 1.
Riddle 88: What is the only even prime number?
Answer: 2.
Riddle 89: What number is 3 squared?
Answer: 9.
Riddle 90: What number is 5 squared?
Answer: 25.
Final Challenge Riddles 🎯
Riddle 91: A number doubled is 30. What is it?
Answer: 15.
Riddle 92: A number plus 8 equals 20. What is it?
Answer: 12.
Riddle 93: A number minus 7 equals 13. What is it?
Answer: 20.
Riddle 94: Three equal numbers total 15. What is each?
Answer: 5.
Riddle 95: Five equal numbers total 25. What is each?
Answer: 5.
Riddle 96: You have 25 candies and give away 5. How many remain?
Answer: 20.
Riddle 97: A number is 5 more than 15. What is it?
Answer: 20.
Riddle 98: A number is 5 less than 30. What is it?
Answer: 25.
Riddle 99: I am 5 times 5. What number am I?
Answer: 25.
Riddle 100: You start with 25 and subtract 5 once. What number do you have?
Answer: 20.
Conclusion
The how many times can you subtract 5 from 25 riddle is a classic example of how wording can be more important than calculation. The traditional answer is once, because after the first subtraction, you are no longer subtracting 5 from 25. You are subtracting 5 from 20. If the question instead asks how many times you can repeatedly subtract 5 until reaching zero, then the answer is five. The key is to read the exact wording before doing the math.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many times can you subtract 5 from 25?
You can subtract 5 from 25 once. After that, the number is 20.
What is the answer to the subtract 5 from 25 riddle?
The classic answer is once.
Why isn’t the answer five?
Five is the answer if you repeatedly subtract 5 until you reach zero. The riddle specifically asks how many times you can subtract 5 from 25.
What happens after subtracting 5 from 25?
You get 20, so the next subtraction would be from 20 rather than 25.
Is this a trick question?
Yes. The arithmetic is easy, but the wording creates the trick.
What is 25 minus 5?
25 minus 5 equals 20.
Can you subtract 5 five times from 25?
Yes, if you mean repeated subtraction: 25 → 20 → 15 → 10 → 5 → 0.
How can I solve trick math riddles?
Read the wording carefully, identify what the question literally asks, and avoid making assumptions before calculating.
Are these riddles suitable for kids?
Most of the short number riddles use basic arithmetic and simple reasoning, making them suitable for children who are comfortable with elementary math.
What is a good hint for the main riddle?
Focus on what number you are subtracting from after the first calculation.