Penny has 5 children, 1st is January, 2nd kid February, 3rd is called march , 4th is April. What is the name of the 5th.
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
The name of the fifth child is Penny.
Explanation
This riddle plays on common expectations and the tendency to overlook subtle clues. At first glance, it appears to follow a simple pattern based on the months of the year. The list given—January, February, March, April—suggests that each child is named after a month. Naturally, most people would assume the fifth child’s name must be “May,” to continue the sequence. However, that’s not the correct answer, and here’s why.
The riddle begins with a crucial piece of information: “Penny has 5 children.” This is not just background context—it’s a vital part of the puzzle. The sentence implies that the name of the mother is Penny. However, it also serves a second function: it quietly includes the name of the fifth child in plain sight.
Let’s break the sentence down more carefully:
- “Penny has 5 children,”
- Followed by listing: “1st is January, 2nd kid February, 3rd is called March, 4th is April.”
- Then it asks, “What is the name of the 5th?”
Nowhere in the list is the name of the fifth child directly mentioned—unless you notice that the name “Penny” appears before the list begins. The trick lies in understanding that the structure of the riddle itself is misleading.
It encourages you to think sequentially and fall into a predictable naming pattern. But in reality, the riddle embeds the answer in the setup, assuming you might overlook it. So when it says “Penny has five children,” and goes on to list only four names, the implication is that Penny herself is the fifth child—or more accurately, the fifth child is named Penny.
Thus, the correct answer is: Penny.
