New Gen Ed Prerequisite is to Solve Riddles Three

Study also shows that your schedule builder predicts your classes

As Fall 2025 course enrollment rolls around, Iowa students have started to notice a new prerequisite for some of the general education classes: solving riddles three.

These riddles vary depending on the topic of the class, but all are delivered to prospective students through a sphinx with Barbara Wilson’s face that approaches you on the Pentacrest the day before your course registration time. It is still unknown how this sphinx would be able to question incoming freshmen on their riddles three from their homes, but a spokesperson from the university assures current students that everyone will be “judged fairly by our benevolent goddess.”

Some examples of said riddles include:

• What comes out at night without being called, and are lost in the day without being stolen?

• What can be cracked, made, told, and played?

• What has an eye but cannot see?

• A bus driver goes the wrong way down a one-way street. He passes the cops, but they do not stop him. Why?

• John’s height is 6 feet, he’s an assistant at a butcher’s shop, and he wears size 9 shoes. What does he weigh?

Unfortunately, we cannot tell you the answers to the riddles without risking academic misconduct, so you will just have to ponder your orbs and read your tea leaves to try to prepare for the day the sphinx comes for you. 

We wish the best of luck to everyone who needs a gen ed requirement next semester. Next week, we’ll discuss a new study that shows how your schedule builder can actually predict your classes for the upcoming semester.