A puzzling riddle has taken the internet by storm: “A woman was born in 1975 and died in 1975. She was 22 years old when she died. How is this possible?” On the surface, it seems impossible—how can someone be born and die in the same year, yet live 22 years?
The confusion arises because most people instinctively link “1975” to a year and try to solve the riddle as a timeline problem. But the clever twist is that “1975” doesn’t refer to the year at all. Instead, it is a place—most commonly, a hospital room number.
Imagine the woman was born in room 1975 of a hospital in an earlier year, like 1953, and she also died in the same hospital room years later, in 1975. Her age of 22 fits perfectly in this scenario. The riddle plays on our assumptions and challenges us to think outside the box.
This brain teaser is a great reminder of how easy it is to get locked into specific ways of thinking, especially with numbers. It encourages flexible thinking and curiosity, illustrating that sometimes the answer lies in changing the meaning we assign to familiar symbols.
Try sharing this riddle with friends—it’s frustrating at first but rewarding once the solution clicks. It demonstrates the power of perception and reminds us to question our assumptions in everyday problems.
