Can You Solve This Riddle That Baffled the Internet?

This tricky puzzle that stumped the web isn’t related to phonics or first-grade math. It’s a short riddle written in what appears to be plain English, but the longer you stare at it the more confounding it becomes. According to 22 Words, the question reads:

If Teresa's daughter is my daughter's mother, what am I to Teresa?

Confused? Based on the response on social media, you’re in good company. Luckily the brainteaser doesn’t stop there. It comes with some multiple choice answers: The person asking the question is either Teresa’s grandmother, daughter, granddaughter, or Teresa herself.

If you guessed "daughter," you’re right. In this scenario, Teresa is the mom of the person asking the question. The riddle is just a more complicated way of saying "I am my mother’s daughter."

In case your brain isn’t completely fried at this point, here are some more notoriously tricky riddles from history.

[h/t 22 Words]

A version of this story originally ran in 2017; it has been updated for 2022.