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Word riddles
Where does today come before yesterday?
A time riddle with a bookish answer. In real life the order is fixed, so the place where it flips must be a place where words are sorted.
Where does today come before yesterday?
Hint: Alphabetical order.
Reveal the answer
In the dictionary
T comes before Y, so “today” is listed before “yesterday”.
How to solve it (spoilers)
How to think about it
- In time, yesterday always comes before today, so the riddle must be about a different kind of order.
- Words can be ordered alphabetically. Compare the first letters: T and Y.
- T comes before Y in the alphabet.
- In a dictionary, “today” is listed before “yesterday”.
Why “in the dictionary” is the answer
A dictionary sorts words alphabetically, and since T comes before Y, the entry for “today” appears pages before “yesterday”. The riddle asks “where” rather than “when”, which is the clue that it wants a place instead of a time. Any alphabetical list would work, but the dictionary is the classic answer.
Common wrong answers
- Nowhere. True in time, but the riddle asks where, and the dictionary is such a place.
- In a time machine. A fun idea, but the riddle has an everyday answer that does not need science fiction.
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