‘There Are Five Sisters in a Room’ Riddle: The Answer Explained

A new riddle has been making the rounds on social media as people find different ways to challenge themselves and their friends during the COVID-19 pandemic. This one is great for anyone to try and doesn’t involve any numbers or math equations.

The riddle is called “there are five sisters in a room” or “five sisters in a room.” Here it is:

There are five sisters in a room. All five of them are busy.
Ann is reading, Rose is cooking, Lorraine is playing chess and Mary is doing laundry.
What is the fifth sister doing?

It’s a bit tricky but the answer is in the clues of the riddle, so you may have to look at it for a bit and reread it to try to get the answer. If you’re ready to find out the answer to this riddle, keep reading.

The Answer to the ‘Four Sisters in a Room’ Riddle & Explanation

The answer to the question, “what is the fifth sister doing?” is that she’s playing chess with Lorraine. Although the riddle only gives the names of four sisters and the activity they’re doing, you can figure out that the fifth, unnamed, sister is playing chess.

How? Of all the activities listed in the clue, chess is the only activity that typically requires two people to play. The riddle has been making the rounds on social media, often with different names for the sisters.

Since the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Caused Many to Stay at Home, Riddles & Puzzles Have Been Going Viral on Social Media

This isn’t the first riddle to start circulating on social media in the last few months. Because so many people have been staying at home, they’ve turned to sharing riddles and brain teasers with their friends and family on social media. One recent riddle to go viral is the “Mother Picture” riddle. This one involves a picture of two women and a child:

YouTubeMother Picture Riddle

Two women face each other with a child playing between them. The riddle asks people to figure out which one is the mother of the child. There are no additional clues or instructions given and the answer is in the image itself.

The answer to this riddle is that the woman on the left is the child’s mother, which can be figured out with a series of clues. The main hints are in the demeanor of the two women. The woman on the left does not have her legs crossed and she’s leaning forward a bit more. Both of these signs point to a more protective instinct. She also has her hands free and ready to intervene.

Another hint is that the child, although closer to the woman on the right, is facing the woman on the left, which is normal behavior for a young child. The last clue is in the color of the hair; both the child and the mother have dark hair as opposed to the woman on the right, who has blond hair.

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