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A riddle popped in my mind some time ago.

A man is celebrating his 20th Birthday. After the cake is cut and the dinner is done, he addresses the crowd. "Thanks for joining me today to celebrate my 20th Birthday. Very thankful to you people" , he says. The crowd cheers. "Next year when I turn 22 .... ", he continues. The crowd gets confused. But how is it possible?

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    $\begingroup$ Well, it's NOT a duplicate of the linked question exactly. They are very similar, but the process of cake cutting etc. and, more importantly, the "Thanks for joining me today" part makes the difference. $\endgroup$
    – trolley813
    Commented Sep 30, 2019 at 6:59

4 Answers 4

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The man

was born 1 minute before midnight on New Year's Eve. The cake cutting process took over a minute, and so the year had rolled over.

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He had chosen to hold his (December 31) birthday party on a cruise ship sailing westwards in the Pacific Ocean. Many of the passengers had missed the announcement that they would be crossing the International Date Line during dinner.

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    $\begingroup$ I like this answer better than the checked one. +1 :) $\endgroup$
    – Duck
    Commented Sep 28, 2019 at 19:22
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Solution #1

The man wanted cake... The man was already 21, but he wanted cake sooo bad that he decided to to celebrate the 20th birthday party that he never had... probably because he had no friends. The people were confused because they didn't know he was already 21 when he made the statement.

Solution #2

The man is a FREAKING extraterrestrial! If he had been born on another planet such as Venus which has about 224 Earth days each year and then traveled to Earth... His birthday would be every 224 days. If he was talking about a year on Earth but using a Venus calendar then it's possible he’d be 22 the next year.

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    $\begingroup$ This answer is gold — especially the first solution xD $\endgroup$
    – Mr Pie
    Commented Sep 28, 2019 at 20:29
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A person's birthday celebration doesn't have to take place on their actual birthday. The man's actual 20th birthday fell sometime in the last few days of the old year (say, on December 29), but he's celebrating it sometime in the first few days of the new year (say, on January 2), because he was in hospital, or out of town, or something else that would make him unable to get together with his friends to have a party on his actual birthday. As the party is being held early in the new year, and the man's 21st birthday falls late in the new year, he will turn 21 "this" year; as his 22nd birthday falls late in the year after the new year, he will turn 22 "next" year.

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