This riddle asks: How many seconds are there in a year?
The classic answer is: 12.
The trick is that the riddle is not asking how many individual seconds of time are in 365 days. Instead, it is asking how many second days appear in a year.
There is the second of January, the second of February, the second of March, and so on through all 12 months.
That gives 12 “seconds” in a year.
The wording is intentionally misleading, which is why most people immediately start thinking about time calculations before noticing the wordplay.
