New Riddles With Answers
The most recent additions to the collection, newest first. New riddles get the same treatment as everything else: an answer, an explanation, a difficulty rating and a category.
If you have a riddle you would like added, send it to us - we check every submission against the existing collection first, since a surprising number of "new" riddles turn out to be one we already have in different words.
What does a rich man need that a poor man has?
A poor man has "nothing," and ironically that's exactly what a rich man doesn't need — nothing more.
What has a mouth but can't talk?
A river has a "mouth" where it meets the sea, but it obviously cannot speak.
A plane crashed on the border of US and Canada. Where do they bury the survivors?
This is a trick question — survivors, by definition, are alive and therefore aren't buried.
What month do people sleep the least?
With the fewest days in the year, February offers the least total time for sleep.
What can be found at the beginning of eternity the end of time and space the beginning of every end?
The letter E starts "eternity," ends "time" and "space," and begins the word "end."
I am a term used to confirm. But take away my front, my face, I become known as human avarice.
Removing the first letter "a" from "agreed" leaves "greed," the word for human avarice.
It is able to speak because it has a hard gong. You know what it is as soon as it has sung. What is it?
A bell "speaks" because of its hard clapper striking its metal body, and you recognize it the instant it sounds.
I can be driven, but have no wheels. I can be sliced, but still remains whole. What am I?
In golf you "drive" the ball off the tee, and a poorly hit shot is called a "slice" — yet the ball stays intact and has no wheels.
Salty water everywhere but not sea in sight.
Tears are salty like seawater but come from crying, not the ocean.
I love to dance and twist and prance. I shake my tail, as away I sail. Wingless I fly into the sky.
A kite dances on the wind with a fluttering tail, soaring skyward without wings.
What must take a bow before it can speak?
A violin must be played with a bow drawn across its strings before it produces ("speaks") any sound.
What builds its house with earthen string and ensnares its prey with a biting sting?
A spider spins silken web to build its home and bites prey to subdue it, described here loosely as a "sting."
What can you lose that will cause other people to lose theirs too?
Losing your temper often provokes others around you to lose theirs as well.
Plant whose name sounds like a dish full of dairy spread.
"Buttercup" sounds like "a cup of butter," a container full of dairy spread.
What is it that no man ever saw, which never was, but always will be?
Tomorrow never actually arrives as itself — it's always just ahead, perpetually "will be" but never "was."
They are two brothers. However much they run, they do not reach each other.
The two wheels of a vehicle spin endlessly side by side without ever meeting.
I am bigger than elephant but lighter than a feather. What am I?
This is a loose fit — the classic version of this riddle usually answers "nothing" or "a shadow," but the source lists "wind," reasoning that a storm can dwarf an elephant in scale while having no weight to hold.
This is a baked dish of fruit, or meat and vegetables, typically with a top and base of pastry.
A pie is defined as a baked dish with a pastry crust on top and bottom, filled with fruit or savory ingredients.
As strong as love, more dangerous than cancer.
Hate is often described as an emotion as powerful as love but far more destructive.
What devours all and can kill a king. Destroy a town and crushes mountains down?
Time eventually consumes everything -- kings die, towns crumble, and even mountains erode over time.
What dresses for summer and sheds in the winter?
Deciduous trees grow full leaves ('dress up') in summer and shed them in winter.
Long and slinky like a trout, never sings till it's guts come out.
A gun is long and sleek like a fish, and it only 'sings' (fires with a bang) once its 'guts' (bullet and gunpowder) are expelled.
What runs but cannot walk?
A runny nose 'runs' (drips) but obviously can't walk.
An iron horse with a flaxen tail. The faster the horse runs, the shorter his tail becomes.
A sewing needle ('iron horse') pulls thread ('flaxen tail') through fabric, and the thread supply shortens the more it's used.
What do people make that you can't see?
Noise is made constantly by people but has no visible form.
What can you add to a bucket full of water to make it lighter?
Adding a hole lets water leak out, reducing the total weight in the bucket.
A shimmering field that reaches far. Yet it has no tracks, And is crossed without paths.
The ocean stretches far and wide with no roads or tracks, yet ships cross it constantly.
I am million people's wakeup call. What am I?
Coffee, made from roasted coffee beans, is millions of people's daily wake-up ritual.
I am green and ugly and come out at night with a crumple old broom. Who am I?
This describes the classic storybook image of a green-skinned witch flying on an old broomstick at night.
The most beautiful and useless of human acts.
Art is often praised as beautiful yet criticized as impractical or 'useless' in a strictly functional sense.
What can hold all days, weeks, and months but still fit on a table?
A calendar displays all days, weeks, and months while being small enough to sit on a desk.
Attracted by light but flies at night. It's winged and hairy but not too scary. What is it?
Moths are famously drawn to light sources and are winged, fuzzy nocturnal insects.
What does no man want, yet no man want to lose?
No one wants the burden of having a job, but losing one (unemployment) is worse.
What has a bell but isn't a church. Is full of air but is not a balloon?
A trumpet has a flared 'bell' at its end and is filled with air (breath) when played, but it's a musical instrument, not a church bell or balloon.
What comes down but never back goes up?
Rain falls down from clouds and doesn't rise back up on its own.
Almost everyone sees me without noticing me, for what is beyond is what he or she seeks.
People look through windows to see what's beyond, rarely noticing the window itself.
When I live I cry, If you don't kill me I'll die.
A lit candle 'weeps' melted wax as it burns, and it will eventually burn itself out (die) whether or not you extinguish (kill) it.
What hole do you mend with holes?
A net is made entirely of holes, so mending it means adding more knotted holes.
If you slash it, It heals at once.
If you slash (cut) through water, it immediately closes back up, unlike a wound that needs time to heal.
When I'm born I fly. When I'm alive I lay. When I'm dead I run.
Snow 'flies' as it falls, 'lies' on the ground once settled, and 'runs' as melted water once it 'dies' (melts).
What travels from coast to coast without ever moving?
A highway stretches from coast to coast but is a stationary road.
Sport olympians use this to get high jump up in the air.
Pole vaulters use a long pole to launch themselves high into the air.
What is eaten but not grown and was born in water but will disappear if soaked?
Salt comes from evaporated seawater ('born in water') and dissolves ('disappears') when soaked in water again.
What is better than the best thing and worse than the worst thing?
Nothing is better than the best thing (since nothing beats it) and also worse than the worst thing (since nothing is worse) -- a classic logic pun.
What occurs four times in every week, twice in every month, only once in a year but never in a day?
Counting the letter's occurrences in the words 'week,' 'month,' 'year,' and 'day' matches this exact pattern for the letter E.
What comes in many varieties and can't be seen or touched, but it often makes you move?
Music comes in many genres, is intangible, yet it often makes people dance or move.
I am a good state, there can be no doubt of it; but those who are in, entirely are out of it.
The riddle plays on double meaning: 'sane' is a good state of mind, but people who are 'in-sane' are by definition out of their right mind.
What is the middle of water but is not an island?
The middle letter of the word 'WATER' is T.
Hot tempered and sometimes it blows its top, making a mess of everything.
A volcano is described as 'hot-tempered' because when it erupts ('blows its top'), it spews lava and ash everywhere.
Without feather or wing I fly, but you'll known what I am when I hover near by. What am I?
A helicopter has no feathers or fixed wings like a plane, yet it can fly and hover in place.
Who works when he plays and plays when he works?
A musician 'plays' music as their profession -- their work and their play are the same activity.
I am the noise Santa's reindeers make. What am I?
Santa's reindeer are often described as making a 'jingle' sound, like sleigh bells.
What has a brown coat, a long tail, and lives in house or shed but most active while you're in bed?
A mouse is small, brown-coated, long-tailed, and most active at night while people sleep.
During the 1800's these turned women into hourglasses and is becoming more popular again these days.
Corsets were tightly laced Victorian-era undergarments that cinched the waist into an hourglass shape, and waist-training corsets have seen a modern resurgence.
Slowly creeping, I am weeping, changing shades, and growing.
This describes the season of spring: nature slowly comes alive, plants seem to 'weep' with dew or blossoms, colors shift from bare to green, and everything grows.
Look into my face and I'm everybody. Scratch my back and I'm nobody.
A mirror reflects the face of whoever looks into it (everybody), but scratching its silvered back ruins the reflective coating.
I have married many women but has never been married. What am I?
A priest officiates (marries) many couples throughout his career without ever marrying anyone himself.
The older they are the less wrinkles they have.
As tires wear down with age and use, their tread grooves ('wrinkles') smooth out, unlike humans who gain more wrinkles as they age.
What has teeth but no mouth?
A saw blade has sharp teeth used for cutting, but obviously no mouth.
Everybody's got one.
Everyone has at least one secret they keep to themselves.
It is a gruesome form of betray.
A 'backstab' describes an especially vicious, treacherous betrayal, often of someone close to you.
What falls but never breaks?
Night 'falls' each evening, but unlike a dropped object, it never physically breaks.
Voiceless it cries, wingless flutters, toothless bites, mouthless mutters.
The wind seems to 'cry' and 'flutter' as it moves, and it can 'bite' with cold or 'mutter' through trees, all without a body.
What do you use to hoe a row, slay a foe, and wring with woe?
Your hands are used to hoe a garden row, defend yourself against a foe, and wring out laundry in sorrow.
I can be full, but I will never spill. I disappear at times, but return I always will.
The moon can appear 'full' without ever spilling anything, and it seems to disappear (new moon) before reliably returning each month.
Long legs, crooked thighs, little head, and no eyes.
Kitchen tongs have long crossed 'legs' (arms), a small pivoting 'head' or hinge, and no eyes.
What is long and slim, works in light; has but one eye, and an awful bite?
A sewing needle is long, thin, has a single 'eye' for thread, and its sharp point can give a painful prick.
Which bus could cross the ocean?
This is a pun on the name 'Columbus' (as in Christopher Columbus), which contains the word 'bus,' and he's famous for crossing the ocean.
They cut doors in half and wear wooden shoes.
The Dutch are known for split 'Dutch doors' and traditional wooden clogs.
Sometimes black, sometimes white, I have veins but no blood.
Marble stone is often black or white with natural mineral veining, but of course has no actual blood.
What goes with a car, comes with a car, is no use to a car, but the car can't move without it?
A car makes noise when it runs; the noise itself doesn't help the car move, but you never see a working car without it.
Dies half its life. Lives the rest. Dances without music. Breathes without breath.
A deciduous tree appears to 'die' in winter (losing its leaves) and comes back to life in spring; its branches sway ('dance') in the wind without music, and it doesn't breathe like animals do.
What word is the same written forward, backward and upside down?
'NOON' reads the same forwards, backwards, and even upside down, thanks to the shapes of its letters.
What is it that you ought to keep after you have given it to someone else?
When you make a promise to someone, you must still keep it yourself even after giving it to them.
Turns us on our backs, and open up our stomachs. You will be the wisest of men though at start a lummox.
Opening a book (cracking its spine like a 'stomach', laying it back) can transform an ignorant person (a lummox) into a wise one.
I have two bodies joined together as one. When standing still, I ran and ran. What am I?
An hourglass has two glass bulbs joined together, and sand 'runs' through it continuously even while the object itself stays still.
What relies on columns but isn't a house, and asks for help but can't speak itself?
A newspaper is organized into printed columns and often features advice or help-wanted columns, yet the paper itself has no voice.
You have it even if there is none.
The riddle plays loosely on the idea that people can still "have hope" even in a hopeless situation, though the phrasing itself is a bit paradoxical.
There is someone, and there is always another, for without the other, there wouldn't be one.
Twins only exist as a pair -- you can't have just one twin, since being a twin depends entirely on there being another.
What has a spine, tail, and leash but isn't a dog?
A kite has a central spine, a trailing tail for stability, and a string ("leash") holding it, but it's an object, not an animal.
What goes further the slower it goes?
Money spent carefully and slowly stretches out and "goes further" than money spent quickly.
I am nothing really at all, Yet I am easily found; Ignore me at your own peril, and you might end up crowned!
A cavity is just an empty hole, but ignoring it lets decay spread, and treating it often literally ends with getting a dental crown.
It flavors your food and divides the year up.
"Season" your food with spices, and the year is also divided into seasons -- one word, two meanings.
What can be seen but not touched?
A shadow is visible on a surface, but since it's just an absence of light, there's nothing physical there to touch.
Men cut this by attaching a razor to a broom handle or just have their wives do it.
Hard-to-reach back hair is jokingly said to require a razor taped to a long handle, or a helpful spouse, to shave.
When this is found in a road you are forced to make a decision.
A fork in the road splits into two paths, forcing you to choose which direction to take.
Many foods can make me strong but give me water and I won't last long.
Fuel (like wood or oil) makes a fire burn stronger, but pouring water on it will quickly put it out.
What has four wings but cannot fly and uses the wind but does not know why?
A windmill has blades that look like wings and is turned by the wind, but it never actually flies through the air.
A great mysterious place that the bold have been known to journey into.
"Journeying into the unknown" is a common phrase for brave people venturing somewhere mysterious and uncharted.
You may have to assure your date's dad that you have these kind of intentions.
A protective parent often wants reassurance that their child's date has honorable intentions.
What is that which, though black itself, enlightens the world without burning?
Ink is black, yet the printed words it forms spread knowledge and "enlighten" readers, all without any fire involved.
You can draw me, fire me or fill me in. What is it?
You can "draw" a gun, "fire" a gun, and "fill" it with ammunition -- though "fill me in" is a looser fit than the other two clues.
He died for people's entertainment.
Roman gladiators fought, and often died, in the arena purely to entertain crowds of spectators.
All about the house, with his lady he dances, yet he always works, and never romances.
A broom "dances" across the floor alongside the dustpan ("his lady") while sweeping, but it's simply doing chores, not courting.
What fruit is of great use in history?
A "date" is both a sweet fruit and the word for a specific point in time, which historians constantly use to record events.
If you agree give me one of these.
Saying "amen" is a traditional way of voicing agreement or approval, especially after a statement or prayer.
In Paris but not in France, the thinnest of its siblings.
"Paris" contains the letter I, which does not appear in "France"; among the letters unique to Paris, I is visually the thinnest.
This is the tallest peak in the happiest place on earth.
Disneyland, often called 'the happiest place on earth,' features the Matterhorn Bobsleds ride, modeled after the actual Swiss peak, as its tallest structure.
Locked up inside you and yet they can steal it from you.
Your heart is physically sealed inside your chest, yet someone can figuratively 'steal your heart' by winning your love.
Has feathers but can't fly. Rests on legs but can't walk.
A feather mattress is stuffed with feathers and often rests on bed legs, but being furniture it can neither fly nor walk.
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