1,128 Hard Riddles With Answers - page 3 of 12
They took me from my mother's side where I was bravely bred and when to age I did become they did cut off my head. They gave to me some diet drink that often made me mad but it made peace between two kings and made two lovers glad.
This riddle describes a goose feather taken from its mother goose, plucked and trimmed ("head cut off") into a quill, then dipped in ink ("diet drink") to write peace treaties and love letters.
Double my number, I'm less than a score. Half of my number is less than four. Add one to my double when bakers are near. Days of the week are still greater, I fear.
Six doubled is 12 (less than a score of 20), half of six is 3 (less than 4), doubling and adding one gives 13 (a baker's dozen), and six is still fewer than the seven days of the week.
It is in every mountain, it's not in any hill, it's not in all the world, and yet it's in the mill.
The letter M appears in "mountain" and "mill" but not in "hill" or "world" -- a classic hidden-letter riddle.
A metal neither black nor red, as heavy as man's golden greed. What you do to stay ahead, with friend or foe or arrow and steed.
Lead the metal is dull gray and heavy like greed itself, while 'to lead' also means staying out in front - whether guiding friend, foe, arrow, or steed - a double meaning this riddle plays on.
My tines be long, my tines be short. My tines end ere, my first report. What am I?
Lightning's branching "tines" (forks) come in varying lengths, and because light travels faster than sound, the flash always ends before its thunderclap ("report") is heard.
It is a part of us, and then replaced. It escapes our bodies, to a better place. The world becomes its sizeable home. Its passions unrestrained, the planet it roams.
Water makes up much of the human body and is constantly replenished as it leaves us through sweat and breath, rejoining the planet's much larger water cycle -- rivers, oceans, and rain -- where it roams freely.
A third from the sun, and not much else since the world's begun. Some may weigh a metric ton. Is a synonym for fun. Made a zeppelin take flight. A big thing at Isle of Wight.
This riddle layers wordplay: "rock" the mineral has existed since Earth (third from the sun) began and can weigh tons, while "rock" the music genre is slang for fun, launched acts like Led Zeppelin, and headlines the famous Isle of Wight Festival.
My first is in some but not in all. My second is into but not in tall. My third in little but no in big. My fourth in port but not in pig. My whole is made in nature's way. For clothing, rugs used every day.
The first three letters spell S-I-L from 'some,' 'into,' and 'little,' matching silk, the natural fiber woven into clothing and rugs daily; the final clue pairing 'port' and 'pig' is a weaker fit for the letter it should supply, an apparent slip in the original wordplay.
My first is in spell, but not book. My second is in fright and also shook. My third is in cauldron, but never in pot. My fourth is in net and also in knot. My fifth is in bat, but never in vampire. My sixth is in coal, but not found in fire. My seventh is in moon, but not in night.
This letter charade spells P-H-A-N-T-O-M: P (spell, not book), H (fright/shook), A (cauldron, not pot), N (net/knot), T (bat, not vampire), O (coal, not fire), M (moon, not night).
People are hired to get rid of me. I'm often hiding under your bed. In time I'll always return you see. Bite me and you're surely dead. What am I?
House cleaners are hired to remove dust, which constantly settles again under beds and furniture no matter how often it's cleared; the source's "bite" line is a looser fit for dust, more evocative of the tiny dust mites that live within it.
My back and belly is wood, and my ribs is lined with leather. I've a hole in my nose and one in my breast, And I'm mostly used in cold weather.
Fireplace bellows have wooden sides joined by a leather bellows-body, with holes (a nozzle "nose" and an intake "breast") to pump air and stoke a fire -- most useful in cold weather.
I am everywhere. Nothing can compare. Run and hide and I will still be there Because everything is mine to share. No need to seek me out, Though, you may just run out. What am I?
Space surrounds everything and everywhere, so there's no hiding from it -- yet in a practical sense, like closet or storage space, you can still "run out" of it.
My first is in wield, sever bones and marrow. My second is in blade, forged in cold steel. My third is in arbalest, and also in arrows. My fourth is in power, plunged through a shield. My fifth is in honor, and also in vows My last will put an end to it all.
Reading the letters singled out in each line spells "weapon" -- the riddle references cutting, forged steel blades, crossbows, piercing power, and honor, all traits associated with a weapon.
Early ages the iron boot tread, With Europe at her command. Through time power slipped and fled, 'til the creation of new holy land. Who am I?
Ancient Rome's legions (the "iron boot") once ruled Europe, but its power eventually declined and gave way to the rise of the Vatican, a new "holy land" seated in the same city.
Above all things have I been placed Thus have I, a man disgraced. I describe sunlight or lock But after all, I'm just a rock.
The moon is set high above all things in the night sky and lends its name to describe a soft "moonlit" glow or being "moonstruck" (disgraced/love-mad), yet astronomically it's really just a rocky satellite.
A serpent swam in a silver urn, A golden bird did in its mouth abide, The serpent drank the water, this in turn, Killed the serpent. Then the gold bird died.
In this old riddle, the "serpent" is the burning wick drawing up oil (the "water") from the lamp's silver reservoir, while the "golden bird" is the flame -- once the oil (the serpent's life) runs out, the flame dies too.
When set loose, I fly away, Never so cursed, as when I go astray
A raft that comes untied and is "set loose" drifts away on the current, and nothing is worse for its stranded rider than watching it float off astray.
It's in your hand though you cannot feel it. Only you and time can reveal it.
Your fate is said to be "in your hands," yet it's invisible and intangible -- only living through time will show how it actually unfolds.
Within, I clean all that is bad and is old. I make juice that's the color of gold. Should I die, a filter machine would you need assembled to replace me and beans I resemble.
A kidney filters waste from the blood and produces urine ("juice that's the color of gold"); if it fails, a dialysis machine takes over its filtering job, and kidneys are famously bean-shaped.
A natural state, I'm sought by all. Go with me and you shall fall. You do me when you spend, and you use me when you eat to no end. What am I?
Balance is desired by everyone -- lose it and you fall over, you must "balance" a budget when spending, and eating in balance (not to excess) is the healthy goal.
If your life is cut short, I am not the one to blame. You signed up, and your death was not my aim. Enter our doors; there is so much to see, We just happen to hold the key, To adventure abound And fun to be found Step in our door And see what is in store. What am I?
A 'terror tour' haunted attraction deliberately scares paying visitors for fun; no one is truly harmed, but the thrill of stepping through its doors is the whole appeal.
My step is slow, the snow's my breath I give the ground, a grinding death My marching makes an end of me Slain by sun or drowned in sea.
A glacier creeps forward at a slow, grinding pace, carved from packed snow, and it "dies" -- melts away -- either from sun exposure or as it calves into the sea.
I'm a bearer of darkness. I'm feared and often hated. I'm a symbol of the unwanted, An omen that leaves you jaded. Some people can predict my coming, But then you'll forever see Things lurking around corners... Are you sure that it was me?
The Grim Reaper is the classic personification of death -- feared, seen as a dark omen, and blamed for the dread of things lurking unseen, even when the fear may be unfounded.
I'm not the sort that's eaten, I'm not the sort you bake, Don't put me in an oven; I don't taste that great, But when applied correctly, around me you will find, Problems are so simple when my digits come to mind.
The riddle plays on "pie" the food versus "pi" the mathematical constant -- its digits are the key to solving circle and geometry "problems" in math.
Large as a mountain, small as a pea, Endlessly swimming in a waterless sea.
Asteroids range dramatically in size, from mountain-sized bodies to pebble-sized rocks, and drift endlessly through the vacuum ("waterless sea") of space.
What day, within a week of today, does not end in the letter Y?
Out of today, yesterday, and tomorrow, only tomorrow doesn't end in the letter Y.
I can be found in seconds, minutes and centuries, but not in days, years or decades.
The letter N appears in "seconds," "minutes," and "centuries," but not in "days," "years," or "decades."
Your mother's brother's only brother-in-law is asleep on your couch. Who is asleep on your couch?
Working through the family logic: your mother's brother is your uncle, and his only brother-in-law (assuming your mother has no other siblings) is the man married to his sister -- your mother -- which is your father.
Fatherless and motherless. Born without sin, roared when it came into the world. And never spoke again.
Thunder booms loudly the moment it's created by a storm, then goes silent again.
When one does not know what it is, then it is something; but when one knows what it is, then it is nothing.
A riddle feels like a real challenge while its answer is unknown, but once solved, it's revealed to be nothing more than a simple trick of words.
Take one royal word in the plural and make it singular by adding one letter.
The plural word 'princes' (more than one prince) becomes the singular word 'princess' (one princess) by adding just one letter, an 's', at the end.
I am partially baked. I am not completely lit. I am a portion of the moon. I am lesser than full wit. I am a divider of the hour. I am not a total lie. I am a sibling through one parent.
Every clue pairs with the word 'half' - half-baked, half-lit, half-moon, half-wit, half hour, half-truth, and half-sibling.
In the middle of night, I surround the gong. In the middle of sight, I end the song.
G is the middle letter of "night" and "sight," bookends the word "gong," and is the final letter of "song."
What do you call the mother-in-law of your sister's husband?
Your sister's husband's mother-in-law is the mother of his wife -- your sister -- which means it's simply your own mother.
I run distances, often making many turns, yet I never move one foot. What am I?
A watch's hands sweep endlessly around its face, tracking countless laps of 'distance,' while the watch itself sits perfectly still.
Two in a corner, 1 in a room, 0 in a house, but 1 in a shelter. What am I?
Count the occurrences of the letter R: "corner" has two, "room" has one, "house" has zero, and "shelter" has one.
What has two spines and a lot of ribs, and carries much but never moves?
The two parallel rails act like 'spines' and the wooden ties like 'ribs,' and while they bear the weight of heavy trains, the tracks themselves stay put.
I have one, you have one. If you remove the first letter, a bit remains. If you remove the second, bit still remains. If you remove the third, it still remains.
Removing letters one at a time from HABIT still leaves a real word each step -- ABIT, BIT, and IT -- matching the riddle's clue about 'bit' remaining.
What's large on Saturday and Sunday. Small on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and disappears on Monday and Friday?
The letter "S" appears capitalized (prominent, "large") at the start of Saturday and Sunday, appears lowercase and hidden ("small") within Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and doesn't appear at all ("disappears") in Monday or Friday.
What English word retains the same pronunciation, even after you take away four of its five letters?
"Queue" is pronounced exactly like its first letter, "Q" -- removing the other four letters (u-e-u-e) leaves the same sound.
What has ten letters and starts with gas?
The word "automobile" has ten letters, and cars run on "gas" (gasoline) -- a playful riddle rather than a literal spelling clue.
A cloud was my mother, the wind is my father, my son is the cool stream, and my daughter is the fruit of the land. A rainbow is my bed, the earth my final resting place, and I'm the torment of man.
This poetic riddle describes rain: it forms from clouds and wind, feeds streams and crops, is followed by rainbows, falls to earth, and can bring hardship (torment) through floods or storms.
We are five little objects of an everyday sort, You will find us all in a tennis court.
This is a loose fit in the source: the phrase 'tennis court' actually contains only four of the five vowels (E, I, O, U, missing A), but the source's intended answer is 'vowels.'
I defend without weapons, stand without legs, wound without force, and I am harder to fight than to kill. What am I?
A wall can defend a city with no weapons of its own, has no legs yet stands upright, and can 'wound' by falling without using force -- and a fortified wall is notoriously hard to breach.
What heavy seven letter word can you take two away from and be left with eight?
WEIGHTS is a heavy, seven-letter word; removing its two outer letters (W and S) leaves EIGHT, the number described by 'left with eight.'
What five-letter word, no matter how you pronounce it, is always pronounced wrong?
No matter how you say the word 'wrong,' you are technically pronouncing the word 'wrong' -- a self-referential pun.
What word of five letters has only one left when two letters are removed?
Removing the first two letters (S and T) from STONE leaves the word ONE -- literally 'only one' word remaining, which answers the riddle.
Lighter than what I'm made of, more of me is hidden than is seen. What am I?
Ice is less dense (lighter) than the water it's made from, so it floats with most of its bulk — about 90% — hidden beneath the surface.
What 11-letter English word is always pronounced incorrectly?
Saying 'it is pronounced incorrectly' means the word 'incorrectly' is always, by definition, the word being pronounced -- a self-referential wordplay.
His eyes were raging, that scraggly beast. His lips were bursting, with rows of angry teeth. Upon his back a razor was found. It was a fearsome battle we fought, my life – or his, one would be bought. And when we were through, and death chilled the air, we cut out his heart, and ate it with flair.
A wild boar has fierce eyes, sharp tusks bared like angry teeth, and a bristly "razor"-like ridge along its back, and after being hunted down in a dangerous fight, its meat -- including the heart -- was traditionally eaten as a trophy of the kill.
What king can you make if you take the head of a lamb, the middle of a pig, the hind of a buffalo, and the tail of a dragon?
The mismatched animal parts are a whimsical way of describing a composite creature, and the source identifies the resulting "king of beasts" as a lion.
My first is in window but not in pane. My second's in road but not in lane. My third is in oval but not in round. My fourth is in hearing but not in sound. My whole is known as a sign of peace. And from noah's ark won quick release.
This charade spells D-O-V-E: D (window, not pane), O (road, not lane), V (oval, not round), E (hearing, not sound) -- a dove is the classic symbol of peace, famously released from Noah's Ark.
I wear a red robe, with staff in hand and a stone in my throat. Cut me and I weep red tears. What am I?
A cherry's shiny red skin resembles a robe, its stem a tiny staff, and its pit ('stone') sits lodged in its throat-like center; slicing it releases red 'tears' of juice.
I have legs but seldom walk; I backbite many but never talk; I seek places that can hide me because those that feed me cannot abide me.
A flea has legs but hops rather than walks, secretly bites ('backbites') its many hosts, and hides wherever it can since the animals it feeds on can't stand having it around.
I have three heads. Cut off one, I become stronger. Cut off two, I become ten. What am I?
'FOX' loses its head letter to become 'OX' (a stronger animal), and losing another head letter leaves just 'X,' the Roman numeral for ten.
A house has 4 walls. All of the walls are facing south, and a bear is circling the house. What color is the bear?
A house with all four walls facing south can only be located at the North Pole, where the only bears are white polar bears.
Though desert men once called me God, today men call me mad. For I wag my tail when I am angry. And growl when I am glad.
Ancient Egyptians worshipped cats as gods, and unlike dogs, cats famously wag their tails when annoyed and purr or growl in ways that seem reversed from typical pet behavior.
Known as a great deceiver, it is evil's incarnation, once used for veneration, the root of all procreation. All you can do is shiver, when it begins to slither.
The snake is cast here as a deceptive, evil figure from mythology (the Garden of Eden serpent) yet also an ancient symbol of fertility and worship elsewhere - and its slither alone can send shivers down your spine.
My first master has four legs, my second master has two. My first I serve in life, my second I serve in death. Tough I am, yet soft beside. Against ladies cheeks I often reside.
Fur serves the four-legged animal while it's alive and serves its two-legged human owner after the animal's death, worn as a soft coat or collar brushing against a lady's cheek.
My first is twice in apple but not once in tart. My second is in liver but not in heart. My third is in giant and also in ghost. Whole I'm best when I am toast.
P appears twice in "apple" but not in "tart"; I appears in "liver" but not "heart"; G appears in both "giant" and "ghost"; together they spell PIG, whose meat (bacon) is a classic toast topping.
What creature starts yellow inside and white outside, then becomes its first five before becoming the whole?
It starts as an egg (yellow yolk inside, white surrounding it), hatches into a "chick" (the first five letters of "chicken"), and finally grows into a full chicken.
It is a cat but not a kitty, you'll never catch on in a city. Its fangs are huge and so its claws, a death machine with paws and jaws. In its own way a royal fellow, striped with black and clothed in yellow.
A tiger is a wild, giant cat with massive fangs and claws, its black-striped, tawny-yellow coat marking it as one of nature's most formidable predators.
Face with a tree, skin like the sea. A great beast I am. Yet vermin frightens me.
An elephant's trunk looks like a tree, its wrinkled hide resembles rippling water, and despite its size it is famously said to fear tiny mice.
While I did live, I food did give, which many one did daily eat. Now being dead, you see they tread me under feet about the street.
A cow provides milk while alive, and after death its hide is tanned into leather that becomes shoes -- literally tread underfoot on the street.
Holding two swords and eight spears. Dressed in a cow-leather tunic. He peeks through a hole in the door.
A crab's two large claws are the 'swords,' its eight legs the 'spears,' and its tough shell the 'leather tunic,' while its stalked eyes 'peek' out from its burrow.
It sat upon a willow tree, and sang softly unto me. Easing my pain and sorrow with its song. I wished to fly, but tarried long. And in my suffering, the willow was like a cool clear spring. What was it that helped me so? To spend my time in my woe.
A bird perched in the willow tree sang a soothing song that comforted the narrator through their grief, offering companionship in a lonely, sorrowful time.
A horrid monster hides from the day, with many legs and many eyes. With silver chains it catches prey. And eats it all before it dies. Yet in every cottage does it stay. And every castle beneath the sky.
A spider hides in dark corners, has eight legs and multiple eyes, spins silvery silk webs to trap prey, and can be found in humble cottages and grand castles alike.
Golden treasure I contain, guarded by hundreds and thousands. Stored in a labyrinth where no man walks, yet men come often to seize my gold. By smoke I am overcome and robbed, then left to build my treasure anew.
A beehive hides its golden honey in a maze-like comb no human built, guarded by thousands of bees, and beekeepers use smoke to subdue the colony before harvesting its treasure.
Stealthy as a shadow in the dead of night, cunning but affectionate if given a bite. Never owned but often loved. At my sport considered cruel, but that's because you never know me at all.
Cats prowl silently at night, can be loving despite their independent streak, and though famously never truly "owned" by humans, they're beloved companions -- their hunting instincts just get an unfair reputation for cruelty.
What is that which, while it lives, constantly changes its habit, that is buried before it is dead, and whose tomb is valued wherever it is found?
A silkworm constantly changes form through metamorphosis, wraps itself alive inside a cocoon (its 'tomb'), and that cocoon's silk is prized wherever it is found.
A muttered rumble was heard from the pen, and I, in my walking stopped to look in. What was this I saw? A massive beast, hoofed, and jawed. With spikes upon its mighty brow, I watched as he struck the turf and prowled. And yet for all of his magnificence, he couldn't get out of that wooden fence.
A bull snorts and paws in its pen, carries horn-like spikes on its brow, and for all its raw power stays contained by nothing more than a wooden fence.
We dwell in cottages of straw, and labor much for little gains; sweet food from us our masters draw, and then with death reward our pains.
This old poem describes honeybees, who live in straw skeps, labor tirelessly for little personal gain, produce honey for their keepers, and were traditionally killed when the honey was harvested.
Old Grandpa Diddle Daddle jumped in the mud puddle, green cap and yellow shoes. Guess all your loftiness and you can't guess these news.
The playful nonsense verse describes a green-topped, yellow-footed creature that loves jumping into puddles, which points to a frog.
It can be white or blue or black, humped or have a horn. And when it talks it sings its menuets, as it's travelling the depths.
Various whale species vary in color (white, blue, or black), some have humps (humpback whale) and one relative has a horn-like tusk (narwhal), and whales communicate through complex "songs" as they swim the ocean depths.
I can sizzle like bacon, I am made with an egg, I have plenty of backbone, but lack a good leg. I peel layers like onions, but still remain whole. I can be long like a flagpole, yet fit in a hole. What am I?
A snake sheds its skin in layers yet stays whole, has a long spine but no legs, and can coil tightly into a small space or stretch out long like a flagpole.
I come in many colors, some are blue and white. While some people annoy me, I am not much for the fight. I live where people rarely tread, but you will find me close to bed. What am I?
The official answer key gives 'whales' here, but the riddle's imagery — many colors, found near the bed, rarely stepped on — actually describes something like slippers far better than an ocean mammal; this looks like an error in the source worksheet, which we've preserved as printed.
From that which comes within itself, it builds its table on my shelf.
A spider spins its web -- its "table" for catching food -- entirely out of silk that it produces from within its own body.
Oh how I love my dancing feet! They stay together - oh so neat. And when I want to walk a line, they all stay together and do double time. I count them up, ten times or more, and race on-off, across the floor.
A centipede has dozens of legs ("ten times or more") that move together in rhythm as it scurries across the floor -- "centi-" itself hints at its hundred-ish feet.
What has a coat? Hugs you not in sympathy? Whose smile you'd rather not see? Whose stance is a terrible thing to see? Who is it that brave men run away from? Whose fingers are clawed? Whose sleep lasts for months? And who's company we shunt?
A bear wears a thick 'coat' of fur, has a fearsome stance and clawed paws, hibernates for months, and is generally avoided by even brave outdoorsmen.
For our ambrosia we were blessed, by Jupiter, with a sting of death. Though our might, to some is jest, we have quelled the dragon's breath. Who are we?
Bees produce sweet 'ambrosia' (honey), carry a fatal sting for some, and their collective swarm is mythically powerful enough to overwhelm even fearsome foes.
Full of dark, filled with everything. Both on my skin they color. With my pack, I am always afraid of the cat. What am I?
A zebra is covered in dark stripes, travels in herds ('packs'), and is natural prey for big cats such as lions.
How many seconds are in a year?
This is a pun: rather than counting time in seconds, it counts the twelve calendar 'seconds' -- the 2nd of January, the 2nd of February, and so on.
A pet shop owner had a parrot with a sign on its cage that said "Parrot repeats everything it hears." A young man bought the parrot and for two weeks he spoke to it and it didn't say a word. He returned the parrot but the shopkeeper said he never lied about the parrot. How can this be?
The shop's sign only claimed the parrot repeats everything it hears - since the bird was deaf, it never heard a word the man said, so the shopkeeper technically never lied.
A man is trapped in a room. The room has only two possible exits: two doors. Through the first door there is a room constructed from magnifying glass. The blazing hot sun instantly fries anything or anyone that enters. Through the second door there is a fire-breathing dragon. How does the man escape?
The magnifying-glass room is only lethal because it focuses sunlight; once night falls there is no sun to focus, so the man can safely walk through the first door.
There is a man in a 4 story building. He jumps out of the window and is unharmed. He used no padding, and had no harm done. How?
The riddle never says which floor he jumped from -- jumping out of a ground-floor window involves no real height at all.
When young, I am sweet in the sun. When middle-aged, I make you gay. When old, I am valued more than ever.
Wine starts as sweet grapes ripening in the sun, becomes intoxicating ("gay," meaning merry) once fermented, and grows more prized and valuable the longer it ages.
What's the red stuff between elephant's toes?
This is a classic dark-humor joke riddle implying that any 'slow pygmies' unlucky enough to be underfoot get squashed by the elephant.
I am a fruit, but also a shape. If you had two of me, I would sound just the same. If you rearrange my letters, it could be a crime. Add me to a montage and I can become a different fruit. Remove my head and you can still listen; take away the end and I can still be eaten. Without a piece of the centre, I am still a word; take away all of the middle and I am just an acronym. What am I?
PEAR sounds like 'pair' when doubled, rearranges into 'rape' (a crime), loses its head to become 'ear' (used to listen), loses its tail to become 'pea' (still edible), drops a middle letter to become 'per,' and stripped to its outer letters becomes 'PR,' a common acronym.
It's a symbol and a fruit, For man's folly, evil's root. But also for great inspiration, and famous application.
The apple symbolizes original sin in the Bible ('evil's root'), inspired Newton's theory of gravity, and lends its name to the tech company Apple.
As soft as silk, as white as milk, as bitter as gall, a thick green wall, and a green coat covers me all.
A walnut has a soft, milky-white inner kernel that tastes slightly bitter, wrapped in a hard shell ("green wall") inside its outer green husk before it ripens.
My first is in fish but no in snail. My second is in rabbit but no in tail. My third is in up but not in down. My fourth is in tiara but not in crown. My fifth is in tree you plainly see. My whole a food for you and me.
Each clue hides one letter of FRUIT - F from fish, R from rabbit, U from up, I from tiara, and T from tree - spelling out this everyday food.
What hatches without food?
Hunger is a feeling that arises precisely when you lack food -- it 'hatches' (comes into being) without any food needed to trigger it.
What starts out in a field and then crashed on a stone. It becomes much more when to the fire it's thrown?
Wheat starts as grain in a field, gets ground between millstones into flour, and becomes bread once baked in a fire or oven.
Gold in a leather bag, swinging on a tree, money after honey in its time. Ills of a scurvy crew cured by the sea, reason in its season but no rhyme.
An orange hangs on a tree in its golden peel, was once traded for good money, and its vitamin C famously cured sailors of scurvy -- and notoriously, "orange" is one of the few English words with no true rhyme.
My first is snapping, snarling, growling, My second's industrious, romping, and prowling. Higgledy piggledy Here we lie, picked and plucked, and put in a pie.
This charade combines "cur" (a snarling mongrel dog) with "ants" (industrious, scurrying insects) to spell "currants" -- small dried fruits picked and baked into a pie.
I have five letters and people eat me. When you remove my first letter I become a crime. Remove my first two letters and I am an animal. If you remove my first and last letters I'm a form of music.
Removing GRAPE's first letter leaves RAPE (a crime), removing the first two leaves APE (an animal), and removing both the first and last letters leaves RAP, a form of music.
I'm strangely capricious, I'm sour or I'm sweet, To housewives am useful, to children a treat; Yet I freely confess I more mischief have done, Than anything else That is under the sun.
An apple can be tart or sweet, is baked into pies for households everywhere, and myth and legend (from Eden to the poisoned apple) have long blamed it for causing plenty of mischief.
Though it be cold, I wear no clothes, the frost and snow I never fear; I value neither shoes nor hose, And yet I wander far and near: My diet is forever good, I drink no cider, port, nor sack, what Providence doth send for food, I neither buy, nor sell, nor lack.
The source's answer key lists 'fish' here, though this classic English riddle (no clothes, immune to frost, wandering far and near, living on whatever providence sends) is traditionally solved as a wild bird - we keep the source's stated answer as instructed while noting the weaker fit.
I am a food with 5 letters. If you remove the first letter I am a form of energy. Remove two and I'm needed to live. Scramble the last 3 and you can drink me down. What am I?
Dropping WHEAT's first letter leaves HEAT (a form of energy); dropping the first two leaves EAT (needed to live); and scrambling the last three letters, E-A-T, spells TEA, something you drink.
It is sharp but not pepper; white but not paper; green but not shaddock. What am I?
A radish has a sharp, peppery bite, a crisp white interior, and green leafy tops, but isn't literally pepper, paper, or a grapefruit-like shaddock.