1,128 Hard Riddles With Answers - page 7 of 12
A man moved into a new house and decided he was tired after the journey and turned off all the lights and went to bed. The next morning he had killed 365 people how could this be? he does not sleep walk he slept like a baby
Turning off the lighthouse's light caused ships to crash, so "turning off all the lights" led indirectly to the deaths.
I am a rock group that has 4 members, all of whom are dead, one of which was assassinated. What am I?
'Rock group' puns on the four carved stone presidents of Mount Rushmore, one of whom (Lincoln) was assassinated.
A woman is at her mother's funeral when suddenly she sees a man so handsome, that she instantly falls in love with her. Unfortunately, she never got a chance to talk to the man. The next day, the woman kills her sister. What was the motive?
Since the man appeared at a funeral, the woman reasons another funeral (her sister's) might bring him back.
There was a man who was born before his father, killed his mother, and married his sister. Yet, there was nothing wrong with what he had done. Why?
Each shocking phrase has an innocent literal meaning: birth order, death during childbirth, and officiating a wedding as a minister.
There is a brother and a sister. The boy wants to visit his father in jail, and the sister wants to visit her mother in the hospital. But they both are not allowed in jail or hospital. All they have is a gun. What do they do?
By shooting his sister, the boy gets sent to jail (to see his father) and the girl gets sent to the hospital (to see her mother).
There's a land where there are mummies and daddies but no babies. Books but no libraries. Mirrors but no reflections. Kittens but no cats. Cattle but no cows. Lollipops but no candy and trees but no forests. It's the land of what?
Every example word, mummies, daddies, books, mirrors, kittens, cattle, lollipops, trees, contains a doubled letter, unlike its missing counterpart.
Fifty is my first. Nothing is my second. Five just makes my third. My fourth, a vowel, is reckoned. Now to find my name, Fit my parts together. I die if I grow cold but never fear cold weather.
In Roman numerals, L=50, O=nothing(0), V=5, and E is a vowel, spelling LOVE, which is said to 'die' if it grows cold.
Adored by few, Feared and hated by many. Mistress of the entire universal reason, Master in the art of numbers. Some may have solved many of your mysteries, But there is still much of them to find. What are they?
Math underlies all reasoning and numbers, is loved by few and dreaded by many, and still holds many unsolved mysteries.
What does man love more than life, fear more than death or mortal strife, What the poor have, the rich require, and what contented men desire, What the miser spends and the spendthrift saves And all men carry to their graves?
This wordplay riddle secretly reads 'nothing' into every line - people love nothing more than life, fear nothing more than death, and in the end carry nothing at all to their graves.
I am born in fear, raised in the truth, and I come to my own indeed. When comes a time that I'm called forth, I come to serve the cause of need.
Courage often arises out of fear and truth, and it is 'called forth' precisely when it's needed most.
Double my number, I'm less than a score, and 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. What am I?
Doubling 6 gives 12 (less than a score/20), half of 6 is 3 (less than 4), and doubling 6 plus 1 gives 13, a baker's dozen, which is still less than the 7 days of the week... the clues all point to six.
Our dinner guests cry that we are evil when they notice their place in the meal. But it's no big deal why; we are just one big happy tribe! And we get really fed up with people! Who, What or Are we?
The riddle's play on 'getting fed up with people' and guests realizing their 'place in the meal' point to cannibals eating people.
Untainted, Eternal, Marooned A place where the living will move. A shrine beneath the sun. Greeted by the morning's crest. Our sanctity, Our rest. For when our day is done. What am I?
The clues about eternal rest, sanctity, and where the living eventually 'move' to describe a graveyard.
I am the creature that robs men of their dignity, pride, and will. I feast on children's dreams till' they have none. I am the monster in your head, waiting to strike. What am I?
Fear undermines confidence and pride and can consume a child's hopeful dreams, existing only as a mental threat.
As destructive as life, As healing as death; An institution of strife, Just as prone to bless. It is all that is good, Yet with an evil trend; As it was the beginning of things, It can also be the end. What is it?
Fire can destroy or warm/heal, bless with light or curse with destruction, and both create (the start of civilization) and end (via burning) things.
We are always found two in a coffin, when we are separated from each other, we love to start a fight, and also together, we make a difference. What are we?
"Coffin" contains two F's, "fight" begins with F, and "difference" contains F's, tying all the clues to the letter F.
Compact creatures consistently caught, A waif woeful widow woven. A translucent template tense and taut, Can civilize and calmly cause cloven. What am I?
The alliterative clues describe a taut, woven, translucent structure that traps small creatures, i.e. a spider's web.
Why is France like a skeleton?
The riddle plays on "Bony" sounding like a shortened, punny reference to skeletal remains (bones) left behind, similar to how history/ruins are described.
I have no mind or soul. I've been eternally attached since man's dawn. My kind disappears on and off, to everyone I accompany them to their death, and buried with them, then I hide away when the casket shuts. What am I?
A shadow follows a person their whole life, disappears in darkness, and vanishes once they're buried and no light reaches them.
I am one with eight to spare, lest I lose my one. I'm not a number. What am I?
Cats are said to have nine lives, so having 'eight to spare' means losing the final, ninth one.
Who makes it, has no need of it. Who buys it, has no use for it. He who use it can neither see nor feel it. What is it?
The maker (a carpenter) doesn't need it, the buyer purchases it for someone else, and the person who 'uses' it (the deceased) is beyond sensation.
With pointed fangs, it sits in wait, With piercing force, its doles out fate, Over bloodless victims proclaiming its might, Eternally joining in a single bite. What am I?
The 'fangs' and 'bite' describe a stapler's pins piercing and joining papers together.
A woman is walking down a street at night at a constant pace. As she passes the street light, she notices that her shadow becomes longer. Does the top of her shadow move faster, slower, or the same when the shadow is longer as when it is shorter?
The tip of her shadow moves in direct proportion to her own constant walking speed, regardless of how long or short the shadow becomes.
A person gets up 180 times every night and sleeps for at least 7 hours at a time. Where does the person live?
At the poles, "night" can last around six months, so within that single continuous polar night the person still sleeps and wakes on a normal daily cycle, roughly 180 times.
How many times does the long hand of the clock pass the shorthand between midnight one day and midnight the following day? As both hands are together at the starting time of midnight this does not count as a pass.
Excluding the identical overlap that starts the count at midnight, the minute hand overtakes the hour hand 21 more times before the next midnight.
It takes the town hall clock 6 seconds to strike 4 o'clock in the afternoon. How long does it take to strike midnight?
Striking 4 takes 6 seconds across 3 gaps between strikes (2 seconds per gap), so striking 12 across 11 gaps takes 22 seconds.
Runs over fields and woods all day Under the bed at night sits not alone, With long tongue hanging out, Awaiting for a bone. What am I?
A shoe "runs" across fields while worn, sits under the bed at night with its tongue hanging out, waiting like a dog for its next use.
No legs or two legs, four legs or more, the color of green, on Terra it stays. Teeming with chemicals of darkness and light, needing only a wind, a breath to lift the kite. What is it?
The riddle broadly describes living organisms of every leg count, sustained by chemical processes and needing only a breath of wind to begin—life itself.
How long would it take a fly, wearing a pair of wellingtons, walk through a tin of treacle?
The nonsensical setup hides a pun: "too weak" sounds like "two weeks," i.e., a fortnight.
I am, in truth, a yellow fork From tables in the sky By inadvertent fingers dropped The awful cutlery. Of mansions never quite disclosed And never quite concealed The apparatus of the dark To ignorance revealed. What am I?
The "yellow fork" dropped from the sky's "tables" (storm clouds) that suddenly reveals things in the dark is a vivid metaphor for a lightning bolt.
What happens only in the middle of each month, in all of the seasons, except summer, and happens only in the night, never in the day?
A wordplay riddle: the letter "N" appears in the names of every season except summer, always found within the word "night" rather than "day."
The more it is made, the more it is destroyed. The case can't be cracked, yet you won't be able to avoid it. It can be used for play or just a simple stay. Small, medium, or large, used in both light and in dark. What is it?
Making a bed "undoes" itself the moment it's used again, its frame can't be cracked open, and it serves for both rest and play, day or night.
My first is a part of the day, My last a conductor of light, My whole to take the measure of time, Is useful by day and by night. What am I?
"Hour" (a part of the day) plus "glass" (which conducts light) combine to form "hourglass," a timekeeping device.
Spelled forwards is a type of rodent that you might find in drains, spelled backward is something that you cannot touch but see it every day at night. What is this word?
"Rats" spelled backward becomes "star," an untouchable object visible in the sky every night.
One knight, a pregnant lady, and a doctor walk into a hospital, the next morning three people walk out, who was the third person?
The doctor stays on duty at the hospital after delivering the baby, so of everyone present, it's the knight, the new mother, and the baby who actually walk out together.
From dawn to dusk I soar through the sky, A thunderous voice, but silent I fly. Through the darkest depths, I will not die, Yet I can not be seen by the naked eye. What am I?
Radio waves travel silently and invisibly through the air and even through darkness, carrying a "thunderous voice" of broadcast sound.
I have billions of eyes, yet I live in darkness. I have millions of ears, yet only four lobes. I have no muscle, yet I rule two hemispheres. What am I?
Enclosed in the dark skull, the brain processes sight and sound via billions of neurons, is organized into lobes and two hemispheres, yet has no muscle tissue of its own.
My first is in ocean but never in sea, my second's in wasp but never in bee. My third is in glider and also in flight, my whole is a creature that comes out at night. What am I?
Taking the letter unique to "ocean" over "sea" (O), to "wasp" over "bee" (W), and shared by "glider" and "flight" (L) spells O-W-L, a nocturnal bird.
You use me every day but let me rest at night. I have an identical twin beside me all the time. For some reason, you always cover me up. I am not alive but I have a soul. What am I?
Feet are used all day and covered at night, come in an identical pair, and pun on "sole" (the bottom of a foot) sounding like "soul."
I am nothing, I am everything. I am perfect dark, I am the brightest light. I am hungry, I am full. I am nowhere, I am everywhere. I am unseen, I am watched by millions. What am I?
The paradoxical opposites describe the vast, all-encompassing universe, holding both total darkness and blazing starlight, studied by countless people.
I have an eye in the middle of me, but as you see, I cannot see. I am dark and not far away. You don't see me every day. I am not night and I am not bright. I can have twists and water and scares. What am I?
A hurricane has a calm "eye" at its center, and its dark, swirling, watery destruction is what makes it terrifying.
I have 16 legs then, I sleep for about a fortnight and a merge with 6 legs. What am I?
A caterpillar (with many prolegs) sleeps through its chrysalis stage and emerges as a butterfly with six legs.
Black I am and much admired, men seek me until they're tired. When they find me, they break my head and take from me my resting bed. What am I?
Miners search tirelessly for this black, valuable material, then break it out ('break my head') from its underground bed -- describing coal mining.
The land was white the seed was black It'll take a good scholar to riddle me that. What am I?
The 'white land' is the white of a page or the white of an eye, and the 'black seeds' are the letters of text or the dark pupil, requiring a scholar to read or see.
Out of 100 ladies attending the gala,85 had a white handbag;75 had black shoes;60 carried an umbrella;90 wore a ring; How many ladies must have had all four items?
Using inclusion-exclusion logic on the shortfalls from 100 for each item, at minimum 10 ladies must have possessed all four items.
What do you get when you cross Beyonce with a black hole?
'Single-lady-ty' blends Beyonce's song 'Single Ladies' with a black hole's 'singularity' point.
Slam slam slam all day long slam slam slam some fast, some slow something solid. flat and sturdy its friend lights up the night and is sensitive to the eye slam slam slam A through Z 1,2,3 black as night. What am I?
The repeated 'slam' describes key presses, the letters A through Z and numbers are keyboard characters, and its 'friend' is the light-sensitive screen it's paired with.
A girl was holding something in her hand. With her other hand, she picked up a regular black pen and wrote on the object in her hand. When she let go of the object, the writing shrunk and became more solid. What was the object?
Writing on an inflated balloon then letting the air out causes the balloon to shrink and the ink markings to compress and darken.
I am black of the eye and bright of hair. I fast into the ground and follow my lord as he races around the world. What am I?
A sunflower has a dark center ('black eye'), bright yellow petals ('hair'), is rooted in the ground, and turns to follow the sun ('lord') across the sky.
I am missing from every emotion, the alpha of the black and white herd. I am the end of the written notion, and yet I am the least used in a word. What am I?
The letter Z is absent from emotion words, starts 'zebra' (a black-and-white herd animal), ends the alphabet, and is the least frequently used letter.
The king of the jungle, rare as gold, black as night, in light not there and night not seen. Goes in water, goes on trees, goes in caves, goes on the ground. Claws of knives, teeth of swords, the roar of death but silent as a mouse. What is it?
The clues about being rare, black, camouflaged in both light and dark, and a powerful hunter across terrains all describe a black panther/jaguar.
Duels of good and evil, A fighter of good am I, Revealed beside watched words, King of the black night sky. What am I?
The riddle personifies darkness as a force opposing light, ruling the black night sky and revealed alongside 'watched words' like subtitles in dim rooms.
Pronounced as one letter, And written with three, Two letters there are, And two only in me. I'm double, I'm single, I'm black, blue, and gray, I'm read from both ends, And the same either way. What am I?
The word 'eye' sounds like the letter I, is spelled with three letters using two distinct ones, and reads the same forwards and backwards, describing the body part with colored irises.
A great banquet was prepared for a Roman emperor and his courtiers. 22 Dormice, 40 Larks' Tongues, 30 Flamingos, and 40 Roast Parrots were served. How many portions of Boiled Ostrich were served?
Each dish's serving count is generated by assigning point values to the vowels and consonants of its name, and applying the same rule to 'Boiled Ostrich' gives 42.
A large truck is crossing a bridge 1 mile long. The bridge can only hold 14000 lbs, which is the exact weight of the truck. The truck makes it halfway across the bridge and stops. A bird lands on the truck. Does the bridge collapse?
Fuel burned during the drive reduces the truck's total weight, leaving enough margin under the limit for the added weight of the bird.
A bird has a head 9cm long. The tail is equal to the size of the head plus half of the size of the body. The body is the size of the head plus the tail. How long is the bird?
Solving the system of equations for head, tail, and body in terms of each other gives head=9, tail=27, body=36, totaling 72cm.
What are the freedom of birds and the pen of old men?
Feathers give birds the freedom of flight and, as quills, were historically used as pens for writing.
NASA was considering sending canaries into space to study them under zero gravity. The project was scrapped when someone realized that in spite of having sufficient water supplies, they could die of dehydration within a few hours. Why?
Birds' swallowing mechanism relies on gravity to move water down the throat, unlike humans, so without gravity they couldn't drink despite having water.
A feathered Biped in the terminal part of the arm equals in value a pair of feathered bipeds in densely branched shrubbery. What is the proverb?
The riddle restates the classic proverb 'a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush' using overly technical synonyms.
1. Where do fish go on vacation? 2. Where do songbirds go on vacation? 3. Where do zombies go on vacation? 4. Where do Thanksgiving Birds go on vacation? 5. Where do geometry teachers go on vacation? 6. Where do locksmiths go on vacation?
Each destination is a pun on the traveler: fish go to Finland (fins), songbirds to the Canary Islands (canaries), zombies to the Dead Sea, Thanksgiving birds to Turkey, geometry teachers to Cuba (cube), and locksmiths to the Florida Keys (keys).
What was never scared but became petrified, can't make a bird but can make a bat, can't live in a house but would die to have one. What is it?
Wordplay: 'petrified' also means turned to stone/wood, wood makes a baseball bat not a bird, and a tree provides the wood for a house but isn't itself housed.
Two people meet inside of a zoo and after some time a child was born. The child of two people had no clue, but the two people who meet already knew. The child was the person who acted like glue. Who are the two people that met at the zoo?
The couple who met at the zoo went on to adopt a child, "acting like glue" by bringing an unrelated family together.
Cat, horse, monkey; Hat, sombrero, Cappello; Sheep, wool, haggis; Dairy, blueberry, cherry; Television, computer, phone; Which set of words doesn't belong?
Every other set shares only a category link, but the dairy/blueberry/cherry set is unique because its words also rhyme.
Tom can pet lions. What is the anagrammed word?
All the letters in "Tom can pet lions" rearrange exactly into the word "contemplation."
A lion; capture it. What is the anagrammed word?
All the letters in "A lion; capture it" rearrange exactly into the word "recapitulation."
The hand sows, the eyes harvest?
Writing is described as the hand 'sowing' words on a page, while reading is the eyes 'harvesting' meaning from them.
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 roast. What am I?
Taking the letter 'p' from 'apple' (twice, absent in 'tart'), 'i' from 'liver' (not 'heart'), and 'g' from 'giant' and 'ghost' spells P-I-G.
My body has a dozen heads or more, My tails don't wag when you walk in the door. Count the ways you can hold me tight, Or use me for a special night! What Am I?
A piggy bank holds many coins (each with a 'head' side), doesn't wag like a real pig, and is used to save money for special occasions.
A fast-food restaurant sells chicken in orders of 6,9 and 20. What's the largest number of pieces of chicken you cannot order from the restaurant?
This is the classic "Chicken McNugget" Frobenius number problem, where 43 is the largest value that can't be made from combinations of 6, 9, and 20.
What's 3/7 chicken, 2/3 cat, and 2/4 goat?
Taking the specified letter fractions from each word (CHI from chicken, CA from cat, GO from goat) spells 'Chicago.'
As a whole, I am both safe and secure. Behead me, and I become a place of meeting. Behead me again, and I am the partner of ready. Restore me, and I become the domain of beasts. What am I?
"Stable" beheaded becomes "table," a meeting place, beheaded again becomes "able," ready's partner, and restored becomes "stable," home to beasts like horses.
My head and the point are made from the same. I am held by what's taken apart from the grain. I am atop of a great ocean beast. My swing will let fire and lead release. What am I?
A hammer's metal head, its wooden handle from the grain of wood, and its use striking a flintlock atop a ship, the "great ocean beast", describe firing an old cannon or gun.
This thing all things devours: Birds, beasts, trees, flowers; Gnaws iron, bites steel; Grinds hard stones to meal; Slays king, ruins town, And beats high mountain down. What am I?
The riddle describes an unstoppable force that wears down everything, including iron, stone, and mountains — the passage of time.
Stronger than any beast, Rougher than any sea. Steadier than a favorable wind, and of me, none shall be free. What am I?
The riddle describes the planet Earth — powerful, unpredictable in its terrain, constant in its pull, and something no living thing can escape.
In a tunnel of darkness lies a beast of iron. It can only attack when pulled back. What is it?
A bullet sits in a dark gun barrel and is a metal projectile that only fires after the hammer or trigger is pulled back.
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. What is the contradictory proverb?
While one proverb says to accept gifts graciously, the other warns that gifts can hide danger or deception, from the story of the Trojan Horse.
How do you spell the word 'Panda' in two letters?
The word "panda" hides the word "and" inside it, so spelling out just "P" and "A" leaves "(and)a" implied.
Four men were in a boat on the lake. The boat turns over...Why?
Wordplay — none of the men "went under single" (drowned alone as bachelors); the riddle plays on the word "single" versus "married."
A woman has three children: MoroEbi, MoroPet, and Laura...In what room is Laura.
Read the names aloud — "MoroEbi" sounds like "More or Bee" and "MoroPet" like "More or Pet," leading into "What Room?" as the answer.
What's the first game in the Bible?
Wordplay — "big inning" sounds like "beginning," and Eve/Adam "stealing" bases refers to the baseball term for advancing without a hit.
I am a word of six; my first three letters refer to an automobile; my last three letters refer to a household animal; my first four letters is a fish; my whole is found in your room. What am I?
"CAR" starts a vehicle, "PET" ends a household animal, "CARP" is a fish, and the whole word "CARPET" is found in your room.
Two fathers and two sons went fishing one day. They were there the whole day and only caught 3 fish. One father said, that is enough for all of us, we will have one each. How can this be possible?
Three generations — grandfather, father, and son — mean the middle person is both a father and a son, so there are 2 fathers and 2 sons among just 3 people.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's is really long. Michael J. Fox's is short. Daffy Duck isn't human. Madonna doesn't have one. What am I?
Each clue refers to a person's last name: Schwarzenegger's is long, Fox's is short, Daffy Duck is a cartoon (not human) with a last name 'Duck,' and Madonna performs under a single mononym with no last name.
There are 30 cows in a field, and 28 chickens. How many didn't?
The riddle hides the wordplay 'eight' vs 'ate' inside 'twenty-eight', turning the number into a hidden statement about eating.
While on my way to St. Ives, I saw a man with 7 wives. Each wife had 7 sacks. Each sack had 7 cats. Each cat had 7 kittens. Kitten, cats, sacks, wives, How many were going to St. Ives?
The man and his wives, sacks, cats, and kittens were only met along the way, not traveling to St. Ives, so only the narrator was actually headed there.
A man builds a house with all 4 sides facing south. A bear walks past the house. What color is the bear?
The only place all four walls can face south is the North Pole, where the local bears are polar bears, which are white.
Use all letters of this sentence once each only to spell out three animals. 'TALL ELEPHANT OR APEMAN' What are the three animals?
This is an anagram — rearranging every letter in "TALL ELEPHANT OR APEMAN" spells out PANTHER, ANTELOPE, and LLAMA.
A man but an animal, a horn with two hands. What am I?
The Minotaur of Greek mythology has the body of a man, the head of a bull with horns, and two human hands.
Through a sea of green and islands of brown, leaving a crystal path behind, safe inside a spiral cave, preparing to come out again. What animal am I?
The "sea of green" is grass, the "crystal path" is a snail's slime trail, and the "spiral cave" is its shell.
I call for you at the end of your road. You can try to run, but you’ll still meet my load. What am I?
Death is the final event for all living things.
I wait for all, patient and still. No man can outrun me, yet many try. What am I?
Death is the final event for all living things.
What’s the hardest part about eating vegetables?
A very dark joke using 'vegetable' as a derogatory term for someone in a coma or with severe disabilities.
What has 2 legs in the morning, 4 in the afternoon, and 6 at night?
This subverts the classic 'Riddle of the Sphinx' with a dark accident theme.
A person gets up 180 times a night and sleeps 7 hours. Where do they live?
At the poles, the 'night' lasts for months, so getting up 'every night' means getting up many times during that long night.
How many times does the long hand pass the short hand between midnight and midnight?
The hands meet 22 times in 24 hours, but the first one doesn't count as a 'pass'.
What is significant about 3661 seconds past midnight on 1st Jan 2001?
3661 seconds is 1 hour, 1 minute, and 1 second.
What is dressed when night falls and undressed when day breaks?
A fire is lit ('dressed' in flame) as darkness falls for warmth and light, then put out ('undressed') by morning.
I could sell tickets day and night, always awake, never a break. What am I?
The answer is often 'A Clock' or 'Time' as it never stops.
How long would it take a fly in wellingtons to walk through treacle?
A pun on the words 'fortnight' (two weeks) and 'too weak'.
What happens in the middle of each month, all seasons except summer, and only in the night?
The letter 'N' is in the middle of the word 'moNth' and in 'seasoNs', 'Night', etc.