160 Long Riddles With Answers - page 2 of 2
Sometimes you feel it weigh a ton. Yet it is nothing, but somehow still there. Makes you uncomfortable around anyone, But speak its name and it's gone.
Silence can feel like a heavy, physical presence between people, yet the instant you say the word 'silence' out loud, it is broken and gone.
My first part compliments people. My second part makes things known. My third part hurts feelings. My fourth part holds a previous treasure. My fifth part is used when sharing fancy beverages. What am I?
This charade riddle points to the word "hand": lending a hand compliments, information gets handed over, a backhand can hurt, heirlooms are handed down, and drinks are handed round -- though the fit for each clue is loose in the source material.
Physicists have built devices to move me very fast. My last seven letters can be commonly found in newspapers, magazines, and journals. What am I?
Physicists accelerate subatomic particles to tremendous speeds, and dropping the leading letter from 'particles' leaves 'articles' - the written pieces found in newspapers, magazines, and journals.
I saw a fight the other day; A damsel did begin the fray. She with her daily friend did meet, then standing in the open street, she gave such hard and sturdy blows, he bled ten gallons at the nose; yet neither seemed to faint nor fall, nor gave her an abuse at all.
This old riddle's 'fight' and 'bleeding' are a playful disguise for two people working a water pump - the 'blows' and 'ten gallons' describe pumped water, not real violence.
The ones who see it may go blind, Contracting the fool's madness. You have to dig to find it, Crush big stones or mine it. Wash dirt clumps in a pan and wait for it to settle, A shiny, precious metal.
Gold prospecting has historically driven some miners to obsession ('gold fever'), and the shining metal is uncovered by digging, crushing ore, or panning dirt in a stream.
Lots of them make up a word, And lots of words are in them. It's easy when you think about it. A while ago we stamped and mailed them.
The word 'letters' works both ways at once - the alphabet letters that build every word, and the mailed 'letters,' themselves made of words, once stamped and sent by post.
I stand up tall and made of steel, with baguettes and garlic at my heel. I love the colours red, white and blue, but obviously not as much as you. I am a marvel for all to see, though to some I am a monstrosity! What am I?
The Eiffel Tower is a steel landmark in Paris near famous French bread and garlic markets, lit in the colors of the French flag, and once considered by critics a monstrosity rather than a marvel.
I am whole but incomplete. I have no eyes, yet I see. You can see, and see right through me. My largest part is one fourth of what I once was.
A skeleton is a whole set of bones yet incomplete without flesh; its empty eye sockets let light pass through, and its largest single part, the skull, forms from far fewer fused bones than the many separate ones a baby's skull once had.
A young lady walked through the meadow and scattered her glass pearls. The Moon saw this, yet didn't tell her. The Sun woke up and gathered the pearls.
Morning dew, likened to scattered glass pearls, forms unseen overnight under the moon's watch and is 'gathered' away again once the sun rises and evaporates it.
My first is in blood and also in battle. My second is in acorn, oak, and apple. My third and fourth are both the same. In the center of sorrow and twice in refrain. My fifth starts eternity ending here. My last is the first of last, Oh Dear!
Each clue spells one letter of BARREL - B from blood and battle, A from acorn/oak/apple, R doubled from the center of 'sorrow' and twice in 'refrain,' E starting 'eternity,' and L, the first letter of 'last.'
I run over fields and woods all day. Under the bed at night I sit not alone. My tongue hangs out, up and to the rear, awaiting to be filled in the morning.
Shoes are worn out and about all day, kept under the bed at night, and each has a "tongue" sticking out, waiting to be put on (filled with a foot) in the morning.
I've been argued on my colour. Without me you'll die. So many attempts on your life use me, so make sure you have many of my "White" friends. What am I?
Blood's true color has long been debated, and red blood cells are essential to survival, working alongside their 'white' counterparts to keep the body alive against constant threats.
Searing 'cross the pitch-black skies, I scream in celebration, Yet moments later, my outburst through, I am naught but imagination.
A firework streaks into the night sky and bursts with a celebratory "scream" (whistle and bang), but once its brief display fades, all that remains is the memory of the show.
Matt is the fiftieth fastest and the fiftieth slowest runner in his school. Assuming no two runners are the same speed, how many runners are in Matt's school?
If Matt is 50th fastest, 49 runners are faster than him, and if he's 50th slowest, 49 are slower - adding Matt himself gives 49 + 49 + 1 = 99 runners total.
Once upon a time there were seven dwarfs who were all brothers. They were all born two years apart. The youngest dwarf is seven years old. How old is his oldest brother?
With seven brothers spaced two years apart and the youngest at 7, the ages run 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19 - so the oldest is 19, not the 21 many people mistakenly guess.
There is a clothing store in Bartlesville. The owner has devised his own method of pricing items. A vest costs $20, socks cost $25, a tie costs $15 and a blouse costs $30. Using the method, how much would a pair of underwear cost?
Each price is exactly $5 per letter in the item's name (vest=4 letters=$20, blouse=6 letters=$30), so 'underwear,' with nine letters, costs 9 x $5 = $45.
In the land of the green glass door there are riddles but no answers, sheets but no blankets, and books but no words. Name something found in the land of the green glass door.
This classic party riddle allows only items whose name contains a double letter - 'riddles,' 'sheets,' and 'books' all qualify, just like the example word 'letters.'
We travelled the sea far and wide. At one time, two of my sailors were standing on opposite sides of the ship. One was looking west and the other one east. And at the same time, they could see each other clearly. How can that be possible?
Standing back-to-back at opposite ends of the ship (bow and stern), one facing west and the other facing east, they would actually be facing toward each other along the length of the ship and could see one another clearly.
I'm simple for a few people. But hard for them to hear. I live inside of secrets. I bring people's worst fears. What am I?
The truth can be painfully hard for some people to accept, often hides inside secrets, and confronting it is many people's greatest fear.
I have many feathers to help me fly. I have a body and head, but I'm not alive. It is your strength that determines how far I go. You can hold me in your, but I'm never thrown. What am I?
An arrow has feathered fletching to help it fly true, is lifeless wood and metal on its own, and its range depends on the archer's strength - it is shot from a bow, never thrown.
Many shapes, many sizes. Can't be seen, only felt. I bring pain, I bring joy, I bring laughter, I bring happiness. I can tear the mightiest from their thrones, and those who have me are rich. What am I?
Love cannot be seen or touched but produces the strongest emotions imaginable, has toppled kings and empires throughout history, and having it makes anyone feel "rich" regardless of material wealth.
With me you are blind, To others and what they are, Over me you cannot see, Even though I'm in your head, I am full of myself, I think I'm better than you, I'm a horrible thing to be, Can you tell me, What am I?
The official answer is ignorance -- being blind to the truth about others and unaware of one's own blind spots -- though the line "I think I'm better than you" arguably fits arrogance or pride even more closely; the source's stated answer is used here since willful ignorance often produces that same dismissive, superior attitude.
I live in a busy place in the city, I'll let you stay with me for a while, If you don't feed me, I can get you into trouble. What am I?
A parking meter sits on a busy city street, lets you stay parked for the time you've paid, and gets you a ticket - trouble - if you forget to feed it coins.
Half of the population uses me, and you lose me all the time. I'm small and yellow, black, brown or silver. You use me to hold things up. What am I?
Bobby pins are small metal hair fasteners used mostly by women, constantly lost, and made in colors like black, brown, or silver to blend into hair.
I am two-faced, but bear one head. Men spill their blood for me. I have no legs but travel widely. I make kings immortal. I am potent when shared; Yet lust for my power keeps me locked away. What am I?
Currency (like coins) is 'two-faced' with heads and tails, people fight and even die over it, it travels the world through trade, and hoarded wealth is often locked away in vaults.
I'm a king that speaks for my country At birth I protected by no one As I grow my father gives me 2 soldiers to protect me As I get matured many more are given to me And at my full age my father gives me 32 white soldiers to guard me and protect me What am I?
The tongue "speaks" for a person, is unprotected at birth, gains "soldiers" (teeth) as a baby grows, and by adulthood is guarded by a full set of 32 white teeth.
I have four wings, but cannot fly, I never laugh and never cry; on the same spot I'm always found, toiling away with little sound. What am I?
A windmill has four rotating blades ('wings') that never carry it anywhere, and it works silently and tirelessly in the same spot.
I am one of many, You forget I'm here, but I'm just below. Without me, you'd surely topple, Go ahead, what am I?
Toes are often overlooked, positioned at the front of your feet, yet they play an important role in balance -- without them, you'd more easily topple over.
I love to wake up at noon And help with the many jobs I prefer the countryside to the city I help produce the things you eat What am I?
A farmer can often sleep in later than city workers on any given day, handles countless different chores on the land, and grows the food people eat.
I'm a very valuable thing to have. Use me right now, you should. Yet if you cut off my hindquarters, I'd be but a piece of wood. What am I?
This is a wordplay riddle: "logic" is valuable to use, but if you remove its ending ("-ic," the "hindquarters"), you are left with "log" -- literally a piece of wood.
I'm a word, six letters long; I sometimes enter with a gong. All in order from A to Z, I start with the letter B. What is the word?
"Begins" has six letters, starts with B (the second letter of the alphabet), and events such as boxing matches often "begin" with the sound of a gong.
I have a title and many pages I am a genteel of genteel descent I am a killer veteran of war I am a slave to my lord Pledged to his service.
A knight holds a noble title ("genteel descent"), is a battle-hardened warrior, and is sworn in loyal service to his lord -- the "many pages" evoke both his title and the chivalric records written of him.
I have a leg but I do not move, A face but no expression, Be it wind or rain I stay outside. What am I?
A scarecrow has a single supporting pole ("leg"), a stitched or painted "face" without real expression, and stands outdoors in all weather to guard a field.
As beautiful as the setting sun, As delicate as the morning dew; An angel's dusting from the stars, That can turn the Earth into a frosted moon. What am I?
Snow is often poetically described as beautiful, delicate, and star-like as it dusts the earth, transforming the ground into a bright, moon-like white landscape.
Everyone has it. Those who have it least don't know that they have it. Those who have it most wish they had less of it, But not too little or none at all.
Everyone has an age; very young children do not understand the concept of their own age, while the elderly often wish to be younger -- yet nobody truly wants to be an infant again either.
I come when the weather is at its prime, Though, it might be wise to leave nothing on the street. But, in the wintertime My name is obsolete What am I?
Hail typically forms during warm-season storms and can be hazardous to leave things exposed to, but once true winter cold sets in, precipitation falls as snow instead, so the term becomes obsolete.
My thunder comes before my lightning. My lightning comes before my rain. And my rain dries all the ground it touches. What am I?
A volcano rumbles like thunder before it flashes fire, and the molten 'rain' of lava that follows scorches and dries out everything it touches.
You use me for multiple reasons, I am many colored, and many shaped. I may or may not also tell you your sexual preference. What am I?
A scarf comes in endless colors, shapes, and uses for warmth or fashion; the riddle's final line is a wink at real-world scarf color codes some subcultures use to signal orientation.
Looks like water, but it's heat. Sits on sand, lays on concrete. People have been known, To follow it everywhere. But it gets them no place, And all they can do is stare.
A mirage is an optical illusion caused by heat that looks like water on sand or pavement; anyone chasing it can never actually reach it.
I am rather large and usually majestic. I am every hue of the rainbow I can eat you, I may heat you, You only wish you could see me. What am I?
Dragons in myth are described as majestic, multicolored creatures that can breathe fire (heat you) and devour people (eat you), yet remain mythical -- something people only wish they could see.
It may only be given, Not taken or bought, What the sinner desires, But the saint does not.
Forgiveness must be freely given by another person -- it cannot be bought or seized -- and it is most desperately sought by those who have sinned rather than by those who have not.
I look flat, but I am deep, Hidden realms I shelter. Lives I take, but food I offer. At times I am beautiful. I can be calm, angry and turbulent. I have no heart, but offer pleasure as well as death. No man can own me, yet I encompass what all men must have.
The ocean looks flat from the surface but harbors vast, hidden depths; it takes lives through drowning yet provides food through fishing, and it belongs to no single person while sustaining all of humanity.
I have one eye, See near and far, I hold the moments you treasure, And the things that make you weep.
A camera has one "eye" (its lens), captures scenes near and far, and preserves cherished or sorrowful moments as photographs.
A harvest sown and reaped on the same day In an unplowed field, Which increases without growing, Remains whole though it is eaten Within and without, Is useless and yet The staple of nations.
This classic riddle describes war: it can be started and ended ("sown and reaped") within a single day, grows through destruction rather than cultivation, consumes nations from within and without, and has tragically been a grim "staple" of human history.
I am slim and tall Many find me desirable and appealing They touch me and I give a false good feeling Once I shine in splendor But only once and then no more For many I am to die for. What am I?
A cigarette is slim, seems glamorous to many, gives smokers a fleeting pleasant feeling, glows brightly only once before burning out, and can ultimately be deadly.
On the wall, in the air, You just want me out of your hair, Try to catch me, but you cannot, For my vision is thousand fold. What am I?
A housefly buzzes around your head and hair, is maddeningly hard to swat thanks to its wide field of vision from compound eyes.
I cannot be felt, seen or touched; Yet I can be found in everybody; My existence is always in debate; Yet there is a style of music named after me.
The soul cannot be seen or touched and its existence is debated by philosophers and scientists alike, and 'soul music' is a real musical genre named after it.
I am made from an animal, Although you nickname me after a different one. You can't eat me; you can only hold me, And once a year a festival is erected in my honor. What am I?
A football is traditionally made of pigskin, nicknamed after that animal rather than the pig itself, and the Super Bowl is the annual festival built around it.
What has everything inside it? Everything you can imagine even god, wind, world, sky, heaven, earth and everything that comes to your mind?
Every word for every concept, including 'god,' 'wind,' and 'world,' is spelled using only the letters of the alphabet, so in a sense it contains everything nameable.
No head has he but he wears a hat. No feet has he but he stands up straight. On him perhaps a fairy sat, weaving a spell one evening late!
A toadstool has a rounded cap like a hat and stands upright on a stalk with no head or feet, and folklore often shows fairies perched on one.
I cut through evil Like a double edged sword, And chaos flees at my approach. Balance I single-handedly upraise, Through battles fought with heart and mind, Instead of with my gaze. What am I?
Justice is traditionally pictured wielding a double-edged sword and holding balanced scales, cutting through wrongdoing through reasoned judgment rather than sight or force.
Thousands lay up gold within this house, But no man made it. Spears past counting guard this house, But no man wards it.
A beehive stores golden honey that no human built, and it is guarded by countless stinging 'spears' - the bees themselves - with no separate watchman needed.
I dig out tiny caves, and store gold and silver in them. I also build bridges of silver and make crowns of gold. They are the smallest you could imagine. Sooner or later everybody needs my help, yet many people are afraid to let me help them. Who am I?
A dentist works in tiny tooth 'cavities' filled with gold or silver, builds dental bridges and crowns, and is a professional almost everyone eventually needs but many fear visiting.
What must be in the oven yet cannot be baked? Grows in the heat yet shuns the light of day? What sinks in water but rises with air? Looks like skin, but is fine as hair?
Yeast goes into oven-baked bread without itself being 'baked' as food, ferments and grows in warm darkness, and makes dough rise with the gas it produces even though the yeast itself settles out in liquid.
A hundred brothers lie next to each other; Each white and fine - they've only one spine. I am the tongue that lies between two. Remove me to gather their wisdom to you.
The 'hundred brothers' sharing one spine are a book's pages, and the bookmark is the flat 'tongue' slipped between two of them to hold your place.
We travel much, yet prisoners are, and close confined to boot. Yet with any horse, we will keep the pace, and will always go on foot. What are they?
Spurs are fixed to a rider's boot and never leave it, yet they travel wherever the horse carries the rider, always staying at foot level.
What goes up, but at the same time goes down? Up toward the sky, and down toward the ground. Its present tense and past tense too, come for a ride, just you and me!
A seesaw sends one end up while the other goes down at the same time, and 'saw' is also the past tense of 'see' - a classic playground wordplay riddle.
They can be harbored, but few hold water, You can nurse them, but only by holding them against someone else, You can carry them, but not with your arms, You can bury them, but not in the earth.
A grudge is something people figuratively 'harbor,' 'nurse,' 'carry,' and 'bury' (as in burying the hatchet) - none of these are literal physical actions.
Begotten, and born, and dying with noise, The terror of women, and pleasure of boys, Like the fiction of poets concerning the wind, I'm chiefly unruly, when strongest confined.
A cannon is 'born' with a deafening blast, terrifies onlookers, delights boys who play at soldiers, and is most dangerous when its powder is tightly confined.
Without a bridle, or a saddle, across a thing I ride a-straddle. And those I ride, by help of me, though almost blind, are made to see. What am I?
You ride glasses on the bridge of your nose (not a real bridle or saddle), and they help people who are almost blind to see.