2,066 Medium Riddles With Answers - page 11 of 21
One strand dangles. Two strands twist. Three or more can fashion this.
The riddle describes progressively more complex hair styling: one strand just hangs, two strands twist together, and three or more strands can be woven into braids.
A doctor gives you three pills and tells you to take one every half an hour. How long will the pills last?
You take the first pill immediately, the second after 30 minutes, and the third after another 30 minutes, a total span of one hour, not three half-hours.
Sophie's mother had 2 sons and 1 daughter. The sons names were George and John. What was the daughter's name?
The riddle is about 'Sophie's mother,' so Sophie herself must be that daughter.
I run around the city, but I never move.
A city wall surrounds the whole city while staying completely stationary.
You are in a room with 3 monkeys. One monkey has a banana, one has a stick, and one has nothing. Who is the smartest primate?
Humans are primates too, and the riddle's trick is realizing the reader, standing in the room, outranks all three monkeys in intelligence.
2 people in front of 2 people. 2 people behind 2 people, and 2 people beside 2 people. How many people are there?
Four people standing in a square arrangement satisfy all three conditions at once, since each pair is simultaneously in front of, behind, and beside another pair.
What word is that, which, deprived of its first letter, leaves you sick?
This relies on an old, loose pun: removing the first letter from 'MUSIC' leaves 'USIC,' which said aloud sounds a bit like 'you sick' (as in 'are you sick?'). It's a stretch of wordplay rather than an exact letter-for-letter fit.
Besides Paris, what is the capital of France?
This is a play on words: the 'capital' (first, capitalized letter) of the word 'France' is F.
I you were to take two apples from three apples, how many would you have?
You physically took 2 apples, so you now have 2 in your hand, regardless of how many remain elsewhere.
What is round on both ends and hi in the middle?
Spelled out, "Ohio" is round letters (O) on both ends with "hi" sitting right in the middle.
Where can you add 2 to 11 and get 1?
On a 12-hour clock face, 11 o'clock plus 2 hours wraps around back to 1 o'clock.
If it has a quart capacity, how many pennies can you put into a empty piggy bank?
This is a trick riddle, not a math problem: you can put in only one penny, because after that the piggy bank is no longer "empty."
What is between heaven and earth?
In the phrase 'heaven AND earth,' the word 'and' is literally positioned between the two words.
A farmer has 17 sheep and all but 9 run away. How many are left?
"All but 9" means 9 sheep stayed behind and did not run away, so nine remain.
John's mom had three children. The first child was April. The second child was May. What was the third Child's name?
The riddle names 'John's mom,' so naturally the third child being asked about is John himself.
What has three feet but no arms or legs?
A yard is a unit of length equal to exactly three feet, though it has no literal arms or legs.
I met a man and drew his name. He tipped his hat and played my game. What is his name?
This is a pun on 'and drew,' hidden inside the sentence itself, spelling the name 'Andrew.'
Look at me one way and I weigh a whole lot; turn me around and you'll see that I am not. What am I?
The word "ton" (a heavy unit of weight) spelled backward is "not," meaning something that isn't heavy at all -- a clever visual/word trick.
I turn around once. What is out will not get in. I turn around again. What is in will not get out. What am I?
Turning a key one way locks a door (keeping intruders out); turning it back the other way unlocks it (letting whoever's inside back out).
The sun bakes them, The hand breaks them, The foot treads them, The mouth tastes them.
Grapes ripen in the sun, are picked by hand, were traditionally crushed underfoot in winemaking, and are also eaten and tasted directly.
What can you keep after giving it to someone?
Giving someone 'your word' (a promise) doesn't mean you lose it -- you still keep your word by honoring the commitment.
There is a boat with a ladder attached to it, the ladder is eight feet tall. If the water rises four feet how much of the ladder will be on top of the water?
Since the ladder is attached to the floating boat, it rises with the water level, so the entire eight-foot ladder stays above the water regardless of the tide.
There is a clerk at the butcher shop, he is five feet ten inches tall, and he wears size 13 sneakers. What does he weigh?
A butcher shop clerk weighs meat for customers, so the physical details about the clerk himself are just a distraction.
Timmy's mother has three children. The first was named April. The next was named May. What is the final one's name?
The riddle names 'Timmy's mother,' so the third child sharing that family is simply Timmy himself.
MT_TF_S What are the missing letters? Why?
The letters given (M, T, _, T, F, _, S) are the first letters of the seven days of the week, with Wednesday's W and Sunday's S missing from the blanks.
What gets broken without being hold?
A promise is an intangible commitment; it can be "broken" (not honored) despite never being a physical object one holds.
One brick is one kilogram and half a brick heavy. What is the weight of one brick?
If one brick equals 1 kg plus half a brick, then half a brick must weigh 1 kg, making a whole brick weigh 2 kg.
Place three matches on a table. Tell a friend to add two more matches to make eight.
Three matches placed together can form the Roman numeral III; adding two more matches in a 'V' shape in front makes VIII, the Roman numeral for eight.
Use the numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5 and the symbols + and = to make a true equation.
Both sides of the equation 2 + 5 = 3 + 4 equal 7, satisfying the challenge using each of the four given numbers exactly once.
Mr. Smith has 4 daughters. Each of his daughters has a brother. How many children does Mr. Smith have?
Since "each of his daughters has a brother" refers to the same single brother shared by all four daughters, Mr. Smith has 4 daughters plus 1 son, for 5 children total.
Three times what number is no larger than two times that same number?
Only when the number is zero does tripling it (still zero) stay no larger than doubling it (also zero); for any positive number, tripling it would exceed doubling it.
How many days are there in 4 years?
Four years of 365 days would total 1,460 days, but one of the four is a leap year with an extra day, bringing the true total to 1,461.
If you toss a coin 10 times and it lands heads up every time, what are the chances it will land heads up if you toss it again?
A fair coin has no memory -- each flip is an independent event with exactly a 50% chance of heads, regardless of past results.
In a lake, there is a patch of lily pads. Every day, the patch doubles in size. If it takes 48 days for the patch to cover the entire lake, how long would it take for the patch to cover half the lake?
Since the patch's size doubles every single day, it must have covered exactly half the lake just one day before it covered the whole lake - day 47.
There are two fathers and two sons. They walk into a candy store and each buys a candy bar for 50 cents. The total for all of the candy bars was $1.50. How is that possible?
With a grandfather, father, and son, the middle person counts as both a father and a son, giving 'two fathers and two sons' among only three people who buy just three candy bars.
Divide 20 by half and add 30, what do you get?
Dividing 20 by one-half means multiplying by 2, giving 40; adding 30 brings the total to 70.
There are 12 kids in a classroom. 6 kids are wearing socks and 4 are wearing shoes. 3 kids are wearing both. How many are bare feet?
Adding the sock-wearers and shoe-wearers together and subtracting those double-counted for wearing both (6 + 4 - 3 = 7) leaves 12 - 7 = 5 kids with bare feet.
When I take five and add six, I get eleven, but when I take six and add seven, I get one. What am I?
This is a clock-face riddle: five o'clock plus six hours lands on eleven, but six o'clock plus seven hours wraps back around to one on a 12-hour clock.
What 3 positive numbers give the same result when multiplied and added together?
1 + 2 + 3 = 6 and 1 x 2 x 3 = 6, making them the only three positive numbers whose sum and product are equal.
When is 1500 plus 20 and 1600 minus 40 the same thing?
In 24-hour (military) time, 1500 plus 20 minutes is 1520, and 1600 minus 40 minutes is also 1520 -- both calculations land on the same time, 3:20 PM.
I am a bird, I am a fruit and I am a person. What am I?
'Kiwi' refers to a flightless New Zealand bird, a fuzzy brown fruit, and informally, a native of New Zealand -- all three at once.
What can you hold in your left hand and not in your right?
Physically, you can grasp your right elbow with your left hand, but your right hand can't hold itself.
Turn me on my side and I am everything. Cut me in half and I am nothing. What am I?
Turned sideways, the digit 8 becomes the infinity symbol (representing everything), while cut horizontally in half, it becomes two zeros (nothing).
What does a rich man needs that a poor man has?
Read the riddle literally: there is no actual object a poor man has that a rich man needs.
What flies when it's born lies when it's alive and runs when it's dead?
A snowflake flies through the air as it falls, lies still once it lands, and "runs" (melts and flows) once it dies.
A murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose between three rooms. The first is full of raging fires, the second is full of assassins with loaded guns, and the third is full of lions that haven't eaten in 3 years. Which room is safest for him?
Lions that haven't eaten in three years would have starved to death long before now, so the 'lion-filled' third room actually poses no danger at all.
What is far behind us, and can be seen without looking at it?
The past is behind you chronologically, yet it can be vividly recalled in memory without needing to physically look at anything.
Green but not a lizard, white without being snow, and bearded without being a man.
A leek has green stalks, a white base, and root "beard" fibers, without being a lizard, snow, or a man.
Lives without a body, hears without ears, speaks without a mouth, to which the air alone gives birth. What is it?
An echo is just reflected sound with no physical form, yet it seems to repeat back whatever noise the air carries.
I'm the son of water but when I return to water I die. Who am I?
Ice is 'born' when water freezes, but the moment it melts back into water, the ice itself ceases to exist.
Mom and dad have four daughters, and each daughter has one brother. How many people are in the family?
The four daughters share the same one brother, so the family is 2 parents + 4 daughters + 1 son = 7 people total.
Poor people have it. Rich people need it. If you eat it you die. What is it?
This is a classic paradox riddle: 'nothing' is what poor people have (no possessions), what rich people need (nothing more), and eating literally nothing would eventually kill you.
A life or death skill for gunfighters.
In an Old West gunfight, drawing your weapon faster than your opponent -- a "quick draw" -- could mean the difference between life and death.
When my father was 31 I was 8. Now he is twice as old as me. How old am I?
The father is 23 years older than his child (31 minus 8); if the father is now twice the child's age, then child+23 equals 2 times child, which solves to the child being 23.
What has 4 eyes but can't see?
The word Mississippi contains four letter I's, which sound like 'eyes,' even though the state obviously can't see.
Forwards I am heavy, but backwards I am not. What am I?
Spelled forwards, TON is a heavy unit of weight; spelled backwards it becomes NOT, which has nothing to do with weight.
I'm where yesterday follows today and tomorrow is in the middle. What am I?
In a dictionary, entries are alphabetical rather than chronological, so 'today,' 'tomorrow,' and 'yesterday' sit in alphabetical order instead of the order the days actually happen.
I give milk and have a horn but I'm not a cow. Who am I?
A wordplay riddle: a milk truck "gives" (delivers) milk and has a horn (a vehicle horn), yet it obviously isn't a cow.
A box without hinges, lock or key, yet golden treasure lies within. Who am I?
An egg has no hinges, lock, or key, yet its golden yolk lies safely within the shell -- a classic riddle from Tolkien's "The Hobbit."
I always run but never walk, often murmur, never talk, have a bed but never sleep, have a mouth but never eat. Who am I?
A river continuously "runs" and murmurs softly, has a "bed" (riverbed) it never sleeps in, and a "mouth" (where it meets the sea) that never eats.
I'm a god, a planet, and measurer of heat. Who am I?
Mercury is a Roman god, the closest planet to the sun, and the liquid metal once used inside old-fashioned thermometers.
All about, but cannot be seen, Can be captured, cannot be held, No throat, but can be heard. Who am I?
Wind cannot be seen but can be felt and heard, and it can be "captured" (as in a sail or windmill) even though it has no physical throat to make noise.
I never was, am always to be, No one ever saw me, nor ever will, And yet I am the confidence of all, To live and breathe on this terrestrial ball. Who am I?
Tomorrow never actually arrives as itself - once it comes, it's simply 'today' - yet the promise of it is what keeps everyone living and hoping.
How does a dog cross a river without getting wet?
If the river's surface has frozen solid, a dog can simply walk across the ice without ever touching the water.
You are a bus driver, 8 people get on, 2 people get off, 2 more people get on and another 1 get off. Finally, 3 more people get on and 2 get off again. How old is the bus driver?
The riddle secretly casts you as the bus driver from its very first line, so no matter how the passenger count changes along the route, the driver's age is simply your own.
What runs but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps?
A river runs without legs, has a 'mouth' where it meets the sea, a 'head' (source) that never weeps, and a 'bed' it never sleeps in - all literal riverside terms.
When it comes to me, you go on red and stops on green. What am I?
Eating a watermelon reverses a traffic light: you keep going through the red flesh and stop once you hit the green rind.
I come without being fetched at night, hides away as soon as daylight strikes. Although I may look small, I am much mightier than what you can imagine. What am I?
A star appears each night without being summoned and vanishes with daylight, and though it looks tiny from Earth, it is unimaginably vast and powerful up close.
David's father has three sons: Snap, Crackle and?
The riddle names 'David's father,' so David himself must be the third son, not 'Pop' as the Rice Krispies pattern misleads you to guess.
Flat as a leaf, round as a ring. Has two eyes, can't see a thing.
A button is flat and round with two (or four) holes -- sometimes called 'eyes' -- for sewing thread through, though it can't actually see.
What is it that given one, you'll have either two or none?
Being given a single choice means you now have two possible outcomes to pick between -- or, if you refuse to choose, effectively none.
What has one foot on each side and one in the middle?
A yardstick measures three feet, so it can be thought of as having one 'foot' of length on each end and one in the middle.
Take away my first letter, then take away my second letter. Then take away the rest of my letters, yet I remain the same. What am I?
This is a play on the word "letters" -- whether you remove alphabet letters or take away actual pieces of mail (letters) from a postman, he still remains a "postman."
I am a number with a couple of friends, quarter a dozen, and you'll find me again. What am I?
A quarter of a dozen (12 divided by 4) equals three, and three has a 'couple of friends' since it's a small, easily grouped number.
I am beautiful, up in the sky. I am magical, yet I cannot fly. To people I bring luck, to some people, riches. The boy at my end does whatever he wishes. What am I?
A rainbow arcs beautifully across the sky, is considered lucky and, in folklore, hides a pot of gold at its end -- said to be guarded by a leprechaun who grants wishes.
You saw me where I could not be. Yet, often you see me. What am I?
A reflection lets you see yourself somewhere you physically aren't, like in a mirror or still water, even though you view it constantly every day.
I have two legs, but they only touch the ground while I'm at rest. What am I?
A wheelbarrow's two handles ('legs') stay raised while it's being pushed and only rest on the ground when it's set down.
I am rarely touched but often held, and if you are smart you'll use me well. What am I?
Your tongue is rarely poked or touched directly, yet you 'hold' it often in the sense of staying quiet, and choosing your words wisely takes real skill.
When filled I can point the way. But when empty unmoving I stay. What am I?
A glove filled with a moving hand can point in a direction, but an empty glove simply lies limp and still.
What is half of two plus two?
Taken as (half of two) plus two, that's 1 + 2, which equals three -- the riddle's order-of-operations trick.
I am black when you buy me, red when you use me. When I turn white, you know it's time to throw me away. What am I?
Charcoal starts black in the bag, glows red-hot while grilling, and turns white with ash once it's burned out and ready to be tossed.
I am a kind of coat that can only be put on when wet. What am I?
Paint is applied as a liquid ("wet") to form a "coat" on a surface; once it dries you can't apply that same coat anymore.
I come in different colors and shapes. Some parts of me are curvy, some are straight. You can put me anywhere you like, but there is only one right place for me. What am I?
Jigsaw puzzle pieces come in varied colors and shapes with curved and straight edges, and although they can physically fit various spots, only one location completes the picture correctly.
The more you take of me, the more you leave behind. What am I?
Each footstep you take is itself left behind as a mark on the ground, so taking more of them leaves more behind.
I eat, I live. I breathe, I live. I drink, I die. What am I?
Fire needs fuel and oxygen ('eats' and 'breathes') to keep burning, but dousing it with water ('drinking') puts it out — kills it.
It's been around for millions of years, but is never more than a month old. What is it?
The Moon has existed for billions of years, but its phase cycle resets roughly every month (a 'lunar month'), so it's never more than about 29 days into its current cycle.
You throw me out when you want to use me and you take me in when you don't want to use me. Who am I?
A ship's anchor is thrown overboard when you want to stop and hold position, and hauled back in when you're ready to sail again.
If I have it, I don't share it. If I share it, I don't have it. What is it?
The very act of sharing a secret means you no longer possess it exclusively -- keeping it and telling it are mutually exclusive.
Hands she has but does not hold, teeth she has but does not bite, feet she has but they are cold, eyes she has but without sight. Who is she?
A doll has all the parts of a person -- hands, teeth, feet, eyes -- but none of them actually function, since she isn't alive.
What stinks when living and smells good when dead?
A live pig has a notoriously strong odor, but once processed into bacon and cooked, it smells delicious.
A mother has 6 daughters. The 1st one was watching television, The 2nd was sleeping, The 3rd was at school, The 4th was playing chess, The 5th was playing his phone, what was the 6th daughter doing?
Chess is a two-player game, so logically the 6th daughter must be the one playing against the 4th.
A horse jumps over a tower and the tower disappears. It's not an illusion or a dream. So where could this happen?
In chess, a knight (horse) can capture a rook (tower/castle) by jumping over it, removing it from the board.
I am a fruit, but I am not eaten. I live in a busy place. I never sleep. What am I?
"The Big Apple" is New York City's nickname, a busy city famously called "the city that never sleeps."
I am you when not asleep; And where the sad come to weep. What am I?
"Awake" contains the word "wake," which is also a gathering where mourners weep for the dead.
My call, I pray, at dawn of day, Shall rest you from your slumber, With job all done, my song all sung, I'll sit on a seat of lumber. What am I?
A rooster crows at dawn to wake people up and, once done, perches on a wooden fence or roost.
What is 8 when 8 is sleeping?
Tipping the numeral 8 on its side (as if lying down asleep) forms the infinity symbol (∞).
What does CLASS stand for?
This is a joking backronym poking fun at students who doze off in class.
I fly without feathers; Sleep when you're awake; I'm not a mosquito and neither a needle, But blood I'm known to take. What am I?
Bats fly without feathers, are active while humans sleep, and some species (vampire bats) feed on blood.
I take you by night, by day take you back. None suffer to have me but do from my lack.
Sleep takes over each night and releases you each day, and people suffer from not getting enough of it rather than from having it.
When you have me not, you want me. But when you have me, you do not know. What am I?
When you're tired you crave sleep, but once asleep you're unconscious and unaware of having it.