2,066 Medium Riddles With Answers - page 12 of 21
During what month do people sleep the least?
The riddle is a pun on "least sleep" meaning fewest hours available, since February has the fewest days.
There is a man, with his horse he is going to a town. The man went to the town on Monday. He stayed there for 3 days and then he came back on Friday. How? His horse was not tired, he wasn't sleepy and took a rest.
The riddle plays on "came back on Friday" literally meaning the horse itself is named Friday.
I do not breathe, but I run and jump. I do not eat, but I swim and stretch. I do not drink, but I sleep and stand. I do not think, but I grow and play. I do not see, but you see me every day. What am I?
Each verb (run, jump, swim, stretch, stand) is something a leg does even though a leg has no biological functions of its own.
Saws sing it, We snore it, Bees drone it; And one alone ends the alphabet. What is it?
The letter Z represents the sound of saws, snoring, and buzzing bees, and is literally the last letter of the alphabet.
What always runs but never walks, often murmurs, never talks, has a bed but never sleeps, has a mouth but never eats?
Each clue is a play on words describing a river's features: it "runs," has a "bed," and a "mouth" where it meets the sea.
Fred is listening to the radio when it suddenly stops playing. Nobody is with Fred and nobody touches the radio. A few seconds later, the radio resumes playing. How can this be?
Driving through a tunnel temporarily blocks the radio signal, causing the broadcast to cut out and resume once Fred exits.
It is a short song, It has a lot of names, and rhymes a lot. Hint: It is food. What is the pea's favorite song?
The nonsense rhyme "Greens Pea's potatoes tomatoes" mimics a nursery-rhyme style song built entirely from vegetable names.
If you were by a door, where would music originate?
"Handel" (a door handle) sounds like the composer Handel, a source of classical music.
A rock group with four members, Each of whom are dead; But people still come to see us, Though an album was never released. What am I?
"Rock group" is a pun on the literal rock carvings of four deceased U.S. presidents at Mount Rushmore.
What musical instruement would you use to catch a fish?
"Castanets" sounds like "cast a net," the action used to catch fish.
Play my music, if you dare. Turn my crank, although I'm square. Stand back, or get a scare, when you see my surprising glare. What am I?
A Jack-in-the-Box plays music as its crank turns and startles with a sudden pop-up surprise.
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 seat of lumber. What am I?
A rooster's crow wakes people at dawn, and afterward it perches, or "sits," on a wooden fence or roost.
You can hear me and feel me but you can't see me or smell me, yet everyone has a taste in me. I can be created, but after that only remembered. What am I?
Music can be heard and felt emotionally, has personal "taste" preferences, and once composed only exists afterward as a recording or memory.
What 3 common songs have the same meleody?
"Baa Baa Black Sheep," "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," and the Alphabet Song all share the exact same melody.
My scale is something that does not weigh in grams, ounces, or pounds. However, I may be heavy or light. What am I?
A musical scale isn't a weighing instrument, yet music can still be described as "heavy" or "light" in tone or mood.
At the sound of me, men may dream, Or stamp their feet. At the sound of me, women may laugh, Or sometimes weep. What am I?
Music evokes a wide range of emotional reactions, from dreaming to dancing to crying, in any listener.
When is music like vegetables?
"Beats" sounds like "beets," the vegetable, linking a musical measure to a garden crop.
A trail, a union, together tied. Come across me and you will find, you cannot change the course I'm on, without me you can't travel on. What am I?
Railroad tracks form a fixed, joined path that a train must follow and cannot travel without.
What is the easiest way to throw a ball, have it stop, and completely reverse direction after traveling a short distance?
Gravity naturally stops and reverses a ball thrown straight up, sending it back down along the same path.
I am treated with great care until I reach my end by being torn in half. I'm a traveler. I bring both good and bad news. What am I?
An envelope travels through the mail carrying news, and is torn open once it reaches its destination.
What has a face, but no head; hands, but no feet; yet travels everywhere and is usually running?
A watch has a 'face' and 'hands' (the dial and pointers) and keeps 'running' to track time, but has no real head or feet.
I am found in the sea and on land, but I do not walk or swim. I travel by foot, but I am toeless. No matter where I go, I'm never far from home. What am I?
A snail moves on a single muscular 'foot' with no toes, and always carries its shell home with it.
Trains travel from one town to another town all day, always on the same track, always going nonstop and at the same speed. The noon train took 80 minutes to complete the trip, but the 4 PM train took an hour and 20 minutes. Why?
A trick of units: 80 minutes and 'an hour and 20 minutes' are the exact same length of time.
There is a bus full of people travelling to San Francisco and no one gets off the bus throughout the journey. But when it gets to the other side there is not a single person left. How is this possible?
Wordplay: 'single' means unmarried, so if everyone is married, there is no 'single' person left on the bus.
I'm found in the sea and on land but I can't walk or swim. I travel by foot but I'm toeless. No matter where I go I'm never far from home. What am I?
A snail moves on a single muscular 'foot' with no toes, and always carries its shell home with it.
Whoever makes it, tells it not. Whoever takes it, knows it not. And whoever knows it wants it not. What is it?
Counterfeiters never admit what they've made, spenders often don't realize it's fake, and anyone who recognizes it as counterfeit certainly doesn't want it.
I have three USA coins. They are not a quarter, dime or penny and they add up to 60 cents. What are the coins?
A 50-cent piece plus two nickels totals 60 cents while avoiding quarters, dimes, and pennies entirely.
Why are mortgages like burglars?
A mortgage is legally "secured" against your home, playing on the same word a burglar might use to "seek" your valuables.
Tara has $29.00 dollars. She bought 4 coloring books that cost $3.00 each, 4 boxes of Crayola crayons that cost $2.00 each. She spends the rest of her money on markers. How much money did she spend on markers?
4 coloring books cost $12 and 4 crayon boxes cost $8, totaling $20, leaving $9 of her $29 for markers.
I am needed to survive, but when am here there is evil and good, when am gone others come in, you don't seek me you die. What I am?
Money is essential for survival, can enable both good and evil, and its absence invites hardship or worse.
If you were to put a coin into an empty bottle and then insert a cork into the neck, how could you remove the coin without taking out the cork or breaking the bottle?
Pushing the cork inward instead of pulling it out leaves the opening clear enough to shake the coin free.
Two coins equal 30 cents and one isn't a nickel. What are the two coins?
Only one coin is excluded from being a nickel, so the other coin can still be a nickel, giving 25ยข+5ยข=30ยข.
You have two coins, and their total value is 11ยข. One of the coins is not a penny. What are the two coins?
Only one coin is excluded from being a penny, leaving the other coin free to be a penny, and 10ยข+1ยข equals 11ยข.
Which is better, an old ten dollar bill or a new one?
"New one" is read as "a new $1 bill," which is worth far less than an old $10 bill.
You try to gain more of me with every coin. You travel every distance to obtain me. You try every illusion to believe you have me. What am I?
The riddle describes something people chase endlessly with money and effort, and sometimes only believe they have through illusion: freedom.
I have four characteristics, durability, divisibility, transportability, and non-counterfeitability. What am I?
These four properties, durability, divisibility, portability, and being hard to fake, are the textbook qualities that make good currency.
I am green all over, yet I know no bounds. If you turn me around a face you will see, being without me produces envy. What am I?
A dollar bill is green, has a portrait on one side, and not having money often breeds envy of those who do.
What has one hundred heads, and no legs?
One hundred pennies equal a dollar, and each penny has a "head" side but no legs.
What did the British man lose when he spent his money working out at the gym?
"Pounds" is a double pun: British currency is in pounds, and losing weight at the gym is measured in pounds too.
Is an old hundred-dollar bill better than a new one?
"Old" is read as "a hundred minus one dollar," leaving ninety-nine dollars, which is more than a plain "new" (one) dollar bill.
If you have two coins which total 35 cents and one of the coins is not a dime, what are the two coins?
The wording only rules out one of the coins being a dime; the other coin can still be a dime, so a quarter and a dime work.
I kill people when you need me to, I am not accepted and illegal, I need to be refilled from time to time and i can harm my owner. What am I?
This weapon needs ammunition reloaded periodically and is dangerous even to the person carrying it.
What measures out time, Until in time all is smashed to it? A: Sand
Think of an hourglass, where falling sand marks the passing minutes.
Two jets take off at the same time, There is only one runway but there where no crashes and it was at the same airport. A Plane takes more than 1min to take off. How can this happen?
'The same time' doesn't have to mean the same day.
A timorous heart at no time succeeds in acquiring the beautiful damsel. What is the proverb?
This old saying means that a person too afraid to act will never win someone's heart.
My fruitfulness is sweet and full of taste; but now that my time has come, you should hurry or else you'll be late. What am I?
This word is both a sweet fruit and a scheduled point in time.
I never stop. Over me Metal will rust. I rot bodies. Without me we wouldn't move. What am I?
This force is constantly passing, ages metal and living things, but also makes progress possible.
A woman was born in 1975 and died in 1975. She was 22 years old at the time of her death. How?
The numbers refer to a room number, not a calendar year.
Four friends went out one night. During the trip back, they tried to squeeze under an umbrella, but it was too small for them to fit through. Still, everyone managed to stay dry by the time they arrived home. How can this be?
The riddle never states that rain was actually falling.
More haste less speed. What is the contradictory proverb?
This saying warns that time keeps moving forward regardless of how much you rush or delay.
When is the only time that today and tomorrow come before yesterday?
Think about alphabetical order rather than the actual order of time.
It keeps something that cannot be kept, And wakes you when you have slept. It may go slow or stop at times, But even then it chimes. What is it?
This bedside device tracks something that always keeps moving forward.
To form me, time is the foundation, it's difficult to break me from the outside, but I'll break as long as you touch from the inside. What am I?
This quality is slow to build between people but easily destroyed by betrayal.
Old Mother Twitchett had but one eye, and a long tail which she let fly; and every time she went through a gap, a bit of her tail she left in a trap. What is she?
Think of sewing: a single 'eye' and a long thread trailing behind.
I leave every time you say my name. What am I?
Speaking the word itself breaks the very thing it describes.
I am between things; in teeth, in time, in fences; I can be wide or tiny. What am I?
Think of the small opening you'd find between two teeth or two fence posts.
I fly in the air, But I am not always there. I cannot be touched, But I can be felt or held. Think very hard, But if you live near the equator, You may have a tough time seeing me. What am I?
On a cold day you can see this coming from your mouth, but not in warm climates.
I am an object. I move from left to right. Anytime I move, I bleed on what is below me. I can't move without you. I move only when you uses me. What am I?
This writing tool leaves ink behind as it's dragged across paper.
A man flipped a coin 9 times and every single time it landed on heads. If the man flipped the coin again, what is the chance that it lands on heads?
Each coin flip is an independent event, so past results don't change the fixed 50/50 odds of the next flip.
I am something that you can you read but not see. I'm with you all the time but sometimes I'm hard to find. What am I?
You read this off a clock or watch, but it isn't a physical object you can see directly.
You see me at night, by day you tell everyone about me. I come back looking differently than before. I sometime leave you in the darkness. What am I?
This happens while you sleep and you often share it with others afterward.
When is the time of a clock like the whistle of a train?
'Two to two' sounds like 'toot-toot', a train whistle sound.
What's more precious than rubies, more lasting than gold, what can never be traded stolen, or sold, what comes with great effort, takes time but then once yours will serve you again and again?
Once you learn something, no one can take it away from you.
I am born in fear, raised in truth, and I come to my own in deed. When comes a time that I'm called forth, I come to serve the cause of need.
Courage is born from fear and proven true through action, and it is summoned in moments of need to serve a greater cause.
Something very extraordinary happened on the 6th of May, 1978 at 12:34 a.m. What was it?
Write out the date and time as a sequence of numbers and look for a pattern.
The things I bite, they don't bleed, I don't bite until you push me; I bring my victims together each time I bite, But they'll come undone if you pull it just right. What am I?
Think of an office tool that joins papers together with metal teeth.
What question can someone ask all day long, always get completely different answers, and yet all the answers could be correct?
The answer changes constantly but is always true at the moment it's given.
A pipe, a carrot, and a couple sticks are lying together in a field. Why?
A pipe, carrot nose, and stick arms are classic snowman decorations left behind once the snow melts away.
What is the difference between a snowman and a snow-woman?
This is a suggestive pun implying anatomical differences, using "snowballs" as the punchline.
Why did Frosty the Snowman ask for a divorce?
"Flake" is a pun meaning both a snowflake and slang for an unreliable person.
I saw a man in white, he looked quite a sight. He was not old, but he stood in the cold. And when he felt the sun, he started to run. Please answer me. Who could he be?
The "man in white" who stands in the cold and melts ("runs") in the sun is a snowman.
A woman proves in court that her husband was murdered by her sister, but the judge decides that the sister cannot be punished. Why?
Because the two sisters are conjoined twins, punishing the guilty sister would also unjustly punish the innocent one.
Which of the following words don't belong in the group and why? CORSET, COSTER, SECTOR, ESCORT, COURTS
CORSET, COSTER, SECTOR, and ESCORT are all anagrams of the same six letters, while COURTS uses a different letter set.
When should you charge your electric toothbrush?
The pun switches 'charge' from meaning recharge a battery to meaning charge a purchase to a credit account.
Who is a painstaking man?
The riddle plays on 'painstaking' literally meaning one who takes (causes) pain, describing a dentist's work.
Can you list 15 items that are sold in pairs?
The riddle is a listing challenge naming everyday items that commonly come sold as matched pairs, such as shoes, gloves, and Reese's peanut butter cups.
Two women and two doctors walk into an ice cream parlor. They each order an ice cream cone. When their ice creams come, there is only 1 strawberry,1 chocolate and 1 vanilla. How come they didn't complain?
Since one of the two women is also one of the two doctors, there are only three people total, matching the three ice cream cones.
If John has 60 chocolates and he eats two-thirds of them, what does he have now?
The riddle is a trick question: it asks what John 'has' rather than how many chocolates remain, so the real answer is a health consequence like diabetes.
When is a boat like a knife?
'Cutter' is both a type of small sailing boat and a term for something that cuts, like a knife.
What house has a post on top, A roof at the bottom, While the rain comes from below?
A boat's mast (post) sits above the hull (roof-like bottom), and being on water, spray or waves can splash up from below like rain.
You walk onto a bridge you see a boat full of people but there is not a single person on it. How is that possible?
'Not a single person' plays on 'single' meaning unmarried, so a boat full of married people has no single person on it.
What does a turkey do when it flies upside down?
Double meaning of 'gobbles up': the turkey's call and the phrase for going upward when upside down.
What do you call a naughty turkey?
Dark pun: a misbehaving turkey ends up being eaten, i.e., becomes dinner.
Did you hear about the dyslexic satanist?
A dyslexic satanist mixes up the similarly spelled words "Satan" and "Santa."
On Christmas Eve, when Santa leaves his workshop at the North Pole, what direction does he travel?
Geographic logic: standing at the North Pole, every direction on the compass points south.
My name starts with "rain" and ends with the first letter of my name. I get mistaken for other things a lot. I am usually present in children's stories. I am usually flying in mid-air too. What am I?
"Rain" plus a final "r" spells "reindeer," fitting Santa's flying storybook animals.
What's the difference between beer nuts and deer nuts?
The pun relies on "buck" meaning both a dollar and a male deer.
What's the cheapest cut of meat?
"Under a buck" puns on a dollar (a buck) and a male deer (a buck).
How can you tell if reindeer have passed on your roof?
The joke plays on the idea that yellow icicles would be frozen reindeer urine.
What goes through the door without pinching itself, sits on the stove without burning itself, sits on the table, and is not ashamed?
Sunlight can pass through a doorway, fall on a hot stove, and land on a table without ever being physically harmed, since it has no body.
When is 90 greater than 100?
A microwave's timer reads digits as minutes and seconds, so '100' becomes 1:00 while '90' becomes 1:30, making 90 the longer time.
The sun bakes them, the hand breaks them, the foot treads on them, and the mouth tastes them. What are they?
Grapes ripen (bake) in the sun, are picked (broken) by hand, traditionally crushed by foot to make wine, and finally tasted in that wine.
I have a short, wide body. It is cold and shiny. My insides are hot as flame. I have two mouths. My tail is long and forked. What am I?
The 'two mouths' are the slots for bread, the hot insides are the heating coils, and the forked 'tail' is the electric plug.
What happened to the plant in the math classroom?
Pun on "square roots," a math term, applied literally to a plant's roots.
Mountains will crumble and temples will fall, and no man can survive its endless call. What is it?
Given enough time, even mountains erode and grand temples crumble, and no living person can outlast it forever.
A recently purchased implement for brushing away floor dirt invariably effaces the dirt most efficiently. What is the proverb?
The wordy description of a new broom cleaning best is simply the classic proverb 'a new broom sweeps clean.'
As I went across the bridge, I met a man with a load of wood that was neither straight nor crooked. What kind of wood was it?
Sawdust is not shaped like straight or crooked planks at all, since it's just fine particles, resolving the false dichotomy in the riddle.
Why is a dirty rug like a bad boy?
The pun plays on 'beating' meaning both punishing a misbehaving boy and physically beating dust out of a rug.
I am gentle enough to soothe your skin, light enough to fly in the sky, and strong enough to crack rocks. What am I?
Another rephrasing of the classic water riddle describing its liquid, vapor, and ice forms.
What cleans but never ever gets dirty?
Soap dissolves and rinses away dirt with the water used to wash, so it never accumulates visible dirt itself the way other cleaning tools do.