2,066 Medium Riddles With Answers - page 9 of 21
What fish came first?
This is a play on words: "gold" suggests first place, as in a gold medal, making the "goldfish" the punny answer for the fish that "came first."
In a tree you'll find me moving slow as can be. My name is a sin but from them I am free. What am I?
A sloth is famous for moving painfully slowly through the trees, and though it shares its name with the sin of laziness, the animal itself is simply built that way, not morally guilty of anything.
It's small but larger than a bee, and agile as a flea. It humms but does not buzz, and it's not covered with fuzz. It is a small collector, of juicy flower nectar.
A hummingbird is bigger than a bee but still tiny and darts around nimbly, its rapid wingbeats make a humming (not buzzing) sound, it's feathered rather than fuzzy, and it feeds on flower nectar.
It is a big and bulky mammal, and has a trunk just like a tree. Will store water in its nose, which is long and like a hose.
An elephant's trunk works like a hose, able to draw up and store water before it sprays it, giving this massive mammal its signature feature.
Gown but not a priest; crown but not a king.
A rooster's red comb resembles a crown and its feathers can look like a flowing gown, even though it is neither royalty nor clergy.
A prickly house a little host contains; the pointed weapons keep back from pains, so he, unarmed, safe in his fort remains.
A hedgehog's body bristles with sharp spines that act as its "weapons," keeping predators at bay so the small, otherwise defenseless animal stays safe curled inside them.
Agile on my feet, I drive dogs mad. I flick my tail when I'm angry and hum when I'm glad. What am I?
A cat's quick footwork, tail-flicking when annoyed, and purring when content also make it a favorite target for chasing dogs.
The fans of the pied piper's smooth sound who are feared by elephants.
In the legend of the Pied Piper, his magical pipe music lured away the town's mice, and elephants are famously said to be afraid of mice.
I am partly blind but can still see. I have legs but only use them for sleeping. What am I?
Bats have poor eyesight but navigate using echolocation ('partly blind but can still see'), and they use their legs only to hang upside down while sleeping.
I am a type of animal that hang out in the mist. What am I?
The clue nods to Gorillas in the Mist, the famous account of mountain gorillas living in misty highland forests.
Even if my life is taken eight still remain.
A cat is said to have nine lives, so losing one to death still leaves eight remaining.
They are producers of pies and burgers and are great for tipping.
Cows provide the beef used in burgers and meat pies, and cattle can literally be "tipped" over while sleeping standing up, a reference to cow tipping.
It's like a forest without trees, like a jail you want to visit. Though the inmates did no wrong. You may freely walk along, they're put there so you can see them, just as long as you don't feed them.
A zoo has no trees like a real forest yet houses wild animals, and it functions like a "jail" people willingly visit, with signs asking visitors not to feed the animals.
I have no bones and no legs, but if you keep me warm, I will soon walk away. What am I?
A fertilized egg kept warm (incubated) eventually hatches into a chick, which can then walk away on its own.
A huge mythical animal said to resemble a whale.
The leviathan is a legendary sea monster from ancient texts often depicted as an enormous whale-like beast.
Dark, feathery, and popular in Baltimore and fantasy books.
Ravens are dark black birds, the namesake of Baltimore's NFL team and Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem, plus common fantasy-novel imagery.
When I'm metal or wood, I help you get home. When I'm flesh and I'm blood. In the darkness I roam.
A baseball 'bat' (metal or wood) helps a batter get to home base, while a living bat (flesh and blood) is a nocturnal flying mammal that roams in darkness.
Those with eyes bigger than their stomach will definitely leave the restaurant with one of them. It is named after a house pet as well.
Ordering more food than you can finish means leaving with a 'doggy bag' of leftovers, a container named after dogs.
He calls in the morning, the day to renew, if his owner gets hungry, he'll be turned to stew. What is he?
A rooster crows at dawn to greet the new day, but if food runs short, the farmer might end up cooking him for dinner.
Long slim and slender. Dark as homemade thunder. Keen eyes and peaked nose. Scares the Devil wherever it goes.
A snake is long, slender, and dark, with a pointed head and sharp gaze, and is traditionally seen as an unsettling, ominous creature.
What grows up while growing down?
A young goose matures ('grows up') while also growing its soft 'down' feathers -- a play on the two meanings of 'down.'
I am an insect, half of my name is another insect. I am similar to the name of a famous band. What am I?
A beetle is an insect whose name contains 'bee' (another insect) and closely resembles the name of the famous band The Beatles.
It can be in a hat, or out of the bag. If you see it you'll be smitten, 'cause it's fluffy like a mitten.
This plays on 'The Cat in the Hat' and the idiom 'let the cat out of the bag,' and cats are famously soft and fluffy.
It is worldwide, but once only a spider could weave one.
The "World Wide Web" shares its name with a spider's web, which only spiders could once weave before the internet existed.
To you, rude would I never be, though I flag my tongue for all to see.
A panting dog hangs its tongue out constantly, which would be rude in a person but is completely normal, friendly behavior for a dog.
According to kids' entertainment, these reptiles are gifted at martial arts and surfer-dude slang.
This references the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, martial-arts fighting turtles known for surfer-style catchphrases like "cowabunga."
I am gold and can be black and white, I'm a symbol for a nation, when freedom took flight. What am I?
The eagle is the national symbol of the United States (associated with freedom), and its coloring includes golden-brown feathers along with black and white markings; describing it as simply "gold" is a slight stretch.
Hard iron on horse. Cow's hide on man.
A horseshoe is iron fitted to a horse's hoof, while a leather shoe made from cowhide covers a person's foot.
He's big, old and fluffy, and looking rather scruffy. He always needs a shave. It's best to just avoid him, and leave him in his cave.
An old, shaggy bear with an unkempt coat that never gets 'shaved' is best left alone in its den - approaching one is a risk few would take.
In all the world, none can compare, to this tiny weaver, his deadly cloth so silky and fair.
A spider is an unmatched weaver, spinning fine silk into a web that is deadly for whatever gets caught in it.
What is the only animal without the ability to fly but still does?
Humans have no natural wings, yet through airplanes, people are the only species that manages to fly anyway.
In the fields a frightful thing. Watch it and you will find, it has a pitchfork in the front, and a broom back behind.
A bull's sharp horns look like a pitchfork up front, while its tufted tail sweeps like a broom behind.
My treasures are golden and guarded by thousands amongst a maze no man can enter. What am I?
A beehive stores golden honey, is defended by thousands of bees, and its honeycomb structure forms a maze too small for a person to enter.
It's voice is like a burp, will swallow with a slurp, you'll never hear it chirp. Kiss it with a wince, might turn into a prince.
A frog croaks with a burp-like sound, catches food with a quick slurp of its tongue, and stars in the fairy tale where kissing one can supposedly turn it into a prince.
It has plenty of backbone but doesn't have a leg. It peels like an orange but it comes from an egg.
A snake has a long spine but no legs, sheds its skin like peeling fruit, and hatches from an egg.
With no hammer or any kind of tool I build my house so quickly. What am I?
A spider spins its web -- its "house" -- using only silk from its own body, with no tools, and can do it remarkably fast.
My parents are singers, and while my father has red hair I am pale and completely bald.
The singing parents are a rooster with a red comb and a hen, and their egg is smooth, pale, and bald compared to a feathered chick.
What has armor but is not a knight, snaps but is not a twig, and is always at home even on the move?
A turtle's hard shell is its armor, its jaws can snap shut, and it always carries its home shell wherever it travels.
What animal has feet on the head?
Head lice are tiny parasites that live and crawl around directly on a person's head, playing on the phrase 'feet on the head.'
I can sing, but I can't talk. I can climb a high tree, but can't run. I have very soft hair and a very hard mouth. What am I?
A bird can sing but not speak human words (mostly), perches high in trees but can't run, and has soft feathers with a hard beak.
I carried by mad animals. What am I?
Rabies is a disease spread by the bite of infected ('mad') animals like dogs or bats.
It is a path of cow juice spread across the sky but cannot be seen by the naked eye.
This is a pun: the Milky Way galaxy's name evokes a trail of spilled milk ('cow juice') stretched across the night sky, invisible without a telescope.
I wiggle and cannot see, sometimes underground and sometimes on a tree. I really don't want to be on a hook, and I become a person when combined with book. What am I?
A worm is blind and legless, lives underground or in tree bark, dreads being used as fishing bait, and combines with 'book' to form 'bookworm,' an avid reader.
What lives where it cannot breathe and has a hole in its back?
A whale lives underwater where it cannot breathe water (it needs air), and it has a blowhole -- a 'hole in its back.'
With four oars it swims but it is always at home. Its back is like armor, tougher than chrome. What is it?
A turtle uses its four flipper-like limbs to swim, and its hard shell, its permanent home, is far tougher than any metal plating.
Black and scary, small and hairy. In the night you hear it preach, through its noisy high pitched screech.
Bats are small, dark, furry creatures active at night, and they emit high-pitched screeching sounds as part of their echolocation calls.
It has a long neck, a name of a bird, feeds on cargo of ships, it's not alive. What am I?
A construction crane has a long extending 'neck,' shares its name with a bird, and lifts cargo at shipping docks, though it's a machine, not a living thing.
If a man carried my burden, he would break his back. I am not rich, but I leave silver in my track. What am I?
A snail's shell would be an impossibly heavy burden for a human to carry at that relative scale, and it leaves a shiny, silvery slime trail as it moves.
I fall with the waves, rise with the tide, and drift with the current alongside. What am I?
Plankton are too weak to swim against the ocean, so they simply drift wherever the waves, tides, and currents carry them.
Although my cow is dead, I still beat her. What a racket she makes!
This plays on words: a drum is often made from cowhide (leather), so "beating" the dead cow (the drum) produces its loud sound.
When they are caught, they are thrown away. When they escape, you itch all day.
Fleas are caught and discarded, but if they escape by jumping away, their bites make you itch throughout the day.
When it was young, it had a tail. When it grew up, it had knees.
A tadpole swims with a long tail, but as it matures into a frog the tail is absorbed and jointed legs with knees grow in.
Always well dressed, but I never fly. Black and white, sometimes in a tie. I swim and slide, and dance and glide, with one person by my side. What am I?
A penguin's black-and-white feathers look like a tuxedo ("well dressed... in a tie"), it can't fly, and it swims, slides on its belly, and even "dances" during courtship, often with a mate at its side.
Tall when seated, short when standing.
Many four-legged animals like dogs appear taller when sitting up on their haunches than when standing level on all fours -- a classic observational riddle.
Above the kingdom I reign, spotted, speckled, with a mane, I travel in packs, and if you're lucky, you'd ride me. What am I?
A giraffe has a spotted, speckled coat and a mane, towers over the savanna ('reigns' above the kingdom), and travels in herds you can sometimes ride at a safari.
What can you not eat for breakfast?
Since lunch and dinner happen later in the day, neither can technically be eaten during breakfast time.
Your parents come over for a surprise breakfast while you are sleeping. You get out pancakes, toast, maple syrup, and jam. What do you open first?
Before touching any food on the table, you first have to open your eyes to wake up and notice the surprise breakfast in front of you.
What day, within a week of today, does not end in "Y"?
Every named day of the week (Monday, Tuesday, etc.) ends in the letter 'y,' but 'tomorrow' -- which falls within a week of today -- does not.
What rains at the north pole?
This is a pun — "reindeer" sounds like "rain, dear," making them the thing that "rains" at the North Pole.
What do you get when you cross a vampire and teacher?
"Blood test" combines a vampire's thirst for blood with a teacher's habit of giving tests.
Where do tadpoles change?
This is a pun: tadpoles "change" into frogs in the "croak-room," a play on "cloakroom" and the croaking sound frogs make.
What can you never have for breakfast?
By definition, lunch is a midday meal, so you cannot have it in the morning at breakfast time.
On what kind of ship do students study?
This is a pun -- 'scholarship' contains the word 'ship' and refers to funding for students' study.
A device for finding furniture in the dark.
This is a joking riddle: you "find" furniture in the dark by painfully bumping your shin into it, not with an actual device.
What is a foot long and slippery?
This plays on the word 'slipper,' which literally is worn on a foot and sounds like 'slippery.'
What goes up and down the stairs without moving?
A carpet or runner laid on a staircase extends up and down its length, but it never actually moves itself.
What did the rain cloud wear under his raincoat?
This is a pun on 'underwear' -- the cloud wears 'thunderwear' (thunder + underwear).
What do you get when you cross an automobile with a household animal?
"Carpet" blends "car" and "pet," the two things being crossed.
Why do French people like to eat snails?
This is a pun-based joke: snails are extremely slow, so the French 'don't like fast food' -- they prefer their food (snails) slow.
What age most travelers have?
This is a wordplay riddle: the word 'baggage' -- which travelers carry -- ends with the letters 'age,' answering what 'age' most travelers have.
What snacks do you serve at a robot party?
This is a pun: robots are built with nuts and bolts, so 'assorted nuts' makes a fitting robot party snack.
What is the first thing a gardener plants in the garden?
This is a trick question: before planting anything else, the gardener first plants (sets down) their own foot in the garden soil.
How far will a blind dog walk into a forest?
Once a dog reaches the middle of the forest, every remaining step is technically walking back out of it -- so it only ever walks "halfway" in.
If two is a company and three is a crowd, what are four and five?
It's a play on words: while two is "company" and three a "crowd," four plus five simply adds up to nine.
I stink in living but when dead smells good. What am I?
Live pigs and pig farms are notorious for their strong odor, but once turned into bacon or ham and cooked, the smell becomes appetizing.
What stays the same size no matter how much they weight?
A weighing scale itself doesn't change size regardless of how heavy or light the object placed on it is.
What key is the hardest to turn?
This is a wordplay riddle: the word "donkey" contains "key," and donkeys are famously stubborn, making them the hardest "key" to turn (persuade).
What kind of table has no legs?
The periodic table of elements is a chart, not a piece of furniture, so it has no physical legs.
Mr. Blue lives in the blue house, Mr. Pink lives in the pink house, and Mr. Brown lives in the brown house. Who lives in the white house?
This is a trick riddle - the White House isn't matched to a color-named 'Mr. White,' but is actually the residence of the President of the United States.
What shoes should you wear when your basement is flooded?
It's a pun on "pumps," a style of shoe, since you would also need a water pump to deal with a flooded basement.
Before Mt. Everest was discovered as the highest mountain in the world, which mountain was the highest?
Mount Everest was always the tallest mountain physically; "discovering" it as the tallest didn't change its actual height.
What kind of dog chases anything red?
This puns on 'bull,' since bulls are famously provoked by the color red, even though real bulls are actually colorblind.
What bone has a sense of humor?
The 'humerus' (upper arm bone) sounds identical to 'humorous,' the trick behind this riddle.
There is an ancient invention, still used in some parts of the world today, that allows people to see through walls.
Windows have let people see through walls for thousands of years, long before modern technology.
Where do sailors take their baths?
This is a pun blending 'tub' (where you bathe) with 'submarine' (a sailor's vessel) into 'tubmarine.'
When you do not know what I am, then I am something. But when you know what I am, then I am nothing. What am I?
A riddle is intriguing while unsolved, but once you know the answer it no longer feels like a mystery -- it becomes 'nothing' special.
What does an old tan broken down house wear outside?
This plays on "coat" meaning a layer of paint -- an old tan house wears a "tan coat" (of paint) on its exterior. Note: this is a fairly loose, awkwardly worded pun, but it is the source's intended answer.
What fastens two people yet touches only one?
A wedding ring symbolically binds two people together, but physically it's only ever worn on one person's finger at a time.
Which popular cheese is made backwards?
Spell 'made' backwards and you get 'Edam,' a real Dutch cheese -- a pure wordplay riddle.
What starts with a P, ends with an E and has a million letters in it?
'Post office' starts with P and ends with E, and it processes vast volumes of mail -- effectively holding a 'million letters' at once, using the same double meaning of 'letter' as the envelope riddle.
I cannot hear or even see, But sense light and sounds there may be, Sometimes I end up on a hook, I can be combined with a book. What am I?
A worm has no eyes or ears yet reacts to vibration and light, is used as fishing bait on a hook, and combines with book to form bookworm.
What has a head yet it never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps, can run but can not walk, and has a bank but not a cent to its name?
A river has a "head" (source), a "bed" (riverbed), it "runs," and it has a "bank," but none of these literally.
What is bought by the yard but is worn by the foot?
Carpet is sold by the square yard, but people walk on it with their feet, wearing it down over time.
The shorter I am, the bigger I am. What am I?
Having a 'short temper' means someone gets angry (a big reaction) very easily -- the shorter the temper, the bigger the outburst.
What ship has no captain but two mates?
This is a pun: 'courtship' (dating) sounds like a ship, and it involves two romantic 'mates' without an actual captain.
I have eight to spare and am covered with hair.
A cat is said to have nine lives, so after using one it still has eight to spare, and its body is covered in fur.
What word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?
Adding 'ER' to SHORT produces SHORTER -- a word that is textually longer but describes something even more short, a play on meaning versus letter count.
What is the longest fruit?
"Longan" (a small tropical fruit) sounds like "long one," punning on length despite the fruit itself being small.
I am so delicious that I require a house to contain me. What am I?
This is a nod to IHOP, the "International House of Pancakes" restaurant chain.
What can be grown without sun or soil and can either provide nourishment or deliver poison?
Mushrooms can grow in dark, soil-free environments, and while many are edible and nutritious, some wild varieties are highly poisonous.