New Riddles With Answers - page 2 of 53
Currency that flirted with a British spy.
Miss Moneypenny is the character in the James Bond films who is fond of Agent 007, and her name puns on 'money' and 'penny.'
Fighting technique taken from rams.
Rams fight by ramming their heads together, which is exactly what a head-butt mimics.
When I get closer my tail grows longer, but when I go away my tail leads the way.
As a comet nears the sun its icy tail lengthens, and as it moves away that same tail points ahead of its direction of travel.
A house full, a yard full, a chimney full, no one can get a spoonful.
Smoke can fill a house, yard, and chimney entirely, yet it's too insubstantial for anyone to scoop up with a spoon.
One of the few times it's encouraged to lock lips with a stranger.
Performing CPR sometimes involves rescue breaths, essentially pressing your mouth to a stranger's to save their life.
Has no feet, but travels far. Is literate, but not a scholar. Has no mouth, yet clearly speaks.
A written letter can travel long distances through the mail, is made of words, and 'speaks' its message without ever having a mouth.
What covers its face with its hands, speaks no language, yet most known what it's saying?
A clock's 'hands' point across its 'face' to show the time, and everyone understands it without it speaking a word.
I tremble at each breath of air, and yet can heaviest burdens bear.
Water ripples at the slightest breeze yet can support enormous weight, such as ships, through buoyancy.
This is your stomach's way of letting you know you've neglected it.
A stomach grumbles or growls audibly when it's empty and hasn't been fed in a while.
Tucked out of sight. I sing best at night. No instrument around, but you'll find me on the ground.
Crickets hide in grass, chirp loudly after dark, and produce their 'song' by rubbing their wings, not by using an instrument.
What gets beaten, and whipped, but never cries?
In cooking, eggs are 'beaten' and 'whipped' to prepare them, but being inanimate they never actually cry.
What eight letter word has "kst" in the middle, at the beginning, and at the end?
The source's intended wordplay is the word 'inkstand,' which hides the letters 'ink' and 'stand' inside an eight-letter word; the wording of this riddle is somewhat garbled in the original text.
I'm an old relative who's hand's can't hold anything and eyes can't see anything. What am I?
A grandfather clock is named like a family elder, and its 'hands' are just pointers and its 'face' has no real eyes.
What liquid can contain the soul?
This is a loose, poetic link: writing (done with ink) is said to capture a person's thoughts and 'soul' on the page.
I'm the start of eternity and the end of space. There are two of me in heaven and one in hell.
'Eternity' starts with E, 'spacE' ends with E, 'hEavEn' contains two E's, and 'hEll' contains one.
This small creature kills even the largest one.
Microscopic bacteria can cause fatal infections even in the largest animals, like elephants or whales.
Bury deep, Pile on stones, My mind will always Dig up them bones
Even when painful memories are 'buried' and hidden away, the mind keeps unearthing them, just as bones might be dug up.
It's a game played by serious people that takes place on a global scale.
Politics is often described as a 'game' of strategy and power played by leaders across the whole world.
Gets rid of bad ones, short and tall. Tightens when used, one size fits all.
A hangman's noose tightens around anyone's neck regardless of height, historically used to eliminate 'bad ones.'
I saw the dead bring forth the living. I saw the living bring forth the dead. What did I see?
The source lists 'funeral' as the answer to this deliberately poetic and ambiguous riddle, though the imagery of the dead producing the living (and vice versa) is a looser fit than most riddles in this collection.
A precious fluid, thicker than water.
Blood is denser than water, and the phrase 'blood is thicker than water' emphasizes family bonds as more important than casual ties.
I have two hands but cannot clap.
A clock's hour and minute 'hands' point at numbers but can't physically come together to clap.
What would your father's only sister's sister-in-law be to you?
Your father's only sister's sister-in-law is your father's wife -- your mother -- since the sister-in-law of your aunt, through her marriage to your father, is your father's own spouse.
What is it something that you always have but you always leave behind?
Your fingerprints are unique to you and stay with you, yet you leave a trace of them on everything you touch.
The stack just might be sent all over. Full of what's new, yet it's nearly obsolete.
Newspapers are distributed everywhere and are full of the latest news, yet print papers have become nearly obsolete in the digital age.
What gets broken without being held?
A promise is an intangible commitment, so it can be 'broken' (not kept) without ever being physically held.
You'll have me at night and if you remove the first letter I denote the top, such as on a train.
'Supper' is the evening meal; drop its first letter S and you get 'upper,' as in an 'upper' berth -- the top bunk on a sleeper train.
What can an elephant and a shrimp both be?
'Jumbo' describes an enormous elephant, but is also the name for a large size of shrimp on a menu.
What has 3 feet but cannot walk?
A yardstick measures exactly three feet (36 inches) in length, but as a tool it obviously can't walk.
What is red and nailed to a wall?
This is a classic nonsense joke: the herring is red because it was painted red, and it's nailed to the wall simply because the joke says so -- a deliberately absurd 'red herring' pun.
What grows in winter, dies in summer, and grows roots upward?
Icicles form and 'grow' downward from a fixed point during cold winters and melt away in summer, appearing to grow root-first from above.
An open ended barrel, it is shaped like a hive. It is filled with the flesh, and the flesh is alive!
A thimble is a small, hive-shaped, open-bottomed cap worn over a living finger (the 'flesh') to protect it while sewing.
Break it and it is better, immediately set and harder to break again.
Breaking a record (like a sports record) is a good thing, and the new record is immediately 'set,' becoming harder to break again.
Kills the bad ones and the sad ones. Tightens to fit, so one size fits.
A hangman's noose is a grim 'one size fits all' device that tightens around the neck regardless of the person's size.
Slayer of regrets, old and new, sought by many, found by few.
Redemption is the act of making up for past wrongs and erasing regrets, yet it's something many seek but few truly achieve.
What is put on a table, cut, but never eaten?
A deck of playing cards is placed on the table and 'cut' before dealing, but obviously isn't food.
I bind it and it walks. I loose it and it stops.
Strapping (binding) a sandal onto a foot lets a person walk; unstrapping it removes that ability, stopping them.
What can you fold but not crease?
In poker, you 'fold' your hand (give up the round), which doesn't involve creasing any actual material.
You can only have it once you have given it.
You typically earn respect from others only after you've shown respect to them first.
Iron roof, glass walls, burns and burns and never falls.
A lantern has a metal frame and glass panes protecting a flame that burns steadily without being blown out or falling.
What goes in the water black and comes out red?
Live lobsters are typically dark bluish-black, but turn bright red once cooked in boiling water.
When the creeper passes, all the grass kneels.
As a plow (the 'creeper') is dragged across a field, it flattens ('kneels') the grass and soil in its path.
What do you have when you're sitting down that you don't have when you're standing up?
A 'lap' only exists as the flat surface formed by your thighs when you sit; it disappears when you stand.
I have three hundred cattle, with a single nose cord.
This traditional riddle likens a string of many beads threaded on one cord to a herd of cattle tethered together by a single rope -- a loosely metaphorical, translated riddle.
There is a creature of God whose body is hard; it does not wish to eat unless you strike its head.
A chisel has a hard body and only 'bites' into material (works) when its head is struck with a mallet.
What has a big mouth, yet never speaks?
A jar has a wide opening called its 'mouth,' but being an inanimate object, it never actually talks.
Forwards I am heavy, but backwards I am not.
'TON' is a heavy unit of weight, but spelled backwards it becomes 'NOT' -- as in 'backwards I am not' heavy.
I am heavy forward but backwards I'm not. What am I?
"Ton" spelled backward is "not," so while a ton is heavy, its reversed spelling literally says it's "not."
What can be found at the beginning of eternity, the end of time and space, and the beginning of every end?
The letter E starts "Eternity," ends "timE" and "spacE," and begins the word "End."
What is greater than God, more evil than the devil, the poor have it, the rich need it, and if you eat it you'll die?
This is the classic riddle about the word "nothing": nothing is greater than God, nothing is more evil than the devil, the poor have nothing, and if you ate nothing you would starve.
Needed to jack, but also to carp. I can't be used in rust, but can in the grass. What am I?
"Jack" and "carp" both contain the letter A, "rust" does not contain an A, and "grass" does.
This is needed both for courage and hardcover books.
"Spine" refers to a person's inner courage, or nerve, as well as the sturdy bound edge of a hardcover book.
We are two brothers on opposite sides of the road, but we never see each other. Who are we?
Your two eyes sit on either side of your nose, the "road," yet, positioned as they are, can never actually see each other.
This both describes a gorgeous woman and an excellent punch.
"Knockout" is slang for a strikingly beautiful person and also describes a powerful, fight-ending punch.
I can travel from there to here by disappearing, and here to there by reappearing.
Remove the T from "there" and you get "here"; add the T back to "here" and it becomes "there" again.
You use lots of me, yet right you use me when you're done. What am I?
People go through a lot of toilet paper, and using it correctly matters most once you're finished.
What do we see every day, kings see rarely, and God never sees?
Ordinary people meet their "equals" every day, kings rarely meet anyone of equal status, and God, as supreme, has no equal at all.
The older this thing grows the more valued it becomes. It is always much better when its breathing is done.
Fine wine improves with age, and "letting wine breathe," exposing it to air before drinking, is a well-known step in serving it.
When it's dirty this should never be aired in public.
The idiom "airing your dirty laundry" means exposing private, embarrassing matters in public, playing on both the literal and figurative meaning.
Hoofed frolicking.
"Horseplay" is a term for rowdy, playful behavior, punning on the word "horse," a hoofed animal, combined with "play."
Low on cash? Pick out items from this rack.
Shoppers on a tight budget often look for deeply discounted items on the clearance rack.
Maritime marauders.
Pirates are seafaring raiders who plunder ships, fitting the description of "maritime marauders."
My life is measured in hours. I serve by being devoured. Thin, I am quick; fat, I am slow. Wind is my foe. What am I?
A candle burns for a set number of hours, is consumed as it burns, burns faster when thin and slower when thick, and can be blown out by wind.
Two-year-old children who throw tantrums get this nickname. So did the tsar Ivan.
Toddlers are often called "the terrible twos," and Tsar Ivan IV of Russia is famously known as "Ivan the Terrible."
I am good at concealing what's real and hiding what's true. Sometimes, I bring out the courage in you! What am I?
Makeup can hide someone's natural appearance and sometimes gives a person the confidence to feel more put-together in public.
Grows from the ground, bushes and grass, leaves of yellow, red and brown. Unruly plants get the axe, trim the hedge back down.
The riddle describes hair as if it were landscaping: it "grows," comes in shades like blond ("yellow"), red, and brown, and unruly growth gets trimmed, a haircut, just like an overgrown hedge.
High born, my touch is gentle. Purest white is my lace. Silence is my kingdom. Green is the color of my death.
Snow falls gently from high in the sky, is pure white and lacy in pattern, blankets the world in silence, and "dies," melts, into green grass come spring.
Dragons are known to do this to their gold.
In myth and fantasy, dragons famously hoard, collect and jealously guard, piles of treasure.
Salty water everywhere but not a sea in sight.
Tears are salty just like seawater, but they come from crying rather than an ocean.
A man says: 'Brothers and sisters, have I none, but that man's father is my father's son.' Who is he pointing at?
"My father's son," who isn't the speaker's brother since he has none, must be the speaker himself, so the man is pointing at his own son.
Sauerkraut owes its existence to this head.
Sauerkraut is made from fermented shredded cabbage, so a "head" of cabbage is what makes it possible.
The weapon of choice to create the biggest shock.
A stun gun delivers an electric shock, literally shocking its target, a pun on "shock."
What is as big as you are and yet does not weigh anything?
A shadow matches your size and shape exactly but has no mass or weight at all.
There is one in every corner and two in every room.
The word "corner" contains one letter O, while the word "room" contains two — matching the riddle exactly.
Cycle, cycle, cycle.
Saying "cycle" three times represents "tri-cycle," three cycles.
What can be seen but never found, that only hides in the unwound?
Relaxation is something you feel only when you let go of tension ("unwound"), and it can't be actively "found" by searching.
What turns from red to black as soon as it touches water?
A glowing red ember instantly turns black and stops glowing the moment it's doused with water.
Timid or weak people are said to not have these.
"Backbone" is used figuratively to mean courage or resolve; someone timid is said to "lack backbone."
I am the third from a sparkle bright. I thrive throughout the day and night. Deep in the path of a cow's white drink. I've had thousands of millions of years to think. But one of my creatures is killing me. And so the question I ask to thee, is who am I?
Earth is the third planet from the sparkling sun, sits within the Milky Way ("cow's white drink" is milk), is billions of years old, and is being harmed by humanity, one of its own creatures.
What you become during a workout?
Physical exertion during a workout makes your body perspire, leaving you sweaty.
Up on high I wave away but not a word can I say.
A flag waves in the breeze atop a pole but, being an inanimate object, cannot actually speak.
A tiny bead, like fragile glass, strung along a cord of grass.
Morning dew forms delicate droplets that cling to blades of grass like tiny glass beads on a string.
His big belly supposedly has the ability to dispense good fortune.
Statues of a laughing, round-bellied Buddha are popularly believed in folk tradition to bring good luck when rubbed.
A plant whose name sounds like a dish full of dairy spread.
"Buttercup" sounds like a "cup" full of "butter," a dairy spread, though it's actually the name of a yellow wildflower.
What odd number becomes even when beheaded?
Removing the "S" from "seven" leaves "even," turning the odd number's name into the word for an even number.
The artistic vandal's best friend.
Spray paint is the tool of choice for graffiti artists, and vandals, creating art quickly on walls and surfaces.
A setting that proved to be deadly for Abraham Lincoln.
Lincoln was assassinated while watching a play at Ford's Theatre, making a theater the deadly setting.
How much dirt is in a hole 4 feet deep and 2 feet wide?
A hole, by definition, is empty space; it contains no dirt at all, since the dirt was removed to create it.
I have split the one into five. I am the circle that few will spy. I am the path that breaks and gives. I am the bow no man may bend.
A rainbow splits white light into the colors of the spectrum, forms a faint circle rarely seen in full, appears in broken light through rain, and looks like a bow no one can actually string.
I love to twist and dance. Though wingless, I fly high up into the sky. What am I?
A kite twists and dances on the wind and, despite having no wings, soars high into the sky. A near-identical riddle, #924 in the source, repeats this wording almost verbatim with the same answer and was merged into this entry as a duplicate.
The itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot variety is quite popular.
This references the classic novelty song about an "itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka dot bikini."
A white field, and when it is plowed, its soil is black.
A blank sheet of paper is the "white field," and writing on it with ink, "plowing" it with a pen, leaves black marks like turned soil.
What is higher without the head than with it?
A pillow is compressed and lower when your head rests on it, but "higher" when your head is off it.
What breaks without falling?
"Daybreak" is when day "breaks," a figure of speech, not a literal fall.
What do you get when you cross a vampire and a teacher?
The joke plays on a vampire's thirst for blood and a teacher's habit of giving tests, combining into "a blood test."
It has no top or bottom, but it can hold flesh, bones, and blood all at the same time.
A ring is a continuous loop with no top or bottom, yet it encircles a finger's flesh, bone, and blood when worn.
I use electricity and I killed my father. I am a king. I have a lot of girlfriends, but I also have a wife. Who am I?
In Greek mythology, Zeus wields lightning, overthrew his father Cronus to become king of the gods, was married to Hera, and had many other lovers.
An art-form and a web-browser.
Opera is a classical art form combining music and drama, and it's also the name of a web browser.
Can be achieved in a car or as a position during conflict.
"Neutral" is a gear setting in a car and also describes a non-aligned stance taken during a conflict.
Slang for the male half in a marriage.
"Hubby" is a common informal nickname for "husband."