Warm-Up Riddles
1. The more I consume, the brighter I become. The brighter I become, the shorter my life. What am I?
2. I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I come alive with wind. What am I?
3. I am not alive, but I grow; I don’t have lungs, but I need air; I don’t have a mouth, but water kills me. What am I?
1. Solution: A lightbulb. It consumes electricity to shine, and the brighter it shines, the faster it burns out.
2. Solution: An echo. This riddle plays on the personification of an echo, which "speaks" and "hears" but is merely a sound reflection.
3. Solution: Fire. The pun here is on the characteristics of fire described in a way that could also fit a living organism, but the twist is in its non-living nature.
1. I am taken from a mine, and shut up in a wooden case, from which I am never released, and yet I am used by almost every person. What am I?
2. What has cities, but no houses; forests, but no trees; and rivers, but no water?
1. Solution: Pencil lead. This riddle challenges you to think about common objects from unusual perspectives.
2. Solution: A map. This riddle relies on understanding that the terms can have different meanings based on context.
1. I am an odd number. Take away one letter and I become even. What number am I?
2. How many times can you subtract 10 from 100?
1. Solution: Seven (remove the 's' to become 'even').
2. Solution: Once. After you subtract it the first time, you're no longer subtracting from 100.
1. I am the beginning of the end, the end of every place. I am the beginning of eternity, the end of time and space. What am I?
2. I was the lifeblood of ancient civilizations, yet I flow through modern cities still. Kings and pharaohs have fought over me. What am I?
1. Solution: The letter "E."
2. Solution: The Nile River (or rivers in general, vital for ancient civilizations like Egypt).
1. The Three Doors - You are trapped in a room with three doors leading out. The first door opens to a room engulfed in raging fire. The second door opens to a room with an assassin waiting to kill anyone who enters. The third door leads to a room with a lion that hasn't eaten in three years. Which door is the safest to escape through?
1. Solution: The safest door is the one leading to the room with a lion that hasn't eaten in three years. A lion that hasn't eaten in three years would be dead, making it the safest option.
1. You find me in December, but not in any other month. What am I?
2. I am not alive, but I grow; I don’t have lungs, but I need air; I don’t have a mouth, but water kills me. What am I?
3. What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?
1. Solution: The letter "D." This riddle uses a literal interpretation of being "found" in the word "December" but not in the names of any other months.
2. Solution: Fire. The pun here is on the characteristics of fire described in a way that could also fit a living organism, but the twist is in its non-living nature.
3. Solution: The letter "M." This riddle plays with the frequency of the letter "M" in the spelling of "minute," "moment," and "thousand years."
1. A man looks at a painting in a museum and says, "Brothers and sisters I have none, but that man's father is my father's son." Who is in the painting?
2. Forward I am heavy, but backward I am not. What am I?
1. Solution: The man's son. This riddle requires breaking down the familial relationship described to understand the perspective.
2. Solution: The word "ton." This is a play on the reversal of the word, requiring thinking about words not just for their meaning but their structure.
1. What three positive numbers give the same result when multiplied and added together?
2. Solution: 1, 2, and 3 (1+2+3 = 6 and 1×2×3 = 6).
1. I speak without a voice and am heard without ears. I tell of the coming of all, and without me, everything is lifeless. What am I?
2. What is always in front of you but can’t be seen?
1. Solution: Time.
2. Solution: The future.
1. Two men are in a desert. They both have backpacks on. One of the guys is dead. The guy who is alive has his backpack open and the guy who is dead has his backpack closed. What is in the dead man’s backpack?
1. A parachute
1. I can be cracked, made, told, and played. What am I?
2. What has keys but can’t open locks?
3. I'm tall when I'm young, and I'm short when I'm old. What am I?
1. Solution: A joke. The pun here relies on the different meanings of the word "cracked" (as in solved or laughed at), "made" (created), "told" (recounted), and "played" (joked with).
2. Solution: A piano. This riddle hinges on the double meaning of "keys" – piano keys versus lock keys.
3. Solution: A candle. The pun plays on the literal height of a candle, which decreases as it melts over time.
1. You see a boat filled with people. It has not sunk, but when you look again you don’t see a single person on the boat. Why?
2. A man is pushing his car along, and when he comes to a hotel he shouts, "I'm bankrupt!" Why?
1. Solution: All the people were married. This riddle plays on the interpretation of "single" meaning unmarried rather than alone.
2. Solution: He's playing Monopoly. This requires lateral thinking to connect the scenario with something outside of the expected real-life context.
1. A grandfather, two fathers, and two sons went fishing one day. They were only three people. How is this possible?
1. Solution: There are three generations present: a grandfather (who is also a father), his son (who is both a son and a father), and his grandson (who is just a son).
1. I can be created in the present, but the future can never change me. What am I?
2. What is there one of in every corner and two of in every room?
1. Solution: History.
2. The letter O.
1. The Secret Password – A person arrives at a secret club's door and hears a voice from inside that says "twelve." The person responds with "six," and is allowed in. Another person arrives, hears "six" from the voice inside, responds with "three," and is also allowed in. A third hopeful attendee arrives, hears "ten," and based on the pattern they've observed, responds with "five," but is denied entry. What should the third person have said to enter?
1. Solution: Say "three." The trick is to count the letters in the number you hear. "Ten" has three letters.
1. What has a head, a tail, is brown, and has no legs?
2. Forward I am heavy, but backward I am not. What am I?
3. I shave every day, but my beard stays the same. What am I?
1. Solution: A penny. The riddle uses a description that might initially lead one to think of an animal, but the twist is that it's a coin.
2. Solution: The word "ton." Played forwards, it represents a heavy weight, but spelled backward ("not"), it negates the concept of heaviness.
3. Solution: A barber. The pun plays on the daily activity of shaving, which one might assume refers to oneself, but in this case, it's about shaving others.
1. How can a pants pocket be empty and still have something in it?
2. I am a word that begins with the letter “e” and ends with the letter “e” but only contains one letter. What am I?
1. Solution: It can have a hole in it. This riddle plays on the interpretation of "something" being a physical object versus a space or lack thereof.
2. Solution: Envelope.
1. What comes next in this sequence: 1, 11, 21, 1211, 111221, ...?
1. Solution: 312211 (Each term describes the previous term: one 1 [11], two 1s [21], one 2 then one 1 [1211], and so on).
1. I have many faces, expressions, and emotions, and I am usually right at your fingertips. What am I?
2. A barrel of water weighed 60 pounds. Someone put something in it and now it weighs 40 pounds. What did the person add?
3. Built for a king, my body guards him in death, not in life. I stand tall, pointing to the skies, yet I am not alive. What am I?
1. Emojis.
2. A hole.
3. A pyramid (specifically, the Great Pyramid of Giza for Pharaoh Khufu).
1. The Wise King Test - A wise king devises a test for his three sons to determine who will inherit the throne. He gives each son an equal amount of money and instructs them to fill the palace's large room completely with something that shows their wisdom. The first son buys straw, but it only fills a part of the room. The second son buys feathers, which fill more of the room but still not completely. The third son buys something that fills the room completely without being a physical object. What does he buy?
1. Solution: The third son buys a candle and lights it, filling the room with light, proving his wisdom by using something intangible.
1. What comes out at night without being called, and is lost in the day without being stolen?
2. I'm not alive, but I can grow; I don't have lungs, but I need air; I'm not thirsty, but I can die if I don't drink. What am I?
3. What has a neck but no head, two arms but no hands?
1. Solution: The stars. This riddle uses poetic language to describe the natural phenomenon of stars appearing at night and disappearing during the day.
2. Solution: A balloon. This riddle creatively describes how a balloon "grows" when inflated, requires air to "live," and can "die" (deflate) if it loses air.
3. Solution: A shirt. The pun plays on the parts of a shirt named after body parts, despite the shirt not being a living entity.
1. Four cars come to a four-way stop, each coming from a different direction. They can’t decide who got there first, so they all go forward at the same time. All four cars go, but none crash into each other. How is this possible?
1. Solution: They all made right-hand turns.
1. I add five to nine, and get two. The correct answer is not fourteen. How is this possible?
1. Solution: The time is 9 o'clock. Add 5 hours to 9 o'clock and you get 2 o'clock.
1. If all Wibbles are Criggles, all Borkins are Kwumblins, no Hoggles are Borkins, and all Criggles are Borkins, is it true that all Borkins are Criggles?
2. I am something people celebrate or resist. I change people’s thoughts and lives. I am obvious to some people but, to others, I am a mystery. What am I?
1. Solution: Nope
2. Solution: Age.
1. The Bridge Crossing - Four people need to cross a rickety bridge at night to return to their campsite. Unfortunately, they have only one flashlight and, because of the bridge's condition, a maximum of two people can cross at a time. The bridge is too dangerous to cross without the light. The four campers move at different speeds: one can cross in 1 minute, another in 2 minutes, the third in 5 minutes, and the last in 10 minutes. When two people cross the bridge together, they must move at the slower person's pace. What is the quickest time in which all four campers can get across the bridge?
1. Solution: The fastest time is 17 minutes.