Riddles are beneficial and enjoyable. They foster creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving abilities. Test your smarts with the best riddles.
Riddles are an excellent way to practice creative thinking and have fun. They’re perfect for breaks or when you want to give your brain a workout.
Thinking outside of the box is essential. It promotes growth and makes you more productive. So, do riddles often to keep your mind sharp.
The following are the best riddles with answers for kids and adults. Some are easy, while others may stump you.
Best riddles for kids
1. What month of the year has 28 days?
All of them.
2. Where does today come before yesterday?
The dictionary.
3. Sarah’s mom has three daughters. The first two are Kara and Tara. What’s her third daughter’s name?
Sarah.
4. What can you put between 0 and 1 to make the result greater than 0 but less than 1?
A decimal.
5. There’s a basket filled with 100 berries. Your brother takes 5 berries, your cousin takes 18, and you take 24 berries. How many berries do you have left?
24 berries.
6. What has to be broken before you use it?
An egg.
7. What has legs and can’t walk?
A chair.
8. What question can you never answer yes to?
Are you asleep?
9. I have cities, mountains, roads, but no people. What am I?
A map.
10. There’s a room filled with people. You turn away and look back. Now, there’s not a single person. What happened?
They all became couples.
11. What disappears when you say its name?
Silence.
12. What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, and never in a hundred years?
The letter “M”.
13. What two things can’t be eaten for breakfast?
Lunch and dinner.
14. There’s one word in the dictionary that’s spelled incorrectly. What is it?
The word “incorrectly”.
15. What kind of coat has to dry before you can touch it?
A coat of paint.
16. You can use me to look through a wall. What am I?
A window.
17. What five-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?
Short.
18. I am heavy forward. I weigh a lot. But when I am backward, I’m certainly not. What am I?
A ton.
19. What talks and only repeats what you say?
An echo.
20. What’s in front of you and can’t be seen?
The future.
21. What has a ring but no finger?
A phone.
22. What was a head but no neck?
A shirt.
23. What has a bank but no money?
A river.
24. What has an eye but can’t see?
A needle.
25. What goes from Z to A?
A zebra.
26. What can fill a room but take up no space?
Light.
27. What can fly without wings?
Time.
28. What has 13 hearts but no organs?
A deck of playing cards.
29. What has four fingers and a thumb, but isn’t alive?
A glove.
30. What has 88 keys but can’t open a door?
A piano.
31. What can run but can’t walk?
A river.
32. What can grow but isn’t alive?
A crystal.
33. What has space but no room?
A keyboard.
34. What’s black when it’s clean?
A chalkboard.
35. What has a face and two hands but isn’t alive?
A clock.
36. What kind of table doesn’t have legs?
The Periodic Table.
37. What holds water but is full of holes?
A sponge.
38. What has six faces and twenty-one eyes but can’t see?
A die (dice).
39. Before Mount Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain on Earth?
Mount Everest.
40. What’s in seasons, seconds, centuries, and minutes, but not in decades, years, or days?
The letter N.
41. I’m tall when I’m young and short when I’m old. What am I?
A candle.
42. Jim has six daughters, and each has a brother. How many children does Jim have?
Seven. Jim has six daughters and one son.
43. The more of me you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?
Footsteps.
44. David’s father has three sons, Snap, Crackle, and who’s the third son?
David.
45. Name three consecutive days without using Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.
Yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
46. Which way has no one ever walked?
The Milky Way.
47. How can you throw a ball as hard as you can to have it come back to you without bouncing off of anything?
Throw it up into the air.
48. What breaks but never falls, and what falls but never breaks?
Dusk and dawn.
49. What gets wetter as it dries?
A towel.
50. Smile at me, and I’ll always smile back. But if you drop me, I’ll crack. What am I?
A mirror.
51. What building has the most stories?
A library.
52. What has teeth but can’t bite?
A comb.
53. What can you keep after giving it to someone?
Your word.
54. How is it possible that a man can stand in the rain without a hood or umbrella and not get a single hair on his head wet?
He’s bald.
55. What has words but never speaks?
A book.
56. What runs around the whole yard but doesn’t move?
A fence.
58. What has three feet but can’t walk?
A yardstick.
59. What kind of ship has two mates but no captain?
A relationship.
60. What’s harder to catch the faster you run?
Your breath.
61. I’m an odd number. Take away a letter, and I become even. What number am I?
Seven.
62. If an electric train is traveling west, which way is the smoke going?
There’s no smoke because it’s an electric train.
63. If you’re running a race and pass the person in second, what place are you in?
Second place.
64. What vehicle is spelled the same backward and forward?
Racecar.
65. What gets bigger when more is taken away?
A hole.
66. What can you break without touching?
A promise.
67. What has a head and a tail but no body?
A coin.
68. A bus driver goes the wrong way on a one-way street. He passes the cops, but they don’t stop him. Why?
The bus driver was walking.
69. If your uncle’s sister isn’t your aunt, who is she?
Your mom.
70. What can you always find on the ground that never gets dirty?
A shadow.
72. What travels around the world but stays in a corner?
A stamp.
73. The more of it, the less you see. What is it?
Darkness.
74. What can you catch but not throw?
A cold.
75. What goes up and down but doesn’t move?
A staircase.
76. How high do you have to drop a glass to break a concrete floor?
A glass can’t break a concrete floor.
78. What feeds people but can’t eat?
Silverware.
79. I have branches but no fruit, leaves, or trunk. What am I?
A bank.
80. I’m a five-letter word. In all capital letters, you can read me the same upside down. What word am I?
SWIMS.
Best riddles for adults
1. What’s the difference between a jeweler and a jailer?
A jeweler sells watches, and a jailer watches cells.
2. I have pointy fangs, and in plain sight, my bloodless victims are bound by my bite. What am I?
A stapler.
3. Poor people have it. Rich people need it. You’ll die if you eat it. What is it?
Nothing.
4. For some, I cause joy. For some, I cause strife. Treat me well, and I last for life. What am I?
A wife.
5. I’m the beginning of eternity and the end of time and space. I begin at every end and end at every place. What am I?
The letter E.
6. The person who makes it, sells it. The person who buys it never uses it. What is it?
A coffin.
7. Who has married many people but never been married?
A priest.
8. Two people are born at the same moment but don’t have the same birthdays. Why?
They were born in different time zones.
9. I’m an element, but you won’t find me on the periodic table. Which element am I?
The element of surprise.
10. There’s a room with one door and no windows. Inside the room, there’s a lamp. When it’s on, no light escapes. Outside the room are three switches, and one operates the lamp. You can use the switches in any order or number of times, but you can only open the door once. How can you find out which switch turns on the light?
Turn on the first switch and wait a few minutes. Then, turn it off and flip on the second switch. Go into the room. If the light’s on, it’s the second switch. If it’s off, touch the light. If it’s hot, it’s the first switch. If it’s cold, it’s the third switch.
11. After leaving home, you take three left turns. Now you’re back home, and two people wearing masks are waiting. Who are they?
The umpire and catcher.
12. I have a heart but no heartbeat. What am I?
An artichoke.
13. What has four letters, sometimes has nine, but never has five?
Yes.
14. Sometimes, I freeze even after heating up. What am I?
A computer.
15. Everything devours me, even beasts, birds, and plants. I gnaw iron, bite steel, and grind hard stones to meal. I slay kings, ruin towns, and beat high mountains down. What am I?
Time.
16. I’m a word that begins and ends with E. I contain a letter, but it’s not the letter E. What word am I?
Envelope.
17. I’m a five-letter word. After removing two letters, I only have one left. What word am I?
Stone.
18. I’m there when you demolish and move upward. I’m also there when you beat me. What am I?
A high score.
19. I talk, but I don’t speak my mind. I hear words, but I don’t listen to thoughts. When I’m awake, everyone sees me. When I’m sleeping, everyone hears me. Many heads are on my shoulders, and many hands are at my feet. The strongest steel cannot break my visage, but the softest whisper can destroy me. The quietest whimper can be heard. What am I?
An actor.
20. My thunder comes before the lightning. My lightning comes before clouds. My rain dries all the land it touches. What am I?
A volcano.
21. Different lights cause me to change my size. What am I?
The pupil of an eye.
22. There are three crates. One has an “Apple” label. The second has an “Oranges” label. The third says, “Apples and Oranges.” None of the labels are correct. You can only pull one fruit from one crate to correct all the labels. How do you do it?
Reach into the “Apples and Oranges” crate and pull a fruit. If you pull out an apple, it’s the apple crate. If it’s an orange, it’s the orange crate. Now, you can switch the other two labels without pulling a fruit.
Funny riddles
1. What tastes better than it smells?
Your tongue.
2. What has ten letters and starts with gas?
An automobile.
3. What’s brown and sticky?
A stick.
4. I’m a room without doors, windows, or floors. What am I?
A mushroom.
5. I’m a month that causes people to sleep the least. Which month am I?
February. It’s the shortest month.
6. What has a bottom at the top?
Your legs.
7. What kind of cheese is made backward?
Edam.
8. Apple is working on the new iCar. What’s it missing?
Windows.
9. I have a tongue, but I never speak. What am I?
A shoe.
10. What has four wheels and flies?
A garbage truck.
11. I’m a rock group consisting of four men. Yet, none of them sing. Which rock group am I?
Mount Rushmore.
12. Which language does no one in the world speak?
Sign language.
13. I’m a box without hinges. I have no key or lid. Inside me hides a golden treasure. What am I?
An egg.
14. I start and end with T. I’m also full of T. What am I?
Teapot.
15. What do you throw out when you want to use it but take in when you don’t?
An anchor.
16. I live in a swamp and am the one that ribbits. But, if you park off-limits, you’ll get me. What am I?
Toad (Towed).
17. I’m easy to lift but hard to throw. What am I?
A feather.
18. You’re in a boat full of people. Yet, not a single person’s on board. How is this possible?
Everyone on board is married.
19. I shave every day, but my hair and beard stay the same. What am I?
A barber.
20. What’s the longest word?
Smile. There’s a mile in between.
Final thoughts
Riddles offer a puzzle that’s fun while improving cognitive function. They also serve as great icebreakers. After putting your critical thinking skills to the test, which riddle was your favorite? Is there one you love that should be on the list?
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Featured image by David Em/Box of Puns.