Test your riddle-solving skills with hard riddles. While the answers are listed, try to solve them before reading the answer.
Riddles are excellent for your brain. As language brain teasers, they make you think creatively.
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Riddles also boost your problem-solving skills and keep your mind sharp.
If you think you’re a pro at solving riddles, the following are hard ones that may leave you stumped.
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The hardest riddle
According to Business Insider, the hardest riddle is by Mathematician Richard Smullyan.
Harvard Business Review shared it back in 1996, but people struggle to solve it.
If you want to test your smarts, give it a shot. The riddle is as follows:
“Three gods, A, B, and C, are called, in some order, True, False, and Random. True always speaks truly, False always speaks falsely, but whether Random speaks truly or falsely is completely random. You must determine the identities of A, B, and C by asking three yes-or-no questions, and each question must be posed to exactly one god. The gods understand English, but will answer all questions in their own language. In their unknown language, the words for “yes” and “no” are “da” and “ja,” in some order. You do not know which word means which.”
Take as much time as you need to try and solve it.
If you’re ready for the answer, Nautilus solved it. The answer is as follows:
- To god A: “Does ‘da’ mean ‘yes’ if and only if you are True and if and only if B is Random?” (We supposed A said, “a,” making B True or False).
- To god B: “Does ‘da’ mean ‘yes’ if and only if Pluto is a dwarf planet?” (We supposed B said, “da,” making B True.)
- And to god B (True) again: “Does ‘da’ mean ‘yes’ if and only if A is Random?” Since B’s True, he must say “da,” which means A is Random, leaving C to be False.
It’s a hard riddle to solve. But, it teaches that every statement is true or false, as there’s no middle ground.
Hard riddles that’ll leave you stumped
1. If you’re running a race and pass the person in second place, what place are you now?
Second place.
2. What can jump higher than a building?
Anything that can jump because buildings can’t jump.
3. I threw a baseball as hard as I could, and it came right back to me, but no one or nothing touched it. How did it happen?
I threw it straight up in the air.
4. What do deodorants, cherries, and dates have in common?
Pits.
5. I have a lot of holes but can still hold a lot of water. What am I?
A sponge.
6. What’s at the end of a rainbow?
The letter W.
7. I walked out in the rain with nothing to cover me, and not a single hair gets wet. How is it possible?
I’m bald.
8. I threw an egg on a hardwood floor, and it didn’t crack. How is it possible?
Hardwood floors are hard to crack with an egg.
9. How do you make six an odd number?
Remove the letter S. It leaves you with IX, which is 9 in Roman Numerals.
10. What can go through a window without breaking it?
11. What begins with T, ends with T, and has T in it?
A teapot.
12. What word starts with E and ends with E but only has one letter in it?
An envelope.
13. What’s there one of in every corner and two of in every room?
The letter O.
14. One dark knight, a ninja, and a pirate were on a ship. As it began to sink, the ninja and pirate jumped into a lifeboat before the ship sank. Who died?
The knight.
15. It’s shorter than the rest, but you raise it like it’s the best when you’re happy. What is it?
A thumb.
16. What’s so fragile that saying its name will break it?
Silence.
17. What are two things you can never have for breakfast?
Lunch and dinner.
18. What has ten letters and starts with gas?
Automobile.
19. What ancient invention allows you to see through walls?
The window.
20. Who can finish a book without finishing a sentence?
A prisoner.
21. What do you see more of that causes you to see less?
Darkness.
22. How do eight eights add up to one thousand?
888 + 88 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 1,000
23. I can run but never walk. I have a mouth but can’t talk. I have a bed but never sleep. What am I?
A river.
24. A is the brother of B. B is the brother of C. C is the father of D. How is D related to A?
A is D’s aunt.
25. Two fathers and two sons come home from a trip. When they arrive, only three people get out of the car. How is this possible?
The group is a grandfather, father, and son.
26. If you’re ten feet away from a door and every move gets you closer by half the distance, how many moves does it take you to reach it?
You’ll never reach the door.
27. In two years, I’ll be twice as old as I was five years ago. How old am I?
12 years old.
28. Five different doctors state that Jake is their brother, but Jake doesn’t have any brothers. Who’s lying?
No one because the doctors are Jake’s sisters.
29. What can go up a chimney when down but can’t go down a chimney when up?
An umbrella.
30. Bob and Jane have five daughters, and each has a brother. How many people are in the family?
Eight, as each of the daughters have the same brother.
31. Where can you find cities, roads, and water but no people?
A map.
32. How many apples grow on a tree?
All of them.
33. What can you hold in your left hand but not your right?
Your right elbow.
34. Which letter in the alphabet never gets too hot?
B because AC surround it.
35. First, I threw away the outside. Then, I cooked the inside. After, I ate the outside and threw away the inside. What am I?
36. Only one dress can never be worn. What is it?
An address.
37. I’m at the beginning of love, the start of life, and the end of evil. What am I?
The letter L.
38. What has a bottom at the top?
Your legs.
39. How can you physically stand behind someone that’s standing behind you?
Stand back-to-back.
40. What can you make without seeing?
Noise.
41. After you give me away, you keep me. What am I?
Your word.
42. How is an island like the letter T?
They’re both in the middle of water.
43. One word in every dictionary is spelled incorrectly. What is it?
Incorrectly.
44. If you turn me on my side, I never end. If you cut me in half, I’m nothing. What am I?
The number 8.
45. I have only two words but hundreds of letters. What am I?
Post office.
46. How is seven different from the numbers between one and ten?
It’s the only one with two syllables.
47. If a rooster lays an egg at the top of a slanted roof, which side will the egg roll on?
Neither because roosters don’t lay eggs.
48. If you take away the whole, some will remain. What is it?
Wholesome.
49. Food keeps me alive, but water kills me. What am I?
50. I have a neck but no head and arms but no hands. What am I?
A shirt.
51. If you drop me, I’ll crack. Smile at me, and I’ll smile back. What am I?
A mirror.
52. I called my dog from the opposite side of the lake. My dog crossed without getting wet and without using a bridge or boat. How is this possible?
The lake was frozen.
53. What English word has the same pronunciation even after removing four of the five letters?
Queue.
54. I’m the only cheese that’s made backward. What am I?
Edam.
55. What connects two people but only touches one?
A wedding ring.
56. I have married a lot of people, yet have never been married. How is this possible?
I’m a priest.
57. You throw me away when you need me but bring me back when you don’t. What am I?
An anchor.
58. I always end everything. What am I?
The letter G.
59. What makes you young?
Add “ng” to the end.
60. You can never answer yes to this question, but you’re not lying. What’s the question?
Are you asleep?
61. I have keys but no locks, space but no rooms, and you can enter but can’t go outside. What am I?
A keyboard.
62. I’m an English word with three consecutive double letters. What word am I?
Bookkeeper.
63. What gets bigger the more you take away?
A hole.
64. I belong to you, but everyone else uses it. What am I?
Your name.
65. I stick strongly, but I’m not sticky. What am I?
A magnet.
66. What can be opened and closed, yet no human has passed through one?
A mouth.
67. Take me out of my home and scratch my head. I am now black but was once red. What am I?
A match.
68. How far can you walk into a tunnel?
Halfway. After that, you’re walking out.
69. What can you never put in a saucepan?
Its lid.
70. There’s a king, queen, and two twins, but nobody in the room. How is this possible?
They’re all beds.
71. I’m always in front of you, but you can’t see me. What am I?
Your future.
72. Why is it that when you think you lost something, it’s always in the last place you look?
You stop looking after you find it.
73. I have 12 faces and 42 eyes. What am I?
A pair of dice.
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