Do you know the answers to these riddles?

By: Jouviane Alexandre
Estimated Completion Time
4 min
Do you know the answers to these riddles?
Image: shutterstock

About This Quiz

Yep, riddles can be real head-scratchers, but once you know the answer, the query makes sense. Some of these riddles are old standbys, while others you may have never heard of before. Either way, you'll have fun trying to solve them. Give it a go. Then challenge your friends. You may be surprised at how some people can instantly spot the logic within the riddle while others can't. 

In ancient times, if you didn't get a riddle correct you might be thrown off a bridge by a troll, killed by a Spinx, or lose a princess's hand in marriage. Literature from across the ages and across the globe include riddles of all sorts. But one of the finest qualities of a riddle is that it can give us a new perspective. 

Many times, it plays to our assumptions about the world as we know it. For instance, What has an eye but cannot see? The answer is a potato. It uses the less common definition of "eye" to broaden our thinking. Or how about riddles like this one that makes you examine and re-examine the question itself? Johnny’s mother had three children. The first was named April and the second was named May. What was the name of the third child? Answer: Johnny.  Now you're catching on. See how many riddles you can guess correctly by taking the quiz.



A truck driver is going down a one-way street the wrong way, and passes at least ten cops. Why is he not stopped?
He's the passenger.
He has a disabled placard.
He's walking.
While you might be tempted to choose that he was a passenger, he would still be "stopped," because the car would get stopped. If he's walking down a one-way street, the cops would have no reason to stop him!
He speeds and loses them.
How can you place a pencil on the floor so that no one can jump over it?
It's impossible
Place it vertically
Place it in the middle of the room
Place it next to the wall
While it might seem relatively easy to jump over something as small as a pencil, if you were to place it next to a wall, you wouldn't be able to jump over it!
What has an eye but cannot see?
A monocle
A glass
A tornado
This riddle actually has many possible answers. There is often the eye of a tornado, cyclone or hurricane. There could also be the eye of a needle. All of these things contain an "eye" but don't have the ability to see.
A carrot

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What is in seasons, seconds, centuries and minutes, but not in decades, years or days?
The letter N
While you might be thinking of time, focus on the letters. You'll find the letter N in the first group of words but you won't find it in the second.
The letter R
A leap year
An eclipse
A rooster laid an egg on top of the barn roof. Which way did it roll?
Right
Left
It cracked
It didn't roll
You might think this question has some directional trick, but you have to think deeper! Do roosters even lay eggs? No, they don't, which makes it impossible for an egg to roll when it doesn't exist!
What always runs but never walks, often murmurs, never talks, has a bed but never sleeps, has a mouth but never eats?
A lion
A river
When it comes down to it, a lion and bird HAVE to eat, while a song can't run and wouldn't have a bed. River is perfect because rivers (water) can run and murmur. Don't forget the river bed and the mouth is where it ends!
A song
A bird

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What has a head and a tail, but no body?
An essay
A worm
A coin
A coin! Clearly the only sides to a coin are heads and tails!
A snail
What can travel around the world while staying in a corner?
Envelope
Box
Ticket
Stamp
Stamps can travel all over the world, but they're only ever left on the corner of an envelope or package.
Who makes it, has no need of it. Who buys it, has no use for it. Who uses it can neither see nor feel it. What is it?
Envelopes
Car
Ambulance
Coffin
When you think about it, coffin is the best answer! Coffin makers have no need for it because they are alive. Those who buy a coffin are buying it for someone who passed away, so they also have no use for it. Those who are being laid to rest in it are unaware because they have passed.

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This 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. What is it?
Poison
Glass
Nothing
In this riddle, the answer comes from the idea of the poor having little (or nothing) and the rich not needing anything. Also, if you were to eat nothing, you'd die.
Everything
You answer me, but I never ask you a question. What am I?
A book
A telephone
When your telephone rings, the first thing you do is "answer it," although it never asked you anything.
A buzzer
A car alarm
Johnny’s mother had three children. The first was named April and the second was named May. What was the name of the third child?
March
June
Mark
Johnny
While a quick thought might make people think the third child is named "June," if JOHNNY'S mother had two other children, Johnny has to be the third!

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You throw away the outside, eat the inside, and throw away the inside. What am I?
A watermelon
A pickle
Corn on the cob
When eating corn on the cob, one must first peal the husk before being able to eat the kernels. Then you would throw out the cob.
A Kiwi
A is the father of B, but B is not the son of A. Who is B?
The wife
The brother
The grandson
The daughter
If A had a child, B, then logically, it would tell us that B is either a male or a female. If B is not the son of A, then clearly SHE has to be the daughter.
Three doctors said that Robert was their brother. Robert said he had no brothers. Who is lying?
The doctors
Robert
All of them
None of them
Similar to previous logic, Robert doesn't have to have brothers in order for HIM to be a brother. If the three doctors are his siblings and FEMALE, that would make Robert their brother and there would be truth in Robert's statement that he doesn't have brothers.

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Paul's height is six feet, he's an assistant at a butcher's shop and he wears size 9 shoes. What does he weigh?
200 lbs
150 lbs
Meat
While you might be convinced to try to figure out what Paul actually weighs himself, as a part of his job as a butcher's assistant, he would be weighing the meat in the shop!
Can't be determined
There is a word and six letters it contains. Take one away and twelve is what remains. What word is it?
Yards
Decade
Months
Dozens
When you look at the word "dozens," it starts off with 6 letters, but once you remove the 's,' you are left with the word dozen, which is 12 of something!
I know a word of letters three. Add two, and fewer there will be!
More
Bit
Few
"Few" initially has three letters. Add two more letters (er) and end up with "fewer."
Little

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During what month do people sleep the least?
December
January
February
It's easier than you think. You might be tempted to think of the activities one might be doing during these months, but think of it logically! Regardless of whether it's during a regular year or a leap year, February will always be at least one day shorter than every other month, leading to less sleep!
June
An electric train is moving north at 100mph and a wind is blowing to the west at 10mph. Which way does the smoke blow?
Left
Right
Blows vertically
There is no smoke
Electric trains don't produce any smoke! If you're on an electric train and there's smoke, you should be alarmed!
You’re running a race and pass the person in 2nd place. What place are you in now?
1st place
2nd place
If you pass the person in second place, you are now in 2nd place. You'd have to pass the person in 1st place to be first.
3rd place
None of the above

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How many words in the dictionary are spelled incorrectly?
0
1
While you might find a few mistakes in a faulty dictionary, there is only ONE word in the dictionary that is spelled incorrectly, and that is the word "incorrectly."
2
3
Two girls were born to the same mother, on the same day, at the same time, in the same month and year, and yet they’re not twins. How can this be?
They ARE twins
They are triplets
The girls are not twins, but triplets! If the mom had triplets, when talking about two of the girls, you can't call them twins because that would be incorrect!
It's impossible
They're not related
On my way to St. Ives, I saw a man with 7 wives. Each wife had 7 sacks. Each sack had 7 cats. Each cat had 7 kittens. Kitten, cats, sacks, wives. How many were going to St. Ives?
0
1
Although it might be easy to confuse, the person was traveling alone and on the way saw a man. There's no indication that the man is also traveling to St. Ives.
2
401

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When young, I am sweet in the sun. When middle-aged, I make you gay. When old, I am valued more than ever.
Person
Water
Sugar
Wine
When you put this with wine, it makes perfect sense! All wines start off sweet and eventually they grow to make you gay, happy or a little inebriated. Wine is mostly valued when it has had time to age!
What disappears if you say its name?
Taboo
Voldemort
Silence
Silence cannot exist if you say the word. Once you say its name, silence disappears.
Odor
How much dirt is there in a hole 3 feet deep, 6 feet long and 4 feet wide?
1 pound
10 poiunds
72 square feel
None
There can't be any dirt it in! If there was dirt in it, it wouldn't be a hole.

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Feed me and I live, yet give me a drink and I die.
Dogs
Silence
Fire
You can feed a fire with things like wood, but once you give it a "drink," like water, it will die!
Smoke
Forward I’m heavy, but backward I’m not. What am I?
Weight
Pounds
Ton
When you look at the riddle, it is telling you that forward, the WORD is heavy. Backward the word is NOT. This means the forwards word is "ton," which is indeed heavy.
Grams
It walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three legs in the evening. What is it?
Caterpillar
Spider
Dog
Person
In order to answer this riddle, you must be aware of the fact that they're not alluding to actual times on the clock, but times in a person's life. At the beginning, we crawl on "four legs," soon changing to two legs when we are able to walk. In old age, many need the help of a cane, which gives you three "legs."

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If there are three apples and you take two away, how many apples do you have?
None
1
2
This is a simple riddle. If there were three apples and YOU took TWO of them, of course you would have two apples.
3
Some months have 30 days, and some months have 31 days. How many have 28?
1
5
8
12
Don't get tricked! Although February is the only month that never surpasses 28 days (except for leap years), the other months of the year ALWAYS have 28 days, so the answer would be all 12!
If Teresa's daughter is my daughter's mother, what am I to Teresa?
Mother
Daughter
Let's break this down! First start off with "my daughter's mother." The speaker of the riddle is referring to herself because if it's HER daughter, then she is the mother. Now we have "If Teresa's daughter is ME, what am I to Teresa?" Now the answer is clear that she is Teresa's daughter!
Granddaughter
I am Teresa

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I am the beginning of the end, and the end of time and space. I am essential to creation, and I surround every place. What am I?
God
The number 1
The letter E
In order to solve this riddle, you must pay attention to the letters - the beginning of the End, the end of timE, surrounding Every placE.
None of the above
Brothers and sisters, I have none, but this man's father is my father's son. Who is this man?
Him
His son
It might get confusing, but it is easier to split up the riddle. First look at "my father's son," which the speaker is using to reference himself. If "this man's" father is himself, the man is his son.
His father
His grandfather
You Got:
/35
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