Questions tagged [riddle]
This is NOT a general tag for all puzzles that are somehow indirect. A riddle gives indirect clues about an unnamed object or concept to be identified, often in a poem format.
6,153
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A short, brutal riddle
Left alone, I'm a word with five letters.
I'm honest and fair, I'll admit.
Rearranged, I'm of no use to trains.
Again, and I'm an overt place, warm and well lit.
What am I?
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4
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This is important. I need you to listen…
Look, you don't know me. We've never met. But, like I said, I need you to listen...
I had the most disturbing dream the other night... Woke up in a cold sweat and couldn't get back to sleep. It wasn'...
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My prefix is food, my suffix is rude
I thought of this riddle myself. Feedback is appreciated.
My prefix is food.
My suffix is rude.
My infix comes in rounds.
I keep you off the ground.
What am I?
- 14.4k
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votes
2
answers
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Hearken, now, and listen close!
Hearken, now, and listen close; I have so much to tell.
Now lend an ear and do your job; you surely will excel.
To find my hidden message, gaze on every word herein.
While skimming through it ...
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votes
13
answers
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If you only have half of me, then I am of no use
People think a part of me is sticky, but I'm not. I do have a
sticky friend though.
I can create almost anything, but I'm not very creative.
After I have done my thing, you can't tell ...
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115
votes
9
answers
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A hunt for long forgotten treasure ...but beware the pirate's curse!
I never really knew my uncle growing up. He seemed nice enough, but I got the sense from the distant, troubled look in his eyes that there was at least some truth to the rumours...
Years before I was ...
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110
votes
1
answer
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This party ends in tragedy (I planned it from the start, you see)
The DJ from Moscow was pumping out tunes.
The house mostly bare but for furniture, strewn;
A sofa for three and an armchair for one.
The guests started piling in, looking for fun...
'Twas ...
- 37.3k
109
votes
3
answers
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The brain-curdling eldritch horrors and the third dimension
We're in the year 2016 so it's finally time to take puzzles to the 3rd dimension!
So let's see what those beautiful times bring us today:
(click to enlarge)
Everyone of you clever sods could as ...
- 3,020
93
votes
4
answers
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It's my birthday today - how old am I turning?
It is my birthday today
Last year I had 5 candles
4 were lit the last was not
But today, I'll light them all
How old am I turning today?
HINT: I am not turning 5 today and...
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90
votes
9
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I am a computer’s nightmare, but a programmer’s best friend
I am a computer’s nightmare, but a programmer’s best friend.
I am both the cause of a problem and the source of its resolution.
What am I?
- 916
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votes
3
answers
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The Puzzling Times
$$\bbox[orange]{\begin{array}{rcl}\\\hline\huge\ \ \star\ \ \star\ \ The&\huge{Puzzling}&\huge{Times\ \ \star\ \ \star\ \ }\\\hline\\\end{array}}$$
Vol. 4, No. 1 $\raise 2pt \tt{\large{\...
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votes
1
answer
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Why did they close my riddle?
So I came up with this -at least what I thought to be a- great riddle and posted it on this site.
Within minutes, it was closed by the community. It said:
This looks like a puzzle you found somewhere. ...
- 39.2k
79
votes
6
answers
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This is it. This is the one. Save your wife
You now know where your wife is, so you hop on a plane and fly over to France. You reach the house and burst through the front door, only to find the house deserted. In despair, you slump into a chair ...
- 58.4k
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votes
5
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The Thirteen Doors of Aj Noc'la
An entry in Fortnightly Topic Challenge #39: Deep Down in the Dungeon 1.
Having finally defeated the tyrannical wizard Aj Noc'la, your party makes its way through the door at the rear of the throne ...
- 37.3k
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votes
7
answers
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The answer to this riddle is a number
I made this up myself a while back, just thought I'd share:
The key to this riddle is only for you
Below are instructions, above this the clue
First strike the one near the head of a year
...
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76
votes
1
answer
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Word Riddle - you love me or you hate me
With two I’m affirmative
With three I’m respectful
With four I’m more respectful
With all five I’m either loved or hated
But when I’m loved, I kill; and when I’m hated, I may save lives.
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votes
5
answers
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You've Probably Seen Me Naked
As an alphabet aficionado, I can make you laugh long into the night.
As a make of Japanese vehicle, I can keep your surroundings clean and beautiful.
As an execution apparatus, I make you laugh ...
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70
votes
5
answers
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A Riddle Within a Riddle
MY friend, your luck has Turned.
i've made tHIs Riddle and it is the best, anD "soon iT sHould bE solved.
if it is not, then a QUIet miNd mighT let sEedS be Sown, within which idEas caN grow.
...
- 26k
70
votes
4
answers
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Discover the meaning of life!
You've trekked through jungle and tundra, across mountaintops and deserts, into giant caverns and beneath the ocean to find the person known as The Oracle. Finally, after all your hard work, you find ...
- 17k
69
votes
4
answers
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A seven letter word - the meaning doesn't change if you remove letters
I am a seven letter word. If you remove one letter from me my meaning does not change. If you remove two letters from me my meaning still does not change, and if you remove three letters from me, my ...
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votes
3
answers
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Riddled and Dismembered
The following is a riddle. Do not solve the riddle. Instead, explain the title.
My top is tilted to the light,
A trumpet, almost, in its form
You court a woman? There I am.
I please, palliate,...
- 23.7k
65
votes
7
answers
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I have three fingers. What is this?
I have three fingers,
Middle finger has a triangle,
Left finger has a circle and,
Right finger has a square
Put these fingers on your PC
What is this?
- 2,126
64
votes
2
answers
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Wanted: Family of 6
After many years, authorities are still looking for a family of 6, five of whom are suspected of many multiple-country border crossings with no passports or proper identification. Although no known ...
- 18.2k
63
votes
1
answer
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The Evicted Tenant
Today, I started my job as a package delivery man. As chances have it, one of the delivery addresses was right on my apartment floor! However, the handwriting was so bad I couldn't even make out the ...
- 3,286
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votes
3
answers
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My jokes may not make you smile, but at least my name will
Stolen from babies as soon as I'm born,
Right from my maker by force I am torn
Pale at first, weak, and infirm,
Oh how I'll change in my ultimate form.
Billions of creatures will toil away
Changing ...
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votes
5
answers
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I have three siblings, but some would say four
I have three siblings, but some would say four.
They say we are all, from the sky to the floor.
My brothers formed a band, but I wasn't invited.
Without me, you and the reaper will soon be ...
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votes
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A Puzzle That Asks Why There's A Dryer in my Search Engine
The bag is not transmogrified.
A hookah with some fizz inside.
The snake, the bite. The words of pride.
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votes
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How Big is Your Vocabulary?
Can you guess what I am?
Sometimes I hang out with the Pope,
Other times I spend my time in the country.
I do not have just one correct spelling, but two.
A botanist would describe me as a shape of a ...
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votes
3
answers
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Is the magic liquid in the bottle safe to drink?
You buy a bottle with a letter from the merchant, the merchant tells you that when you drink the liquid in the bottle it grants you eternal life, he supposedly deciphered this from the letter.
...
- 1,266
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Find the treasure before Dargloc does
Some time ago I met an old man who handed me a scrap of paper and told me:
Dargloc - the treasure hunter is searching. You must be quicker. The key to success is to obey the rule:
"If Dargloc rests ...
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I'm half of a hundred
I'm half of a hundred and both halves of a Belgian detective, two thirds of solar exposure and one eighth of an Age.
If you know who I am, post your answer, plus your explanation for each of the ...
- 553
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votes
7
answers
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Are you clever enough?
I'm always in your thoughts, technically twice
If displayed correctly, just to be precise
If you see my left you will call me a con
and it would tear me apart if you called me John
Take down a note ...
- 3,020
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The answer is a girl's name (my future granddaughter) - can anyone help?
I'm a villain who will have you up the wall.
I go into your veins, green, brown - well read.
But you have to be great to get into me.
Only other clue I have is it's not related to Game of Thrones....
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9
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An untouchable time traveller
I'm needed by a doctor to travel through time,
Or a player looking for their keys.
When on the plane where the great answer resides,
I'm part of the whole Strategy.
I can be found in a ...
- 136k
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votes
1
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Poor Farmer Ned
Farmer Ned bought a pasture surrounded by a beautiful wooden fence. He built a dividing fence and moved his horses to one end and his cows to the other.
But the next day, most of his new neighbors ...
- 27k
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votes
5
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You like to have a drink after you kiss me - who am I?
You like to have a drink after you kiss me
And if you've got the stomach for it, you can eat me
When I am last, I am not least
I'm said to overpower beasts
And though I'm weak and thin and ...
user17947
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votes
1
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Just a bunch of dudes
My prefix is dude.
My infix is little dude.
My suffix is too loud, dude.
I'm a stand-up dude.
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I apologise in advance for this
A man has 17 cigarettes.
He gives half of the cigarettes to his oldest son.
He gives one third of the cigarettes to his middle son.
He gives one ninth of the cigarettes to his youngest son.
...
- 1,153
47
votes
4
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Famous eater. Who am I?
Although I've never been interviewed,
I'm famous all over the world.
People love to watch me eat,
But some disapprove of my habits.
I don't mind working for my food,
And I like to eat on the run.
...
- 18.2k
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votes
6
answers
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I am both lock and key - who am I?
Enter! Small or large, as the case may be
I'll assist you - it's easy! - I'm both lock and key
Who am I?
user17947
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votes
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"Paradoxically my name can be the solution" - what am I?
By definition I cannot exist, but paradoxically my name can be the solution
You cannot solve me, but can conclude and resolve me
You can try to figure me out, but you cannot figure me out
What am I?
...
- 609
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votes
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Almost a curse?
What am I?
My last three letters serve to clarify.My first four letters are where famous people speak.Dropping all consonants, I am almost a curse.
The solution is a single English word and, once ...
user18360
46
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One 'double agent' two-step on a waltzing floor
I'm in a jam – cornered I am! –
No clue 'bout where to go
Here's what went down, a pretty gown
Some wine, a French chateau
She whispered underneath her breath
"Come dance with me and ...
- 2,555
44
votes
9
answers
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I last billions of years or a couple of milliseconds
Please help. I've given this riddle much thought and can't get anywhere.
I last billions of years or a couple of milliseconds.
I embody the Jurassic period and the Renaissance.
I am composed of ...
- 441
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votes
1
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About a man and a bee
A man walks out of his house and over to his flower garden. He holds out his right hand and a bee lands in it.
What is in his eye?
- 1,463
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votes
7
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What's cold and hard and doesn't bend?
It's cold and hard and doesn't bend,
Can bring a life to a speedy end:
It's neither cruel nor kind nor nice.
The answer, friend, is here: _____
Your faults and you it judges well:
Too ...
- 117k
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votes
6
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You'll never walk out of this room
I'm a kind of room you'll find in most any building.
You've walked into me many times I'm sure.
But you have never walked out of me and you never will.
What am I?
To my knowledge I ...
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43
votes
2
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My twin was born 16 days before me. Who am I?
We were born out of mankind's unquenchable thirst;
Despite my name, I wasn't the first:
Because of a difference in trajectory
My "younger" twin was born 16 days before me.
We were recently ...
- 77.4k
43
votes
5
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A riddle I thought of on the bus
As the silhouette of a ball comes forth
Sprouts an arrow pointing North
To the left contains round borders
To the right lies four corners
The road is split between these three sections
You ...
- 443
43
votes
2
answers
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Reassemble the riddles!
I'd just finished writing four short 4-line riddles, painstakingly making sure each line was correct, when a wind caught the slips of paper I'd been using to write on and blew them all over the floor. ...
- 117k