Riddles have puzzled and intrigued humans forever and a day. Equal parts frustrating and fun, they get the mind whirring and ideas flowing. You can’t help but smile as you consider the options. And you can’t beat the lightbulb moment when everything clicks, and you figure out the answer.
Do you love riddles? Want to sink your teeth into some tricky ones? Here are 15 extra-hard riddles to get your brain turning. The answers are at the end, so no cheating!
1. Selling and Buying
The one who makes it always sells it.
The one who buys it never uses it.
The one who uses it never knows he’s using it.
2. The Dropping Riddle
You can drop me from the tallest building and I’ll be fine, but if you drop me in water I die. What am I?
3. The Riddle of Contradictions
What always runs but never walks, often murmurs but never talks, has a bed but never sleeps, has a mouth but never eats?
Hint: Don’t think too literally!
4. The Riddle of the Sphinx
This is the mythical riddle from Sophocles’ ancient play Oedipus Rex. The Sphinx would kill any travelers on the road to Thebes who got the answer wrong. No pressure!
Which creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?
5. Look It Up
Which word in the dictionary is spelled incorrectly?
Hint: there isn’t actually a mistake in the dictionary!
6. The Riddle About the Car and the Hotel
A man is pushing his car along the road when he comes to a hotel. He shouts, “I’m bankrupt!” Why?
Hint: his car is rather small.
7. The Ship’s Captain
The captain of a ship was telling an interesting story: “We traversed the sea far and wide. At one time, two of my sailors were standing on opposite sides of the ship. One was looking west and the other east. And yet, they could see each other clearly.” How is this possible?
8. The Twins’ Riddle
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?
9. The Riddle About the Man and the Storm
A man goes out for a walk during a storm with nothing to protect him from the rain. He doesn’t have a hat, a hood, or an umbrella. But by the end of his walk, there isn’t a single wet hair on his head. Why doesn’t the man have wet hair?
10. You Can Look, but You Can’t Touch
When you stop to look, you can always see me. But if you try to touch me, you can never feel me. Although you walk towards me, I remain the same distance from you. What am I?
11. The Bus Driver Riddle
A bus driver goes the wrong way down a one-way street. He passes some policemen, but they don’t stop him. Why?
Hint: Is he on the road?
12. The Riddle of the Legs
You walk into a room and see a bed. On the bed, there are two dogs, five cats, a giraffe, six cows, and a goose. There are also three dogs flying above the bed. How many legs are on the floor?
Hint: Fewer than you think!
13. The One About the Stairs
In a one-story house at the corner of the road, the bedrooms were yellow, the kitchen was orange, the living room was red, the garage was blue, the entry hall was green and the sitting room was purple. What color were the stairs?
Hint: Read the riddle again, slowly.
14. Death Row
A murderer is condemned to death. He must choose between three rooms. The first is full of raging fires, the second is full of assassins with loaded guns, and the third is full of lions that haven’t eaten in three years. Which room is the safest?
15. The Clothes Store
The owner of a popular clothing store comes up with his own unique method of pricing items. A vest costs $8, socks cost $10, a tie costs $6, and a blouse costs $12. Using the owner’s method, how much would underwear cost
ANSWERS
- A coffin.
- Paper.
- A river.
- Man (crawls on 4 legs as a baby, walks on two as a man, uses a walking stick as an old man).
- The word ‘Incorrectly’.
- He is playing Monopoly, and his game piece is the car.
- Both men are standing with their backs to the sides of the ship, facing inwards.
- They are not twins, they are triplets (they have another sister).
- The man is bald.
- The horizon.
- He is walking, not driving a bus.
- Six (your two legs, and four bed legs).
- There were no stairs – the house has one story.
- The lion room – after three years with no food, the lions are dead.
- $18 – the owner charges $2 per letter in the name of the item.