50 Riddles for Adults

Riddle me this, riddle me that - time to put your thinking caps on and try to solve these 50 challenging brain teasers! Post one a day on social media and see which of your friends or family is a true smarty pants, or divide into teams and see how long it takes to solve all 50 correctly.

Take this fun activity to the beach or on your next camping trip and keep the laughter and good times going. Ready, set, solve! 

1. Riddle: What five letter word written in all caps can be read right side up and upside down?

Answer: SWIMS 

2. Riddle: Kevin's father has three sons, Snap, Crackle and __________.

Answer: Kevin 

3. Riddle: What goes up but never comes down?

Answer: Your age. 

4. Riddle: What has hands but can't clap?

Answer: A clock. 

5. Riddle: What do you find at the end of a rainbow?

Answer: The letter "w." 

6. Riddle: What meanders through cities, fields and mountains but never moves?

Answer: Roads 

7. Riddle: Two boys are born to the same mother but they are not twins. How is this possible?

Answer: They have another sibling - they are triplets. 

8. Riddle: What has a full set of teeth but can't bite?

Answer: A comb.  

9. Riddle: No matter if you use it or not, you change it every day, week or month. What is it?

Answer: A calendar. 

10. Riddle: What can go through a window but doesn't break it?

Answer: Light 

11. Riddle: What runs around a yard but never moves?
    Answer: A fence.

12. Riddle: How many letters are in the alphabet?

Answer: 11 are in "the alphabet"  

13. Riddle: A woman lives in a one-story house where everything is green. The carpet is green, the tile is green, the cabinets are green…what color are the stairs?

Answer: It's a one-story house, there are no stairs.  

14. Riddle: What is caught but never thrown?

Answer: A cold. 

15. Riddle: What is always running but never gets tired?

Answer: A refrigerator. 

16. Riddle: What has a head and a tail but no body?

Answer: A coin. 

17. Riddle: What is not alive but dies often?

Answer: A battery. 

18. Riddle: What belongs to you but used by everyone else?

Answer: Your name. 

19. Riddle: I am lighter than a feather but no one can hold me for very long - what am I?
    Answer: Your breath.

20. Riddle: What month has 28 days?

Answer: All of them.  

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21. Riddle: What word in the dictionary is spelled wrong?

Answer: Wrong 

22. Riddle: What kind of band doesn't play music?

Answer: A rubber band. 

23. Riddle: What has to break before you can use it?

Answer: An egg. 

24. Riddle: No matter where you are, what can you find in every corner and every room?

Answer: The letter "O". 

25. Riddle: How many pounds of dirt is in a 3 by 4 foot hole?

Answer: None, it is a hole. 

26. Riddle: What weighs more - a ton of bricks or a ton of feathers?

Answer: They both weigh the same.  

27. Riddle: What is covered in needles but can't sew?

Answer: A Christmas Tree. 

28. Riddle: What coat is always wet when you put it on?

Answer: A coat of paint. 

29. Riddle: What has a lot of keys but can't open a single lock?

Answer: A piano. 

30. Riddle: I have a lot of hearts but no other organs - what am I?

Answer: A deck of cards. 

31. Riddle: A captain charters a boat full of people but not a single person. How is that possible?

Answer: All the passengers were married. 

32. Riddle: No matter how hungry you are, you can't eat these two things for dinner.

Answer: Breakfast and lunch. 

33. Riddle: What contains three "e"s but contains only one letter?

Answer: An envelope. 

34. Riddle: Where does today come before yesterday?

Answer: The dictionary. 

35. Riddle: What tastes better than it smells?

Answer: Your tongue. 

36. Riddle: A cowboy rode into town on a Friday, stayed three nights and left on Friday - how is that possible?

Answer: The horse was named Friday. 

37. Riddle: What can be made, cracked, told or played?

Answer: A joke. 

38. Riddle: What goes around the world but always stays in the corner?

Answer: A stamp. 

39. Riddle: What has lots of eyes but cannot see?

Answer: A potato. 

40. Riddle: What freezes when it gets too hot?

Answer: A computer. 

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41. Riddle: What building in North America has the most stories?

Answer: The library.  

42. Riddle: What has a neck but no head?

Answer: A bottle. 

43. Riddle: What occurs once in a minute, twice in a moment and never in 1,000 years?

Answer: The letter "m". 

44. Riddle: What gets bigger when you feed it but dies when you water it?

Answer: A fire.  

45. Riddle: They say two is company and three is a crowd - what is four and five?

Answer: Nine. 

46. Riddle: What can you hold in your left hand but never in your right hand?

Answer: Your right hand.  

47. Riddle: If you find yourself in a dark room with a match, fireplace, candle and kerosene lamp, which should you light first?

Answer: The match.  

48. Riddle: If you are running a race and pass the person in second place, what place are you in?

Answer: Second. 

49. Riddle: A woman walks outside in the pouring rain without an umbrella or a hat but not a single hair on her head gets wet. How is that possible?

Answer: She is bald.  

50. Riddle: I point up when it is light and down when it is dark - what am I?

Answer: A light switch.  

Now that you're warmed up, feel free to jump in and add your own riddles! You'll be having a blast in no time. 

Courtney McLaughlin is a freelance writer in Charlotte, N.C. She gratefully shares her life, home and heart with her daughter and their dog.