Riddles and Groaners
| Riddles | Groaners | |
1. | What gets wetter and wetter the more it dries?
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I have two U.S. coins that add up to fifty-five cents. One is not a nickel. What coins are they?
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You throw away the outside and cook the inside. Then you eat the outside and throw away the inside. What did you eat?
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A farmer had nine sheep, and all but seven died. How many did he have left?
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3. | What goes up and down the stairs without moving?
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Three large people try to crowd under one small umbrella, but nobody gets wet. How is this possible?
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4. | What can you catch but not throw?
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You are a bus driver. At the first stop of the day, eight people get on board. At the second stop, four get off, and eleven get on. At the third stop, two get off, and six get on. At the fourth stop, thirteen get off, and one gets on. At the fifth stop, five get off, and three get on. At the sixth stop, three get off, and two get on. What color are the bus driver's eyes?
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5. | I can run but not walk. Wherever I go, thought follows close behind. What am I?
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If you take two apples from three apples, how many do you have? Solution |
6. | What's black and white and red all over?
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A certain five letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it. What is the word?
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7. | What goes around the world but stays in a corner?
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An electric train is traveling northwest at 95 miles per hour, and the wind is blowing southwest at 95 miles per hour. In which direction does the smoke blow?
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8. | I have holes in my top and bottom, my left and right, and in the middle. But I still hold water. What am I?
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Some months have 30 days. Some months have 31 days. How many months have 28 days?
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9. | Give me food, and I will live; give me water, and I will die. What am I?
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A train leaves from New York City heading toward Los Angeles at 100 mph. Three hours later, a train leaves from Los Angeles heading toward New York City at 200 mph. Assume there's exactly 2000 miles between Los Angeles and New York City. When they meet, which train is closer to New York City? Solution |
10. | The man who invented it doesn't want it. The man who bought it doesn't need it. The man who needs it doesn't know it. What is it? Solution |
A woman gave birth to two sons who were born on the same hour of the same day of the same year but were not twins. How is this possible?
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11. | I run over fields and woods all day. Under the bed at night I sit not alone. My tongue hangs out, up and to the rear, awaiting to be filled in the morning. What am I?
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A man lives in a house with four walls. Each wall has a window. Each window has a southern exposure. A bear walks by. What color is the bear?
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12. | Throw it off the highest building, and I'll not break. But put me in the ocean, and I will. What am I?
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Your sock drawer contains ten pairs of white socks and ten pairs of black socks. If you're only allowed to take one sock from the drawer at a time, what's the minimum number of socks you need to take before you're guaranteed to have a pair?
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13. | What can run but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps? Solution |
A black man dressed all in black, wearing a black mask, stands at a crossroads in a totally black-painted town. All of the streetlights in town are broken. There is no moon. A black-painted car without headlights drives straight toward him, but turns in time and doesn't hit him. How did the driver know to swerve?
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14. | No sooner spoken than broken. What is it?
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A man was born in 1964 and died in 1984 at the age of 25. How is this possible?
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15. | A certain crime is punishable if attempted but not punishable if committed. What is it?
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A horse is tied to a 30 foot rope. A haystack lies 40 feet away, but the horse is able to eat it. How is this possible?
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16. | You use a knife to slice my head and weep beside me when I am dead. What am I?
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Forward I'm heavy, backwards I'm not. What am I?
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17. | I'm the part of the bird that's not in the sky. I can swim in the ocean and yet remain dry. What am I?
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What two words have the most letters in it?
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18. | I am mother and father, but never birth or nurse. I'm rarely still, but I never wander. What am I?
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While on my way to St. Ives, I met a man with seven wives. Each wife had seven sacks; Each sack had seven cats; Each cat had seven kittens. Kittens, cats, sacks, wives; How many were going to St. Ives? Solution |
19. | I went into the woods and got it. I sat down to seek it. I brought it home with me because I couldn't find it. What is it?
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An encyclopedia consists of ten volumes (sitting next to each other, in order, on a shelf). Each volume contains one thousand pages. Excluding the covers of each volume, how many pages are between the first page of the encyclopedia and the last?
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20. | I am weightless, but you can see me. Put me in a bucket, and I'll make it lighter. What am I? | If a boy and a half can eat a hot dog and a half in a minute and a half, how long would it take six boys to eat six hot dogs?
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21. | I never was, am always to be, No one ever saw me, nor ever will, And yet I am the confidence of all To live and breathe on this terrestrial ball. What am I? Solution |
How long is the answer to this question?
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22. | I'm light as a feather, yet the strongest man can't hold me for much more than a minute. What am I?
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What do you call a man who was born in Columbus, raised in Cincinnati, and died in Chicago?
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23. | I am the black child of a white father, a wingless bird, flying even to the clouds of heaven. I give birth to tears of mourning in pupils that meet me, even though there is no cause for grief, and at once on my birth I am dissolved into air. What am I?
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How many outs in an inning? Solution |
24. | Pronounced as one letter, And written with three, Two letters there are, And two only in me. I'm double, I'm single, I'm black, blue, and gray, I'm read from both ends, And the same either way. What am I? Solution |
How many birthdays does the average man have?
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25. | At night they come without being fetched, and by day they are lost without being stolen. What are they? Solution |
If you had one match and entered a room in which there were a kerosene lamp, an oil burner, and a wood burning stove, which would you light first?
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26. | I'm where yesterday follows today, and tomorrow's in the middle. What am I?
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If a doctor gave you three pills and told you to take one every half hour, how long would they last you?
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27. | From the beginning of eternity To the end of time and space To the beginning of every end And the end of every place. What am I? Solution |
An archeologist claims he found some gold coins dated 46 B.C. Do you believe him?
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28. | In a marble hall white as milk Lined with skin as soft as silk Within a fountain crystal-clear A golden apple doth appear. No doors there are to this stronghold, Yet thieves break in to steal its gold. -- Mother Goose
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Is it legal for a man living west of the Mississippi River to be buried east of the Mississippi River?
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29. | It is said among my people that some things are improved by death. Tell me, what stinks while living but in death smells good?
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Divide 30 by 1/2 and add 10. What is the answer?
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30. | All about, but cannot be seen, Can be captured, cannot be held, No throat, but can be heard. What is it? Solution |
How many animals of each gender did Moses take aboard the ark?
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31. | If you break me, I do not stop working. If you touch me, I may be snared. If you lose me, Nothing will matter. What am I? Solution |
A clerk in a butcher's shop is five foot ten. What does he weigh?
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32. | If a man carried my burden, He would break his back. I am not rich, But I leave silver in my track. What am I? Solution |
Do they have a 4th of July in England?
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33. | Glittering points that downward thrust, Sparkling spears that never rust. What is it? Solution |
In North Carolina, is it legal for a man to marry his widow's sister?
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34. | Weight in my belly, Trees on my back, Nails in my ribs, Feet do I lack. What am I? Solution |
A man leaves home and takes three left turns. Upon arriving back home he comes across two men wearing masks. Who are these men?
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35. | Until I am measured, I am not known. Yet how you miss me, When I have flown! What am I? Solution |
How can you take 1 from 19 and leave 20?
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36. | My life can be measured in hours; I serve by being devoured. Thin, I am quick; fat, I am slow. Wind is my foe. What am I? Solution |
Jack gave John the following challenge: "If you sit down in that chair, I bet I can make you get out of it before I run around the chair three times," he said. "Aw, that's not fair," John said. "You'll just prick me with a pin or something." "Nope," Jack said. "I won't touch you, either directly or with any object. If you get out of the chair, it'll be by your own choice." John thought, accepted the challenge, and lo and behold, Jack won the bet. How did he do it?
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37. | Lighter than what I'm made of, More of me is hidden than is seen. What am I? Solution |
How much dirt is there in a hole in the ground that's two feet wide, three feet long, and four feet deep?
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38. | To unravel me You need a key. No key that was made by locksmith's hand, But a key that only I will understand. What am I? Solution |
A strong man at the circus can bench press 1200 pounds. How much can he lift with a pulley and a 25 foot rope when the rope weighs two pounds, the pulley is attached to the ceiling, the ceiling is 10 feet from the floor, and the man is standing on the floor?
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39. | I give you a group of three. One is sitting down and will never get up. The second eats as much as is given to him, yet is always hungry. The third goes away and never returns. What are they?
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How many grooves are there on an LP record?
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40. | Whoever makes it, tells it not. Whoever takes it, knows it not. Whoever knows it, wants it not. What is it?
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What word is always spelled incorrectly?
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41. | There is not wind enough to twirl That one red leaf, nearest of its clan, Which dances as often as dance it can. -- Samuel Taylor Coleridge Solution |
On what day(s) of the year does the sun rise and set at the same time of day?
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42. | What does man love more than life? Fear more than death or mortal strife? What do the poor have, what the rich require, And what contented men desire? What does the miser spend, the spendthrift save, And all men carry to their graves? Solution |
Think of words ending in "gry." Angry and hungry are two of them. There are only three words in the English language. What is the third word? The word is something that everyone uses every day. If you have listened carefully, I have already told you what it is.
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43. | Sir, I bear a rhyme excelling In mystic force and magic spelling Celestial sprites elucidate All my own striving can't relate Solution |
If eggs can be laid at the rate of eight every seven days, how many can a rooster lay in sixteen days?
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44. | What work is it that the faster you work, the longer it is before you're done, and the slower you work, the sooner you're finished?
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George's mother had three children: one named April, one named May, and one named what?
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45. | When I am filled, I can point the way; When I am empty, Nothing moves me. I have two skins, One without and one within. What am I? Solution |
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46. | As a whole, I am both safe and secure. Behead me, and I become a place of meeting. Behead me again, and I am the partner of ready. Restore me, and I become the domain of beasts. What am I? Solution |
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47. | I fly, yet I have no wings. I cry, yet I have no eyes. Darkness follows me; lower light I never see.
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48. | What walks on four legs in the morning, two at mid-day, and three in the evening?
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49. | What is it that, after you take away the whole, some still remains? | |
50. | I have hands that wave at you, Though I never say goodbye. It's cool for you to be with me, Especially when I say, "HI." What am I? Solution |
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51. | You can have me but cannot hold me; Gain me and quickly lose me. If treated with care I can be great, And if betrayed I will break. What am I? Solution |
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52. | My tines be long, My tines be short My tines end ere My first report. What am I? Solution |
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53. | My thunder comes before the lightning; My lightning comes before the clouds; My rain dries all the land it touches. What am I? Solution |