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Hard riddles for adults.

Here are 50 hard riddles for adults, with answers: tricky riddles, trick questions and word play. “For adults” means harder, not rude, so every one works at work or in class.

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Sample

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I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I answer whenever you call. What am I?

Turn these into a live quiz – everyone answers from their phone, free for 100 players.

All 50 riddles with answers

Riddles tagged Run as a live quiz have one short answer, so they work as a 4-option quiz question. Talk it through riddles are better out loud.

Tricky

I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I answer whenever you call. What am I?
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An echo
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Pointing at a photo, someone says: “I have no brothers or sisters, but that man’s father is my father’s son.” Who is in the photo?
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Their son “My father’s son” is the speaker, so the man’s father is the speaker.
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Turn me on my side and I’m everything. Cut me in half and I’m nothing. What am I?
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The number 8 On its side it’s the infinity sign; cut across the middle it’s two zeros.
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Two parents and two children go fishing. Each catches one fish, but they bring home only three. Nobody lost a fish. How?
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There were only three of them: a grandparent, a parent and a child
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Give it once and you have two. Take it away and you have none. What is it?
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A choice
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Sailors throw me out when they need me and pull me back in when they’re done, and I stop their ship from drifting. What am I?
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An anchor
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I’m higher without a head than with one. What am I?
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A pillow
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I go in dry and come out wet. The longer I stay in, the stronger I get. What am I?
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A teabag
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You can see me in water, but I never get wet. What am I?
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A reflection
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What is everyone in the world doing at the same time, right now?
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Getting older
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What breaks but never falls, and what falls but never breaks?
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Day breaks and night falls
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I’m full of leaves but I’m not a plant, and I have a spine but no bones. What am I?
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A book
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I have lots of teeth, I never eat, and I hold your jacket closed. What am I?
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A zipper
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I stand at a crossroads with arms but no hands, pointing the way to towns I’ll never visit. What am I?
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A signpost
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You throw away the outside, cook the inside, eat the outside and throw away the inside. What is it?
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Corn on the cob Husk off, cook the cob, eat the kernels, leave the core.
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What can you serve but never eat, and the other person sends it straight back?
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A tennis ball
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Someone rides into town on Friday, stays three days, and leaves on Friday. How?
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Their horse is called Friday
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How far can you walk into a forest?
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Halfway After that, you’re walking out of it.
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You’re in a room with no windows and no doors. How do you get out?
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Stop imagining
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Which side of a cat has the most fur?
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The outside
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Trick questions

How many months have 28 days?
Show answer
All 12
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Can you name three days in a row without saying Monday, Wednesday or Friday?
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Yesterday, today and tomorrow
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A rooster lays an egg on the very top of a sloping roof. Which side does the egg roll down?
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Neither Roosters don’t lay eggs.
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Which is heavier, a kilo of feathers or a kilo of steel?
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Neither, they’re both a kilo
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You’re running a race and you overtake the person in second place. What place are you in now?
Show answer
Second
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A farmer has 17 sheep. All but 9 run away. How many are left?
Show answer
9
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Sam’s mother has four children: April, May and June. What is the fourth child called?
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Sam
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What can you hold in your left hand but never in your right?
Show answer
Your right elbow
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If you drop a yellow hat into the Red Sea, what does it become?
Show answer
Wet
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An electric train is heading north at 100 km/h, and the wind is blowing west. Which way does the smoke blow?
Show answer
There is no smoke Electric trains don’t make smoke.
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Which is correct: “the yolk of the egg is white” or “the yolk of the egg are white”?
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Neither Egg yolks are yellow.
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There are three apples on a table and you take away two. How many apples do you have?
Show answer
Two
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How many times can you subtract 5 from 25?
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Once After that, you’re subtracting from 20.
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A taxi driver goes the wrong way down a one-way street, past two police officers, and nobody stops her. Why not?
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She was walking
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In which month do people sleep the least?
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February It’s the shortest month.
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Word play

I start eternity, I finish time and space, I begin every end and I close every race. What am I?
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The letter E
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What is the end of everything?
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The letter G
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Which bird can lift a whole car?
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A crane
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I’m a small green seed with three letters. Take away my last two letters and I still sound the same. What am I?
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A pea
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What word starts with IS, ends with AND, and has LA in the middle?
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Island
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Which five-letter word, written in capitals, reads the same when you turn it upside down?
Show answer
SWIMS
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Name a nine-letter word that stays a word each time you take away one letter, all the way down to a single letter.
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Startling Startling, starling, staring, string, sting, sing, sin, in, I.
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Why is the letter A like a flower?
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A B comes after it Say it out loud: a bee comes after it.
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What kind of cup can’t hold any water, and makes you jump every time it comes?
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A hiccup
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What is there one of in every corner and two of in every room?
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The letter O
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What can you find in the middle of nowhere?
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The letter H
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Picture the word STAND written above the word I. What phrase does it make?
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I understand
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Picture the word MIND written above the word MATTER. What phrase does it make?
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Mind over matter
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I’m a word with six letters. Take one away and twelve remain. What am I?
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Dozens Remove the s and you have a dozen.
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Which word means a small boat and reads the same forward and backward?
Show answer
Kayak
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How to run a hard riddle round with a group

Read the riddle out twice, slowly, then give everyone thirty seconds before anyone may answer. Hard riddles reward a second look, so allow a full minute and give one clue if the room is stuck.

In a room. Split into teams of three or four. Each team writes its answer on paper, then all teams show at once. One point per right answer, and play five riddles a round.
On a video call. Share the riddle on screen and ask everyone to type the answer in the chat but not press Enter. Count down from three, and everyone sends together, so nobody copies.
In class. Use one riddle as a warm-up or a brain break. Ask students who solve it to explain how they got there, which is often more useful than the answer itself.

What makes a riddle hard

A hard riddle points your mind the wrong way. Trick questions hide the answer in plain sight, so the people who answer fastest are often wrong. Word play riddles need you to see a word as letters, not meaning.

For logic puzzles, number puzzles and lateral thinking problems, see our brain teasers.

Run riddles as a live quiz

In RiLiFi, a riddle becomes a quiz question with four answers: the right one and three that sound right. People join from their phones with a PIN or QR code, answer before the timer runs out, and faster right answers earn a speed bonus.

The leaderboard after each question keeps a room playing, and nobody has to shout over anyone else. In the full-screen picker above, the four quiz options appear after you show the answer, so you can copy them into a quiz.

FAQ

Questions about these riddles

What are riddles for adults?

Harder riddles with a twist: questions that point you the wrong way, trick questions and word play. “For adults” means more difficult, not rude. Every riddle on this page is fine for work and class.

What is a good hard riddle to start with?

“I start eternity, I finish time and space, I begin every end and I close every race. What am I?” The answer is the letter E. It is short to read out and makes people look at the words, not the meaning.

How do I make a riddle round fair for a mixed group?

Play in small teams, so quick thinkers and careful thinkers work together. Give the same time for every riddle and one clue if nobody has it after a minute.

Are these riddles safe for work?

Yes. None of them are about violence, alcohol, dating or appearance. They are written for a room of colleagues or a class of students aged 13 and up.

Can I run hard riddles as a live quiz?

Yes. Riddles tagged Run as a live quiz have one short answer and three wrong ones that sound right. In RiLiFi, players answer from their phones and the leaderboard shows after each question. The free plan covers 100 players per session.