Riddles
This is the site's collection of classic short-form riddles — the "what am I" format, usually solved through wordplay or a shift in perspective rather than deduction.
Showing 12 of 124
Seen Only by the Sleeping
No one sees me while they are awake, but they see me when asleep. I speak without a voice and move without walking. I am a deceiver, and yet I tell nothing but the truth.
Drink Me Young, Eat Me Old
If you had taken me in my youth you might have drunk my blood. Now that I am old, eat me wrinkled and dry, and crush my bones together with my flesh.
One Father, Twelve Children
There is one father and twelve children. Each of the twelve has twice thirty children of two kinds: some are white and some are black, and though they never die, they all pass away.
Two Feet, Four Feet, Three Feet
There is a creature on earth that is two-footed, four-footed and three-footed, and goes by one name. Alone of all that move on land, in the air or in the sea, it changes its nature; and when it walks on the most feet, it…
Hairy Under My Cover
I am very hairy, but my covering hides my hairs unless there is a hole in it. I amuse many boys, and if one of them throws me badly he stands there looking a fool.
Born in the Mountains
I was born in the mountains; my mother was a tree and my father is fire. I am a blackened mass, but if my father melts me in a deep vessel, I keep the chariot of the sea from harm.
Silent When Shut
Wood gave birth to me and iron reshaped me. I am the secret keeper of the Muses. When I am shut I am silent; when I am opened, I speak.
A Brain Without a Head
I have a brain but no head; I am green and grow out of the ground on a long neck. I am like a ball set upon a flute, and if you look inside me you will find my grandfather.
Sweeter Than My Mother
I bear the same name as my mother and I am sweeter than she is, but she is tall and I am tiny. She cannot be eaten except for her head; I can be eaten whole except for my insides.
Lips That Open in Vain
If you look at me, I look at you too. You look with eyes, but I have none. You have a voice, but I speak without one, for I have only lips that open in vain.
Black, White and Yellow
I am black, white, yellow, dry and wet; and when I am spread on plains of wood, I speak without uttering a sound.
The Virgin That Bears Fruit
I am a virgin woman and the child of a virgin woman, and as a virgin I bear fruit every year.
Most of what's here is drawn from public-domain sources. A riddle that has not yet been checked by hand for accuracy and a single clean answer carries an "unreviewed import" label. That's an honest state, not a hidden one: the label is on every card, and none of these are run through the constraint solver the site's logic puzzles are, since a riddle's answer isn't the kind of thing that format checks.