Riddle:
I am a word of five letters. Take away my first and I am the name of what adorns the estate of many of the nobility of England. Take away my first and second, and I am the name of a place where all the world was once congregated. Take away my last, and I am the name of a beautiful mineral. Take away my two last, and I am the name of a fashionable place of resort. I am small in stature but capable of doing a great deal of mischief, as I once did in London in the year 1666. What word am I?
Answer: Spark.
Riddle:
In the grocery store, Sal met his only daughter's only husband's mother-in-law's only mother-in-law. Who was she?
Answer: Sal's mother. (His son-in-law's mother-in-law was his wife; her mother-in-law was Sal's mother.)
Riddle:
I am a word of three syllables, each of which is a word; my first is an article in common use; my second, an animal of uncommon intelligence; my third, though not an animal, is used in carrying burdens. My whole is a useful art. What am I?
Answer: Pen-man-ship.
Riddle:
Formed long ago, yet made today, Employed while others sleep. What none would freely give away. Nor any wish to keep. What is it?
Answer: A bed.
Riddle:
How high would you have to count before you would use the letter A in the English language spelling of a whole number?
Answer: One thousand.
Riddle:
I build up castles. I tear down mountains. I make some men blind, I help others to see. What am I?
Answer: Sand.
Riddle:
General Gasslefield, accused of high treason, is sentenced to death by court-martial. He is allowed to make a final statement, after which he will be shot if the statement is false or will be hung if the statement is true. Gasslefield makes his final statement and is released.
The Question: What could he have said?
Answer: General Gasslefield said: "I will be shot." If this statement was true, he would have been hung and thus not be shot. But then his statement would be false, which implies that he should be shot, making the statement true again, etc... In other words: the verdict of the court-martial could not be executed and the general was released.
Riddle:
This thing all things devours: Birds, beasts, trees, flowers; Gnaws iron, bites steel; Grinds hard stones to meal; Slays king, ruins town, And beats high mountain down. What am I?
Answer: Time!
Riddle:
What gets bigger the more you take away?
Answer: A hole.
Riddle:
As I was walking across the London Bridge, I met a man who tipped his hat and drew his cane, and in this riddle, I said his name. What is it?
Answer: And drew = ANDREW.
Riddle:
My first is a part of the day,
My last a conductor of light,
My whole to take measure of time,
Is useful by day and by night.
What am I?
Answer: An Hour-glass.
Riddle:
Why is green grass like a mouse?
Answer: Green grass is like a mouse, because the cattle eat it (cat’ll eat it).
Riddle:
A dagger thrust at my own heart, Dictates the way I'm swayed. Left I stand, and right I yield, To the twisting of the blade. What am I?
Answer: A Lock.
Riddle:
What creature has one voice, but has four feet in the morning, two feet in the afternoon, and three feet in the evening?
Answer: Man crawls on all fours as a baby, walks on two as an adult, and needs a walking cane when old. The Sphinx posed this riddle to Oedipus who solved the riddle correctly.
Riddle:
In camps about the centre I appear;
In smiling meadows seen throughout the year;
The silent angler views me in the streams,
And all must trace me in their morning dreams,
First in the mob conspicuous I stand,
Proud of the lead, and ever in command.
What am I?
Answer: The letter M.
Riddle:
What has to be broken before you use it?
Answer: Eggs.
Riddle:
As I went across the bridge, I met a man with a load of wood which was neither straight nor crooked. What kind of wood was it?
Answer: Sawdust.
Riddle:
Name a five letter word which has three consonants all the same and two different vowels. Every now and then you see this while running a Windows 95/98 on your PC. What is it?
Answer: Error!
Riddle:
Why is France like a skeleton?
Answer: Because only the bony part is left.
This is a play on words referring to Napoleon Bonaparte who played a key role in the 1789 French Revolution and was the first Emporer of France from 1804-15.
