91 Time Riddles - Riddles about Time
Funny Time Riddles from the original Riddles website. These are the best time riddles, jokes, and brain teasers for kids and adults. Entertain your classmates or share with your family.
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1. I am the beginning of the end, and the end of time and space. I am essential to creation, and I surround every place. What am I?
Answer: The letter E. End, timE, spacE, Every placE
2. What time does a tennis player get up?
Answer: Ten-ish.
3. What question can someone ask all day long, always get completely different answers, and yet all the answers could be correct?
Answer: "What time is it?"
4. I am four times as old as my daughter. In 20 years time I shall be twice as old as her. How old are we now?
Answer: I am 40 and my daughter is 10.
5. What flowers are kissable?
Answer: Tulips (two-lips). This pun aligns with April’s springtime setting and the lighthearted trickery of the holiday.
6. You want to boil a two-minute egg. If you only have a three-minute timer (hourglass), a four-minute timer, and a five-minute timer, how can you boil the egg for only two minutes?
Answer: Once the water is boiling, turn the three-minute timer and five-minute timer over. When the three-minute timer runs out, put the egg in the boiling water. When the five-minute timer runs out, two minutes have elapsed and it is time to take the egg out of the water. You don't need the four-minute timer for this riddle.
7. Some try to hide, some try to cheat; but time will show, we always will meet. What am I?
Answer: I am death.
8. The things I bite, they don't bleed, I don't bite until you push me; I bring my victims together each time I bite, But they'll come undone if you pull it just right. What am I?
Answer: A Stapler.
9. Where do bedtime books sleep?
Answer: Under their covers.
10. From the beginning of eternity To the end of time and space From the beginning of every end And the end of every place. What am I?
Answer: The letter E.
11. What only works the first time you use it?
Answer: A match.
12. Something very extraordinary happened on the 6th of May, 1978 at 12:34 a.m. What was it?
Answer: At that moment, the time and day could be written as: 12:34, 5/6/78.
13. I am born in fear, raised in truth, and I come to my own in deed. When comes a time that I'm called forth, I come to serve the cause of need. What am I?
Answer: Courage.
14. It goes up, but at the same time goes down. Up toward the sky, and down toward the ground. It's present tense and past tense too, come for a ride, just me and you. What is it?
Answer: A See-Saw.
15. What do you call a cow's bedtime stories?
Answer: Dairy tales.
16. I shrink smaller every time I take a bath. What am I?
Answer: Soap.
17. What's more precious than rubies, more lasting than gold, what can never be traded stolen, or sold, what comes with great effort, takes time but then once yours will serve you again and again?
Answer: Knowledge.
18. Why are giraffes so slow to apologize?
Answer: It takes a long time for them to swallow their pride.
19. The fuel for life, Important parts of the day, Even if it is a long time away. Long lasting use, Long lasting fuse, Until my explosive death day. What am I?
Answer: The sun.
20. Each time you take a step you make one of me, but then you leave me behind. What am I?
Answer: A footprint.
21. My shape and sizes differ. Every time you dip me in water, I become smaller. What am I?
Answer: Soap.
22. When is the time of a clock like the whistle of a train?
Answer: When it's two to two.
23. You see me at night, by day you tell everyone about me. I come back looking differently than before. I sometime leave you in the darkness. What am I?
Answer: A dream.
24. What goes up and down at the same time but doesn't move?
Answer: Stairs!
25. A man goes upstairs to grab his time machine. He walks downstairs then goes back in time 200 years. Why did he go downstairs?
Answer: Because if he went back in time from upstairs, that would be a nasty fall because the house wouldn't have been there 200 years ago
26. What did the two dolphins say after not seeing each other for so long?
Answer: "Long time no sea."
27. What Time Is It When An Elephant Sits on Your Chair?
Answer: Time to get a new chair.
28. I am something that you can you read but not see. I'm with you all the time but sometimes I'm hard to find. What am I?
Answer: Time.
29. A man flipped a coin 9 times and every single time it landed on heads. If the man flipped the coin again, what is the chance that it lands on heads?
Answer: 50%. It's always 50%.
30. I am an object. I move from left to right. Anytime I move, I bleed on what is below me. I can't move without you. I move only when you uses me. What am I?
Answer: A pen.
31. I fly in the air, But I am not always there. I cannot be touched, But I can be felt or held. Think very hard, But if you live near the equator, You may have a tough time seeing me. What am I?
Answer: Your breath.
32. An orange fell from a tree at the top of a hill and rolled for a very long time all of a sudden it stopped while still part way down the hill. Why did it stop?
Answer: It ran out of juice.
33. Not a bird but I can fly through time; Hands moving, moments chime. What am I?
Answer: A clock. "Not a bird but I can fly through time": This is a metaphorical use of "fly". A clock doesn't physically move through the air, but the passage of time is often described as "flying" (as in the saying, "time flies"). "Hands moving, moments chime": A clock typically has "hands" that move to indicate the time, and some clocks "chime" to mark the hour or specific intervals. The riddle uses personification and metaphor to describe a clock's function in a creative way.
34. I am between things; in teeth, in time, in fences; I can be wide or tiny. What am I?
Answer: Gap. It’s pointing to “gap” because a gap is the space between things. In teeth: a diastema is the gap between teeth. In time: a time gap is the interval between events. In fences: gaps are openings between slats or posts. “Wide or tiny” fits because gaps can vary in size. So the riddle lists places where “a space between” shows up, and “gap” is the common thread.
35. I'm on your phone. Sometimes I laugh. Sometimes I cry. I even flip you off from time to time. What am I?
Answer: An emoji.
36. I can provide a blessing, a curse, or clarity. I am always running, but I am stuck in a loop. And though I will rule you for most of your life, you will always look up to me. What am I?
Answer: "A Clock" - Reasoning: Seeing the time on a clock can bring you relief, (e.g. your work shift nearly being over), a curse, (e.g. how long you still have left of a work shift), or simple clarification of what time it is. A clock is always running but always returns to where it began, to repeat. Thus, it is stuck in a loop. And as punching at work, appointments, taking to children to daycare, watching a film at the cinema, et cetera, all require you to be at a place at a certain time, time, which you read on a clock, does rule your life. The only exception is when you do not have a schedule to keep. And traditionally, clocks are usually placed on a wall, above eye level, so many people can look at it to see the time
37. I have many purposes for everyone, maybe a home, maybe some fun. I grow really tall and live a long time but once I get too old I just fall down and die. What am I?
Answer: A tree.
38. What goes up, but at the same time goes down, up to the sky and down to the ground, my present tense and my past tense too, lets go for a ride just me and you... what am I?
Answer: A see-saw
39. What time does a duck get up?
Answer: At the quack of dawn.
40. I leave every time you say my name. What am I?
Answer: Silence.
41. Old Mother Twitchett had but one eye, and a long tail which she let fly; and every time she went through a gap, a bit of her tail she left in a trap. What is she?
Answer: A needle and thread.
42. To form me, time is the foundation, it's difficult to break me from the outside, but I'll break as long as you touch from the inside. What am I?
Answer: Trust.
43. It keeps something that cannot be kept, And wakes you when you have slept. It may go slow or stop at times, But even then it chimes. What is it?
Answer: An alarm clock. “It keeps something that cannot be kept”: Time can’t be held; a clock only measures it as it slips by. “And wakes you when you have slept”: The alarm rings to wake you. “It may go slow or stop at times”: Clocks can run slow or stop (dead battery, mechanical hiccup). “But even then it chimes”: Many clocks still chime or ring on the hour/alarm, even if their timekeeping isn’t perfect.
44. I came to prominence in the world during a time of trouble. I brought people together but helped keep them apart. I sound like I should go fast, but I am well known for taking too long to finish. What am I?
Answer: A Zoom meeting.
45. My veins of green may go unseen, Til on the ground I lay around. What am I?
Answer: "Leaves" - Reasoning: Leaves contain veins to transport water through the leaf, and as people would need to be up close to see them. Hence, these veins go unseen as they spend most of their time up in trees attached to branches. You only really get to see them when they fall to the ground.
46. When is the only time that today and tomorrow come before yesterday?
Answer: In a dictionary.
47. What time is it when you see the monster?
Answer: Time to run.
48. What time does a shark get up?
Answer: Ate o'clock.
49. More haste less speed. What is the contradictory proverb?
Answer: Time waits for no man.
50. Four friends went out one night. During the trip back, they tried to squeeze under an umbrella, but it was too small for them to fit through. Still, everyone managed to stay dry by the time they arrived home. How can this be?
Answer: It wasn't raining. I didn't say that it was raining after all!
51. Between 3:55 and 4:05 store lurking I maintained I was shopping and searching for a time telling device I’d bought, My alibi was that I was shopping for WHAT and WHEN?
Answer: I was shopping around for a clock and I was shopping around 4 O’clock
52. It is everywhere yet nowhere and time mars it not. All things are within it's grasp and it is within grasp of all things. It has no limits, for it does and does not exist. What is it?
Answer: Nothing.
53. Where once there were many, now there are none. Time has done ticking; the hours are done. For now is an end, but also beginning, For darkest is now, but soon shall be thinning. What is it?
Answer: "Midnight" - Reasoning: The riddle is all about following something through to the end - a day. Once the day reaches its end, at midnight, when all the hours of the day are gone, right down to the last second, the clock resets. Thus, it marks both the end of a day and the beginning of a new one.
54. A woman was born in 1975 and died in 1975. She was 22 years old at the time of her death. How?
Answer: She was born in hospital room #1975.
55. I never stop. Over me Metal will rust. I rot bodies. Without me we wouldn't move. What am I?
Answer: Time because over time metal will rust. And in some time bodies will rot and if we had no time we wouldn’t be able to move.
56. My fruitfulness is sweet and full of taste; but now that my time has come, you should hurry or else you'll be late. What am I?
Answer: A date.
57. I’m a day when truth takes a twist, and laughter is hard to resist. What am I?
Answer: April Fools' Day This directly references April Fools' Day, a time when people twist the truth with pranks to spark laughter.
58. One day, Kathy was walking in the park when she stumbled upon two suspicious men. One of them was dressed like a werewolf, while the other one was not. Which of the two men was the real werewolf?
Answer: The real werewolf is the guy who DOESN'T look like a werewolf. Werewolves only transform during the time of the full moon, and at night. It's daytime now, so there can't be any moon in the sky, let alone a full one. Therefore, the guy who looks like a werewolf must only be wearing a costume, and the guy who doesn't look like a werewolf is the real werewolf.
59. Its waves and ripples please us all, We love to see it flying. And none can make a better one, You’ll waste your time in trying. What is it?
Answer: Our flag.
60. Why can't you keep a clock in jail?
Answer: Because time is always running out
61. A timorous heart at no time succeeds in acquiring the beautiful damsel. What is the proverb?
Answer: Faint heart ne'er won fair lady.
62. There lived a man in a house and everytime he went to bed he turned on the light. One night, the man forgot to turn on the light. The next day he read the paper and killed himself. Why?
Answer: The man lived in a lighthouse. He forgot to turn on the light and a ship crashed. The next morning he read in the paper that the ship crashed and killed himself because he felt guilty.
63. Two jets take off at the same time, There is only one runway but there where no crashes and it was at the same airport. A Plane takes more than 1min to take off. How can this happen?
Answer: They Both Took Of At The Same Time On Different Days
64. What measures out time, Until in time all is smashed to it?
Answer: Sand.
65. I kill people when you need me to, I am not accepted and illegal, I need to be refilled from time to time and i can harm my owner. What am I?
Answer: A gun.
66. A Smuggler with a bicycle carried to sack of sand with him every day. However every time he was checked at the border, the officer's let him through. Wait, what did the Smuggler smuggle?
Answer: The Smuggler used two sack of sand as a distraction. So that the officer wouldn't notice that he was smuggle the bicycles.
67. What time is it when the clock strikes 13?
Answer: Time to get the clock fixed
68. If the only frying pan in the house is large enough to cook two pancakes at a time and pancakes take one minute to brown one side, how can you make three pancakes in three minutes?
Answer: Pour two pancakes and brown the first side. After the first side is done, flip one, take the second off, and pour the third pancake. After another minute, take the first one off, flip the third one, and put the second one back on. Cook both pancakes until finished.
69. If a hen and a half lay an egg and a half in a day and a half, how many eggs will half a dozen hens lay in half a dozen days?
Answer: Two dozen. If you increase both the number of hens and the amount of time available four-fold, the number of eggs increases 16 times. 16 x 1.5 = 24.
70. Two people meet inside of a zoo and with some time a child was born. The child of two people had no clue, but the two people who meet they already knew. The child was the person who acted like glue. Who are the two people that met at the zoo?
Answer: The adopted parents.
71. Pregnant every time you see her, yet she never will give birth. What is she?
Answer: Full moon.
72. What is significant about 3661 seconds past midnight on 1st January 2001?
Answer: The time and date will be 01:01:01 on 01/01/01.
73. Now matter what, I come to you round, Floating up, floating down, A single pop, I'm on the ground, Then comes your unpleasant frown. What am I?
Answer: I am a bubble. Bubbles always come out round no matter how you blow it. Bubbles also pop when they touch the ground. Usually bubbles go up and then down. Most of the time you and I will frown when a bubble pops. Therefore, the answer is a bubble.
74. Why are trees in winter like troublesome visitors?
Answer: Because it's a long time before they leave.
75. How can you measure nine minutes with have two hourglasses, one four minute and one seven minute?
Answer: Turn over both hourglasses at once. When the four-minute hourglass runs out, turn it over. When the seven-minute hourglass runs out, turn it over. When the four-minute timer runs out this time (eight minutes have elapsed), the seven-minute hourglass has been running for one minute. Now turn over the seven minute timer back over. When the timer runs out, nine minutes have elapsed.
76. Man gave one son 10 cents and another son was given 15 cents. What time is it?
Answer: 1:45. The man gave away a total of 25 cents. He divided it between two people. Therefore, he gave a quarter to two.
77. A frog fell into a 12-foot-deep well. He could jump 3 feet, but every time he jumped 3 feet, he fell back 2 feet. How many times did he have to jump to get out of the well?
Answer: 10. On the tenth jump he cleared the edge of the well and thus did not fall back two feet.
78. I change color from time to time. Wear me, and I'll tell you your ____. What am I?
Answer: A moodstone
79. I am not your boss but I guide your decisions, I am not your trainer, but I dictate your pace, I am not a Judge but I measure your success. Who Am I?
Answer: Suggested answers from user comments: Yourself (3), Your Brain (2), Time (2), Fate (2), Conscience, Stopwatch, Your Soul, Addiction, or Heart. Which one is the best?
80. Two hours ago it was as long after one o'clock in the afternoon as it was before one o'clock in the morning. What time is it now?
Answer: It would be 9:00 pm. There are 12 hours between 1:00 pm and 1:00 am and half of that is six hours. Half-way between would be 7 o'clock. Two hours later it would be 9:00 o'clock.
81. My first is in chocolate but not in ham, my second's in cake and also in jam, my third at tea-time is easily found, my whole is a friend who's often around. What am I?
Answer: A Cat!
82. I have two coins, one is marked George I and one is marked George IV. One is genuine but one is a forgery. Which is the forgery?
Answer: George I. A coin would not be marked Goerge I because at the time it was produced it would not have been known that there was going to be a George II.
83. When is the best time to have lunch?
Answer: After breakfast.
84. A rubber ball is tossed off the top of a 90 foot building. Every time it bounces, it goes back up half way. How many bounces will the ball take before it stops?
Answer: The answer is infinite, in a gravity free world. But of course gravity will eventually stop it.
85. How many times does the long hand of the clock pass the short hand between midnight one day and midnight the following day? As both hands are together at the starting time of midnight this does not count as a pass.
Answer: 21.
86. When is 90 greater than 100?
Answer: On a microwave timer. When you type 100, the timer interprets it as 1 minute. When you type 90, it will read 90 seconds, which is 1 minute 30 seconds.
87. My first is a creature whose breeding is unclear. My second, a price you must pay. My whole can be found in the river of Time and refers to events of today. What am I?
Answer: Current.
88. Peter celebrated his birthday on one day, and two days later his older twin brother, Paul, celebrated his birthday. How could this be?
Answer: When the mother of the twins went into labor, she was travelling by boat. The older twin, Paul, was born first, barely on March 1st. The boat then crossed a time zone, and the younger twin was born on February the 28th. In a leap year the younger twin celebrates his birthday two days before his older brother.
89. There were 5 men traveling down a road and it started to rain and 4 men sped up, the 5th did not, but they all arrived at the same place at the same time but all of them were wet besides the 5th. How?
Answer: He was dead and in a coffin.
90. Pregnant every time you see her, yet she never will give birth. What is it?
Answer: Full Moon
91. A man goes to work at the same time each day and travels part of his journey facing forwards and the remainder facing backwards. When he returns at the end of his working day, he only faces forwards. How can this be?
Answer: He works in the engine room of a liner! To get to work, he walks along the decks from his cabin facing forwards, and down the ladders between decks facing backwards. However, when he finishes, he only needs to face forwards to climb the ladders again and walk along the deck back to his cabin.
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