Readers Digest | Molly Pennington, PhD | Dec. 08, 2023 | Hardest Riddles Ever | Shield Insurance Blog
Who doesn’t love brain teasers and challenging riddles? If you think youāre already a pro at solving tricky riddles, put yourself to the test with these and find out! (Don’t worry, answers are included.)
Ready to be riddled by the Hardest Riddles Ever?
Riddles are language brain teasers that use lateral thinking in order to come to a conclusion. They run the gamut from simple and easy to solve to serious brain-bustersāand weāve compiled several of the latter for your riddling enjoyment. The major head-scratchers in this list might take some big-time brain power to solveābut it sure feels great when you figure one out!
1. I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I come alive with wind. What am I?
This riddle relies on tricking you into thinking about ears and a mouth. You get a tiny hint about wind to encourage you to think broadly and avoid the literal.
Answer: An echo.
2. You measure my life in hours and I serve you by expiring. Iām quick when Iām thin and slow when Iām fat. The wind is my enemy.
This one wants to trip you up by hitting you with details from every angle. The big hint comes at the end with the wind. What does wind threaten most? You have to stretch your brain to come up with something tiny and unexpected.
Answer: A candle.
3. I have cities, but no houses. I have mountains, but no trees. I have water, but no fish. What am I?
This riddle aims to confuse you and get you to focus on the things that are missing: the houses, trees, and fish. You might guess you need to think about something inanimate.
Answer: A map.
4. What is seen in the middle of March and April that canāt be seen at the beginning or end of either month?
This riddle works by trying to get you to think about the weather or holidays or other events linked to a calendar. To get this one right you actually need to get super literal.
Answer: The letter āR.ā
5. You see a boat filled with people. It has not sunk, but when you look again you donāt see a single person on the boat. Why?
Hard riddles like this are tricky because they seem to invite straightforward, logical thinking. You may come up with answers like āthey all went below deckā or ājumped overboard.ā But you need to focus on the word āsingleā and think about its other meanings.
Answer: All the people were married.
6. What word in the English language does the following:
The first two letters signify a male, the first three letters signify a female, the first four letters signify a great, while the entire world signifies a great woman. What is the word?
This is hard because it gets you thinking about gender and the ways theyāre different. You have to think of one word that holds the others. Itās easy when you think about it!
Answer: Heroine.
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7. What English word has three consecutive double letters?
This one is pretty impossible but use the facts you know about English to get on track. First, think of words with double vowels. And you must know this is probably going to be a compound word. The first and last letters of those combined words will form one set of double letters. Now, just wrack your brain!
Answer: Bookkeeper.
8. A woman shoots her husband, then holds him underwater for five minutes. Next, she hangs him. Right after, they enjoy a lovely dinner. Explain.
This puzzle aims to throw you off balance with shock. But pay attention to the first verb, āshoots.ā What else can you shoot with besides a gun? There lies the key to the whole thing.
Answer: She took a picture of him and developed it in her darkroom.
9. I come from a mine and get surrounded by wood always. Everyone uses me. What am I?
The idea of a mine might lead you to coal or a diamond. The wood detail is your best hint. This riddle is a toughie, but wood might lead you to figure it out.
Answer: Pencil lead.
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10. A girl has as many brothers as sisters, but each brother has only half as many brothers as sisters. How many brothers and sisters are there in the family?
This trick question gives you a bunch of ways to get totally confused if you try to figure out the answer. The key is to keep it simple. Be sure to count the sisters and brothers in total and in terms of their own number of siblings. Then the answer gets a little easier.
Answer: Four sisters and three brothers.
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