Ready to give your brain a serious workout? These 50 riddles and puzzles span logic, math, wordplay, and lateral thinking. Challenge yourself, share with friends, and see how many you can solve!
Riddles for Quick Thinking (1–10)
- What has to be broken before you can use it?
- I’m tall when I’m young, and short when I’m old. What am I?
- The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?
- What has one eye but can’t see?
- What has hands but cannot clap?
- You see a boat filled with people. It hasn’t sunk, but when you look again, you don’t see a single person. Why?
- I have keys but no locks. I have space but no room. You can enter, but not go outside. What am I?
- Forward I’m heavy, but backward I’m not. What am I?
- What has cities, but no houses; forests, but no trees; and rivers, but no water?
- What can fill a room but takes up no space?
Logic Puzzles That Test Your Reasoning (11–20)
- The Two Doors Puzzle
- A farmer has 17 sheep. All but 9 run away. How many are left?
- If you have a barrel of water and remove 2 gallons, what do you add to make it lighter?
- How do you measure 4 gallons of water using only a 3-gallon and 5-gallon jug?
- Two mothers and two daughters went to a bakery. They bought three buns, and each ate one. How is this possible?
- You’re in a race and overtake the person in 2nd place. What place are you in now?
- A man is looking at a picture of someone. He says, “Brothers and sisters, I have none, but that man’s father is my father’s son.” Who is in the picture?
- A clock strikes six times at 6 o’clock. How many times will it strike at 12?
- You have 10 apples and take away 3. How many do you have?
- How many sides does a circle have?
Math Puzzles That Make You Think (21–30)
- What comes next? 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, ?
- I am a three-digit number. My tens digit is five more than my ones digit, and my hundreds digit is eight less than my tens digit. What number am I?
- A man buys a horse for $60, sells it for $70, buys it back for $80, and sells it again for $90. How much profit does he make?
- If two’s company and three’s a crowd, what are four and five?
- Divide 30 by half and add 10. What do you get?
- If you multiply this number by any other number, the answer will always be the same. What number is it?
- How can you make the number 7 even?
- A rope ladder hangs over the side of a boat. The rungs are 1 foot apart, and the tide rises 4 feet. How many rungs will be underwater?
- I’m an odd number. Take away one letter, and I become even. What number am I?
- If it takes 5 machines 5 minutes to make 5 widgets, how long would it take 100 machines to make 100 widgets?
Word Riddles That Play with Language (31–40)
- What word is spelled incorrectly in every dictionary?
- What begins with “e,” ends with “e,” and contains only one letter?
- Which word contains all 26 letters of the alphabet?
- What’s a five-letter word that becomes shorter when you add two letters?
- What starts with a “P,” ends with an “E,” and has thousands of letters?
- How many letters are in the alphabet?
- What’s the longest word in the dictionary?
- What word becomes longer when you remove a letter?
- I am full of holes but hold water. What am I?
- The more you take away, the bigger I get. What am I?
Visual and Lateral Thinking Puzzles (41–50)
- If you have 6 matchsticks, how can you form 4 equilateral triangles?
- How do you turn the number 8 into two 4s?
- You see a line of people. Every other person is holding an umbrella. How many umbrellas are needed for 10 people?
- How can you write 11,000 using only three 1s?
- A man builds a house with four sides, each facing south. A bear walks by the house. What color is the bear?
- What can go up a chimney down, but not down a chimney up?
- What do you throw out when you need it but bring back in when you’re done?
- If a plane crashes on the border of Canada and the U.S., where do they bury the survivors?
- A doctor and a bus driver are both in love with the same woman. The bus driver goes on a long trip for a week. Who does the woman marry?
- What gets wetter as it dries?
Quick Solutions
- An egg | 2. A candle | 3. Footsteps | 4. A needle | 5. A clock
- They’re all married | 7. A keyboard | 8. A ton (not backward) | 9. A map | 10. Light
… and so on.
Conclusion
How many did you solve without peeking at the answers? Share this list and challenge your friends to beat your score! Remember: the mind is like a muscle—the more you exercise it, the stronger it gets.