Lighter Than Air
I’m lighter than air but a million men can’t lift me. What am I?
A bubble.
Have No Face
I turn my head and you may go where you want.
I turn it again, you will stay till you rot.
I have no face, but I live or die,
By my crooked teeth.
What am I?
A key
Voiceless It Cries
Voiceless it cries, wingless flutters, toothless bites, mouth-less mutters. What is it?
The wind.
Halo of Water, Tongue of Wood
Halo of water, tongue of wood
Skin of stone, long I’ve stood.
My fingers short reach to the sky
Inside my heart men live and die.
A castle.
What I Embrace I Destroy
My first two letters say my name.
My last letter asks a question.
What I embrace I destroy.
What am I?
Ivy. IV is pronounced ivy, y is pronounced why and fast growing ivy can smother and kill trees, shrubs and grass.
A Cowboy Rides Into Town On Friday
A cowboy rides into town on Friday, stays for three days and leaves on Friday. How did he do it?
The horse’s name is Friday
Nine-Letter Word, Common as Air
A nine-letter word, common as air,
When each letter’s cut, a new word to pare,
Take a letter each round and continue to one.
Name the word and the path and then you’ll be done.
Surprisingly, there are several nine-letter words that can have one letter removed in each round to make a new word all the way to one letter, which must be ‘a’ or ‘i’. Startling is the most common answer, but I’ve included the other words I’m aware of. I don’t include plural words, like cleansers, drownings, splatters, starvings, trappings and wrappings because it’s kind of cheating.
startling
Remove the l to make starting (or remove the t to make starling)
Remove the t to make staring
Remove the a to make string
Remove the r to make sting
Remove the t to make sing
Remove the g to make sin
Remove the s to make in
Remove the n to make I
splitting
Remove the l to make spitting
Remove the p to make sitting
Remove a t to make siting
Remove the first i to make sting
Remove the s to make ting
Remove the g to make tin
Remove the t to make in
Remove the n to make I
stringier
Remove the r to make stingier
Remove the i to make stinger
Remove the t to make singer
Remove the r to make singe
Remove the g to make sine
Remove the e to make sin
Remove the s to make in
Remove the n to make I
strapping
Remove the s to make trapping
Remove the t to make rapping
Remove the p to make raping
Remove the r to make aping
Remove the a to make ping
Remove the g to make pin
Remove the p to make in
Remove the n to make I