What Looks Like Food
What looks like food, tastes like food, smells like food, sounds like food when you cook it, is grown in dirt like food, fills up your stomach like food, but is not food?
A poisonous mushroom. Since some types of mushrooms are edible, it can be very hard to distinguish between a safe mushroom and one that will kill you. Food is defined as a substance consumed to provide nutrition, therefore a poisonous mushroom that kills you doesn’t qualify as food, even though it shares all of the traits of a regular mushroom.
Other valid answers include anything that’s edible, resembles food, but is poisonous.
The Densest of My Clan
You ride on me every day but barely notice,
I’m hot and cold at the very same time,
I’m the densest of my clan,
And my first three help you enjoy music.
What am I?
Earth. Most people don’t stop to think that they’re hurtling through space on a huge planet. At any given time the Earth has burning hot magma and freezing arctics at the same time. The Earth is the densest planet and the first three letters, “ear” help you listen to music.
I Make Memories That Last a Lifetime
I make memories that last a lifetime,
Without me you’ll be miserable,
If you miss me you can gourge and it’s okay.
Some say I am naturally split in two.
What am I?
Sleep. It’s the time your mind organizes memories and knowledge. Sleep deprivation is miserable (as you well know if you’ve experienced it). If you miss a few nights of sleep, you can sleep more to catch up with no problems. And some believe that segmented sleep, where you sleep, wake for an hour, then go back to sleep, was the dominant form of sleep before the Industrial Revolution.
An Animal of Few Letters
I am an animal of few letters,
Remove the second and you can’t see,
Change it to “l” and I’m a punishment,
Yet backwards I’m a game.
What am I?
Frog. It only has four letters, removing the “r” leaves fog, which makes it hard to see. Changing the “r” to an “l” makes flog, a punishment I hope you’ve never experienced. Flog backwards is golf, a game some would call a punishment when you keep swinging away at the ball yet it remains perched on its little white tower of terror while the other golfers impatiently wait for you to tee off.
You’ll See Me When the Sun is High and Also Late at Night
You’ll see me when the sun is high and also late at night,
I’m in the songs of holidays, when the snow is white,
Kings and Queens and royalty, are all found in me,
I’m the largest of them all, with just one you see,
Step by step with pounding feet, I’m tribes of angry men,
I’m above your hands right now, for help or to go again,
You’ll use me in the kitchen, or add a little more,
I’ll be in the years to come, and the days of yore.
What am I?
Twelve (12).
Noon and midnight are both 12 o’clock and the Twelve Days of Christmas is a popular Christmas carol.
There are twelve face cards in a standard 52-card deck and twelve is the largest number with one syllable.
There are twelve steps in Alcoholics Anonymous, a troy pound is 12 ounces, there were 12 tribes of Israel and a popular movie was called, “Twelve Angry Men” (12 members of the jury). There are twelve function keys on your keyboard. F1 often shows a help screen and F5 reloads pages in your browser.
Many recipes measure items by the dozen, adding one more for a baker’s dozen. There are twelve months in a year.
It’s surprising how many times the number twelve shows up in our culture.
I Can Always Go Up, Never Down
I can always go up, never down,
I can always turn left, never right,
I am always hot when I’m cold
A ski lift.