A Ring But No Finger

What has a ring but no finger?

A telephone or alarm.

Posted in Riddles

A Mile Long Train

A mile-long train is moving at sixty miles an hour when it reaches a mile-long tunnel. How long does it take the entire train to pass through the tunnel?

Two minutes. The back of the train would be at the beginning of the tunnel after 1 minute, and would leave the end of the tunnel at the 2 minute mark.

Posted in Brain Teasers

A Red Robe and Staff In Hand

I wear a red robe,
With staff in hand,
And a stone in my throat.
Cut me and I weep red tears

What am I?

A cherry

There are a few other variations of this one:

As I went through the garden gap,
Who should I meet but Dick Red-cap!
A stick in his hand, a stone in his throat,
If you’ll tell me this riddle, I’ll give you a groat.
(Said to be the lyrics to A Cherry)

I slipped down a slippery gap,
Found a man with a red cap,
He had a stick in his back and a stone in his belly,
Riddle me this and I’ll give you a penny.

Posted in Riddles

It Has No Eye

If a man made it, it has an eye.
If a tree made it, it has no eyes.

What is it?

A needle.

By Sef Daystrom

Posted in Riddles

Ever Rising Then Gone Away

Ever rising then gone away,
I send messages or help some pray,
I’ll make you cry, but flavor meat,
But If I’m heavy, use your feet.

What am I?

Smoke. It rises then slowly dissipates in the air. Smoke signals send messages and incense is used in religious ceremonies. Anyone who’s sat at a bonfire knows smoke in your eyes can make you cry when the wind changes direction. Smoked meats are a tasty treat, but if you see heavy smoke (i.e. from a fire) then run. Or stop drop and roll if the fire already caught you.

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Shortest Word With All the Vowels

What is the shortest word in the English language to contain all of the vowels?

Sequoia, eulogia or miaoued are all good options, but there’s an even shorter (and more obscure) word with all the vowels and not a single consonant: Iouea. It’s not the kind of word you’d use at the dinner table, but it’s listed in the Wikipedia dictionary as a genus of Cretaceous fossil sponges.

If you got really tricky and tried to find a word that contained the letters in the phrase ‘all of the vowels’, you probably found, like I did, that there isn’t one. But it was still worth checking.

Posted in Brain Teasers

You Twirl My Body

You twirl my body but I keep my head up high.
When I go in I keep things tight.

What am I?

A screw.

Posted in Riddles
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What Does a Cow Have Four Of?

What does a cow have four of, a dog has eight of and you only have two of that can be used standing up or sitting down?

Nipples or teats. Cows have four of them, dogs usually have eight and a human (assuming that’s who’s reading this) has two. Cows milk standing up, dogs often lie down and women usually sit when breastfeeding.

Posted in Riddles

I Hide But My Head Is Outside

I hide but my head is outside. What am I?

A nail.

Posted in Riddles

One In China

I am one in China,
Two in Indonesia,
Three in the Philippines,
None in Japan.

What am I?

The letter ‘i’.

Posted in Riddles
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