Classic Riddles
The riddles that outlived their inventors.
These are the puzzles passed down for generations, the ones about a book with no words or a shadow-telling instrument with no batteries. Read the Devanagari side of this same riddle tradition in Hindi.
What creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?
Answer
A human being. As a baby it crawls on four limbs, as an adult it walks on two legs, and in old age it uses a cane as a third leg тАФ this is the legendary Riddle of the Sphinx.
I am not alive, yet I grow. I have no lungs, yet I need air to live, and I have no mouth, yet water kills me. What am I?
Answer
Fire. It spreads and grows, requires oxygen to burn, and is extinguished by water, despite not being a living thing.
Popular Riddles Topics for You.
What is greater than God, more evil than the devil, something the poor have, the rich need, and if you eat it, you will die?
Answer
Nothing. Nothing is greater than God, nothing is more evil than the devil, the poor have nothing, the rich need nothing, and if you eat nothing, you will eventually starve.
Voiceless it cries, wingless it flutters, toothless it bites, and mouthless it mutters. What is it?
Answer
The wind. This riddle is famously featured in J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit," describing wind's ability to seem alive without any of those physical features.
Hindi Riddles
6Thirty white horses on a red hill тАФ first they champ, then they stamp, then they stand still. What are they?
Answer
Teeth. This is another riddle from "The Hobbit," where the thirty white "horses" represent teeth (typically 32 in adults) on the "red hill" of the gums and mouth.
I have no feet, no legs, and no wings, yet I travel faster than absolutely anything else in the universe. What am I?
Answer
Light. It has no physical means of movement, yet light travels faster than anything else known to science.
There is an entire house full of something, yet you cannot physically pick any of it up. What fills the house?
Answer
Smoke. A house full of smoke cannot be gathered or picked up in your hands the way solid objects can.
What swings forward and backward continuously all day, yet it never actually moves away from its fixed position?
Answer
A pendulum (clock pendulum). It swings back and forth steadily while remaining anchored at the same central point.
I have many small teeth lined up in a row, but instead of chewing food, I am used to fasten clothing and bags shut. What am I?
Answer
A zipper. Its interlocking teeth pull together to securely close clothing, bags, and many other items.
Love Riddles
1What grows deeper into a surface the more it is struck, even though its rounded "head" always points outward, away from the ground it enters?
Answer
A nail. As it is hammered, the pointed end goes deeper while the flat head remains visible at the surface.
