Hard Riddles for Adults Who Want a Brain Burn

I can be cracked, made, told, and played. What am I?

I am not alive, yet I grow; I do not have lungs, yet I need air; I do not have a mouth, yet water kills me. What am I?

What has to be broken before you can use it?

What five-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?

The more you take, the more you leave behind. What are they?

What is so fragile that saying its name breaks it?

I have keys but open no locks, space but no room. You can enter, yet you cannot go outside. What am I?

What has cities with no buildings, rivers without water, and forests without trees?

I am taken from a mine and shut up in a wooden case. I never see the sun but help others to see. What am I?

You can find me in Mercury, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, but not in Venus or Neptune. What am I?

A man describes his daughters saying, They are all blonde, but two; all brunette, but two; and all redheaded, but two. How many daughters does he have?

What begins with an E, ends with an E, but usually contains only one letter?

Take one out and scratch my head, I am now black but once was red. What am I?

I am the beginning of everything, the end of everywhere, the beginning of eternity, and the end of time and space. What am I?

The person who makes it sells it. The person who buys it never uses it. The person who uses it never knows. What is it?

A man pushes his car to a hotel and tells the owner he's bankrupt. What happened?

What can bring back the dead; make us cry, make us laugh, make us young?

What breaks and never falls, and what falls and never breaks?

I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. What am I?

Forward I am heavy, backward I am not. What am I?

What belongs to you but others use more than you do?

What invention lets you look through a wall?

What is always coming but never arrives?

What question can you never answer yes to?

What has one eye but cannot see?

I am the puzzle league crown earned after the final riddle. What am I?

I am the escape room team huddled over one tough clue. What am I?

I am the timer counting down before the buzzer. What am I?

I am the corporate challenge night scoreboard. What am I?

I am the satisfied groan when the answer finally clicks. What am I?