Short Riddles (with Answers)
Short riddles fit on one breath: a compact question and a fast payoff. They are ideal for warm-ups, line queues, and chat messages where you do not want a long lead-in. We tag “short” by question length (under about ninety characters), so the list stays predictable for readers and for search.
Browse below for bite-sized puzzles with answers linked on each riddle page. When you want layered clues or multi-step reasoning, try the logic-riddles or tricky-riddles collections instead. Every hub here is designed to cluster intent so you can browse without wading through unrelated styles.
Riddles in this collection
- Before Mt. Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain in the world?
- A plane crashes on the border of the U.S. and Canada. Where do they bury the survivors?
- Give me food, and I will live; give me water, and I will die. What am I?
- How many bananas can you eat if your stomach is empty?
- A man rode in to town on Tuesday, and left two days later on Tuesday. How so?
- Poor people have it. Rich people need it. If you eat it, you’ll die. What is it?
- What is easy to get into, but hard to get out of?
- A barrel of water weighs 20 pounds. What must you add to it to make it weigh 12 pounds?
- A farmer had seventeen sheep, all but nine died, how many did he have left?
- When does Christmas come before Thanksgiving?
- It speaks with a hard tongue, it cannot breathe, for it has no lung. What is it?
- A one-seeded fruit I may be, but all of your calendars are full of me. What am I?
- A pizza weighs ten pounds plus half its own weight. How much does the pizza weigh?
- A man and his boss have the same parents, but are not siblings. How is this possible?
- A tasty reward given to well behaved dogs and kids
- A train was on its way to Florida and derailed. Where would they bury the survivors?
- A man is lying drowned in a dead forest, far from water. How did this happen?
- A beggar's brother died, but the man who died had no brother. How could this be?
- Big as a biscuit, deep as a cup, even a river can't fill it up. What is it?
- What is the difference between a school boy studying and a farmer watching his cattle?
- What common English verb becomes its own past tense by rearranging its letters?
- A clock chimes 5 times in 4 seconds. How many times will it chime in 10 seconds?
- An archaeologist finds a coin dated 48 B.C. How did he know it was a fake?
- What is harder to catch the faster you run?
- A hundred feet in the air, but it's back is on the ground. What is it?
- What's the difference between a penniless man and a feather bed?
- What do you serve that you can't eat?
- A man was born in 1898 He is still alive now at the age 33 How is this possible ?
- I am a box that holds keys without locks, yet they can unlock your soul. What am I?
- Who spends the day at the window, goes to the table for meals and hides at night?
- I am a tree, but I am very small... Who am I?
- Where are the lakes that are referred to in the "Los Angeles Lakers?"
- A father's child, a mother's child, yet no one's son. Who am I.
- I am a fathers child and a mothers child, yet I am not a son. Who am I?
- A man but an animal, a horn with two hands. What am I?
- Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have five children, half of them are boys.How is this possible?
- Why did the baseball coach tell the baseball player to go to the bank?
- What sport has four letters, is played all around the world, and begins with a T?
- if you stack thousands of pizza pies on top of eachother what would you get?
- A man lay dead in a room with 51 bicycles around him. What happened?
- What has eighteen legs and catches flies during every baseball game?
- How many sides does a soccer stadium have?
- Why do coaches say tennis can be such a loud sport?
- What falls around Christmas every year but never gets hurt?
- Why do Thanksgiving turkeys stop telling jokes at the dinner table?
- What is bought by the yard, worn by a Christmas tree, and never used for measuring?
- What has long ears, shows up in Easter baskets, and never hops away?
- What do people cut into hearts on Valentine's Day that never bleeds?
- When does New Year's Day come before Christmas?
- Why shouldn't you tell secrets to an Easter egg?
Explore other types of riddles
Looking for a different style? Try another popular riddle list.