Get ready to scratch you’re head and think outside the box! These riddles ain’t your average brain teasers – there super challenging and will make your brain hurt in the best way possible.
I collected 60 of the toughest riddles that will keep you guessing for hours. Some might seem easy at first, but trust me, their tricky. Don’t worry tho, all the answers are included so you can check if your right after you try.
Classic Hard Riddles to Challenge Your Mind
Riddles make your brain work in wierd ways, and thats the best part! These brain-teasers will challenge even the smartest people you know. I found these classic hard ones that might seem simple but will leave you thinking for hours. See how many you can figure out before checking the answers!
Riddle: I’m light as a feather, but even the strongest person cant hold me for more than a few minutes. What am I?
Answer: Breath
Riddle: The more you take away from me, the bigger I get. What am I?
Answer: A hole
Riddle: What has a face and two hands but no arms or legs?
Answer: A clock
Riddle: I have cities but no houses, forests but no trees, and oceans but no water. What am I?
Answer: A map
Riddle: I’m full of holes but still hold water. What am I?
Answer: A sponge
Riddle: What can travel all around the world without leaving its corner?
Answer: A stamp
Riddle: The person who makes it doesnt need it. The person who buys it doesnt use it. The person who uses it doesn’t know there using it. What is it?
Answer: A coffin
Riddle: What has a head, a tail, but no body?
Answer: A coin
Riddle: The more you add, the less it weighs. What is it?
Answer: A hole
Riddle: I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I come alive with wind. What am I?
Answer: An echo
Logic-Based Brain Teasers
Ready to really test you’re brain power? These logic riddles aren’t like normal ones – they make you think super hard and use real problem solving skills. Most people give up before they even figure them out! I tryed solving these with my friends and we was stuck for hours on some of them. Good luck!
Riddle: Three friends check into a hotel room that costs $30. They each pay $10. Later, the manager realizes the room should only cost $25, so he gives $5 to the bellboy to return. The bellboy keeps $2 and gives each friend $1 back. Now they each paid $9, that’s $27 total, plus $2 the bellboy kept makes $29. Where’s the other dollar?
Answer: The math’s just twisted wrong. $27 = $25 for the room + $2 to the bellboy. Don’t add the $2 again—it’s already in the $27.
Riddle: A man looks at a photo and says, “Brothers and sisters I have none, but this mans father is my fathers son.” Who’s in the picture?
Answer: His son
Riddle: You have 9 balls that all look the same, but one’s a bit heavier. What’s the least number of times you gotta use a balance scale to find the heavy one?
Answer: 2 weighings
Riddle: A dad and his son get in a car crash. They rush to the hospital, but the surgeon says, “I can’t operate on him, he’s my son!” How’s that possible?
Answer: The surgeon’s his mom
Riddle: If 5 cats catch 5 mice in 5 minutes, how many cats you need to catch 100 mice in 100 minutes?
Answer: Just 5 cats
Riddle: You got a 7-minute and a 4-minute hourglass. How can you time exactly 9 minutes?
Answer: Start both. When the 4 runs out, flip it. When the 7 runs out, flip the 4 again. When the 4 runs out again, boom—9 mins.
Riddle: A woman has 7 daughters, and each daughter has a brother. How many kids total?
Answer: 8 kids—7 girls, 1 boy (they all share the same brother)
Riddle: You got a 3-gallon jug and a 5-gallon jug. How do you measure 4 gallons?
Answer: Fill the 5. Pour into the 3 till it’s full. 2 gallons left in the 5. Dump the 3, pour the 2 in it. Fill the 5 again, top off the 3 (1 more gallon), and you got exactly 4 gallons in the 5-gallon jug.
Riddle: In a race, you pass the person in 2nd place. What place are you in now?
Answer: 2nd place
Riddle: A guy’s on death row. He has to choose between 3 rooms: one with fire, one with armed assassins, and one with lions that haven’t ate in years. Which one’s safest?
Answer: The lions—they’d be dead by now
Math Riddles for Problem-Solving Pros
Math ain’t just about boring homework! These brain teasers use numbers and logic to really challenge you’re thinking. Me and my friends love solving these during lunch break, and we compete to see who can solve them the fastest. Some are tricky, so don’t give up to easy!
Riddle: If a brick weighs 3 pounds plus half a brick, how much does 1 brick weigh?
Answer: 6 pounds (Cuz if x = 3 + x/2, then x/2 = 3, so x = 6)
Riddle: I add 5 to 9, and get 2. How is this possible?
Answer: It’s a time thing—9 AM + 5 hours = 2 PM
Riddle: A farmer has 17 sheep. All but 9 die. How many sheep are left?
Answer: 9 sheep (it said all but 9, so 9 are still alive)
Riddle: If you have 3 apples and take away 2, how many apples do you have?
Answer: 2 apples (you took 2, so that’s how many you got now)
Riddle: A snail climbs up a 10-foot wall. Each day it climbs 3 feet, but slips back 2 feet at night. How long till it gets to the top?
Answer: 8 days (on the 8th day it hits 10 feet and don’t slide back)
Riddle: If 2 painters can paint 2 rooms in 2 hours, how long for 8 painters to do 8 rooms?
Answer: 2 hours (they all work at the same time, rate don’t change)
Riddle: How can you add 8 eights to get 1,000?
Answer: 888 + 88 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 1,000
Riddle: Their are 7 sisters in a house. Each sister has 1 brother. How many people live there?
Answer: 9 people (7 sisters + 1 brother + at least 1 parent maybe)
Riddle: What 3 numbers give the same answer when added and when multiplied?
Answer: 1, 2, and 3 (1+2+3 = 6 and 1×2×3 = 6 too)
Riddle: I’m thinkin’ of a number. If you times it by 3 and then add 8, you get 29. What number am I thinkin of?
Answer: 7 (3×7 + 8 = 29)
Hard Wordplay Riddles with Tricky Twists
Words can be super tricky if you twist em around! These riddles mess with words in ways that’ll make your brain hurt. My english teacher gave us some of these and nobody in class could figure them out. Some answers might seem obvius after you hear them, but dont be fooled – their super hard!
Riddle: What has 4 letters, sometimes 9 letters, but never has 5 letters?
Answer: Not even a question. “What” has 4 letters, “sometimes” has 9, and “never” has 5. That’s it lol.
Riddle: I’m a 5-letter word. People eat me. Take off the first letter, I become a type of energy. Take off the first two, I’m needed to live. Remove the first & last letters, and I’m a drink. What am I?
Answer: Wheat (heat, eat, tea)
Riddle: Forward I’m heavy, but backward I’m not. What am I?
Answer: The word “ton” (ton backwards = not)
Riddle: What 5-letter word gets shorter when you add 2 letters to it?
Answer: Short (add “er” to make “shorter”)
Riddle: I can fill a whole room but don’t take up any space. What am I?
Answer: Light
Riddle: What word starts with two letters that mean a guy, three that mean a girl, four that mean a hero, and the full word means a powerful woman?
Answer: Heroine (he, her, hero, heroine)
Riddle: Starts with a P, ends with an E, and got thousands of letters inside?
Answer: Post Office
Riddle: What has a head and a tail but no body?
Answer: A coin
Riddle: Feed me food, I live. Give me water, I die. What am I?
Answer: Fire
Riddle: Two in a corner, one in a room, none in a house, one in a shelter. What am I?
Answer: The letter “R”
What Am I? Riddles That Aren’t So Obvious
These riddles aren’t like the ones you hear everyday. There super tricky and make you think in wierd ways! I found these online and couldn’t figure out half of them. My older sister said there too hard for most people, but I bet your smarter then she thinks. See if you can guess what each thing is!
Riddle: I got keys but no locks. I got space but no room. You can enter, but not in me. What am I?
Answer: A keyboard
Riddle: I’m tall when I’m young, but I shrink down as I get older. What am I?
Answer: A candle
Riddle: I don’t even have a life, but I can still die. What am I?
Answer: A battery
Riddle: I’m in socks, scarves, and mittens. And also get attacked by kittens. What am I?
Answer: Yarn
Riddle: The more you take away, the bigger I get. What am I?
Answer: A hole
Riddle: I’m white, sharp for cutting or grinding. Some animals use me as weapons. Others, just for chewing. What am I?
Answer: Teeth
Riddle: I go all around the world but never leave my corner. What am I?
Answer: A stamp
Riddle: I keep gettin’ smaller the more I take a bath. What am I?
Answer: Soap
Riddle: I can be cracked, made, told, and played. What am I?
Answer: A joke
Riddle: I ain’t alive, but I grow. I don’t breathe, but I need air. No mouth, but water straight up kills me. What am I?
Answer: Fire
Final Tough Riddles to Really Push Your Brain
Get ready for the hardest riddles yet! These are the ones that make even smart people scratch there heads for hours. My cousin who’s super good at puzzles couldn’t solve more then half of these. If you can figure these out without looking at the answers, your definately a genius! Good luck – your gonna need it!
Riddle: A guy’s trapped in a room with 2 exits. One’s just glass and full of sun, so he’d burn alive. The other’s on fire. How’s he get out?
Answer: Waits till it’s nighttime, then walks out the magnifying glass room. No sun = no fryin’.
Riddle: A girl’s got the same amount of brothers as sisters. Each bro’s got twice as many sisters as brothers. How many kids we talkin?
Answer: 4 girls, 3 boys (math’s sneaky like that)
Riddle: I turn polar bears white, make people cry, and give celebs breakdowns. Pancakes get brown, champagne gets bubbly. What am I?
Answer: Pressure
Riddle: The poor got me, rich folks need me, and if you eat me, you die. What am I?
Answer: Nothing (yep, that’s the answer AND the clue)
Riddle: There’s 100 houses. A thief hits 50. A detective can only ask ONE yes/no question to figure out which were robbed. How’s he do it?
Answer: He asks, “If I randomly pick a house and ask if it was robbed, would you say yes?” That tricks the thief into revealing it all.
Riddle: What English word got 3 double letters in a row?
Answer: Bookkeeper (oo-kk-ee — crazy but true)
Riddle: I’m always starving. If I don’t get fed, I die. But whatever I touch turns red. What am I?
Answer: Fire
Riddle: What’s got 13 hearts but no lungs, brains, or stomachs?
Answer: A deck of cards
Riddle: 2 convicts in a cell. There’s a window way high up. Standing, climbing—nothing works. They start digging a tunnel but give up. Then one escapes. How?
Answer: He digs a bit and uses the dirt to make a pile to climb up to the window. No fancy tricks, just dirt stacking.
Riddle: A guy walks into a bar and asks for water. Bartender pulls a shotgun on him. Guy says “thanks” and leaves. What happened?
Answer: He had hiccups. The bartender scared ’em away, so now he don’t need water anymore.