RULES: A riddle for your thoughts? Write a rhyming riddle, any length and paste it in the comments section below with your name and area of residence. Do not include the answer. Let people guess and then respond at your discretion. One submission per contestant. Submissions should be originally written just for this contest. No submission fee. See our Riddles Section for inspiration.
DEADLINE: July 31 midnight EST. Winner announced August 10.
PRIZE: Official Winner’s Certificate.
JUDGE: Society staff and the Advisory Board will judge (those who choose not to participate in judging may participate in the contest)
I might be a simple peasant,
But I am a princess whose name sounds very pleasant.
Who am I?
Name: Alex Andy Phuong
Area of residence: Alhambra, California
Cindarella?
Hi Juanita,
That was a good guess, but I was actually thinking of “Belle” from “Beauty and the Beast.” (I can still understand why you thought the answer was “Cinderella.”)
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Alex Phuong
As storm clouds gathered nearer, deeper, darker overhead,
I took up my position by the window, on the bed.
First came bolts of lightning – thunder followed close behind.
The rain fell up, not downwards, but somehow I didn’t mind.
Rain came up in buckets where the gutter water flows.
Puddles became torrents, became rivers as they rose.
Water bombs exploded with a terrifying blast;
While suspended snails on silver trails proudly shuffled past.
Branches grew delightfully beneath the trunks of trees.
Leaves settled higher, higher, stolen downward by the breeze.
I caught a glimpse of distant trucks traversing stormy roads,
Driving past on cabin tops, transporting upturned loads.
Washing flew aloft like kites – a most unusual sight.
The neighbor’s gate had turned around, latched on bottom right.
Passers-by in raincoats held umbrellas by my feet,
As they darted into doorways from the overhanging street.
Barking dogs defeated gravity, like flies upon a wall.
Flowers wet and sodden stood up straighter, didn’t fall.
Droplets on the window trickled up the window pane,
While birds flew topsy-turvy, seeking shelter from the rain.
What am I watching and from which vantage point?
I should have mentioned my area of residence is Canberra, Australia.
David Watt
A flood from the bottom?
Hello Juanita, a flood from the bottom is pretty much a thunderstorm (or flooding rains resulting from) viewed from the bottom (an upside down vantage point). Well done!
‘What’s got no flesh nor bone,
No hands or feet to call its own,
No fist to punch you, though I‘ve a hunch you
Won’t get by without a blow?’
Tornado?
Hi Juanita,
yes, while the riddle’s original answer was ‘wind’, ‘tornado’ fits perfectly, well done!
Gabriel
Breath?
Hi Rajagopal ! Actually I was inspired by ‘wind’ but breath could also be a good answer to this riddle.
(I forgot to say before that I am in north Italy.)
The only U.S. president
Who still is as hard as granite,
And yet is cuddily and soft,
Still with us but died with a cough.
Is it Theodore Roosevelt?
Right!
A riddle I propose
Of a king who owned a castle with a strong and sturdy pony in the stable
And sat beside his thrown
His lovely queen that shined and dazzled like the treasures from a child’s bedtime fable
The queen, before their marriage came from money from the start
And she had a horse and castle just the same
So they both wrote up a contract, though they married from the heart
That should they part they do so with what they have to their names
And though they lived and prospered time went on and they grew cold
And so they figured that the two should split
Divided up the castles and the horses and the gold
But the queen got custody of all eight of their kids
What is it?
Austin, TX
Throne*
A game of chess?
A game of chess?
Correct
From a whale of a tale I came to be;
Now a mariner’s myth you hold in your hand.
With froth and foam upon a Black Sea;
I am short and tall and grand.
What am I?
Seahorse?
Not sure the protocol for giving the answer but it’s not a seahorse.
Albatross….from the The Tale of the Ancient Mariner
Thank you for taking the time to guess. A hint: the references are old but the answer is modern.
A cup of coffee, natch.
Daniel – I’ve been traveling and am just now catching up. I see that you solved this a few days ago. Way to go!
The answer to this riddle is a Starbucks Cup of Coffee.
(Moby Dick – Mermaid on Cup – Milk Foam on Black Coffee – Cup Sizes)
Thank you everyone for the great combination of lovely
language and thoughtful challenge. This has been great fun!
Very clever!
I could be narrow and tall,
Or wide and small,
But never too far from the wall.
You look at me
To search and see
What wonders could be binding all.
Mirror?
Good guess. Key word “binding”
Could it possibly be a curtain rod?
Would it be a “Shadow”
I run and run and run.
But I’ve no legs; not one.
What am I?
river?
A clock ?
salmon?
In the poem below, each and every line,
Holds a missing word “CANDY” does replace;
Clues — allusions — are all commonly heard,
Take the letter first of each missing word
To together piece and find the answer — just a Christmas phrase.
Don’t be such a CANDY Scrooge, sing a song extraordinaire,
And write to dear young CANDY, “Yes, he certainly is there.”
Carols roam and CANDY hence as if hunted by a bear,
And through five golden CANDY drifts the music fine and fair.
Mister CANDY, meanest one, what a green-faced heel to sight!
You ought to try to brighten just like CANDY’s nose of light…
CANDY eye and willing ear pleased a Christmas very white,
To dine upon green CANDY and the ham bite after bite.
Twilight fades and so we must in the silent CANDY go
To pray that Vixen, CANDY will with Dancer, Prancer show;
In this one-horse CANDY sleigh bells are jingling row on row,
And up we trim our CANDY and our aunts from head to toe.
Loving thanks exchanged tonight, like the Magi’s CANDY fine
And next morning all will find, CANDY heroes, yours and mine.
Oops I forgot.
Name: Shawn Chang
Area of Residence: Richmond, BC, Canada
Under Mistletoe?
Here’s a stumper! I’ve been wrestling with it but, thus far, to no avail. I’ll give it another shot in a few days. (I’m busy on weekends!)
Medical Riddle
My first is in bandage but not in wrap
My second’s in drip but not in tap
My third’s in suture and also in stitch,
and my fourth is in doctor and also in rich.
My fifth’s in operation but not in pre-med
My sixth’s in a mattress but not a clean bed.
My seventh’s in forceps and also in knife
My eighth is in mortal, so not in life
My ninth is in nursing but not in kind
My tenth is in treatment but not in mind
As a patient you’ll hear it again and again
– for my whole is what doctors say when they mean ‘pain’.
– Cathy Bryant, from Disley, Cheshire, UK
Discomfort, right?
Correct!
Nice riddle. It made me think . . . it made me smile.
Thank you, James!
Wow! Discomfort expressed so eloquently?
I’ve had lots of experience of hospitals! 🙂
I have a body and a head,
When steamed I sometimes get quite red.
Yet whether weak, robust or strong,
You’ll see me hoisted with a song,
By urban dilettantes and sots
In carboys, growlers, stoups and pots.
But pale or dark, or thin or stout,
The house is sad if I run out.
It now is time to end this game.
You’re now on tap to guess my name.
James A. Tweedie, Long Beach, Washington
Ale (or beer)?
As my First Prize winner you will receive a firkin of fermented gherkins delivered to your door by an Amazon drone–or not. 😉
Sounds good – I can almost taste the tangy sourness!
Craft Beer of all kinds?
Near Seattle too…
Well I don’t win anything – I thought it was lobster!
They lurk and swirl, en masse with force.
A hungry group, mouths open wide.
The shadows of a human sought,
Their blotches black, red-orange swiped.
could the answer be vultures?
could they be bats?
Mosquitos?
Perhaps a ladybird?
Mosquitos?
The red-winged black bird?
I come in second always and create something sweet. You can catch me in the sky even on a sheet. What am I?
Area of Res: CA, USA
This riddle is driving me crazy!!! It is the best so far in my opinion! I guessed Belle for the very first one but he gave the answer before I could submit so I have to try this one!! I have had 3 ideas so far and none make total sense:
I am going with BANANA for my first guess
Ice?
Are you a shifty ‘s’ being deviously expressed? That’s what I have guessed. All the best.
A bee, I should think?
Like Mr. Robin, I’m guessing: the letter “s”.
Please explain what you and Damian see? Looks like Mauricio has dropped out of sight!
The letter “s” is in each of the words he mentioned: second, sweet, sky, and sheet. Of course, I’m just guessing.
Thank You! I love these riddles, just can’t figure any out
Riddles competition
What am I?
what am I if full of woe?
You sold me down the river so
I nearly died out for your greed
Of fur coats that you think you need
But I’m back and now you can’t
Get rid of me oh no you shan’t
For I have joined the rank of those
You fear and greatly oppose
Just like the rat, the vermin plague unrefined
Haunts you, can you guess my name so mustalined?
In the UK this would apply to the mink!
Correct
I think it is mink
Correct
What’s between, what’s beyond,
What’s little, what’s long,
What’s nigh, what’s never,
What’s hence, what’s hither,
What’s tended, what’s taken,
What’s here, what’s hidden,
What’s behind, what’s before,
What’s ahead, what’s afar,
What’s steady, what’s still,
What’s up, what’s until,
What’s late, what’s latter,
What’s always, what’s after,
What’s in, what’s idle,
What’s first, what’s final,
What’s leading, what’s lost,
What’s passing, what’s past,
What’s nearing, what’s near,
What’s more, what’s mere,
What’s last, what’s left,
What’s since, what’s set,
What’s bound, what’s broken,
What’s out, what’s open,
What’s stopping, what’s stretching,
What’s retreating, what’s returning,
What’s coming, what’s come,
What’s going, what’s gone?
—
Benjamin L. Pérez
Fuchu, Japan
Time?
Yes.
PS: The poem’s title/subtitle is
TEMPUS
(chronos ∞ kairos)
I’ll tell you of a fearsome beast
That’s quite bizarre, to say the least:
A Satyr’s trunk is at its core,
And legs of a mighty Minotaur.
A Mermaid’s arms to these are wed,
Then topped with the Sphinx’s noble head.
Such a monstrous mix this beast would be,
Which I should never hope to see!
(To make this piecewise picture clearer,
Just look into the nearest mirror.)
That’s a good one. And fun to read. “Man” (“human”), right?
Yep! The oldest riddle there is, just spruced up a bit.
Riddle
I can run,
But cannot walk;
I have hands
Like cheese and chalk.
What am I?
A clock?
You guessed it right!
I have no mind
I can think
I never sleep
Not a wink
I do not eat
Not do I drink
There is nothing
I can’t link
Ask me questions
I don’t blink
What am I?
Please do think.
computer
Hi Daniel,
Almost but not quite!
Computer did go to ‘sleep’ when it is not active.
It cannot make the links
It also cannot answer so the question… By itself.
The answer I have I’m mind is something else…
AI ? artificial intelligence
Ahh I see the answer is posted. Sorry about that. Feel free to delete these 2 comments. I do not see a way to do that.
Oh yes I forgot. I live in Mumbai,India
The HIGHER SELF
Joan,u stumped me! I must admit that your interpretation fits the riddle to a. T.
But honestly, the solution I had in mind is different
Thanks Ram! I thought computer at first but I know mine goes on the blink sometimes :-). When I saw you were from Mumbai I immediately went to the Vedantic interpretation :-). I am anxious to know the answer when someone guesses – I am going to keep pondering!
Ok. Don’t want to keep you guessing. If you had guessed computer you were pretty close. The answer is: search engine.!
A combination of hardware and software the search engine does all that I had mentioned… But when you came up with the vedantic solution, it was just perfect!
Thanks Ram!! You should share your riddle with the great Vedantic Swamis of the Sri Ramakrishna Order- Math and Mission – they would LOVE it!!!
Joan, you seem to have in depth knowledge of vedanta!I am impressed.
Yes – I am a member of Vedanta Society for 33 years 🙂
You must be a veteran in vedanta by now!
Two or one?
My name means two things that you get to see
You consume one, the other consumes you,
As far apart as the sky from the sea,
A part of your daily life are these two
One causes addiction, another cures,
Their forms and functions are different too,
One gives you protection from illness sure,
Other-knowledge and entertainment too.
From the attacks of illness one screens you
One a screen that takes you to another world
One is given by doctors to help you,
One is bought in vanity truth be told.
You cant live without one is what you think
And the other keeps your health in the pink
This one is bugging me Ram 🙂
Hi Joan,
Not to worry!
It is tablet..
One is a pill that the doctor prescribes when you are I’ll.
The other is a tablet pc like your iPad… Both are called…. Tablet:)
This is fantastically clever! You are a natural at this riddle game.
Thank you, Joan!
I love riddles but this is the first time I am setting them to verse 🙂
My rivers and seas run dry
and mountain peaks don’t reach up high
My roads are never jammed with cars
and I have neither sun nor sky nor stars.
I come equipped with a key
to help you unravel me.
What is it you think I am?
-Nivedita Karthik
Chennai, India
World jigsaw puzzle?
Sorry, no.
A map?
Right you are!
I tip my hat to Ram, whose answer got me thinking along the proper lines.
How about a map?
You see me nearly daily but you rarely pay me mind.
I’m at your side, above your head, in front of you, behind;
It’s rare that I’m beneath your feet, unless there’s been a spill.
(Just drop a cloth beforehand and apply me with great skill.)
You try to make me thinner, but in truth, I am not fat.
I have no shape to speak of; once you use me, I am flat.
When I am fresh, you’ll smell me, for my scent is in the air,
But, later on, you’ll brush on by as if I wasn’t there.
What am I?
Fr. Richard Libby, Corpus Christi, TX
Gravity?
No, but that’s a good guess!
Elbow?
No, it’s not an elbow.
Hair dye?
BTW, thank you for looking my guess on Nivedita’s poem!
You’re welcome, Ram! No, I’m sorry, it isn’t hair dye!
I should have done what Father Libby did and use your guess as a launching point :-). dye is hair paint 🙂
This is the winner! Trying to guess Is driving me nuts!…and as my Dad would say “how can you tell?”
PAINT!!!
Brilliant! I bet you are right! It has been driving me nuts!!! 🙂
Paint it is! Congratulations, Juanita H.!
I thought of shadow but it doesn’t fit all the lines
I lie
But my brothers do not
I am sick and dying
But they are well and nourished
Soon they will lie as well
To steal the food they need but won’t find
And we will be chased by long-necked monsters with teeth
And be trapped together in the dark
Or burn to ash.
As our family reunites with us
What time is it?
It’s time to wake up, scream, turn on the light, search under the bed, look in the closet, jump out the window and start running for your life.
Am I close?
Sorry, no.
Is it time to put on a log (Ash) fire
Is it weeds?
Is it leaves in the fall?
Hate to be negative but my first impression was cancer cells talking to healthy cells.
Hint: Two key words/phrases in it are: ‘Long-necked monsters with teeth’; and ‘nourished’.
Okay, here is a really far-out guess. “Long-necked monsters with teeth” were dinosaurs and the riddle describes “the Cretaceous–Tertiary (K–T) extinction, a mass extinction of some three-quarters of the plant and animal species on Earth that occurred over a geologically short period of time.” (quote from Wikipedia). An event precipitated by the incinerating (“burned to ash”) impact of a massive meteor/asteroid off the coast of what is now the Yucatan Peninsula in Central America. The subsequent radiation and loss of sunlight (“trapped together in the dark”) destroyed vegetation/plankton resulting in the starvation of both herbivores and the carnivores which depended on them for food (“the food they need but cannot find”). To “lie” in this case, does not mean to be dishonest, but to literally lie down and die. What time is it? Approximately 66 million years ago.
That really was a far-out guess! You got the “I lie” part correct though. The long-necked monsters . . . don’t think so literally.
(HINT: The monsters can be found in a garden shed.)
I lie – Tree has fallen and is diseased (Root rot) as will the other brothers soon. while they are nourished now they soon will fall (Lie). long-necked monsters with teeth would be a chainsaw?
And be trapped together in the dark – Stored in a wood shed?
Or burn to ash. – used as firewood following which the carbon is released thus re-uniting in the atmosphere.
As our family reunites with us
What time is it? – Time to stop global warming
Wow! Closest guess so far! It does have something to do with trees. Many lines have accurate guesses, but they relate to something else.
Faye, you answered the riddle! What time is it? It is fall/autumn.
I lie – leaf on the ground
But my brothers do not – the other leaves are still on the tree
I am sick and dying – shriveling up
But they are well and nourished.
Soon they will lie as well – soon they will fall as well
To steal the food they need but won’t find – looking for water and nurtrients
And we will be chased by long-necked monsters with teeth – rake
Or trapped together in the dark – black garbage bag on the curb
Or burn to ash As our family reunites with us -as the rest of the leaves fall
What time is it? – It is the season of Autumn
A very good riddle. Well done. Joe.
Dirty cleans up with pirates ..
you tell me why it’s (so) ..
I just made this up and 6 people can’t figure it out yet so i looked for a place to submit it. I reached for the rhyming (pirates/why it’s) it’s not really a rhyming riddle but I liked your site and posts. Everything you need to solve it is in the riddle.
IceManD Think differently!
Now you have 7! LOL My first vision was my grandson taking a bath with his miniature ship and pirates – the only way I could get him to stay in the tub for a while!! LOL
Haha omg too cute! Well, I will add you to the 16 engineers and artists that haven’t been able to get it (without hints) .. so 17 now.