Classic Riddles: Think Twice Before You Answer!: questions and answers
Study every question with its correct answer and explanation.
1. What gets wetter the more it dries?
- A. A candle
- B. A towel
- C. The Sun
- D. A stone
Answer: A towel
A towel soaks up water as it dries you, so the more drying it does, the wetter it becomes.
2. The more of them you take, the more you leave behind. What are they?
- A. Footsteps
- B. Coins
- C. Books
- D. Sweets
Answer: Footsteps
Every step you take leaves a footprint behind you, so taking more steps leaves more behind.
3. What can you hold in your left hand but never in your right hand?
- A. A pen
- B. A coin
- C. Your right elbow
- D. A glass of water
Answer: Your right elbow
You can grip your right elbow with your left hand, but your right hand can never reach its own elbow.
4. Mary's father has five daughters: Nana, Nene, Nini and Nono. What is the name of the fifth daughter?
- A. Nunu
- B. Nina
- C. Nyla
- D. Mary
Answer: Mary
The riddle starts with "Mary's father", so Mary herself is the fifth daughter. The pattern of names is a distraction.
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5. What goes up but never comes down?
- A. Your age
- B. A ball
- C. A lift
- D. An aeroplane
Answer: Your age
Your age only ever increases — it goes up every birthday and never comes back down.
6. I am tall when I am young and short when I am old, and I give light as I burn. What am I?
- A. A tree
- B. A lamp post
- C. A pencil
- D. A candle
Answer: A candle
A new candle is tall, and it gets shorter as its wax melts away while it burns and gives light.
7. What has to be broken before you can use it?
- A. A plate
- B. An egg
- C. A glass
- D. A chair
Answer: An egg
You have to crack an egg's shell before you can cook or eat what is inside. Plates, glasses and chairs are useful only while they are unbroken.
8. A rooster lays an egg on the very top of a sloping roof. Which side does the egg roll down?
- A. The left side
- B. The right side
- C. It stays on top
- D. Neither — roosters don't lay eggs
Answer: Neither — roosters don't lay eggs
A rooster is a male chicken, and only hens lay eggs, so there is no egg to roll anywhere.
9. You are running a race and you overtake the person in second place. What place are you in now?
- A. First
- B. Second
- C. Third
- D. Last
Answer: Second
By passing the runner in second place, you take their position — so you are now second, not first. Someone is still ahead of you.
10. Which is heavier: a kilogram of iron or a kilogram of cotton?
- A. The iron
- B. The cotton
- C. Both weigh the same
- D. It depends on the weather
Answer: Both weigh the same
A kilogram is a kilogram — both weigh exactly the same. The cotton simply takes up much more space because it is far less dense than iron.