42 Christmas riddles with answers

I wear a star on my head all through December, but I've never been famous. What am I?

Hint: A famous person is one kind of star; the other kind sits up high.

I'm a big sock, but nobody ever puts a foot in me. On Christmas morning I'm full of treats. What am I?

Hint: It hangs by the fireplace with your name sewn across the top.

Everyone is excited to rip me to pieces on Christmas morning. What am I?

Hint: Look under the tree at what covers every gift before it gets opened.

I have 24 little doors, but nobody ever walks through any of them. What am I?

Hint: You open one tiny door each morning while counting down to the big day.

Shake me and it snows, but nobody in my tiny town ever gets cold. What am I?

Hint: It is a little glass ball with a tiny scene inside.

I have runners, but I never run anywhere. In the story, reindeer pull me across the sky. What am I?

Hint: Here runners are the long blades something slides on over the snow.

My walls are cookie and my roof is frosting, but nobody lives in me, and everybody wants a bite. What am I?

Hint: Picture a sweet little building you decorate with candy and icing.

I twinkle like a star, but you have to plug me in. What am I?

Hint: Strings of these wrap around trees and houses and glow in many colors.

I'm round like a ring, but I hang on the front door instead of on a finger. What am I?

Hint: It is a circle of green branches, often with a big red bow.

I'm a gift under the tree, and I'm also a word that means right now. What am I?

Hint: It is also what you say when the teacher calls your name.

I visit almost every house in one night, but I never use the front door. Who am I?

Hint: His way in is sooty and starts up on the roof.

I'm a cane, but nobody leans on me when they walk. I'm usually striped red and white, and I taste like mint. What am I?

Hint: Hang it on a branch or crunch it; it is shaped like a hook.

My first half falls from winter clouds. My second half is a grown-up boy. Together I stand in the yard with a carrot for a nose. What am I?

Hint: Roll three big balls, stack them up, and add a hat.

My first half is a direction on a compass. My second half is a long stick. Together I'm where Santa lives in the story. What am I?

Hint: Pick the compass direction at the very top of the map.

I'm a ball, but nobody ever kicks me or throws me. I hang on a branch and shine. What am I?

Hint: Look at the shiny round things you hang on a branch each year.

I hug your neck all winter long, but I don't have a single arm. What am I?

Hint: Something long and soft you wrap on before going out in the cold.

I grow from the top down. I get longer when it's freezing and drip away when it warms up. What am I?

Hint: Look along the edge of a roof on a cold, sunny day.

You make me by lying in the snow and sweeping your arms up and down, but I can't fly. What am I?

Hint: When you stand up, the shape you left behind seems to have wings.

We knock on doors in December, but instead of asking for candy, we sing. Who are we?

Hint: They stand in a group on the porch and sing songs about the season.

Put one letter in front of ELF, and you get a word for your own self. What is it?

Hint: Try letters from the second half of the alphabet, one at a time.

Change the first letter of GIFT, and you get what you do to a heavy box. What is the new word?

Hint: Try first letters from the middle of the alphabet, around K to N.

Change the first letter of TREE, and you get a word that means it costs nothing. What is the new word?

Hint: Try letters from the start of the alphabet, A through G.

Change the last letter of BELL, and you get something you wear around your waist. What is the new word?

Hint: Try ending letters from late in the alphabet, like R, S and T.

Take away my first letter and I mean "at this very moment." Put it back and I fall from winter clouds. What am I?

Hint: Find the three-letter word for this very second first, then build on it.

Which number is hiding in the word MITTEN?

Hint: Look at the end of the word and count on your fingers.

Which body of water is hiding in the word SNOWFLAKE?

Hint: Cover the start of the word and find a place to swim.

Which word for what people call you is hiding in the word ORNAMENT?

Hint: Skip the first two letters and read across the middle part.

Which word for what you do with a book is hiding in GINGERBREAD?

Hint: Look at the second half, right after the ginger part.

Which word for what you do at dinner is hiding in the word WREATH?

Hint: Cover the first two letters and the last one with your fingers.

Which royal is hiding inside the word STOCKING?

Hint: This royal wears a crown, and he sits at the back of the word.

Which part of your body is hiding in the word CHESTNUT?

Hint: Look at the first half of the word, near where your heart beats.

Santa walks out of his front door at the North Pole and goes one mile in a straight line. Which direction did he walk?

Hint: Picture where the North Pole sits on a globe.

Swap two letters in something that often sits on top of a Christmas tree, and you get what a protractor measures. What are the two words?

Hint: The tree topper has wings; swap two letters near its end.

Remove one letter from a prickly Christmas plant with red berries, and you get a word that means sacred. What is the plant?

Hint: The plant's name has a double letter; try dropping one of them.

Four stockings hang in a row for Ava, Ben, Cora and Dan. Cora's is at one end. Ben's is next to Cora's. Dan's is not next to Ben's. Whose stocking hangs at the other end?

Hint: Place Cora's at one end first, then put Ben's right beside it.

Rearrange the letters of TINSEL to get a word that means to join the army.

Hint: Think of signing up to serve, and try starting with a vowel.

Rearrange the letters of CAROLS to name living things found in warm, shallow seas.

Hint: Picture colorful reefs under the sea; only two letters trade places.

Rearrange the letters of DASHER, one of Santa's reindeer, to get a word that means split between people.

Hint: Think of what you did with a pizza split among friends.

Rearrange the letters of MANGER to get a word for someone from Berlin.

Hint: Try swapping the two halves of the word.

Take the P off PRESENT, and you get a word for feeling bitter about something. What is it?

Hint: Say what is left slowly; it means holding a grudge.

Which Christmas word sounds exactly like a short way of saying "you will"?

Hint: An old word for the season survives in the log burned on Christmas Eve.

Three gifts, a book, a scarf and a game, are wrapped in red, green and gold paper. The book is not in red. The scarf is in gold. What color is the game's paper?

Hint: Start with the scarf, then work out which color the book must take.