22 riddles for seniors with answers
Familiar wordplay and object clues. Use the large-print control to make the questions and answers easier to read.
22 riddles · Riddles for seniors with answers · answers included
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- 1
I fall without pain and lie without sleep; white crystals gather in blankets so deep. What am I?
easy
Hint: The white blanket forms outdoors in cold weather.
AnswerSnow.
Snow is made of tiny ice crystals that drift down and pile up like a white blanket on the ground.
- 2
I roll and I rumble and cover the most; my waves travel far, then they crash on the coast. What am I?
easy
Hint: The clue describes waves approaching land.
AnswerThe ocean.
The ocean covers most of the Earth. Its waves carry the wind's energy across open water and break when they reach the shallow shore.
- 3
Which small tool has an eye for thread but never sees the cloth?
easy
Hint: The eye is a hole used for threading.
AnswerA sewing needle.
The eye of a sewing needle is the small hole at one end that the thread passes through.
- 4
Lots of keys, and not one of them opens a door. What am I?
easy
Hint: These keys are pressed rather than turned.
AnswerA keyboard.
A keyboard's keys are buttons you press to type letters or play notes, not keys that unlock anything.
- 5
What has a neck and a mouth but no head?
easy
Hint: The body-part words describe parts of a container.
AnswerA bottle.
A bottle's neck is its narrow top, and its mouth is the opening you pour from.
- 6
All my teeth are in one straight row, and I never bite. I just tidy your hair. What am I?
easy
Hint: Its teeth are evenly spaced prongs.
AnswerA comb.
A comb's teeth are the thin prongs that run through your hair to untangle it.
- 7
I have a spine but no bones, and you turn my leaves though I am not a tree. What am I?
easy
Hint: Think of an object with named parts like a body.
AnswerA book.
A book's spine is the edge that holds its pages together, and pages are also called leaves.
- 8
I have a thumb and four fingers, but I am not alive. I keep a hand warm. What am I?
easy
Hint: It copies the shape of a hand.
AnswerA glove.
A glove has a pocket for each finger and one for the thumb, shaped like the hand inside it.
- 9
Picture a field full of ears that cannot hear. What crop is growing there?
easy
Hint: Here, an ear is part of a plant.
AnswerCorn.
Corn grows in ears: each ear is the long cob wrapped in leaves and packed with kernels.
- 10
You can hear me ring all day, yet no ring ever goes on my finger. What am I?
easy
Hint: The ring is a sound.
AnswerA telephone.
A telephone rings when someone calls. That ring is a sound, not a piece of jewelry.
- 11
Covered in eyes, I see nothing at all, and I grow under the ground. What am I?
easy
Hint: Its eyes are small buds on its skin.
AnswerA potato.
A potato's eyes are the small dents on its skin where new shoots sprout.
- 12
Four legs, a back and sometimes two arms, but I never get up and walk. What am I?
easy
Hint: It supports one seated person.
AnswerA chair.
A chair's legs hold it up, its back supports yours, and its arms are where your elbows rest.
- 13
The word BLANK is written in the middle of an otherwise unused card. Is the card blank?
easy
Hint: Look at what is on the card, not what the word says.
AnswerNo.
The card contains the written word, so the label does not describe the card's state.
- 14
A sound leaves you, meets a wall, and comes back wearing your voice. What is it?
easy
Hint: Think about what a wall can return after a shout.
AnswerAn echo.
Sound bounces off hard surfaces such as walls and cliffs, so a shout comes back to you a moment later in your own voice.
- 15
Light draws me beside you, but darkness erases me. What am I?
easy
Hint: Look for something created when light is blocked.
AnswerA shadow.
Your body blocks the light and leaves a dark shape beside you. With no light at all, there is no shadow.
- 16
Light my wick and I glow, but every hour I burn I grow a little shorter. What am I?
easy
Hint: Its center is lit while its outer material melts.
AnswerA candle.
A candle's flame melts the wax around the wick and burns it, so the candle gives light and slowly shrinks.
- 17
Fold me into your pocket and you carry roads, rivers and whole cities with you. What am I?
easy
Hint: It represents places at a smaller scale.
AnswerA map.
A map draws a big area small: its roads, rivers and towns are lines and labels on paper or a screen.
- 18
Dates live on my pages, months take turns, and a new year replaces me. What am I?
easy
Hint: It organizes dates into months and years.
AnswerA calendar.
A calendar shows the days of each month in turn, and when the year ends you put up a new one.
- 19
My face has no eyes and my hands have no fingers, yet I tell you something new every minute. What am I?
easy
Hint: The face and hands are mechanical parts.
AnswerA clock.
A clock's face is its front, and its hands are the pointers that move round to show the time.
- 20
Every morning I show you your face, but I never take a picture. What am I?
easy
Hint: You may look into it before leaving home.
AnswerA mirror.
A mirror's smooth, shiny surface reflects light straight back, so you see yourself in it.
- 21
Turn me over and my sand runs from top to bottom. When it stops, your time is up. What am I?
easy
Hint: Turning it over restarts the measurement.
AnswerAn hourglass.
An hourglass is a timer: the same sand always takes the same time to trickle through the narrow middle.
- 22
I wait folded in a corner until the rain starts, then I open up over your head. What am I?
easy
Hint: A handle lets you carry the shelter above you.
AnswerAn umbrella.
An umbrella folds small to carry, then its thin ribs spread the cover open above you to keep the rain off.
Timer and team scores
8 turns × 60 seconds = 8 minutes of play, plus instructions and breaks.
60
Pause whenever the group needs more time.
Team Lime's turn
Team Lime: 0
Team Violet: 0
Team Tangerine: 0
Team Sky: 0
Team Lemon: 0
Team Bubblegum: 0
Use this set with a group
Read a prompt, allow thinking time, then invite an answer or a pass. For a timed round, choose a turn length before starting. A host can keep the printed answers out of view until the round ends.