Riddles

Example:

A man and his son are involved in a car accident. The father dies, but the son is taken to the hospital. The doctor refuses to operate, saying “I cannot operate on my son!” How can this be?

Riddles don’t fit my definition of a puzzle, but they might fit yours, so here you go. Note that there are a few answers to the above riddle: “The doctor is the mother!” “The doctor is the step-father!” “The doctor is the adopted father!” etc. etc. They might be useful for lateral thinking, but are bad form in any sort of competitive environment such as puzzlehunts or escape rooms.

Pattern Guessing

Example:

What comes next in the list? 1, 2, 4, …

Another non-puzzle example. Especially egregious are “which picture comes next in the pattern” Mensa-type questions. I’ll point out that in the example, both f(n)=2n$f(n)=2^n$ and g(n)=n2+n+22$g(n)=\frac{n^2+n+2}{2}$satisify the requirements f(0)=g(0)=1,f(1)=g(1)=2,f(2)=g(2)=4$f(0)=g(0)=1,f(1)=g(1)=2,f(2)=g(2)=4$, yielding equally reasonable guesses of f(3)=8$f(3)=8$ and g(3)=7$g(3)=7$, respectively.

Different Types of Riddles

There are two types of riddles, enigmas and conundrums.

• An enigma is a problem in which the solution is expressed metaphorically. You have to carefully think about the riddle to come up with the solution.
• A conundrum is a question that opens either the question or the answer.

A riddle, however, doesn't need to be classified as one of these types. As long as it is difficult to figure out and has an answer or a meaning to it, it can be classified as a riddle. Today riddles aren't used as much as they were in ancient times, but they remain a definite way to get your mind working.

Defining a Riddle

A riddle is a statement, question, or phrase that has a double meaning. A riddle can also be described as a puzzle to be solved. When someone uses a riddle, it can be a thought provoking challenge to figure it out on your own, or it can be a funny comment that makes you laugh. Riddles can be great brain busters or conversation starters to get you think.

A riddle is as hard or as simple as you and the person you're telling makes it. The answer can be right in front of your nose and even in the riddle itself, or it can be difficult and hard to comprehend. It depends on how much you open your mind to the possibilities.

History of Riddles

Riddles came from old English poetry. Their literary ancestry dates all the way back to Plato and Aristotle. In ancient Greece, riddles were used as a cunning tool, to demonstrate wit and wisdom.

Writers in poetry also began expressing themselves through riddles. When a poem contains a riddle, the reader's mind can be stimulated and the writer can successfully get their message across in a more interesting way. Some poetry even has answers to it that you had to riddle out.

Theater is another place where riddles show up. Shakespeare was famous for his works, which had a lot of riddles in them. For example, in Romeo and Juliet, Romeo proclaimed his love in a riddle for the audience to interpret.

Simple and Difficult Riddles

Riddles can be difficult or simple as shown in these examples:

• "Three eyes have I, all in a row; when the red one opens, all freeze." The answer is traffic light.
• "What animal walks on all fours in the morning, two in the afternoon and three in the evening?" The answer is man, since he crawls as a child then walks and uses a cane when he gets older.
• What does "Mill + Walk + Key=" The answer is Milwaukee.
• "What gets wetter and wetter the more it dries?" A towel of course.
• "No sooner spoken than broken. What is it?" It is silence.
• "I am weightless, but you can see me. Put me in a bucket, and I'll make it lighter. What am I?" A hole.