ЗАГАДКИ
НА АНГЛИЙСКОМ
sag ЯЗЫКЕ
ДЛЯ МАЛЬЧИКОВ И ДЕВОЧЕК

«Учение с увлечением»
Автор-составитель
М.П. Филипченко
ЗАГАДКИ
НА АНГЛИЙСКОМ ЯЗЫКЕ
ДЛЯ МАЛЬЧИКОВ И ДЕВОЧЕК
RIDDLES
FOR BOYS AND GIRI S
Ростов-на-Дону
ф
Э ей и кс
2012
УДК 373.167.1:811.1 И
ББК81.2Анп1-9
КТК 441
3-14
3-14 Загадки на английском языке для мальчиков и дево-
чек Riddles for Boys and Girls / авт.-сост М.П. Филип-
ченко. Ростов н/Д.: Фенике, 2012. 316. 11J и - (Уче-
ние с увлечением).
ISBN 978-5-222-18761-6
Этот сборник самое настоящее практичсскос пособие для ве-
селого изучения английского языка Сборник предназначен школь-
никам, студентам, прсполашггелям. веем, кто любит английский
язык и имеет желание владеть нм в совершенстве.
ISBN 978-5-222-18761-6
УДК 373.167.1:811.1 II
ББК81.2Англ-9
© Филиппенко М.П составление, 2012
© ООО «Феникс», оформление, 2012
ОТ АВТОРА
С давних времен загадки были неотъемлемыми
спутниками нашей жизни. И действительно, давайте
задумаемся над таким вопросом: каким образом с древ-
нейших времен проверяли у человека в народе ум, сме-
калку и сообразительность? Ну, конечно же, ему зага-
дывали загадку! Их загадывали у охотничьих костров,
стремясь скоротать долгие зимние вечера; ими развле-
кались при дворе королей и императоров, в то время
как сами правители без колебаний рубили головы му-
дрецам, не умевшим найти достойного ответа.
Тс времена давно прошли, и теперь никто нс карает
за незнание столь жестоко, но загадки, тем не менее,
никуда нс исчезли и по-прежнему помогают нашему
беспокойному уму отвлечься от серых будней и проя-
вить себя во всей красе.
Но загадка - нс просто забава, нс просто игра, она
помогает с самых малых лег развивать у человека логи-
ческое и нестандартное мышление, остроту ума и сооб-
разительность, умение рассуждать и доказывать, учит
видеть прекрасное. Загадка заставляет ребенка думать,
развивает наблюдательность, стремление к размышле-
нию и познанию окружающей действительности.

3
«§><•><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
Сама форма загадки привлекает внимание детей
и делает учение интересным, ненавязчивым. По со-
держанию и структуре загадки таковы, что позволя-
ют развивать логическое мышление детей, формиро-
вать у них навыки восприятия и использования речи-
доказательства и речи-описания. Таким образом, загад-
ка является как средством воспитания, так и средством
обучения и развития детей.
Само разгадывание загадок - увлекательнейшее за-
нятие, рассчитанное на веселье, шуточное настроение,
радостное предвкушение правильного ответа, и если
смотреть на мир внимательными, зоркими глазами, за-
мечая всю красоту и богатство, то всякий мудреный во-
прос, любое иносказание в загадках будут разгаданы.
Мир загадок удивителен и своеобразен, в нем мно-
го неожиданностей, парадоксов. Своей необычностью,
парадоксальностью загадки поражают.
Загадка - это краткое иносказательное поэтическое
описание живого существа, предмета или явления,
опирающееся на их наиболее своеобразные признаки.
Каждая загадка содержит в себе задачу: отгадать, ка-
кое существо, предмет или явление кроется за данной
характеристикой. Загадка состоит из текстовой части
и отгадки, они взаимосвязаны и взаимообусловлены.
В этом проявляется своеобразная жанровая закономер-
ность: отгадка в тексте никогда не называется прямо,
она заменена метафорой, которая даст возможность
скрытому сравнению, сопоставлению достаточно дале-
ких предметов, действий, явлений. Метафоры строятся
гак, чтобы заманить отгадывающего в ловушку, заста-
вить его идти по ложному пути, посмея ться над его не-
догадливостью. Как правило, если загадывается неоду-
4

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><•><§>
шевленный предмет, то в качестве метафоры чаще вы-
бирается одушевленный предмет, и наоборот. Одушев-
лять неодушевленные предметы - излюбленный прием
загадок, хотя в них используются самые разнообразные
художественные средства: сравнения, противопостав-
ления, гиперболы, эпитеты, отрицания. Ответ заранее
известен тому, кто предлахаст загадку, но его должен са-
мостоятельно найти отгадчик. Обычно в загадке описы-
вается только один объект. Если же объектов несколько,
то мы имеем дело с комплексной загадкой.
Если внимательно присмотреться к загадкам, кажу-
щимся на первый взгляд парадоксальными, мы найдем
в них какие-то детали, подробности, которые выступа-
ют нс в переносном, а в прямом смысле по отношению
к отгадке. Они как бы уточняют, дополняют, конкрети-
зируют, подсказывают отгадку и этим помогают ее раз-
гадать. Об одном предмете можно загадать несколько
различных загадок, используя разные свойства и каче-
ства предмета: материал, цвет, форму, размеры, функ-
цию, способ изготовления, его количественные отно-
шения, взаимосвязи с другими предметами.
Читая загадки, над одними из них вы весело посме-
етесь, над другими задумаетесь, а третьи, может быть,
и не сумеете разгадать. Тогда вам поможет подсказка-
отгадка.
Загадки открывают во всем, что нас окружает, мно-
го чудесного и поэтического. Они не только испыты-
вают человека на сообразительность, но и открывают
мир поэзии, мир знакомый, но увиденный зоркими гла-
зами поэтов. С развитием общества меняется тематика
загадок, но ее значение в жизни и развитии человека
остается неизменным.
<§><•><§>
5

Загадки на английском языке...
Жизнь полна загадок и секретов, и мы с раннего
детства пытаемся разгадать их. Этот сборник поможет
детям самим ответить на многие вопросы из жизни че-
ловека и природы, пополнить свой арсенал новой ин-
формацией о животных и растениях, всего того, что
окружает нас...
Несмотря на то. что многие загадки довольно про-
сты, новичкам, несомненно, придется провести немало
времени за словарями, выискивая смысл тех или иных
слов. Стоит ли напоминать, что лучше всего запомина-
ется только тр, что интересно? И даже если вы с гор-
достью скажете, что знаете язык и нс нуждаетесь ин в
чьей помощи, нс спешите: здесь вам мщут встретиться
и такие загадки, которые построены на синонимике,
игре слов и прочих нюансах языка, так что для того,
чтобы их решить, придется улавливать смысл нс от-
дельных слов, а всей задачи в целом, а это, поверьте,
нс так уж и просто. И нс забывайте, что при решении
задач главным будет не только знания языка, но и не-
малая сообразительность, а также умение мыслить во-
преки стандартам.
В сборнике загадки распределены по группам, бла-
годаря чему позволяют быстро найти материал к какой-
либо определенной теме, если преподаватель нс знает,
какими конкретно загадками он может воспользовать-
ся. Такая группировка загадок помогает преподавате-
лю охватить сразу много тематических вопросов при
подготовке к занятиям.
Используя загадки, преподаватель сможет разви-
вать наблюдательность и логическое мышление своих
учеников, повысить мотивацию обучения.
6
Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><•><§>
Дети, работая на занятиях с загадками, смогут наи-
более быстро запомнить сложный материал, правопи-
сание слов, научиться сравниват ь и т.д. Использование
загадок на занятиях позволяет обогащать речь детей,
развивать воображение, укреплять память, всегда вы-
зывает положительные эмоции.
Собственно говоря, именно с этой целью и созда-
вался сборник загадок на английском языке, который
вы держите в руках. Тем более, что он позволит нс
только с пользой провести свободное время, но и про-
верить или значительно повысить уровень познаний в
английском языке.
Надеемся, что он окажется полезным всем, кто из-
учает английский язык или работает с ним профессио-
нально: школьникам, студентам, преподавателям, всем,
кто любит английский язык и имеет желание владеть
им в достаточно свободной форме.
Этот сборник - самое настоящее практическое посо-
бие для веселого изучения английского, который мож-
но читать с первой до последней страницы, но можно и
наоборот. Если открыть eix> на любой странице, то все
равно будет и полезно, и весело, и очень интересно.
Преподавателю эта книга позволит сделать уро-
ки нескучными, оживить их -забавными заданиями и
смешными текстами, разнообразить материал занятий,
внести элемент игры, переключить внимание детей с
одного вида деятельности на другой.
Собранный в книге материал может быть использо-
ван и во внеклассной работе - при подготовке конкур-
сов и викторин на английском языке, а также на заняти-
ях школьного кружка.
RIDDLES ABOUT NATURE:
THE SKY, THE EARTH, THE RIVER,
THE WEATHER
<$> A blue sheet which covers
The whole world.
What is it?
(The sky)
It looks like peas
Scattered on a path.
(The sky and the stars)
Ф White pearls were
Scattered on a black cloth.
( The sky and the stars)
<$> At night 1 come
Without being fetched.
By day I am lost,
But not really gone.
What am I?
(71 star)
8
<§><><§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><•><§>
Ф I have a little sister,
Her name is Pretty Peep,
She wades in the waters
Deep, deep, deep!
She climbs up the mountains
High, high, high;
My poor little sister.
She has just one eye!
(A star)
<$> Higher than a house,
Higher than a tree,
Higher than a cloud.
What can it be?
(A star)
We're very large but we seem so small,
We float so high and never fall,
We shine like jewels in the night.
But in the day light are hidden from sight.
So what we arc and why?
(Stars)
Ф In the dark I am found.
Without being fetched.
In the day I am lost,
Without being stolen.
(A star)
<§> They come to witness the night
Without being called,
A sailor’s guide and poet's tears.
<§><•><§>
9
<§><•><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
They are lost to sight each day
Without the hand of a thief.
(Stars)
<§> Swirling, sparkling, shining bright.
You can sec it in the dark of the night.
(The Milky Way)
Ф As I get closer, my tail grows longer;
As I get far away, my tail leads the way.
(A comet)
<$> 1 saw a restless shepherd travelling
Back and forth on his paths.
He garbs himself in that which goes
In the same and in an opposite direction.
He goes hither and thither among creatures.
(The Sun)
Ф It never bothers
To wake us up,
But in any weather
And any season,
We open our eyes.
Stretch and yawn, we rise
The moment we are shining
It is risen.
(The Sun)
I daily am in Elsweyr and Skyrim,
At times do all the world explore,
Since time began I've held my reign,
10

Riddles for Boys and Girls
000
And shall till lime is never more.
1 never in my life have strolled
In garden, field, or park,
Yet all of these are sad and cold
If I am not there and it is dark.
(The Sun)
0 1 am big,
I am in the sky
1 give light.
What am I?
(The Sun)
0 My children arc near and far,
No matter that I know where they are.
The gift 1 give them makes their day.
But if I gone they wander away.
(The Sun)
0 What sneaks through doors
And windows without knocking?
What heats an unlit stove?
What gives the cat a snug place to rest?
(The Sun)
0 An eye in a blue face
Saw an eye in a green face,
«That eye is alike to this eye»
Said the first eye,
«But in low place,
Not in high place.»
(Sun on a field of daisies)
000
11
<§><•><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
Ф Brother can not meet sister,
Sister can not catch up brother.
(The Moon and the Sun)
Ф Who am I that shines so bright
With my pretty silver light,
Peeping through your windows grey?
Tell me, little boy, I pray.
(The Moon)
I am with borrowed silver shine,
That you see is none of mine.
First I show you just a quarter.
Like the bow that guards the Tartar;
Then the half, and then the whole.
Ever dancing round the pole;
And it is true, - I chiefly owes
My beauty to the shades below.
(The Moon)
<$> What is it that has always been
And still is only a month old?
(The Moon)
<s> I was a horn once,
A disk I am now.
I know things happen,
But I wonder -
How?
(The Moon)
12
<§><•><§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls	<§><•><§>
<$> Dish with kissel
Stands on the roof of a house.
(The Moon)
Ф My love, when I gaze at thy beautiful face,
Soring along, and always in place,
The thought has often come into my mind
If I ever shall see thy glorious behind.
(The moon)
Ф What can be half full,
Three-quarters full or fully complete,
But never empty?
(The Moon)
<$> II is very old and still it shines.
Only four weeks old, and never will be five.
(The Moon)
Ф Two little golden horns
Sitting on the cloud,
Floating slowly in the sky,
And look very proud.
(A young Moon)
Somebody who never open the door
To enter the room.
(Sun light)
Ф Hick-a-more, Hack-a-morc,
On the kitchen floor:
ф <$><§>
13

Загадки на английском языке...
All the horses, all the men,
Couldn’t drive Hick-a-more, Hack-a-more,
О fl'the kitchen floor.
(Sunshine)
<$> It is sunny. It is hot.
It is windy. It is cold.
It's warm today.
Yes, what a lovely day!
It's cold today.
Yes, what a terrible day!
(The weather)
<$> I have an eye. but I cannot sec
And I am guided only by the winds.
I am strong and disastrous
But in the center of me, I am calm.
I live for a while but I am dying soon enough,
And when you least expect it, I am reborn.
(A hurricane)
Ф Footless and hand less
It knocks on the door
And wants to be let in.
(The wind)
Ф Voiceless it cries,
Wingless it flutters.
Toothless it bites.
Mirthless it mutters.
(The wind)
14

Riddles for Boys and Girls	<§><•><§>
Ф Water frowns on it.
Trees shake their heads at it.
Flowers bow to it.
Clouds run away from it.
(The wind)
<$> Which way he blows?
And where he goes?
He runs on water,
He runs on the snow.
From which place he comes,
In what place he goes,
There is no one who can tell you,
There is no one who knows.
(The wind)
What can pass by the sun
Not making the shadow?
(The wind)
<$> What is with no hands
And with no feet,
With no a head or body,
But may open the door?
(The wind)
Ф 1 am, in truth, a yellow fork
From tables in (he sky
The inadvertent fingers dropped
The cutlery, that terrify.
Of the mahsions never quite disclosed

15

Загадки на английском языке...
And never quite concealed
The apparatus of the dark
Made ignorance revealed.
<$> My tines arc long.
My tines arc short.
My tines end ere
My first report.
(Lightning)
(Lightning)
1 am around long before the dawn.
But by the lunch time I usually leave.
You sec me in the summer, appearing in the spring.
I like to climb on everything.
But when the winter winds begins to blow;
Burr, then it's time for me to go!
What am I?
(The dew)
<$> It lands in the evening.
And lying on the ground all night,
But in the morning it flics away.
(The dew)
A hill are fulled, a hole arc fulled;
But you cannot catch the bowl fulled.
(The mist)
Ф It has no wings,
But flics.
16

Riddles for Boys and Girls	<§><•><§>
it pours tears,
But has no eyes.
(A cloud)
<	$> White sheep.
White sheep,
On a blue hill,
When the wind stops,
You al! stand still.
You walk far away,
When the wind blows,
White sheep,
White sheep
Where arc you going?
(The clouds)
<	$> A thousand threads.
Ten thousand threads.
They fall into the river
And they will not be seen never again.
(Rain)
Ф If it rises, then among the clouds it will be visible,
If it lies, in the grass it will be invisible.
(Rain)
<	$> It gently patters
On our roof
All through the long.
Dark night! /
It mutters something,

17

Загадки на английском языке...
And lulls us to sleep,
And asks:
«All sleeping?
Huh! All right!»
(Rain)
<$> Whal is it that makes a noise
In the fields and in the garden.
But cannot get into the house?
(Rain)
What always falls, but never rises?
(Rain)
A cloud is my mother,
The wind is my father,
My son is the cool stream,
And my daughter is the fruit of (he earth.
A rainbow is my bed,
The earth is my final resting place,
And I am torment for a man.
(Rain)
<$> What is it that can catch me
In the garden and make me wet,
But cannot reach me
When I am at home?
(Rain)
<$> They ask inc to come,
Waiting for me.
18
<§><•><§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls	<§> ф <§>
But when I come,
I make them hide.
(Rain)
The branch of a mountain ash
Was spanned over the ground.
(A rainbow)
Purple, yellow, red, and green,
The King cannot reach it, nor the Queen,
Nor can my father, whose power’s so great:
Tell me this riddle while counting up to eight.
(A rainbow)
<§> My father is the Sun-God,
My mother is the sea;
My house is in heaven.
The moon beams play with me.
My gown has seven colours,
My song has seven keys;
I run among the mountains,
I bathe in all the seas.
The world is ever waiting
For the little tinkling cry
Of bangles on my ankles
When I jump across the sky.
(A rainbow)
Ф The first pours water,
The second drinks water,
The third grows.
(A rain, the ground, a herb)
<§><•><§>
19

Загадки на английском языке...
Ф As round as an apple,
As deep as a cup,
And all the king's horses
Cannot pull it up.
(A well)
What often falls
And would never hurts?
(Snow)
What is white
And falls on the top of the roof?
(Snow)
<$> In the spring becomes old,
In the summer dies,
In the winter comes alive.
(Snow)
<s> What Hies when it was born,
Lies when it is alive,
And running, when it dies?
(A snowflake)
<$> What man can not live
Inside the house?
(A snowman)
<$> What is white and is made of snow?
(A snowman)
20

Riddles for Boys and Girls

<$> The old woman sweeps behind the house,
The dust swirls in front of the door.
(A blizzard)
<$> 1 am energy and motion,
I can fly across the ocean,
1 can hear and I can speak,
I can see and even seek.
I eat, no bread no gruel,
I cat energy and fuel,
Better say: I never eat;
I am transformated heat.
(Electricity)
1 am always hungry,
I must always be fed,
The finger which I lick,
Soon will turn to red.
(Fire)
<e> No legs have I to dance,
No lungs have I to breathe,
No life have I to live or die
But I am doing all these three.
(Fire)
Ф Inspired jig it dances bright,
Banishing the darkness of the night.
Give it food and it will live;
Give it water and it will die.
(Fire)
<§><•><§>
21

Загадки на английском языке...
<	$> The state оГ my form will spin like the waves and
bend,
From the things that I destroy to the things that I
will rend.
My color will vary from bright red to blue,
The power 1 am using will dictate my hue.
What am 1?
(A flame)
<	$> I touch your face,
1 am in your words,
I create the space,
And I am the one, who love birds.
(Air)
<	$> I am a black child of a white father;
A wingless bird, flying even to the clouds of heaven.
I give birth tears of mourning among the people that
I meet.
And as soon as I was bom I dissolv in the air.
(Smoke)
<	$> A house is fulled, a hole is fulled,
And you cannot fill a bowl.
(A fog or a smoke)
<	$> What is it that always goes with a train,
Is not there when the train stops.
This there is no use for the train,
But the train cannot go without it?
(Noise)
22
<§><£<§>
Kiddles for Boys and Girls

<	$> Shining like diamonds,
Loud as thunder,
Never stands still,
Wonder of wonders.
(A waterfall)
<$> This old one runs forever,
But never moved at all.
He has no lungs or throat,
But still makes a mighty roaring call.
(A waterfall)
<$> Many man scuding thumper,
Maker of a worn wood,
Metal rustcr,
Sky mocker,
Rave!
Portly pusher,
Wind slave.
(The ocean)
<$> The Moon is my father,
I’he Sea is my mother;
I have a million of brothers,
I am dying reaching the land.
(A wave of the ocean)
<§> It flows, but cannot flow fully.
It runs, but cannot run away.
(A river)
<§><•><§>
23
<§><•><§>	Загадки на английском языке...
<	$> What all day runs, but never walking;
Often murmurs, never talks;
Has a bed, but never sleeps;
Has a mouth, but never cats?
(A river)
<	$> What has a bed.
But never lies in it?
(A river)
<	$> It runs and runs,
But it never run away.
It flows.
Who knows
What I am talking about?
(A river)
Ф Two brothers look in the water.
But can not meet each other!
(The banks of a river)
Five siblings arc they, their color is true;
One belongs to one, four are shared by two.
Connected together, some by locks;
Many met their fate among the rocks.
Arrange their initials, and you will
Find things that arc in the neighborhood.
What has just been described?
(The Great Lakes: Superior,
Michigan, Huron. Erie, Ontario)
24
^> <•><§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls	<§><•><§>
<	$> You hear my song
From quite afar.
That I ring on the pebbles when run
To reach the lake.
I am joyful, 1 am fond of singing.
(A streamlet)
Ф It’s so weak that the slightest wind can stir it.
It's so strong that you can cut it
With a knife and not leave the trace.
(Water)
<	$> What can run but can't walk?
(Water)
<	$> What is it that everyone can divide
But no one can see where it is divided?
(Water)
<	$> 11 is white, it is cold.
You can skate on it.
What is it?
(Ice)
<	$> Lighter than that of what 1 was made,
A big part of me is hidden than the one that is seen,
I am the bane of mariner,
A tooth belonging to the sea.
Say my name.
fZcej
'§><•><§>
25

Загадки на английском языке...
<	$> In the spring becomes thin,
In the winter becomes thick.
(Ice)
Ф I walked along the London Bridge,
I heard something crccnchcd;
No one man in all of England
Can't mend it!
(Ice)
<	§> What is it that can not bum in the fire,
And drowning in the water?
(Ice)
<	$> It is white and blue. It is cold.
You sec it on the skating rink.
You can skate on it.
What is it?
(Ice)
Ф A simple riddle you behold,
All that glitters is not gold.
My first is second in line,
1 will send shivers up your spine.
Though I am not quite shining bright,
I seem glittering in the light.
(Ice)
<	$> My step is slow
My breathing - snow
I give the ground
A grinding death
26

Riddles for Boys and Girls

My marching
Leads to the end of inc
Slain by the sun
Or drowned in the sea.
(A glacier)
Why the Earth never ends?
(Because it s round)
<$> What becomes even more
If you take this even more?
(A hole)
& I am a yellow hem
Of the blue skirt, which is the sea.
(Sand on a beach)
<$> Who changes the clothes
Four times within one year?
(The ground)
Ф What has roots that no one sees,
What is higher than the trees,
Up and up it goes
And still never grows?
(A mountain)
<$> What has the foot,
But has no feet?
(A mountain)

27
<§»<•><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
<$> Му thunder comes before the lightning;
My lightning comes before the clouds;
My rain dries up all the land it touches.
(A volcano)
My thunder rolls beneath me,
My lightning flares above,
I do the dust and crust.
I blow up when I am tall.
(A volcano)
Ф I am a red tongue
Of the Earth that buries the cities.
(Lava from a volcano)
<$> A strange attraction compels me
To hold your things like most dear,
1 know this is not, and feel no warmth in such hug.
My brothers and I stuck close to ich other
Until it finds one, that would push me away.
What am I?
(A magnet)
Ф What is black when you buy it,
Red when you are using it,
And gray when you throw it away?
(Charcoal)
Black I am and much admired.
Men seek me until get tired.
28
^> <•>«§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls

When they find me, they break my head,
And take from me my resting bed.
(Coal)
*$> There are lour brothers in this world
That were all bom together.
The first runs and never tired.
The second eating and never filled.
The third drinks and is always thirsty.
The fourth sings a song that is never good.
(Water, fire, earth, and wind) •
<$> I am all that I am and all that you sec,
Yet I am nothing at all and from you I flee.
Distortion of perceptions - this is me,
I play with the horizon where ever 1 lie.
What am I?
(A mirage)
<$> This is what no one has ever seen,
But everybody heard it.
(An echo)
® I am sometimes strong
And sometimes weak.
But I am not a fool.
There is no such language
In which I can’t speak,
However, I never went to school.
(An echo)
<§><$><§>
29
<§><><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
Ф You have heard me before,
You hear me again.
Then I died until you call me again.
(An echo)
Ф II lives without a body.
Hear without ears,
Speaks without a mouth,
And was bom in the air.
What is it?
(An echo)
First broken and then spoken.
(Silence)
Ф What is it that you will break
Every time when you call it by name?
(Silence)
Ф Although much water you see,
By definition, «desert» fits me.
In the winter I double in size,
But staying away - thit is advise.
I am very windy, thit is the clue,
What am I? Good luck to you.
(The Antarctica)
CALENDAR RIDDLES ABOUT
THE YEAR. THE TIME,
THE CHANGE OF SEASONS
Ф Fat and gay, on a winter's day.
He came here with us to stay.
When he grew both sad and thin,
We brought his younger brother in.
People meet the guest with cheer,
For he brings another year.
What is he?
(A calendar)
<$> He came to us before New Year
A healthy, merry fellow.
But every day he loses weight,
And in a year he'll fade away.
(A calendar)
Ф It lakes off a piece of its clothing each day,
By the end of the year it has nothing left to wear.
(A calendar)
<$> Why is snow like New Year’s Day?
(Because it can fall on any day of the week)

31

Загадки на английском языке...
Ф Before I came, confusion abounded.
1 am late. I am late was frequently sounded.
I am not average, but was based on a mean.
My size, in theory, is constant: fifteen.
I am two dozen steps, again in theory.
But walk my length and you'd get weary.
I take half and quarter steps at times.
In reality, I do not follow the lines.
I shrink to nothing in two cold extremes.
Over a thousand miles wide in the bctwccns.
(Time zones)
<$> Four brothers work,
But the work is to gather them together.
(Seasons)
Ф There arc twelve brothers.
Who marching in the single rank.
But can never overtake one another.
(12 months)
<$> A little old woman
With twelve children:
Some of them are short, some long,
Some cold, some hot.
What is it?
(A year)
<$> What year lasts
Only one day?
(It s New Year)
32

Riddles for Boys and Girls

<	$> This is the season
When children ski,
And old Father Frost
Brings Christmas tree.
<	$> The windows are blue at night.
But in the morning they are white.
And snowflakes arc falling.
«Come out», they arc calling.
(Winter)
(Winter)
<	$> When she comes,
It becomes cold.
Everything becomes white,
All the lakes and over
Arc covered with icc.
(Winter)
<$> The snow falls,
The north wind is blowing;
The earth is white
All day and all night.
(Winter)
<$> This is the season
When the mornings are dark
And birds do not sing
In the forest and park.
This is the season
When children ski
And Father Christmas

:Mk 14
«§><$><§>
3ai адкн на английском языке...
Brings the Christinas tree.
Grey is the sky
And the wind is chill,
Icicles hang
From the window sill.
The swing dissapeared
From the tree bough,
Nobody is playing
In the garden now.
Only the robin
With breast of the red,
Sits and waits
For his crumbs of bread.
<$> It is the season
When apples arc sweet,
It is the season
When school-friends meet;
When there is noisy and fun
They got a tun from the sun
With their books and bags
To school they run.
<$> This is the time
When the days are cool.
When we eat apples
And kids go to school.
(Winter)
(Autumn)
(Autumn)
34
<§><•><§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls

Without the paints, without brushes
She coloured all the leaves.
(Autumn)
Ф The summer is over,
The trees are all bare,
There is mist in the garden,
And frost in the air.
(Autumn)
<$> What a rainy season!
The sky is dark and grey,
No sunshine any more;
No playing out of the doors.
(Autumn)
<$> Yellow and red, and green, and brown
Look, the little leaves fall down
Dancing, dancing in the breeze
Falling, falling from the trees.
(Autumn)
Ф The trees are green,
Blue skies we can see.
Grey winter left!
The world looks new and free.
(Spring)
<$> This is the season
When snowdrops bloom,
When the birds make their nests,

35
<§><•><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
This is the season
We all like the best?
(Spring)
<$> I he meadows arc empty.
And gathered the sheaves -
But isn’t it lovely,
Kicking up leaves?
(Autumn)
<s> The season when nights arc short
Children have plenty of fun and sport
Boating and swimming a whole day long
Will make us well and strong.
(Summer)
♦ The sun is shining,
The flowers bloom.
The sky is blue,
The rains are few.
(Summer)
<$> This month brings snow,
Makes feet and fingers glow.
(January)
<$> It is dark blue at night.
In the morning it is white,
The snow flakes arc falling.
(January)
36
ф <$><§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><£><§►
<s> On the window — ledges,
On the branches lie.
Sec how fast they gather,
Filling all the air.	(January)
<$> In this month it is snow ing again And sometimes the rain.	(February)
<$> In what month children talk less?	(February)
<$> In what month we are working, Eat, and sleep less?	(February)
Ф Now it coats black bushes All look soft and white; Sec the snowflakes falling; What a pretty sight!	(February)
<$> In what month children laugh less?	(February’)
<$> This month brings sunny days and winds
So that we know that spring begins.	(March)
<§><•><§>
37

Загадки на английском языке...
<	$> This month brings the primrose sweet.
We sec daisies at our feet.
(April)
This month brings the flowers, the joy and the grass
And the holiday for us.
(May)
<	e> While the sun shins brightly,
Little children, come with me,
The birds and the trees and the flowers to see.
(July)
<	§> Let us make a merry ring,
Talk and laugh, and dance and sing’
Quickly, quickly, let's go away,
So it is a pleasant day.
(August)
John from the garden
Already took chairs;
It's dark in the evening
And cold on (he stairs.
Winter is coming
And everyone grieves —
But isn't it lovely.
Kicking up leaves?
(November)
<S> Cold month brings us skating,
For the New Year we arc waiting.
(December)
38
<§><$><§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls	<§> <c> <§.
<	$> This cold and frosty day
The sun is bright,
The snow is right!
Tliis month brings you ski
And the Christmas tree!
(December)
Look at the pretty snowflakes,
Falling from the sky:
On the walls and houses tops,
Soft and thick they lie.
(December)
Ф Can you name five days of the week?
I do not mean Sunday, Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday.
(Today, yesterday, the day before yesterday,
tomorrow, the day after tomorrow)
*	$> What is it that was tomorrow
And will be yesterday?
(Today)
Ф What is it that never was.
Never will be and still lasts?
(Today)
<	$> What is it that everybody seen,
But will never sec again?
(Yesterday)

39

3ai адкн на английском языке...
<$> If yesterday two weeks ago it was Saturday,
What a day will be tomorrow?
(Monday)
<$> Nature requires five,
Custom comes at seven.
Laziness comes at nine,
And slowness at eleven.
(Hours of sleep)
<$> When the day after tomorrow is yesterday,
Today will be as far from Wednesday
As today was from Wednesday
When the day before yesterday was tomorrow.
What is the day after this day?
(Thursday)
<$> What is it that always comes.
But never arrives?
(Tomorrow)
<$> 1 have never been, 1 will always to be,
No one ever saw me, nor ever will see
And yet I am the confidence to all
To live and breathe on this terrestrial ball.
(Tomorrow)
<$> Where on Earth is the longest day?
(Everywhere are identical)
<$> What breaks but never falls?
(Day)
40

Riddles for Boys and Girls

<$> What falls but never breaks?
(Night)
The black bird spreads its wings.
Under its canopy lay
Wide world, sleeping sounds,
Untill the breath of the next day.
(Night)
<	$> Twelve falcons.
Fifty two daws,
Three hundred sixty five starlings
Have brought one egg.
(Months, weeks. days and year)
<	$> When the black bull comes
All people lie down to sleep.
When the white bull comes
All people arc walking up.
(Night and day)
<	$> She is so peaceful, but causes fear
He is so bright and full of cheer
She rests the body, he wakes the soul
He is so light, she is black as coal
She has mole and tiny bright freckles
He covers us with liny tear speckles
She hides us, he beams with pride
He is her husband, she is his bride
He in the bright silk, she is all in velvet
A yin-yang marriage as they tell it
Two lovers who meet twice a day

41

Загадки на английском языке...
When he needs to go, she had to stay
Now I ask you, who are they?
One more thing you should know
She gets us inside, he bathes us in glow.
(Day and night)
<e> It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.
It lies behind stars and at the foot of the hills,
And empty holes it fills.
It comes first and follows after,
Ends life, kills laughter.
(Dark)
Ф The more this is around
The less what you see.
Transform all that you want
When Surrounded by me.
(Darkness)
<$> This thing all the things devours:
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grind hard stones in meal;
Slaying kings, destroying cities,
And beats the high mountain down.
(Time)
<$> Mountains will crumble and temples will fall,
And no man can survive its an endless call.
(Time)
42

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><$><§>
Ф Elvish mithril and Argonian silver, crumble I can.
But first, I improve all created by man.
I devour all things,
Bird and beast, serfs and kings.
Even if my pace is slow, men curse my speed,
Wishing me to be lazier in their hour of need.
I can creep and crawl, or rush, even fly.
I am all yours. Tell me, who am I?
(Time)
Ф What can fly but has no wings?
(Time)
<$> I can run swiftly and silently when you want me to
stay still,
I can move slowly and cautiously and am yours to
fill.
You look at me often but you always forget about me,
I am the most fearful killer, but you can't live with-
out me.
Sometimes you have me for all in spare,
Yet when you need me, I am not there.
You can waste me, or cherish me, it's you choose
the track,
But once having done so you can't never get me
back.
(Time)
Ф What is it when you once lose it
Then you can never find it again?
(Time)

43
ффф
Загадки на английском языке...
Ф As I watch I sec the world passes me.
All the good, the bad, in the twinkling of an eye.
I watch and wait, and patiently sit.
1 never began, so 1 never will end.
My only presence is in my being.
1 am almost not noticeable, and not a thing.
I am fast as light, thin as air.
Run if you can! Run if you dare.
To avoid me is a mark of a fool.
For all you are worth, your life is my tool.
Though concealed, I am not shy.
The question is. What am I?
(Time)
Ф Until I am measured,
I am not known.
But how do you miss me.
When I have flown.
(Time)
Ф The giH your mother gives you,
Though prized by all, long or short it is,
Too much of it kills you every time.
(Life)
RIDDLES ABOUT THE ANIMALS
<	§> He is not a tailor.
But carries needles on himself.
(A hedgehog)
*	£> He is very kind, hard working,
He is covered with needles.
Have you heard about him?
Who is he?
(A hedgehog)
* Who collects the apples
On his back?
(A hedgehog)
<	§> Little Billy Breek
Sits by the reek.
He has more horns
Than all the of the king's sheep.
(A hedgehog)
<	$> There came the maid of poultry
In a red coat
To count the poultry.
(A fox)
*O<§>
45
<§><♦><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
Ф I am red and I have
A fine fluffy tail,
I like meat.
I hunt and cat
Small animals.
(A fox)
<§> I am orange, I live in the forest,
I can walk, run and jump,
I cannot fly, I cannot swim,
I like hares. What am I?
<$> An animal that has
A red bushy tail is...
(A fox)
Ф She is red,
With red, bushy tail.
She is cunning!
Who is she?
64/ox;
<$> My beautiful tail is bushy,
And the colour of it is red.
1 hate the idea that it can be
Worn round your neck or on your head.
Ф I am red
And 1 have a fine tail,
46
^» <$><§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls	<§><•><§>
I live in the forest,
I like meat.
(A fox)
<$> He looks like a big dog,
He is grey and he has big teeth.
(A wolf)
<$> I am a little red animal
So busy as can be,
1 gather some acoms
For the winter food for me.
(A squirrel)
Ф I've got a long bushy tail,
Two bright little eyes.
1 gather acorns.
I am pretty and wise.
(A squirrel)
<$> There is not a bird in the tree.
It is a small animal.
It has a warm fir-coat.
Who is it?
(A squirrel)
Ф Who dries mushrooms in the trees?
(A squirrel)
<$> 1 have a bushy tail,
Sometimes 1 am grey

47
<§><$><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
And sometimes I am red,
I like nuts.
What am I?
(A squirrel)
Ф He doesn't speak.
Nor docs he sing.
Nor at the door-bell
Give a ring,
But still he lets
His master know
Who wants to see him.
Friend or foe.
(A dog)
<$> What animal sleeps all winter
Upside down?
(A hat)
<$> It's grey, but it's not a wolf,
Long cars, but not a hare,
With hooves, but not a horse.
What is it?
(A donkey)
<$> It is grey or white.
It likes to eat carrots and cabbage.
It can run and jump.
What is it?
(A hare)
48

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><•><§>
<$> This animal is small.
It lives in the woods
And runs very fast.
It just afraid of everything.
What animal is it?
(A hare)
<§> What animal has small children
When leaves arc falling?
(A hare)
<$> In winter it is white,
In summer it is gray,
It likes carrot and cabbage.
Who is it?
(A hare)
An animal that is very timid
And is afraid of everything
Who it is?
(A hare)
ф I live in the hollow.
Dark and warm,
Protected from rain.
Snow and storms.
I have a grey coat
And two furry ears.
I am very quick
And full of fears.
(A hare)

<§><•><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
<$> Which animals have their eyes closest together?
(A bear)
<s> The animal that sleeps
All winter in the den is?
(A bear)
Ф It is brown.
Il has four legs.
It sleeps in winter.
What is it?
(A bear)
<$> The water in the sea is cold,
So cold as ice,
But I am not afraid at all:
My coat is warm and nice.
(A white bear)
<$> The animal that has
A beautiful yellow skin
With black stripes is?
(A tiger)
<$> It is an animal
That has beautiful yellow
And black stripes
And a long tail.
Which is orange.
(A tiger)
50
<§><•><§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><$><§>
<$> It looks like a big cat.
It has a stripes and a long tail.
It lives in India
And it can run very fast.
(A tiger)
Ф Who has yellow eyes
And a striped fur coat?
(A tiger)
Ф There is an animal that has
A beautiful yellow skin
With black stripes on it.
It is a very fierce wild animal.
It lives mainly in hot countries.
(A tiger)
<$> An animal that has a pouch
In which she carries her babies is?
(A kangaroo)
I live in the Zoo.
I have four legs
But jumped on the two.
I have a little kid
And a big bag, too.
(A kangaroo)
<$> An animal that can go
Without food and water
For a long time is?
(A camel)
<§><•><§>
51

Загадки на английском языке...
An animal that has
A horn on his nose is?
(A rhinoceros)
<s> An animal that has
A beautiful white skin
With black stripes is?
(A zebra)
<e> It has a long neck and long legs
And cats leaves from the trees.
<§> Who has the longest neck?
Ф An animal that can hang
On its long tail is?
<$> A very funny animal
That runs very quickly.
It can hang on its tail.
<$> I am a very funny animal.
I can run, jump, walk.
I cannot fly.
I live in Africa.
What am 1?
64 giraffe)
(A giraffe)
(A monkey)
(A monkey)
(A monkey)
52

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><$><§>
<	§> An animal that has
A long trunk is?
Ф I am big and I am strong
And my trunk is very long.
Ф It lives in Africa and Asia,
It's very strong,
And it can lift a ton.
(A n elephant)
(An elephant)
(An elephant)
<	$> 1 am very big and I am grey.
I live in the jungle,
But you can find me
In the zoo or in the circus.
I do not like meat;
I like vegetables,
Fruit and grass.
<	$> Who has the trunk?
Ф I am big. I am grey.
My nose is long,
My tail is short.
I am an?
(An elephant)
(An elephant)
(An elephant)
§><•><§>
53
<§><•><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
Ф An animal that has
Long hair on its neck is?
64 lion)
<s> My paws are big and strong,
My tail is very long,
My mane is fine and thick.
And 1 am very big.	(A lion)
<s> It looks like a big cat, It lives in Africa, It can run very fast And it has a very long tail.	(A lion)
Ф Who is the king of animals?	(A lion)
<$> It takes hours When it comes.	(A turtle)
<$> Who is the slowest of all?	(A turtle)
Ф I live in the river.
But I am not a fish.
I jump in the field.
But I am not a rabbit.
I have a green coat.
But I am not a bird.
54

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<^<$>^
I sleep in the daytime.
But I am not an owl.
I come out of the egg.
I am not a chick.
What am I?
(A frog)
Ф Bandy legs
And Gape-a-grin,
1 am leaping
In the green.
Midges, gnats,
Do not try your fate!
Stay away
Each time I gape.
(A frog)
Ф It is a green animal.
Il can swim and jump.
It likes to eat flies.
What is it?
(A frog)
<S> 1 am green,
I can jump,
I can swim,
I can not fly,
I live in the water.
What am I?
(A frog)

55
^> <$><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
<$> People usually see me as black & white.
I prefer to roam at night.
Just do not attack or startle me.
Or the result of fetid emissions you will see.
I am omnivorous, yes it's true.
But what’s my name-tell me, do!
(A skunk)
<e> Yes, I am a Skunk it's used to see.
Just black and white, yes that's me.
Attack or startle me, and you'll know.
How far my stink can really go.
Plants & bugs I eat all sorts.
Just stay away from me and my cohorts.
My children come out of the eggs,
Though they feed on milk.
My gait resembles a lizard,
But 1 am surely warmblooded.
I am an expert swimmer because my feet are webbed,
And my tail is a broad Hat paddle.
I still have claws, and
My tail is also a food store.
My mouth looks like a duck bill though I cannot
quack.
And my voice growls like a dog.
I am the most ingenious paradox.
(An Australian platypus)
* When scientists first saw the Platypus they thought
that it is a joke, sewn together from the assorted duck
and mammal of the body parts.
56

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><•><§>
<$> I am little, 1 am grey.
My nose is short.
My tail is long.
I am a...
(A mouse)
<e> Who is bom with a whiskers?
(A kitten)
<§> What is it that has a cat.
But no other animals?
(A kitten)
Ф What is it that looks like a cat.
Eats like a cat,
Walks like a cal,
But still is not a cat?
(A kitten)
<e> Furry and purry
With long whiskers.
(A cat)
Ф I’ve whiskers,
I am frisky.
Whisk,
A little mice,
Or I should catch you!
Please stroke my back,
I will purr
And won’t scratch you.
(A cat)

57
^>ф^>
Загадки на английском языке...
<$> 1 am not a kitten,
But ту children are.
What am I?
(A cat)
I can lie on the mat.
I can catch a rat.
I am black. I am fat.
My name is?
(A cat)
<$> I have four legs.
My nose is pink.
1 am afraid of dogs.
I like fish and milk.
(A cat)
Ф My friend is grey,
He likes to play.
He is warm and fat.
I love my...
<$> My friend is black.
My friend is grey,
He often drink milk.
And washes every day.
(Cat)
(A cat)
Ф I am small and warm.
I have a nice fur and I purr.
58

Riddles for Boys and Girls	<§><•><§>
1 like to eat mice.
What am I?
(Л cat)
<	$> See, sec! what shall I see?
A horse's head where his tail should be.
(A mare, tied for a tail to the manger)
<	$> 1 live in the house
Or in the street.
Sometimes 1 am small
But sometimes I am big.
If you hear «Bow-wow»,
You know it's me.
What am I?
(A dog)
I can catch a frog.
I can sleep like a log.
I can find your sock.
My name is?
(A dog)
Ф I have four legs.
I like bones and meat.
I can jump and swim
But 1 can't read.
(A dog)
<	$> It is a big animal.
It cats grass.
‘I*
59

Загадки на английском языке...
It gives milk.
What is it?
(A cow)
<$> The hot stone
Lays under the ham.
(A udder of the cow)
<$> They arc the three brothers.
They arc pink.
They are very funny.
(Three pigs)
<$> My long, thin legs are good and fast,
I like to gallop and to run.
I think it is great fun.
(A horse)
<$> One who nods her head when climbs uphill.
One who runs downhill like a stream.
One who is taller when she sits, than when she is on
her feet.
One who washes her face, but not combs her hair.
(A horse)
Ф My slender legs
Are swift and fast,
A gallop.
Or I trot,
Or walk.
Or run -
Oh, it’s great fun!
60
<§><•><§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><•><§>
Let's run (he race,
Why not?
(A horse)
<$> Who always goes to sleep in shoes?
(A horse)
<$> Long cars, Long cars,
Hop, hop, hop.
Long ears, Long cars
Never stop.
They like carrots,
They like hay.
They grow longer
From day to day.
(A bunny)
Ф Father and Mother,
And all of their little kids
Wear dresses made
Of silver coins,
Of little silver lids.
(A fish)
It has wings,
But it can not fly.
Without legs,
It moves swiftly.
Do you know why?
(A fish)
*><<><&
61
000
Загадки на английском языке...
0 Alive without breath,
As cold as death;
Never thirsty, ever drinking,
Always in motion, never clinking.
(A fish)
0 My home is not quiet but I am not loud.
The lord has meant us to travel together.
I am faster than it, and sometimes stronger.
But it keeps running on longer.
Sometimes I rest but it never.
For as long as 1 am alive I am living in it.
If we part from one another
It is I, who will die.
(A fish in a river)
0 I love to climb up high in trees,
Digging holes, and feeling the breeze.
I eat eggs, apples, carrots, meat.
Even peanut butler is a treat.
Around the world my kin can be found.
«Chirping» is our signature sound.
(A land hermit crab)
0 I can sizzle like bacon,
I came out of the eggs,
I have no legs.
1 lose tiic layers like an onion,
But still remain whole;
I can be long like a flagpole,
62
000
Riddles for Boys and Girls	<§><•><§>
But can fit in a hole.
What am I?
(A snake)
<	$> I can curl up in a ball.
I can lie in the sun.
It's fun!
(A snake)
<	$> What is the name of the tree
Whose leaves become red?
(An aspen)
<	$> It is green and big.
It lives in the water
And likes meat.
(A crocodile)
Ф I met a creature on the road;
On its back it had the load.
It wasn't a bag and it wasn't a cow,
Though two horns grew on its brow.
(A snail)
If a man tries to carry my luggage,
I le would surely break his back.
1 am not rich, but, whomever 1 go.
I leave the silver in my track.
(Snail)
Ф You can find me on the land and in the sea,
Yet I neither walk nor swim.

63
<§><$> <^
Загадки на английском языке...
I travel on foot, but don't have a toes.
No matter where I roam,
1 am never away from home.
What am I?
(A snail)
<	$> Who carries his house with himself?
(A snail)
I have no eyes, no legs or ears
And I help the earth to move.
(A worm)
Ф There hangs a sieve,
Made not with human's hands.
(A web)
Ф A clever workman who builds a house
Without a brick or beam,
Its snow-white walls have no windows and doors,
But can be pulled down and made into clothes.
(A silkworm)
<	s> This bird has a long sharp nose.
When it flies, it sings.
When it lands, it stings.
(A gnat)
<	e> When they are caught, they arc thrown away.
When they escape, you will be itching all day.
(Fleas)
64

Riddles for Boys and Girls
Ф I can jump.
I can sing.
I can play the violin.
(A grasshopper)
Hopper, hopper
In the grass,
Please do not hop
And let me pass.
But it hops,
Hops, hops, hops,
Hops and hops,
And never stops.
(A grasshopper)
<$> Irritating
All around
With its tiresome
Buzzing sound,
It flics, restless,
All day long,
But at night
It drops its song.
(Afly)
$><•>
I am not a bird,
But I have wings,
I can fly
What am I?
(A fly or a butterfly)
• I.» м
«§><><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
<	$> A very pretty thing am 1,
Fluttering in the pale-blue sky.
Delicate and fragile arc my wings,
Indeed I am one of the pretty things.
(A butterfly)
<	s> I am so happy.
I can fly
In the blue-blue sky.
(A butterfly)
<	$> The petals of this flower
Fluttered in the wind,
But when 1 bent to pick it,
It suddenly took wing.
(A butterfly)
<	§> He makes nets -
And what’s more -
Never fishes
Then what is for?
(A spider)
<	$> A warrior who flies among the flowers.
He carries a hiden sword.
He uses it when he has to defend his golden hoard.
(A bee)
<	$> In the meadows
Rich in flowers,
It likes to work
For hours and hours.
66

Riddles for Boys and Girls

Buzzing songs
It likes io sing.
Do not disturb it,
It can sting!
(A bee)
Golden treasures 1 contain,
Guarded by hundreds and thousands.
Stored in a labyrinth where no man walks.
Men often come to seize my gold.
By smoke I get devastated and robbed,
Then I am left to create my treasures again.
(A beehive)
Ф The strangest creature
You can always find two eyes in front
And many many more behind.
(A ladybird)
RIDDLES ABOUT THE BIRDS
<$> Not a horseman,
But wears spurs.
Not a watchman.
But wakes people up.
What is it?
<$> Hom from a bone,
A beard from flesh.
(A cock)
(A cock)
<$> My friend is a man,
My wife is a hen,
My child is a chick.
Who am I? Say quick!
Ф Early in the morning
He's the first to awake,
And very load sound
He’s ready to make.
This shrill,
Alarming,
(A cock)
68

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><$><§>
Deafening sound
Awakens from the sleep
Everybody around
After some time
This sound dies away,
Ushers in
Another new day.
(A rooster)
<	$> Spurs on his boots,
He's ready to fight.
Singing his battle songs
By day
Not by night.
(A rooster)
<	$> He's a boastful, puffed-up fellow,
Wearing spurs; eyes gleaming yellow.
He so proudly struts around.
He's in charge, (here is no doubt.
(A rooster)
Ф Name two animals
Which have four legs.
(Two hens)
<	$> I have a little house
In which I live all alone.
My house has no doors or windows,
And if I want to go out

69
<^ <$><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
I must break down the wall.
What am I?
(A chicken in an egg)
<$> As I was walking in a field of wheat,
1 picked up something good to eat;
Neither fish, flesh, fowl, nor bone.
I kept it till it ran alone.
(An egg, a chicken)
<§> In a white room
There is no door,
There is no window.
There is no floor,
And this white room
Has only one wall;
And in this room
There is a round yellow ball.
(A chicken in an egg)
<	J> What is white outside
And yellow inside?
(An egg)
<	$> Pearl white ball without lock or lid.
Inside of which there is a golden treasure indeed.
(An egg)
<	$> You can cook it,
You can fry it,
Decorate with it
70
<§><•><§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><><§•
A tasty salad,
But if you leave it
Under the hen chick,
11 will be
Chicken
Or duck.
(An egg)
<$> Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses,
And all the king's men,
Couldn't gather Humpty together again.
(An egg)
Ф In marble halls of white as milk,
Lined with a skin as soft as silk.
Inside the fountain of crystal clear,
A golden apple will appear.
No doors there arc to this stronghold,
But thieves break through in and steal the gold.
(An egg)
Ф What flies up into the air white
And falls down yellow and broken?
(An egg)
Ф A nice thin wall.
As white as milk,
The curtain drawn,
As soft as silk;

71

Загадки на английском языке...
Somebody came
And broke the wall.
And soon he saw
The golden ball.
(An egg)
<	$> There stood a house.
All marble-white.
One day
There was a knock from inside.
Broke down
Those walls of marble,
Out sprang
A yellow marvel.
(A chick)
<	$> Webbed red feet,
A neck like hinges,
With its bill
Il sometimes pinches.
(A goose)
<	$> A little fellow
Dressed in grey,
Hops here and there
And never goes away.
(A sparrow)
<	$> I was abandoned by my mother and father.
I wasn’t yet breathing.
A kind woman covered me with clothes,
Kept me and looked after me,
72
<§><•>«§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls	<§><$><§>
Cuddled me as close as if I had been her own child.
Under that covering 1 grew and grew.
I was unkind to my step brothers and sisters.
This lovely woman fed me
Until I was big enough to provide me myself.
She had fewer of her own dear sons and daughters
because she did so.
(A cuckoo)
Ф In April I open my day;
In May I sing all day;
In June 1 change my tune;
In July away I fly.
(A cuckoo)
I wonder, have you ever heard
My bird? This is talking bird.
He says «Hello» to everyone.
Who says «Hello» to him.
(A parrot)
<$> It sleeps in the day time.
It flics at night,
And frightens passers-by.
(An owl)
Ф 1 sleep all day.
I wake up at night.
I call «Та-tooo...»
Till morning light.
(An owl)

73
<§><$><§>
Загадки на ашлийском языке...
<•> What bird has eyes as big as saucers,
Bui cannot see well?
fj/z owl)
Who flies away in the autumn,
And return in the spring.
(Birds)
<§> What bird you can find in Africa
Which have wings but cannot fly?
(A n ostrich)
<S> Why five-day old chickens walk across the road?
(To get to the other side)
<$> When the goose
Look like a snowball?
(When it hides his head
under the wing)
<$> I am as outstretched fingers
That seize and hold the wind.
Wisdom flows around me in all directions.
Above me I have sweet dreams in flights.
My merest touch brings laughter.
(A feather)
RIDDLES ABOUT THE TREES
AND PLANTS
<§> A hundred arms, a thousand fingers,
But it has no eyes to see where it lingers.
(A tree)
Ф Some live in me, some live on,
And some shave me to get something from me.
I rarely leave my native land.
Until my death I always stand.
High and low I can be found
Both above and underground.
(A tree)
Ф I am tall and green,
I am in the garden.
(A tree)
<$> A mansion I am
For many, many things.
I can live for a very long time.
As I grow,
I have a lot of precions rings;
However, they are hidden.

75
ф <•><$>
Загадки на английском языке...
Only when 1 dies
Others find
How I am old
And just where's my rings lie.
(A tree)
Ф I reach the sky.
But fastened to the ground;
Sometimes I leave,
But I am always around.
(A tree)
<	$> In spring I am cheerful in the pretty array;
In summer more cloths I wear;
When it gets colder I shake off my clothes;
And in the winter quite naked appear.
(A tree)
At birth I have a friend spring
At life wind turns me up and down.
In death I steeper and fall, but revival returns all.
(A leaf)
<	$> What kind of tree has the most warm clad?
(A fir tree)
<	$> What kind of tree rustic
Without any wind?
(An as pen-tree)
76

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§»<•><§>
Ф It was not frightened,
But it is always trembles.
(An aspen-tree)
<$> Tn the winter and in the summer
They stand both the same colour.
(A fir-tree and a pine)
Ф When it sits, it is green!
When it falls, it is yellow!
When it lies, it is black!
(A leaf)
<S> It is curly,
It is white,
And it is standing near my gates.
(A birch)
Ф On what kinds of trees a fire has no effect?
(Ashes, as when burned, they are ashes still)
* Игра слов: 1. ash - вяз, 2. ashes - пепел.
<$> In spring you arc glad to see me,
In the summer I keep you cool,
In the autumn I give you food,
In the winter I keep you warm.
(An apple-tree)
<$> It is red and sweet,
It is good to cat.
(An apple)

77
<§><•><§>
Загадки на аш.шнеком языке...
Ф Crushed by trampling feet,
Kept in darkness and cold.
I am useless if 1 did not suffer;
But after suffering,
My temper is sweet and strong to all,
Who takes part. What am J, at the start?
(Grape)
Ф The sun bakes them,
The hand breaks them,
The foot treads on them.
And the mouth tastes them.
(Grapes)
Ф There is a little green house;
And in the little green house
There is a little brown house;
And in the little brown house
There is a little yellow house;
And in the little yellow house
There is a little white house;
And in the little white house
There is a white little heart.
(A nut)
Ф As soft as silk, as white as milk.
As bitter as gall, a thick wall
And the green coat covers all of me.
(A walnut)
Ф I have inside as white as snow.
Outside as green as the herbs that grow;
78
<§><•><§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§>«$•<§>
I am higher than a house.
But I am less than a mouse.
(Walnut on a tree)
Ф I am sitting on a tree,
Round as a ball,
Red as sunrise,
Sweet as honey.
(A cherry)
<	$> At first 1 am green and small.
Like a little ball.
Then grow red and big.
And when I blacken in the sun,
You say that I am ripe and cat me up.
(A cherry)
<	§> In what the tree
A crow sits
When it rains?
(In a wet one)
<	$> I went to the wood and got it;
1 sat down and looked at it;
The more I looked at it,
The less I liked it;
And I brought it home because
I could not get it out.
(A thorn)
Ф I went to the fields and I got it.
I brought it home in my hand
§><•><$»	79
^> <$><§>
3ai адки на английском языке...
Because I could not find it.
The more 1 was looking for it.
The more I felt it.
But when I found it,
I threw it away.
(A splinter)
What shoots without a gun?
(A plant)
<$> I have black eyes and bright hair
And my feet are firmly standing on the ground.
I love the sun upon my face
And I follow it around.
When I am dead and dried is said.
That 1 will fall real low,
That I will keep the birds well fed.
Staying stiff there, in my row.
(A sunflower)
<	$> It is a golden sieve
With many black houses in it.
(The sunflower)
<	$> I have black eyes and bright hair.
I sit firmly in the ground and follow my lord
When he races around the world.
(A sunflower)
<	$> It is not a bee, but stings.
What is it?
(A nettle)
SO
<§><$><§>
Kiddles for Boys and Girls
<§><•><§>
<$> Take off its moustache and a legs
And there you will find a body.
(An ear of corn)
There grows the house in the field,
Filled with golden grain.
The walls of the house gilded
But the shutters are closed.
(An ear of corn)
Ф I know the little creature
In the green bed,
With softest wrappings
All round its head.
When it grows old.
It is hard and cannot feed,
People take it to the mill,
And grind it in meal.
(Corn)
<$> The child clinging to a little tree,
He wears a lot of green coat.
And a hat with a long red tassel.
(An ear of maize)
<§> This tree has a thousands leaves,
It grows bigger and bigger
Without any branches,
Without any roots.
(A haystack)

81
<§><£><§>	Загадки на английском языке...
<	$> Golden hills grow in the summer.
What arc they?
(Ricks or stacks)
What lies in bed, and stands in bed,
First white, then red.
Then plumper it becomes
Most of all the old ladies likes it?
(A strawberry)
<	$> What goes around
And around the wood
But never goes into the wood?
(The bark of a tree)
I am bom green,
And 1 die yellow in large
And small gardens.
(Grass)
<	$> I am a little country lad
In a fine red coat you can sec.
When folk people meet me, they arc glad
And always bow low to me!
(A wild strawberry)
<	$> I am a yellow little fellow.
When I am old, I am grey haired.
If you shake me
You can send me
To sail far away.
(A dandelion)
82
<§><♦> ^>
Riddles for Boys and Girls
«§><•>«§>
<	$> First you sec me in the grass dressed in yellow dress;
Then I am in dainty white, then I fly away.
(A dandelion)
<	$> He stands on the side of the road
In a purple cap and tattered green cloak.
One, who touches him. curse him.
(Thistle)
<	$> I have a heart that is not beating.
If I am wounded, I have not blood flows.
I can fly. but have no wings.
1 can float, but have no fins.
I can sing, but have no mouth.
(A tree)
RIDDLES ABOUT THE ROAD,
THE TRANSPORT AND TRAFFIC
<$> What goes up a hill and down a hill
And always remains in the same place?
(A road)
This belt stretches,
Far and wide.
Walk along it,
Run, or ride
By bus,
Or by car.
(You can choose
How far.)
(A road)
It starts
Where it ends,
And your lovely house
There stands.
(A road)
Ф From house to house I go,
Sometimes narrow, sometimes wide.
84
<§> <$><§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls

No matter what the weather - rain or snow
I am always outside.
(A path)
<	$> Houses run on the rails,
Over the hills and valleys.
(A railway line and a train)
<	$> Of our deep river
It connects the two banks.
When it helps me to cross the river,
I say: «Many thanks!»
(A bridge)
<	$> To cross the water I am the way,
I am over the water;
Do not touch it, and truth to say,
I do not swim and do not move.
(A bridge)
<	$> Man walks over,
Man walks under,
In times of war he bums me to asunder.
(A bridge)
<	t> All the cars and the trucks
That are running along
Can be stopped by this man.
Who is enormously strong.
(A traffic officer)
<§><•><§>
85
<§><•><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
<	$> Не follows you
Though remains in place.
(A track)
Ф Wooden horses run over the snow
Without sinking into it.
(Skis)
<	$> They run along the snow
With noses up.
(Skis)
<	$> When it is driven, it goes,
When it stops, it falls down.
(A bicycle)
<	$> This young foal
Looks nice and great.
He eats no
Oats or hay.
Firmly grip
The handle-bar.
If you want
To travel far.
(A bicycle)
<	$> When I ride,
I am all right.
When I stop,
I flop.
(A bicycle)
86
<§><$><^
Riddles for Boys and Girls

<$> What is it, that resembles the cart,
But has no wheels
And leaves no traces behind it?
(A boat)
Ф Weight in my belly,
Trees on my back,
Nails in my ribs.
Feet I have a lack.
(Ship)
<$> What, when you need it you throw away,
But when it is not needed you take it back?
(An anchor)
Ф 1 often have to struggle with the waves, to fight with
the wind —
Strive with both at the same time - when I depart
to find
The earth is deep under water;
For me my home is an alien place.
I am strong in the struggle if I hold still -
If 1 slip, even slightly, they are stronger than me
And, wrenching challenge, soon forces me to flee;
To carry away the thing I should keep safe.
I can avoid this as long as my tail endures,
And the stones add to my strength
The power to hold on firm.
Guess what T am called.
(An anchor)

87
<§><•><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
<$> Guides travelers, never moves,
Always turning, never stops,
Always shining, never burns,
Always looks at the blue fields with its every turn.
(A lighthouse, compass, or a buoy)
Ф A steel horse
Drags much behind it.
(A locomotive)
❖ What is it that runs so fast.
Who makes a noise and smoke in the past,
Carries us and gives a blast?
(A locomotive)
<	$> What always followcs the train?
It cannot be seen, and the train cannot go without it.
(Sound)
What is it that can reap alone?
(A tractor)
<	$> A thousand hammers.
And shovels, too,
Can never do
What I can do.
(An excavator)
<$> Winter weather,
Fresh and cold.
In this house
Will always hold.
88

Kiddles for Boys and Girls
<§><•><§>
In the shop
We lately bought it,
To our kitchen
We brought it.
(A refrigerator)
Ф In our kitchen,
All the year round,
Living old Jack Frost,
Keeping all safe with no sound.
(A refrigerator)
<	e> 1 bend my steel neck,
Which is hard and long,
Raise up heavy loads,
Because I am very strong.
I carry those loads,
As far as I can,
I am a faithful
Servant of the working man.
(A crane)
& What has four wheels and flies?
(A garbage truck)
Ф We are half a tram and half a bus;
Will you come and ride us?
(Trolley-buses)
Ф Have a look
At this fine steed.
He looks very strange, indeed:
•>><•><§>
89
<@> «$><§>
Загадки ня английском языке...
Eats petrol,
And never grazes,
Fast along the road he races.
(A motor-car)
<$> Put four tyres
On her heels,
Which arc round -
It is her wheels.
Give her
Some petrol to drink:
It is a treat for her,
I think.
(A motor-car)
<§> This house on wheels
Runs the race,
Delivering people
From place to place.
(A bus)
What is it that runs with the car
And comes with it;
There is no use for it, but the car
Cannot move without it?
(Noise)
<S> Why the bus should beware of lightning?
(Because it has a conductor)
♦ Игра слов: a conductor 1. проводник (в вагоне,
автобусе), 2. проводник (электричества).
90

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><•><§>
<$> Four sisters, each is the same as the other.
Two run in front, and two follow behind.
(Wheels of a car)
Ф Six legs,
Two heads,
One tail.
What is it?
(A horse and horseman)
<$> What has two heads,
Four eyes,
Six legs and a tail?
(A horse and its a rider)
<t> What has six legs, two heads,
Four cars, two hands.
But walks on four feet?
(A horse and a rider)
Ф What is it that has
Two heads, six legs
And one tail?
(A man on horse)
<$> Three eyes I have, all in a row;
When the red one opens, all freeze.
(A traffic light)
<s> This wingless bird
Will soar, and soon
•*<•><§>
91
ф <$><§>
Загадки па английском языке...
L and quite safely
On the Moon.
(A rocket)
Ф Like a bird, it flics
High in the sky,
Much faster
Than any gale,
it has powerful engines,
Two featherless wings
And a very attractive tail.
<§> Not a bird.
Not a butterfly,
I can fly
High in the sky.
If you arc ready
To have a try,
Just get inside
We run fast.
Then fly!
(An aeroplane)
(An aeroplane)
RIDDLES ABOUT
THE INSTRUMENTS AND HOME
APPLIANCES
Ф It dresses other people,
But goes naked itself.
What is it?
(A needle)
<$> What has an eye. but cannot sec?
(A needle)
Ф A one-eyed dragon with a long tail.
He was inside and outside many beautiful clothes,
And seen a lot of good tailors.
(A needle and a thread)
<$> The iron horse with flexible tail.
The faster the horse runs,
The shorter its tail becomes.
(A needle and a thread)
Ф A steel horse
With a cotton tail.
(A needle and a thread)

93
<§>$><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
<	$> This old Granny has only one eye
And a long thin tail that dances behind;
Whenever she dances on the clothes
A bit of her tail stay in it.
(A needle and a thread)
<	$> Old mother Twitchet had one eye
And a long tail which she makes to fly,
And every time she passes the gap.
She left a piece of her tail in a trap.
(A needle and a thread)
<	$> There is one that has a head without an eye,
And there is one that has an eye without a head:
You may find an answer if you try;
And when all is said,
Half the answer hangs upon a thread.
(A pin and a needle)
<	t> With two sharp blades,
Assisted by two rings,
I am handy for cutting paper,
Fabric and other things.
(A pair of scissors)
<	$> Two circles, two lines.
And a nail in the middle.
(Scissors)
94
<§><•>♦
Kiddles for Boys and Girls

<	$> I open wide and tightly shut, sharp am I
Have paper-cut fingers too, so take care,
I am good and bad, so best beware.
(Scissors)
<	$> I am paper's enemy.
Keep me away from small children.
You use me in the art class.
I can change the style of your hair.
(Scissors)
Ф Please do not run with me in your hands.
I have a blade long and thin,
And one hundred teeth.
That nibbles wood
That is my food.
(A saw)
<	§> My sharp steel teeth,
For any wood.
For cutting trees
Are very good.
So if you want
To fell a tree,
You need to make
Good use of me.
(A saw)
Ф What has a hundred teeth
But can not eat?
(A saw)
'§><•><§>
95
<§*<•><§>
Загадки на аныийском языке...
Ф It grinds quickly and chews;
It bites, but not swallows.
(A saw)
Ф I ant a tall guy, holder.
Once crowned in green.
(Pillar carved from a tree-trunk)
<	$> I drink the petrol,
And the trees arc scared of my roar,
Yet a man should hold me in his hands.
(A chainsaw)
<	$> A hundred little brothers.
They are all alike.
Guess who they arc running one by one.
(The centimeters in a meter)
<	$> He is a little round fellow.
But try to release his tail away,
And you won't catch him.
(A ball of wool)
Ф It is very small and easy
But you won’t be able to lift it by its tail.
What is it?
(A ball of wool)
Ф Try to drag it
By its tail
96

Kiddles for Boys and Girls
<^<$>^>
Or pul it on your back.
You will fail!
(A ball of string or wool)
Ф Long legs,
Crooked thighs,
A little head
And no eyes.
(A pair of tongs)
<	$> Roach back.
Smooth belly.
(An iron)
<	$> It swims to and fro
On a white sea.
It leaves a smooth surface
Quite pleasant to see.
(An iron)
Head of the iron.
Tail of the wood.
(A hammer)
1 am an energetic worker,
I despise lazy boys.
When I see any,
I strike them on the head.
(A hammer)
•» Ми 14

97

Загадки на английском языке...
<$> Who is very long and thin
With a big and heavy head?
(A hammer)
<$> Brother Thin
And Brother Thick
Fasten things,
One small another big.
(A nail and a hammer)
<$> 1 know what my job is,
The point has been made.
You say I have a big head,
And you are right, I am afraid.
So put me in my place.
And then leave me alone.
What 1 need the most
Is someone to bring me home.
(A nail)
<$> I have a hundred legs, but can not stand.
I have a long neck, but no head.
I can not see, but I am neat and tidy as can be.
(A broom)
When the wind blows.
Then the mill goes:
When the wind drops,
Then the mill stops.
(A windmill)
98

Riddles for Boys and Girls

<$> I have four wings, but can not fly,
I never laugh and never cry;
In the same place I am always found,
Moving then around with a little sound.
(Windmill)
& What grows up while growing down?
(A plant)
Who always finds things dull?
(The knife-grinder)
Here is the rod,
Here is the line,
Here is the hook -
The fish is mine!
(A fishing-rod. a line and a hook)
<5> Brother Rod
And Brother Hook
Went for the simpletons.
Just look:
Brother Hook,
All tough and firm.
Fastened to his nose
A worm.
(A fish-tackle)
Ф What do you throw out when you want to use it.
But take it when you do not want to use it?
(A fishing line)
. O> <c> <§>

Загадки на английском языке...
<$> I am nothing but a holes tied to the holes,
However 1 am strong as iron.
(A chain)
If you want
To get rid of dust,
Oh, I am sure
It absolutly must.
From every comer
And every nook
I will suck it out,
By hook or by crook.
(A vacuum-cleaner)
Ф I am on three legs when
I rest and one when I work.
(A wheelbarrow)
<s> Two legs I have, and this will confound:
Only at rest they touch the ground!
(A wheelbarrow)
<$> I can be any colour you can imagine.
You see me in everyday life.
I have been around for many, many years, look
around...
You can probably see some of me right now.
(Paint)
RIDDLES ABOUT THE HOUSE
AND INTERNAL FURNITURE
OF THE HOUSE
<$> One hundred and one brother
Standing next to each other
Tired together one belt.
(A fence)
Ф What runs around the city
But never moves?
(A wall)
Ф When you look at it, it is not there,
But it is there when you touch it.
It is like ice that docs not melt,
And as the water that does not flow.
(A window pane)
Ф I was made to keep liquids,
Do not push me too far;
And then I can break down,
And hurt you.
And even leave a scar.
(A glass)
101
•?><><§>
000
Загадки на английском языке...
0 What does not ask questions.
But demands an answer?
(A doorbell)
0 You can hear it speak, for this it has a hard tongue.
But it can not breathe, for this it has no lungs.
(A belt)
0 What has a tongue
And must answer.
But still can not say a word?
(A bell)
0 Despite my great age,
I live in a cage,
Having a long tail and one car,
My mouth is round,
And when joy in abound.
Oh, then I sing wonderful clear!
(Bell in a steeple)
0 Knock on me,
And please come in.
I will gladly
Let you in.
But please do not forget,
To see and.
To put
Your hand on me.
(A door)
102
000
Riddles for Boys and Girls

<	s> There are (wo sisters in my house.
One says: «I wish (he day would come.
Then I can lay my burden down.»
The other says: «For me the night is the best.
Then there is my turn to rest.»
(A bed and a door)
<	$> They stare at ich other all the time,
But never meet.
What arc they?
(The ceiling and the floor)
<	$> It does not bark, it doesn't bite
But still docs not let you in the house.
(A lock)
<	t> A watchdog at your door am I,
You turn me round and still I lie.
I never bark and I never bite,
1 keep your things quite safe at night.
(A lock)
Ф What passes through the door,
But never comes inside and not outside?
(A key-hole)
Ф Why force and strength can not get through
If I with gentle touch can do;
And many in the streets will stand,
If I am not in a friendly hand.
(A key)

103
<§><•><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
<$> I turn around once.
What is out will not get in.
I turn around again.
What is in will not get out.
(A key)
Ф What is it-on what do you sit, sleep in, and brush
your teeth with?
(A chair, a bed. and a toothbrush)
<$> Four brothers are holding one hat.
What is it?
(A table)
Wc are four brothers
Living under one roof.
Do you know us?
(The legs of a table or a sofa)
Ф I have four legs,
But 1 can not walk.
(A table or a chair or a sofa)
What has four legs
But is not an animal?
(A chair or a table)
Ф It has four legs,
Straight or bandy.
However it can not walk.
To sit on it is quite handy.
(A chair)
104

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><•><§>
<	$> What has legs but cannot run?
(A chair or a table or a sofa)
<	$> I have legs but do not walk,
A strong back but do not work,
Two good arms but do not reach,
A big scat but can not sit,
(An armchair)
<	$> What has arms and legs,
But has no head?
(An armchair)
Ф Four legs,
But not the beast.
Full of feathers,
But not a bird.
(A bed)
<	e> What is higher
Without the head
Than with the head?
(A pillow)
You arc looking for it, when your hunger is ripe.
It sits on four legs, and smokes a pipe.
(A wood stove)
<	$> What is it that causes tears without sorrow
And makes its journey into the heavens?
(Smoke)
Ф <•><§>
105
<§><•><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
Black and red inside.
With four comers outside.
(A chimney)
It is true, 1 have both face and hands,
And move before your eyes;
But when I go, my body stands,
And when I stand, I am lying.
(A watch)
<	$> It is running
Night and day,
But never
Running away.
(A watch/a clock)
<	$> What always runs but never walks,
Tells you something but never talks?
(A clock)
<	$> What goes
Without moving
From its place?
(A clock)
Ф I can say to you all day:
Its time to sleep and time to play.
(A clock)
*	$> One face, two hands.
It goes, but stands.
(A clock)
106
<$><•><$>
Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§>фф
<$> My hands and face
I never wash,
But, not a sloven,
I look posh!
Do not wash me:
I will stop to chime,
And you will never
Know the time.
(A clock)
<$> I have a face,
And two hands, but I can not move.
I count to twelve, but I can not speak.
I can still tell you something everyday.
(A clock)
<$> I can tell the time. What am I?
(A clock)
<S> I have a face.
I have a little hand.
I have a big hand.
My face is white.
My hands are black.
I have no feet.
I can run.
What am I?
(A clock)
Ф What has a face but no head,
And hands but no fingers?
(A clock)
•?> О <§>
107
^> <•><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
<е> I go at night and all day,
And 1 never go away.
(A clock)
<$> It has no legs,
But it goes.
(A clock)
What always keeps both hands
In front of its face?
(A clock)
When I go, I do not speak;
But when I stop, I am lying.
What am I?
(A clock or a watch)
I run all day
But I stay
In one place.
I keep what
I will tell you
Without talking.
(A clock)
<$> What can stand
And go at the same time?
(A clock)
I can do the strike each hour.
But do not forget,
108

Riddles for Boys and Girls
«§><$><§>
You must not strike me,
My good friend!
(A clock)
<$> What hands can't take anything?
(The hands o f a clock)
Whose face does not need to wash?
(The face of the clock)
<$> I have no legs.
But I can run.
I have no tongue,
But 1 say to everyone:
«Time to start working!»
«Time to go to bed!»
«Time to get up again, —
You sleepy head!»
(An alarm-clock)
<$> I have a face,
I have two hands,
I have no feet,
But 1 can run.
Whal am I?
(A clock)
Two body 1 have,
But both of them are linked in one,
The more still I stand,
The faster I run.
(An hourglass)
Ф <$><$>
109
<§><•><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
<	$> Му top and bottom are twins of a kind.
The middle of me makes one body combined.
I am used to pass time without any thrill.
If I stand tall and still, run faster 1 will.
(An hourglass)
Tear one off and scratch its head,
What once was red is black instead.
(A match)
<	$> What is it that docs not ask questions,
But should get an answer?
(A telephone)
<	e> Over fields, and woods, and rivers
That voice is transferred
(Sometimes quivers).
If runs through the wires
Day and night,
And never get tired.
(A telephone)
<	$> You answer me, although I never ask you questions.
(The telephone)
<	S> You hear me calling you.
Beckoning with my shrill voice;
My signs will lead you
To a place of your choice.
(The telephone)
110

Riddles for Boys and Girls

<	$> 1 will dial the proper number.
And soon will hear the voice
Of my very best friend.
(A telephone)
Ф What book was once owned by only the wealthy,
But now everyone can have it?
You cannot buy it in a bookstore or take it from a
library.
(A telephone hook)
® This is a house
With one window in it,
Showing films
Almost every minute.
(A TV-set)
<	$> It is not very big.
But it hangs in the middle of the room.
(n the day-time nobody wants it,
But in the evening everyone need it.
(A lamp)
Ф In a ball of glass
There lives this light.
It sleeps in the daytime
And works at night.
(A n electric bulb)
<	$> When 1 point up — it is light.
But when 1 point down - it is dark.
(A light switch)
>><?><&
Ill
<§><•><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
<$> I have a big mouth
And I am pretty loud!
I am not a gossip
But I am involved
In everyone's dirty business.
Can you name me?
(Vacuum cleaner, a washing machine)
<$> I am the only thing that always tells the truth.
I show everything that I sec.
I can be of various shapes and sizes.
So tell me what am I supposed to be!
(A mirror)
<$> What is there in your house
In that you should look into?
(A mirror)
<$> What is it that is dead, dumb and blind
And always tells the truth?
(A mirror)
<£> You can't see nothing else
When you look in my face.
I will look you in the eye
And never will lie.
( Your reflection in a mirror)
<$> I have holes throughout,
From back to front and from top to bottom.
112
<§><•><§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls

More nothing than something within.
However I still hold water.
(A sponge)
<	$> What is full of holes
But still holds the water?
(A sponge)
<	$> The more it dries up, the more it becomes wet.
(A towel)
<	$> You use it from your head to toes,
The more it works the thinner it becomes.
(A bar of soap)
<	$> The life I lead lasts hours or less,
I serve all my time being consumed.
I am more rapid when thin, and slower when fat,
And and wind is the banc of the gift that I can get.
(A candle)
<	$> Here stands a post:
When it burns,
It docs not smoke.
(A candle)
Ф It has a red nose
The longer it stands,
The shorter it becomes.
(A candle)
Ф0Ф
113
<§><•><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
<§> It was brought in a dark room, and set on fire.
It burst into tears and lost its head.
(A candle)
Ф A little Nancy Etticotc,
In a red petticoat
With a red nose;
The longer she stands.
The shorter she becomes.
(A candle)
<$> What has fifty heads
But cannot think?
(A box of matches)
<$> I have one hundred legs but cannot walk,
1 have a long neck but no head,
I can not sec but I am neat and tidy as far as I can.
(A broom)
<$> What goes all over the floor
And then stands in the comer?
(A broom)
<$> People arc hired to get rid of me,
1 am often hiding under your bed,
With time I always go back,
Clap for me and I will fly up.
What am I?
(Dust)
114

Riddles for Boys and Girls
^> <•><§>
<$> I am up. and I am down.
Up and down!
Up and down!
I am made of sturdy rope and wood.
Would you like me?
Yes, you would!
What am I?
(A swing)
<$> It is always round.
It can jump and fall.
In the air, on the ground
Wc can see a rubber... ?
((A) bull)
<$> It is blue and green, and red,
It bounces higher than my head.
It docs not want to stop at all.
What is it? It is my... ?
((A) ball)
<$> It has no legs,
But jumps.
(A ball)
<$> Has no legs,
But just for fun
It is always
On the run.
.	(A ball)
<§><£<§>
115
<^<*>^>
Загадки на английском языке...
Ф It is round, it has
A lot of friends:
Pussy cat.
And Puppy dog...
(Puff the Ball)
Ф Brute force won't put me in my place.
Smooth and even wins the race.
Envy colors where 1 rest.
No sandy beaches for the best.
(A golfball)
Ф What can be driven, but has no wheels.
And can be sliced, and still remain whole?
(A golf ball)
Ф 1 am served at a table,
In gatherings of two or four;
Served small, white and round.
You will love some,
And that is part of the fun.
(Ping pong balls)
Ф Hands she has but docs not hold,
She is smiling but if is not warm,
Feet she has but they can't walk,
Eyes she has but can not sec.
(A doll)
116
<^3>ф
Riddles for Boys and Girls
«§><$><§>
<$> What is lighter than a feather,
Round as a ball,
But even hundreds of men will not be able to carry'
out it?
(A bubble)
<$> Nothing inside,
Nothing outside,
Just a rainbow around you can sec.
I am lighter than a feather.
But ten men cannot lift me up!
What am I?
(A bubble)
<$> What is it that works
When it plays, and plays when it works?
(A fountain)
<$> Iron roof, glass walls,
Shines and shines and never falls.
(A lantern)
Ф A blue box hangs on a wall;
People put letters
And greetings into it
And then a man comes to take them away.
(A letter-box)
Ф It is an iron house,
And the lodgers in it, which bring news.
(A letter-box)

117
<§><$><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
<$> What flies, but do not fly away?
(A flag)
<$> I come in different shapes and sizes.
Part of me are curved, others arc straight.
You can put me wherever you like.
But there is only one correct place for me.
(A Jigsaw puzzle piece)
Ф The higher 1 climb, the hotter I engage,
I can not escape from my crystal cage.
(A thermometer)
Ф Four legs have I, a sturdy fellow,
A fuzzy back that is not yellow,
But (often) green or (rarely) red,
Л den is where 1 make my bed.
My keepers feed me coloured balls,
With sticks they store on my den walls,
Sometimes I store them in my pouch.
Sometimes deep in my belly; ouch! ’
That is when you’ll see me acting strange,
Instead of balls, I will cat your change,
And that is my cue to feed again,
Chalk it up to hunger, friend!
(A billiard (pool) table)
RIDDLES ABOUT THE WARE
FRUITS, VEGETABLES
AND DIFFERENT FOOD-STUFF
Ф At first 1 am green and small,
Like a little ball.
Then grow up and become red and big.
And when I blacken in the sun,
You say that 1 am ripe and eat me up.
(A cherry)
1 am sitting on a tree,
Round as a ball,
Red as blood,
Sweet as honey.
(A cherry)
<$> A wee wee man in a red coat.
Stick in my hand, stone in my throat.
(A cherry)
<$> A red cap on my head,
A stone in my throat,
If you tell me the answer,
I will give you a Groat.
(A cherry)
<§><•><§>
119
<§><$><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
<	j> A golden girl sits in the darkness,
But her hair she hangs outside in the sunlight.
Do you know her?
(A carrot)
<	$> This little red lady
Is hard to be found,
As only her green plait
Sticks out of the ground.
(A carrot)
<	$> Little old uncle, dressed in brown.
Take off his coat...
How much tears flow down!
(An onion)
<	e> I come out of the earth,
I am sold at the market.
The one who buys me cuts off my tail.
Takes off my suit silk,
And cries over me when I am naked.
(An onion)
Ф Take off my skin -
I will not cry,
But you will!
What am I?
(An onion)
<	$> When I am alive I do not speak.
Anyone who wants to takes inc into captivity and
cuts off my head.
120

Riddles for Boys and Girls	<§><•><§>
They bile my bare body
I don’t do no harm to anyone unless they won't cut
me for the first time.
Then I quickly make them cry.
(An onion)
<	t> An old fellow has
A hundred coats on.
There he is,
In his bed.
Half-asleep.
But if you risk
To take off
All his yellow coats,
You are certainly
Going to weep.
(An onion)
<	$> What white root
Makes eyes full of tears?
(An onion)
<	$> A hundred shirts
And all without buttons.
What is it?
(A head o f cabbage)
<	e> People use me for the soup
And for tasty pies’
And especially the hares,
Young and old like my leaves.
(The cabbage)
<§><•><§>
121
<§><•> ^>
Загадки на английском языке...
Ф Patch upon patch,
Without any stitches;
If you tell me this riddle,
I will give you niy breeches.
(The cabbage)
<$> What house has a lot of people inside,
But neither windows nor doors?
(A cucumber)
Ф A young imp,
He wore a green.
Now his age is mature.
He wears a red.
And his conduct
Now's always demure.
(A tomato)
Ф W’hat food you,
Release from the outside,
Cook what is inside,
Eat the outside,
And throw away what is inside?
(Corn on the cob)
<$> What eggs have leaves and stems?
(Eggplants)
Ф I am very tempting, - it is usually say,
I have a shiny red coat,
My flesh beneath is white.
122

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><•><§>
I smell so sweet, taste good to cat,
And help your teeth look bright.
(An apple)
Ф It is red and sweet,
Il is good to eat.
(An apple)
<	$> Come and drink from my spring.
Green walls arc all around it,
Shiny black stones inside.
(A watermelon)
<	$> There was a green house.
Inside the green house there was a white bouse
Inside the white house there was a red house.
Inside the red house there were a lot of babies
(A watermelon)
<	$> A skin have I, more eyes than one.
I can be very nice when I am done.
(A potato)
<	$> There is a time when they're green, a time when
they’re brown.
But both of these times, make me frown.
But just in between, for a very short while.
They’re perfect and yellow, and make me smile!
(Bananas)
Ф What one half of an apple resembles?
(The other half)
•§><$><§>
123
Загадки на английском языке...
Ф Clean, but not waler; Sticky, but not tar; White, but not snow; Sweet, but not honey. What is it?	(Milk)
Ф I am white, I am good to drink. What am I?	(Milk)
<$> You can spin, wheel and twist, But it can turn without moving.	(Milk)
<$> I am yellow, I am made of milk, You eat me with bread.	(Butter)
<$> White as snow Sweet for all, But when it gets into the mouth, It disappears.	(Sugar)
<$> Clean, but not water White, but not snow, Sweet, but not ice-cream, What is it?	(Sugar)
124

Riddles for Boys and Girls

<$> What can bum the eyes,
Sting the mouth,
But can be consumed?
(Pepper)
<s> They do not eat me only,
But can not cat without me.
What am I?
(Salt)
<$> Two sisters arc wc, one dark and one fair.
In twin towers dwelling, we're equal pair.
One from the land, and one from the sea.
Tell us truly, who arc wc?
(Salt and pepper)
<S> What's long and thin,
Covered with skin;
Red in parts,
And that arc put into tarts?
(Rhubarb)
<s> What is white on the outside
And yellow inside?
(An egg)
It is a silver outside
And a golden inside.
(An egg)
<§><•><§>
125

Загадки на английском языке...
<$> What is white
/Ind has a chick inside?
(An egg)
<S> It's a pretty white house.
There is no window,
There is no door,
There is no roof,
There is no floor.
But there is a pretty yellow ball inside.
What is this house?
(An egg)
<$> That it is impossible to put on desktop. What it is?
(An egg)
You walked through the field,
And you have found something to cat.
It lias not bones,
It has not meat.
You took it up and put it into your pocket.
You brought it home and put it on the shelf.
But 3 day’s later it walked away.
(An egg)
Ф What is bread before it is put into the oven?
(Dough)
<$> What has neither beginning, nor end, or the middle?
(A doughnut)
126

Riddles for Boys and Giris
<@> <•><§>
<S> When the coffee is like the earth?
(When it is ground)
§> Outside it is a shell.
Inside there is meat.
It grows on a tree,
And is good to eat.
(A nut)
<$> As soft as silk, as while as milk,
As bitter as gall, a thick wall
And a green coat covers me all.
(A walnut)
<$> J am a house with two boarders
(Sometimes one, but rarely three).
Break my walls, cat my boarders,
Throw away the rest of me.
(A peanut)
I am a house with two occupants,
Sometimes one, rarely three.
Break the walls,
Eat the boarders,
Then throw away the rest of me.
(A peanut)
<$> It's white and cold and sweet.
All the children like it.
(Jee-cream)
<•> <§>
127
<§><•><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
<§> What the dog does not have a tail?
(A hoi dog)
Ф flour of England, fruit of Spain,
Met together as in the rain;
Pul them in a bag. lie round the rope.
If you tell me this riddle,
I will give you a hope.
(A plum-pudding)
Ф Not born, but from a Mother’s body drawn,
I hang on until half of me is gone.
I sleep in a cave until grow old,
Then valued for my hardened gold.
(Cheese)
Ф Ou late afternoons I often bathe.
I will soak in hot water and it’s ok!
My essence goes through my clothes.
So they had use me - into the cup I am thrown.
(A tea hag)
Ф Discovered in Africa, 1 spread like a tide
Becoming a hot drink known tall he world wide.
A necessity for someone, a treasure for many,
I am best joy for the pleasant company.
Someone likes me hot and some likes me cold.
Someone prefers mild, others only bold.
Someone takes me straight, while some likes to savor
My essence to which has been added a flavor.
128

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><$><§>
So put aside your cares and sit a while with me;
I will send you back refreshed and full of energy.
(Chocolate)
<$> I am powerful enough to clean almost everything,
I am also gentle enough to cat me.
1 am used to do a sort of explosion,
And can be found in millions of stores around the
world.
I can kill grass,
And even do more tender meat, that you cook
I can clean up even the smelliest stench.
And soften your fabrics in the laundry.
(Baking soda)
<	$> When I am young, I am sweet from the sun.
When I am in the middle-aged, 1 make you joyful,
I can help to make you healthy.
When I am old, I am valued more than ever.
(Grapes, raisins, and wine)
❖	Part of me is carbon, part - the water,
I am poison to the fishes.
Many have falsely claimed my name,
I am just a pause that refreshes.
(Soda pop)
<	$> What is it that everyone can divide
But no one can sec where it is divided?
(Water)
•i Зак 14

129
<§><?><§>	Загадки на английском языке...
Three lives have I.
Gentle enough to soften the skin,
Light enough to caress the sky.
Hard enough to crack the rocks.
(Water)
<	$> I can be smooth as silk when you touch me
But hard as rock when you hit me
I can be crystal clear
Or dark as pitch
I can be still and silent
Or I can rumble and roar.
(Water)
Ф I run smoother than any rhyme,
I love to fall but cannot climb.
I tremble with each breath of air,
And yet can heaviest burdens bear.
(Water)
Ф It's so weak that every breath of wind can move it.
It's so strong that you can cut it
With a knife and leave no trace.
(Water)
<	$> What is it that you have with every meal but never
eat?
(An appetite)
<	S> What is this dish, on which you can't cat?
(An empty one)
130

Riddles for Boys and Girls	<§> <$> <§>
<	S> What is round as a dish
And no matter the size,
All the water in the ocean will not be able to fill it?
(A sieve)
<	e> A riddle, a riddle,
As I suppose;
Hundred of eyes,
And never nose.
(A sieve)
<	§> I bought a new one
And it was full of holes.
What was it?
(A sieve)
Ф Big as a biscuit, deep as a cup,
Even a river can't fill it up.
(A kitchen strainer)
Hoddy doddy.
With a round black body,
Three feet and a wooden hat.
Pray, tell me what's that?
(The boiler on three legs with a wooden cover)
Ф What starts with «t».
Ends with «I»
And is full of «t»?
(A teapot)
<§><•><§>
131

Загадки на английском языке...
On the cooker
I am pulling and puffing.
Why are they torturing me
For nothing?
My lid is tinkling.
Do make some teal
Switch off the cooker,
And set me free.
<§> 1 am long and thin and made of steel
I cut the mutton, beef and veal.
When not in use. I lie and wait
Beside my owner’s round white plate.
What is it?
(A kettle)
(A knife)
ra
RIDDLES ABOUT THE RADIO
AND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
At the sound of me, men can dream
Or stomp their feet.
At the sound of me, women can laugh
Or sometimes weep.
(Music)
Ф Of wood it’s made,
Of string it's made,
It floats with the wind.
It's made by one,
It's made by many,
From the hands and mouths it files out.
A score without a game.
A staff not for the lame.
The seven letters tamed.
Five letters is named.
(Music)
<$> My scale is something
That doc's not weigh
In grams, ounces, or pounds.
<§><$><§>
133

Загадки на английском языке...
However I may be heavy or light.
What am I?
(Music scales)
<$> Seven kids on a ladder
Are happy and brisk.
They are swinging their feet
They arc singing without any risk.
(The seven notes of the octave)
<$> Each dot on this ladder
Looks like a bird.
They're all singing the songs
That I've never heard.
(Notes)
<$> Name something that can sing and has eight legs.
(A quartet)
Ф Four jolly men sat down to play,
And played all night till break of day.
They played for cash and not for fun,
With a separate score for every one.
When it came time to square accounts.
They all had made quite fair amounts.
Now, no one lost and all are gained -
Tell me now, this can you explain?
(The four jolly men are members of an orchestra
hired to play at a dance)
My sides arc firmly laced around,
But nothing is within;
134

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><•><§>
You’ll think my head is strange indeed,
Being nothing else but skin.
(A drum)
<$> It is hollow,
And it is round.
It produces
A rattling sound.
Sometimes it beats out
A loud bum-bum.
I like, I enjoy it!
(I hope you do, too.)
(A drum)
<$> A box and a disk
But not a simple thing;
It can sing.
It can speak,
It can play lovely times.
(A gramophone)
<$> Without a tongue,
Without ears,
I can speak,
And sing
And hear.
(A tape-recorder)
Ф lama tool,
For the inspiration of many.
Buy me in the store,
Not more than a penny.
<£<£<§>
135
ф <$><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
Do not overuse me,
Or my fulness will go,
What am I? Do you know?
(A fi inkepen)
<$> What musical instrument
You would not believe?
(A lyre)
* Игра слов: сходное звучание 1. lyre - лира,
2. liar — лжец.
Ф What can play but cannot walk?
(A piano)
Ф A box that holds keys without locks,
But they can unlock your soul.
(A piano)
<$> My voice is tender, my waist is slender
And I am often invited to play.
Though wherever 1 go I must take my bow
Or else I have nothing to say.
• (A violin)
<$> Who works when he plays
And plays when he works?
(A musician)
RIDDLES ABOUT THE SCHOOL
<$> Some will use me, while the others will not,
Some remember, while others have forgotten.
For profit or gain, I am used expertly,
1 can’t be picked from the ground or tossed into the
sea.
Only gained from patience and time,
Can you unravel my rhyme?
(Knowledge)
<$> What is it that looks like the ball.
But is still in place and does not fall
With its thin and graceful legs?
Children like to turn it around,
The rivers, mountains, lakes there are found,
Countries, states and their towns
Can be seen all around.
What is it?
(A globe)
<$> Boys and girls arc by two-legged creatures
And they run around a lot;
I have different kind of features
And although I am four-legged,
<§>«$►<§>
137
^> <•><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
I stand still in place as you can sec,
The teacher puts his things on me,
The whole day I serve the school
And I am very proud to do it.
What am I?
(A table)
<$> The teacher writes on me with chalk.
My face is black, I cannot talk;
Unlike the boys whose voices hum
1 do my work although I am dumb.
What am I?
(A blackboard)
<$> What is white when it is dirty
And black when it is clean?
(A blackboard)
The teacher writes
On me with chalk,
My face is black,
I cannot talk,
What am I?
(A blackboard)
<$> Pupils and teachers
Write on me with chalk.
I can't write, I can't talk.
(A blackboard)
My face is black.
As black as night.
138

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><•><§>
On it with chalk,
All pupils write.
All right!
But it is disgrace
When they forget
To wipe my face.
(A blackboard)
Ф What gets whiter than dirtier it gets?
(A chalkboard)
<s> Dark with white markings,
And smooth as a rock.
Where there learning occurs,
I help to convey thoughts.
(A blackboard or chalkboard)
Ф What tabic has no legs?
(A time-table)
<$> My author’s uncertain, but my title's the same,
I contain random text, but the order’s my aim.
Read me one day and see my following pages to-
tally bare.
Try again the next day and the words will be there.
1 am not a book of magic although it may be alike,
I can predict the future, and inside, your life can be
found.
(A diary)
<$> 1 am used to draw the lines,
I am long and thin and white;
<§><•><§>
139
<§><•><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
On my face black figures shine.
Try, you must my name define.
What am I?
(A ruler)
<$> If you want
To draw a straight line,
Make use of me,
For this business am I.
(A rider)
<S> Look at the lines on my wrinkled old face.
The land where you live you can easily trace
And see where each nation has got its own place.
What am I?
(A map)
1 have the cities but without houses,
Forests without trees;
The rivers without water.
What am I?
(A map)
<$> Where can you find
Roads without cars,
Forests without trees
And cities without houses?
(A map)
<$> I have streets but no pavement.
1 have cities but no buildings.
140
<^ <$><§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§>«$►<§>
I have forests but no trees.
I have rivers but no water.
(A map)
<	$> It is blue, and green, and yellow.
It shows the rivers (deep, not shallow).
Cities, mountains, lakes and seas -
All arc there for him who secs.
(A map)
<	s> Where you can find roads without cars,
Forests without trees, cities without houses?
(A map)
Ф I have cities with no houses,
Forests without trees,
Rivers and seas without water.
(A map)
<	e> In my house there is a smaller house
With windows and doors
And only one person
Lives in it - Knowledge.
What is it?
(A bookcase)
<	§> This is not the bush, but has leaves;
This is not the shirt, but sewn together;
It has no tongue, but it tells a tale.
(A book)
<§><>*§>
141
<§»<•><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
It is not a shirt, but has the scams;
It is not a scrub, but has the sheets.	(A book)
<	$> I have no voice, but 1 talk to you;
I am telling about all the things in the world that
people do.
I have leaves, but 1 am not a tree.
1 have a spine and hinges;
But I am not a man or a door;
I have told you all, I cannot tell you more.
(A book)
<$> What teaches without talking?	(A book)
Ф I know everything, 1 teach everybody. But to make friends with me You must first learn.	(A book)
The land was white the seed was black
I have to take a good scholar to riddle you that.
(A book)
My leaves are while.
They never grow.
And everything
You want to know
Is stored in those
Black marks that you sec
142
<§><•><§>
Riddles for Boys and Giris
<§><•><§>
On every' leaf
You find in me.
(A book)
<$> My life is often full of grief,
your help is needed to turn a new leaf.
Stiff is my spine and my body is pale,
but I ain always ready to tell a tale.
(A book)
<§> It is not a man,
It is not a woman,
But it teaches me.
(A book)
<$> We have friends.
They cannot walk, and cannot sec,
But they arc very good for you and me.
With these friends we sail ships
And ride by trains and even fly on airplanes.
These friends show us the towns, seas and lands,
Can you guess who arc these good friends?
(Books)
<$> The field is white,
Black is the seed,
And the sower who sowed it
Was clever indeed.
(A page in a book)
<§><•> <^
143
<§> <$><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
<	§> I am a place where yesterday
Always goes after tomorrow.
What am I?
(An English dictionary)
Ф I saw an unusual book:
The foreword comes after the epilogue;
The end is in the first half of the book;
The index comes before the introduction.
(A dictionary)
<	S> I am where yesterday follows today,
And tomorrow’s in the middle.
(An English dictionary)
<	e> In one of my books,
The end is in the first half of the book
And the preface is in the second.
The foreword comes after the epilogue,
But the index precedes the introduction.
What book is it?
(A n English dictionary)
<$> He is not French, he is not Greek;
He tells us how to write and speak,
But in a language not our own -
Which none of us could do alone.
Who is he?
(A teacher)
144

Riddles for Boys and Girls

<$> What word of three syllables
Contains twenty-six letters?
(Au English alphabet)
<s> What word is it of only three syllables
Which combines in it twenty-six letters?
(Alphabet or ABC)
Ф What three letters
Mean twenty six letters?
(The ABC)
<$> We arc little airy creatures,
All of different voice and features.
One of us in glass is set,
One of us you’ll find in a jet;
The other you may sec in tin,
And the fourth a box within.
If the fifth you should pursue,
It can never fly from you.
(Vowels)
<$> What is it you keep in your schoolbag
And that shows how you leant your lessons?
(Your day’-book)
<$> Your teacher puts marks in it.
(A day-book)
<§><$><§>
145
<$> <•><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
<$> What tells you the answers.
But gets you bad marks
And is not a person?
(A crib)
<$> What is small and black,
With a tail and a bent back.
It doesn’t bark, it doesn’t bite.
But it doesn’t let you to pass
From one form to the next.
(A «two»)
<$> What is it that gives light to the world
Although it is black?
(ink)
What is it that,
Black in itself though,
Enlightens the world?
(Ink)
<$> What is dark
But enlightens the world?
(Ink)
<$> This little traveller
Is very strong.
He takes a drink of water
And runs thousand of miles.
Before he starts,
He takes off his hat.
146
<§><•> <^
Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><•><§>
When he rests,
He puts it on.
(A fountain-pen)
<	$> A black fellow in a wooden cloak.
Wherever he turns his nose
He makes a black mark.
(A pencil)
® This coloured chalk
In a holder of wood
For drawing and writing
Is perfectly good.
(A pencil)
<	$> I am black, and red, and blue
I draw a picture for you.
(A pencil)
<	$> Our little John
Has a wooden shirt on
And a long sharp nose.
He leaves his mark
Wherever he goes.
(A pencil)
Ф I do not know' the ABC,
But I can write
As you sec.
(A pen)
<§><•>«§>
147
$><•><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
•	$> Fill my bucket, spill my bucket,
Over a plane of snow.
Black is the track as 1 look back,
My footsteps talk but make no sound.
(A pen)
My first of anything is half;
My second is complete;
And so it will be until
My first and second meet.
(Semicircle)
<$> What's black and white
And read all over the world?
(A newspaper)
<$> A slow, solemn square-dance
Of warriors fighting.
One by one they fall,
Warriors defeated,
Thirty-two on sixty-four.
(Chess)
<$> I am up and down and running round,
Yet all the world can't find me out;
. However hundreds employed their leisure time,
They still can't find my size.
I am found in almost every home,
Nay, in the compass of a far den.
There is neither chariot, coach, nor mill
Can move one inch except I will.
(A circle)
148

Riddles for Boys and Girls	<§><•><§>
Ф What starts with an «е»,
Ends with an «с»
And usually contains
Only one letter?
(Envelope)
What is it that can carry a message
To anybody in any town?
(A letter)
<	$> What goes to every town
And delivers its message to anyone?
(A letter)
Ф Kiddies,
Standing in a row,
Tell us
Everything they know.
(The letters)
There are six of us in every family,
But only four in a town, what arc we?
(The letters)
I am so simple,
That I only point;
But I guide people
All over the world.
(A compass)
<§><•><§>
149
<§><$><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
<	$> The black snow
Lays on the white ground.
(A paper and characters)
<	$> Black seeds are sown
On the white ground.
(A paper and characters)
<	$> This little mark.
So clear and round.
At the end of sentences
Is to be found.
(A point)
Ф An old gentleman,
Bent with age,
Is asking questions
On each page.
(A question-mark)
<$> A disgusting,
Unwanted guest
Stopped on the page
Of my notebook to rest.
The teacher saw it,
And so did the class.
I got a poor mark.
I deserve it, alas!
(A blot)
<$> What are the tallest buildings in the world?
(Libraries: they have so many stories)
150
<§><$><§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§►<•> <^
<$> Ten tiny balls
Running on each wire mounts.
They help little children
Learn to count.
(An abacus)
<$> I have keys that open no locks,
I have space, but there is no room,
You can enter, but you can't come inside.
And I am...
(A computer keyboard)
Ф On what kind of ships students always learning?
(Scholarships)
Ф She is a beautiful fairy tale girl.
She has two sisters,
Father and a stepmother!
<$> In the steppes,
Or in the sea
It’ll show
The way to me.
Even in the thickest wood
Its orientations arc good.
❖ 30 men with ladies two
Gathered for a festive do
(Cinderella)
(A compass)

151
<§><$><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
Dressed quite formal, black and white
Yet movement turned to nasty fight.
(A chess match)
Ф The eight of us move forward, but not back
To protect a king from the enemies attack.
(A chess pawn)
Ф It goes up, but at the same time goes down.
Up toward the sky, and down toward the ground.
It's present tense and past tense too;
Come for a ride, just you and me.
(A see-saw)
Ф With pointed fangs it sits in waiting,
With piercing force it doles out fate.
Without bleeding victims, proclaiming its might,
Eternally joining its single bite.
(A stapler)
<e> My head and tail both equal arc.
My waist is slender, as a bee.
Whether I stand on head or heel
Is quite the same for you or me.
But if my head should be cut off,
The matter's true, though passing strange
Directly 1 don’t need nothing to change.
(The figure 8)
RIDDLES ABOUT THE WORDS
AND LETTERS
Often Sought Out But Seldom Found
I am often sought out but seldom found.
Some people never find me until they are in the
ground.
Arguing nations who want tofind me, hard to find.
But often, I am just a state of mind.
Some believe I can only be found
By divine intervention from above.
Another name for me is Love.
Now is the time to stop being in doubt.
Shout out your answer, what am I?
(Peace)
<§> 1 can be cool, but I can't be cold,
1 can be sorry, but I can't be guilty,
I can be spooked, but I can't be scared,
I can be sweet, but I can't be friendly,
1 can be flammable, but I can't bum.
(Words with double letters)
<$> It has seven letters,
It proceeded God,

153
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All poor people have it.
And all rich people need it.
(Nothing)
<$> Why is the word «thousand» like the Sahara desert?
(Because both contain sand)
What is the longest word in the English language?
(Smiles, because there is a mile between the first
and the last letters)
Ф Why is the letter «w» quarrelsome?
(Because it makes ill-will)
Ф What two words, when combined,
Hold most of the letters?
(Post office)
<$> What two letters make something really rotten?
(«d», «к»)
<$> Why a selfish friend is like the letter «р»?
(Because it is the first in pity and last in help)
<$> What makes a road broad?
(The letter «Ь»)
<$> What words may be pronounced quicker
And shorter by adding syllables to them?
(Quick and short)
154

Riddles for Boys and Girls

<$> What occurs twice in a moment, once in a minute,
and never in a thousand years?
(Leiter «т»)
Why is the letter «к» like a pig's tail?
(Because it is the end of pork)
What English word has three successive double let-
ters?
(Bookkeeper)
<$> You can find us in darkness but never in light.
Wc arc present in daytime but absent at night.
In the deepest of shadows, wc hide from the plain
sight.
(Letter «d»)
<$> What letter is it?
a) The beginning of evening,
The end of time and space,
The beginning of every end,
And the end of every place,
b) The poor have two,
The rich have none,
Millions have many,
You have one.
(The letters «е», «о»)
*$> Why is the letter «g» like the sun?
(Because it is in the centre of light.)

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<$> Why must your mother never put the letter «М» into
her refrigerator?
(Because it will change ice into mice)
& I am more microscopic than microscopic,
I am more minuscule than minuscule.
I am smaller than small and I am tinier than tiny.
Yet surprisingly I am still big.
(The word «big». It only has 3 letters and is
therefore shorter in length than the words «tiny»,
«small», «minuscule» and «microscopic».)
<s> Find an English word which is singular, add an «s»
and it becomes plural, and add another «s» it be-
comes singular again?
(There are actually 3 correct answers: Care(s)
(s). Prince(s)(s). Bra(s)(s)
This is an unusual paragraph. I am curious to how
quickly you can find out what is so unusual about
it? It looks so plain you would think nothing was
wrong with it! In fact, nothing is wrong with it,
though unusual. Study it, and think about it, but you
still may not find anything odd. But, if you work at
it a bit, you might find out! Try to do so without any
coaching!
(The letter «е». which is the most common letter
in English language, does not appear even once in
the long paragraph)
156
ф <•><§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls

Ф What is the most important letter in the world?
(The letter «е» because it is first in everybody
and everything)
<e> This one's a tufty! There is a common English word
that is seven letters long. Each time you remove
a letter from it, it still remains a common English
word - from seven letters in the beginning to a sin-
gle letter in the end. What is the original word, and
what are the words in which it develops after the
removal of one letter at a time?
(The original word is «Snowing». It decomposes
to: sowing, swing, sing. sin. in, and 1.)
With «d» and «f»
I am at home.
With «о» and «8»
I am near the sea; find us?
(Door, floor, oar, shore)
<§> Which letter of the alphabet
Goes all round Great Britain?
(The letter «G»)
& What colour were the winds
And the waves in a storm?
(The winds blew, the waves rose)
<$> I know a word of three letters thee,
Add two, and fewer there will be.
What am I?
(The word FEW)
<§><»<§>
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<$> With thieves I consort,
With the vilest in short
I am quite at ease in depravity;
Yet all divines use me,
And savants can’t lose me
And I am the center of gravity.
What am I?
(The letter «V»)
<$> The beginning of eternity.
The end of time and space.
The beginning of every end.
And the end of every place.
What can be described this way?
(The letter «е»)
<$> Lucy had it first, Ethel had it last,
Mary Lungel had it twice
Until she married Peter Stupid
And never had it again. What is it?
(The letter «I»)
<j> What letter is the most prominent in the alphabet?
(The letter «а», because it is used twice)
<§> What is in the middle of the day?
(The letter «а»)
<$> Why is the letter «а» like 12 o’clock?
(Because it is in the middle of the day)
158

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><*><§>
<$> If all the letters of the alphabet were on the top of the
highest mountain, which letter should leave first?
(The letter «d» would begin the descent)
Ф How could you transform
A tea-table in the food?
(By taking away the letter «!», for it is eatable
then)
Ф Why is the letter «t» like an island?
(Because it is in the middle of water)
<$> What is in the middle of nowhere?
(The letter «h»)
<$> What is it that you can keep
Even after you gave it to somebody else?
(Your word)
<$> What arc the four letters which can scare a burglar?
(«о», «i», «с», «и». Oh, I see you.)
<$> We are five little things of a similar sort.
You will find us all on a tennis court.
(The vowels - «а», «е», «i». «о» and «и», which
all appear in the phrase «a tennis court»)
<$> Why is the letter «к» like a rest?
(Because it comes at the end of work)
Which letter holds the most of all water?
(The letter «s» - sea)

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Ф There is one in a minute and two in a moment, but
only one in a million years. What arc we talking
about?
(The letter «tn»)
<$> What letter of the alphabet is a drink?
(The letter «t» ~ tea)
Ф What letter of the alphabet is a vegetable?
(The letter «р» — pea)
<$> What letter of the alphabet is an insect?
(The letter «Ъ» = bee)
<$> What is the quickest letter
In the alphabet and why?
(The letter «г», because it is the first in race)
<$> It is in a rock but not in the stone.
It is in marrow but not in the bone.
It is in a bolster but not in bed.
It's not in the living, and not in the dead.
(The letter «г»)
<$> Five hundred begins it, five hundred ends it,
Five in the middle is seen;
First of all figures, the first of all letters.
Take up their stations between.
Join all together, and then you will bring
Before you the name of an eminent king.
(DA VID - roman numerals)
160
<§><$><§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§*<•><§>
<S> Which is the hottest letter of the alphabet?
(The letter «г», because it's always in the midst
of FIRES)
<e> What has every street and every school?
(The letters)
<$> Kiddies,
Standing in a row,
Tell us
Everything they know.
(The letters)
Ф There are six of us in every family,
But only four in a town, what are wc?
(The letters)
<$> What is the worst weather for rats and mice?
(When it 's raining cats and dogs)
Ф I dance four feet to ev'ry line.
With A and A I try to rhyme.
And В and В make couples two,
My friend, the answer stands in front of you.
(This riddle)
3> What is the difference between «here» and «there»?
(The letter «t»)
& What can be found right in the middle of Mel-
bourne?
(The letter «о»)
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<	$> Can you spell «mousetrap» in three letters?
(«с». «а», «I» ~ cat)
<	5> Which word in the English language
Is most frequently spelled wrong?
(The word «wrong»)
ФП was whispered in Heaven, it was muttered in hell,
And echo caught faintly the sound as it fell;
On the confines of the earth it was permitted to rest.
And in the depths of the ocean its presence confcs'd;
It will be found in the sphere when it is riven asunder,
Be seen in the lightning and heard of the thunder;
It was allotted to man with his earliest breath,
Attends him at birth and awaits him at death,
Presides in his happiness, honor and health.
Is the prop of his house, and the end of his wealth.
In the heaps of the miser it is hoarded with care.
But is sure to be lost on his prodigal heir;
It begins every hope, every wish it must bound.
With the husbandman toils, and with monarchs is
crowned;
Without it the soldier and seaman may roam,
But woe to the wretch who expels it from home!
In the whispers of conscience its voice will be found,
Nor e'er in the whirlwind of passion be drowned;
It will soften the heart; but though deaf be the car,
It will make him acutely and instantly hear.
Set in shade, let it rest like a delicate flower;
Ah’ Breathe on it softly, it dies in an hour.
(The letter «h»)
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Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><•><§>
From what heavy seven-letter word
Can you take away two letters
And have the eight left?
(There are at least two possibilities Freight or
weights!)
<	$> What is the beginning of eternity,
The end of time and space;
The beginning of every end
And the end of every place?
(The letter «е»)
Ф I am (he beginning of sorrow,
And the end of sickness.
You cannot express the happiness without me,
Yet I am in the midst of crosses.
I am always in the risk,
Yet never in danger.
You may find me in the sun,
But 1 am never out of darkness.
(The letter «s»)
I am a word of meanings three.
Three ways of spelling me there be.
The first is an odour, a smell if you will.
The second some money, but not in a bill.
The third is past tense, a method
Of passing things on or around.
Can you tell me now, what these words arc,
That have the same sound?
(Scent, cent and sent)
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Ф Twice six are eight of us,
Six are but three of us,
Nine are but four of us.
What can we possibly be?
Would you know more of us?
I will tell you more of us.
Twelve are but six of us,
Five arc but four of us, now do you see? .
(The number of letters contained in each numer-
al word)
A word I know, six letters it contains
Subtract just one, and twelve is what remains.
Which word is it?
(Dozens)
<S> What is not alive but still is?
(A ghost)
<$> How can you say rabbit without the letter «г»?
(Bunny)
<$> Why is «с» the most important letter?
(Because it comes first in everything)
<$> Which is the cleanest letter in the alphabet?
(The letter «h», because it is in the middle of
«washing»)
<$> When does Thursday
Come before Wednesday?
(In a dictionary’)
164

fiiddles for Boys and Girls

Ф Where can you find every word
Of your last conversation?
(In a dictionary)
<§> What can always be found between town
and country?
(And)
<$> It's used with soap hut not with dirt.
It's seen in you but not in me.
Il's in the door but not in the key.
What is it?
(The letter «о»)
<e> There arc seven parts to this riddle,
Each is part of a greater whole.
You sec most of these.
Everyday as you please:
First is what I did with a book yesterday,
Second mixes with apples.
Third is a shout, then "ouch" you say.
Fourth shares the sound of mean.
Fifth is what the wind has done,
The sixth is often skipped.
The last and final can be called by two names,
If roses arc this, then which is the blue one?
(The 7 colors of the rainbow)
Red: read a book
Orange: apples and oranges
Yellow: Yell and Ow
Green: Rhymes with «Mean»

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Blue: The wind «blew»
Indigo is often skipped
Violet: Roses are red. Violets are blue.
Ф Wc are such little liny creatures;
All of us have different features.
One of us in glass is set;
One of us you'll find in jet.
Another you may see in tin,
And the fourth is boxed within.
If the fifth you should pursue.
It can never fly from you.
(The vowels (a, e. i, o, u)
<s> Which is the unhappiest letter of the alphabet?
(The letter «s», because it always starts sighing
and sobbing)
Ф We're 5 little items of an everyday sort, you'll find
us all in A Tennis Court. What arc we?
(The 5 vowels: a e i о и)
<$> Which letter takes a long time standing
and waiting?
(The letter eq»: queue)
<§> 1 banish darkness from your house for hours, yet
add a letter and I will illuminate (he whole sky for
just a second. What am I?
(Lighting, add «п» for lightning)
166
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Riddles for Boys and Girls

<$> What is the best butter in the world?
(A goal)
*	Butter масло; to butt бодать.
Ф Can you name five days of the week? I do not mean
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday or Saturday.
(Today, yesterday, the day before yesterday, to-
morrow, the day after tomorrow)
Ф When the water is like a tiger?
(When it makes a spring)
*	Spring источник; to make a spring совершить
прыжок.
Ф Find an English word which is singular, add an «s»
and it becomes plural, add another «s» it becomes
singular again?
(Prince)
Ф What jam is hardest to spread?
(A traff ic jam)
*	Jam варенье; traffic jam транспорт ная пробка.
Ф What 7 letter word becomes longer when the third
letter is removed?
(Lounger)
Ф What word begins with «с» ends with «с» and has
one letter «с» in the middle of it?
(An envelope)
<§><$> <^
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<е> What two five letter English words do not change
its pronunciation when four letters arc taken away?
(Queue and A itch )
<$> Why is it dangerous to fall asleep when traveling in
a train?
(Because trains run over sleepers)
* Sleeper 1) спящий; 2) шпала.
<$> A three-letter, one-syllable word that becomes
a three-syllable word by adding one letter to the end
of it.
(«Аге» — «Area»)
<$> What is the difference between an engine-driver and
a school-teacher?
(One minds the train, and the other trains the
mind)
*	To mind заботиться, присматривать; mind ум,
разум; train поезд; to train обучать, тренировать.
Ф What kind of coat has no buttons and is put on when
it is wet?
(A coat of paint)
*	Coat пальто; coat of paint слой краски.
<$> What is the difference between ammonia and pneu-
monia?
(One comes in bottles and the other comes in
chests)
♦ Chest 1) ящик сундук; 2) грудная клетка, грудь.
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Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><•><§>
Ф Why is the sea always restless?
(Because it has such a rocky’ bed)
* To rock качаться; rocky 1) скалистый; 2) кача-
ющийся; bed 1) кровать; 2) дно (моря).
Ф What is the difference between a doctor and a dress-
maker?
(One dresses cuts and the other cuts dresses)
* To dress перевязывать (рану); dress одежда,
платье; cut порез; to cut резать, кроить.
Ф Which day of the week has an anagram?
(Monday = dynamo)
Ф What arc the silent watches of the night?
(The ones we forget to wind)
*	Watch I) часы; 2) сторож, часовой; to wind
завести (часы.).
Ф Why spring is a dangerous time of the year?
(The grass is full of new blades, the trees and
shrubs are shooting and every flower has a pistil
(pistol)
*	Blade I) былинка, лист; 2) лезвие; to shoot
1) стрелять; 2) расти; давать почки, ростки, побеги.
Ф What kind of match can’t be put in the match-box?
(A football match)
Ф How can you keep cool at a football match?
(Sit next to a fan)
♦	Fan 1) болельщик; 2) веер, вент илятор.
фф<§>
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Ф What is the difference between a soldier and
a young girl?
(A soldier faces powder, a girl powders face)
♦	To face сталкиваться лицом к лицу (с чем-л.),
смотреть в лицо (чему-л.) без страха; powder порох;
to powder пудрить.
<$> Why is a coward like a leaky barrel?
(Because they both inn)
* To run 1) бежать; 2) течь.
<e> Why arc our laws like oceans?
(Because the most troubles are caused by the
breakers)
* Breaker 1) большая волна; 2) нарушитель.
<$> Which travels faster — heat or cold?
(Heat, because you can catch cold easily)
* To catch cold простудиться.
<$> Do you know anything that has four eyes?
(Yes. Mississippi has four «Vs»)
<	♦> I C U R Y Y 4 me. What is it?
(1CUR Y Y 4 me means 1 see you are too wise
for me.)
<	S> How can you spell brandy in three letters?
(B, r and y)
<	$> Why is a cherry 1 ike a book?
(Because it is read (red)
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Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><•><§>
<$> The «average» letter of the word ACE is C, because
it is the average of the 1st, 3rd and 5th letters of the
alphabet. Which seven-letter word also has an aver-
age of the letter C?
(CABBAGE; in letter position terms, this is 3 +
1+2+2+1+7+5= 21. and 21/7 = 3)
Ф What is the difference between a watchmaker and
a jailer?
(The former sells watches and the latter watches
cells)
<$> Why is the letter «G» like the sun?
(Because it is the centre of LIGHT)
<$> Why do we say that «Т» is like an island?
(Because it is in the middle of WATER)
<$> What is the longest word in the English language?
(«Smiles», because there is a mile between each
end)
<$> Why is the letter «а» like 12 o'clock?
(Day, «а» in the middle of the word)
<$> In which English word does the letter I appear seven
times? One other vowel appears in the word.
(Indi visibil dies)
<$> What is the end of everything?
(The letter «g»)

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<s> Start with a particular eight-letter word. If you delete
the second and third letters, you arc left with a sort of
hole often found in a wall. If instead you delete the
first and third letters, you arc left with a hole found in
fabric. And if you deleted the first and second letters,
that will remind you one thing that could explore the
black holes. What is the eight-letter word you started
with, which is also a type of hole?
(SPROCKET (the other words are SOCKET.
POCKET and ROCKET)
<s> What word can be written so that it looks the same
forwards, backwards and upside down?
(NOON)
<$> What connects all these words:
BUY, BRING, CATCH, FIGHT, SEEK, TEACH,
THINK, WORK?
(The past tenses rhyme: BOUGHT, BROUGHT,
CAUGHT, FOUGHT, SOUGHT, TAUGHT.
THOUGHT. WROUGHT)
<e> Choose one letter from each line in order to spell
out a similar word: YELLOW, PURPLE, BLACK,
CREEN, GREY, RED
(ORANGE)
Ф What five letter English word does not change its
pronunciation when four letters arc taken away?(Oh
come on, think hard! You’ll kick yourself when you
see the answer lol)
(Queue (Q) Told you. you'd feel silly lol)
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«§><><§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls
W<§>
<$> A man with the same name as the leader of the Apos-
tles (who was an accomplished wind instrument
player) went to a shop and, after much deliberation,
selected two gallons of the family Pipcraceae of the
order Piperalcs that had been preserved in brine or
vinegar. How is that story normally told?
(Peter Piper picked a peck of p ickled peppers)
<§> A lost explorer might utter this phrase. It is also an
anagram of which quartet of related words?
TUT! THAT’S NOWHERE - SOS!
(NORTH. EAST. SOUTH, WEST)
Ф Find a ten-letter word in which the letters R, S, T
and U appear successively and in alphabetical order.
(UNDERSTUDY, or OVERSTUFF)
These words have a special property. What is it?
bathtub, manservant, pussycat, taxicab
(Both halves of each word are synonyms for the
word itself — e.g. 'bath' and 'tub' both describe a
bathtub)
Ф There is something from which you can take its
whole and yet some remains. What is it?
(The word WHOLESOME)
<§> Yreka, a small town in California, used to be fa-
mous for its local bread outlet. Can you sec why?
(The sign read «YREKA BAKERY» - a palin-
drome)

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<$> What royal word in the plural becomes singular
when you add one letter?
(PRINCES)
<$> Find a nine-letter English word that contains only
one vowel and one syllable.
(STRENGTHS)
<$> Which accountancy job is unusual because it con-
tains three pairs of identical letters?
(BOOKKEEPER)
<$> In terms of its letters, what record can the following
word claim to have?
DERMATOGLYPH ICS
(It's the longest word that can be made without
repeating any letter of the alphabet)
<$> I am thinking of two five-letter words. Each word is
an anagram, homophone and synonym of the other -
that is, they use the same letters, sound alike and mean
the same thing. What arc the words?
(One solution is «break» and «brake», which
can both mean «slop»)
Ф Which English word:
- has five consecutive consonants,
- is recognized as one of the most frequently mis-
spelt, and
- is almost always preceded by three, five or seven?
(EIGHTHS (since two-eighths is normally re-
ferred to as a quarter, etc.)
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<§><$><§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls	000
*0 How are you doing even of seven?
(Delete the «s»)
To the best of my knowledge, there is only one other
word that can be made from all the letters in the
word discerning. Can you figure out what it is?
(Rescinding)
0 Break it and it gets better,
Instantly established and the more difficult to break
again.
(A record)
Ф Three playing cards in a row.
Can you name them with these clues?
There is a two to the right of a king.
A diamond will be found to the left of a spade.
An ace is to the left of a heart.
A heart is to the left of a spade.
Now, identify all three cards.
(Ace of Diamonds, King of Hearts, Two of
Spades)
He starts and ends 2 common English words.
One painful in love,
One painful in everyday matter.
Do you know what 2 words arc these?
(Heartache and Headache)
0 I am the ruler of shovels,
I have a double,
000
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I am as thin as a knife,
1 have a wife.
(The King of Spades, from a deck of cards)
<§> Л traveller starts a journey.
In the first week he goes to the cast.
The second he goes in all directions,
The third he flics up in the sky.
In the fourth he comes back down.
Who is the traveller?
(An iceberg)
It travels East as an iceberg, it is a free flowing wa-
ter when melted, flies up into the sky when evaporated,
falls back down as the rain.
<$> An empty head man had a letter to write;
It was read by a man who had lost his sight.
The dumb repeated it word for word;
And deaf was the one who listened and heard.
(The letter in question is the letter «О». It is zero.
The man had nothing to write. The blind could read
nothing. The person who was dumb could repeat
nothing. The deaf man listened and heard nothing.)
RIDDLES ABOUT THE PARTS
OF THE BODY
Ф Two brothers live across the path,
But never see each other.
(Eyes)
Ф The doors are open in the morning but shut at night.
If you look at them, you see yourself inside.
(Eyes)
<$> I am a window, I am a lamp.
I am clouded, I am shining,
And I am coloured; set in the white,
I am filled with water and overflow.
1 say a lot, but I don't have the words.
(An eye)
Ф A little ball can reach the sky.
(An eye)
<$> Pronounced as one letter,
And written with three,
Two letters there arc,
And two only in me.
<§>фф
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I am double, 1 am single,
I am black, blue and grey,
I can be read from both ends,
The same way.
(Eye)
<	e> I used to that I bat and flop,
Yet 1 never get a hit.
I am near a ball,
Yet it is never thrown.
(Eyelashes)
<	$> These two brothers
Live not so far apart;
One on the left,
One on the right;
But they never sec each other.
(Two ears)
*	$> My timpani play a rhythmic song
With the hammer on the anvil I play along.
Down my channel no ship docs not hold the course
And 1 have a stirrup which fits no horse.
What am I?
(An ear)
<	$> It hears everything
And says nothing?
(An ear)
178

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><$><§>
<$> A thick forest which grows
As fast as it is cut down.
(Hair)
<$> It can be cut and will grow back.
But when you least expect it,
It may disappear and never return.
(Hair)
<$> I move very slowly at an imperceptible rate,
Although I take my time, I am never late.
I accompany life, and survive past demise,
I am viewed with esteem by many women’s eyes.
(Hair)
<$> Riddle me, riddle me, what is that?
Over the head and under the hat?
(Hair)
<$> What is inanimate, yet can stand up,
Can be as copper and as steel,
So fragile, alone a child could break it,
But many have the strength to lift a man?
(A human hair)
Ф What is it that above your head
And under your cap?
(Your hair)
O' Never planted,
Still it grows.

179
<§><•><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
What’s the answer?
Now who knows?
(Hair)
<$> What we caught we threw away;
What wc didn't catch, wc kept.
(Lice)
<e> Why a man’s hair usually grey sooner than his
moustache?
(Because a man's hair is 17years older than his
moustache)
<$> Why are teeth like verbs?
(Because they can be regular, irregular or defec-
tive)
<J> Thirty two white horses upon a red hill,
Now they tramp,
Now they champ,
Now they stand still.
(The teeth and gums)
What kind of teeth cannot bite?
(The teeth of a comb)
Armor bright,
Gleaming white,
A single ran,
Their faces blank.
Now hid by night,
Now bold by light,
180
<§><$> ^>
Riddles for Boys and Girls

Bright red the land.
Where soldiers stand.
(The teeth)
What is the best thing to run in the pies?
(Your teeth)
<e> Without it you couldn’t say a word.
(A tongue)
<	$> Often held but never touched,
Always wet but never rusts,
Often bites but seldom bit,
To use me well you must have wit.
(A tongue)
<	§> It lives behind the bony
Wall but is heard for everybody.
(A tongue)
Ф What goes all over the house,
But touches nothing?
(Your voice)
Ф A hole leading in, a hole leading out,
We connect to a cavern that is slimey all throughout.
(Nostrils)
<	$> It lives alone between two bright stars.
(A nose)

181

Загадки иа английском языке...
<$> I run, yet I have no legs.
<$> Between two little moons
I am quite alone.
(The nose)
(A nose)
<$> Two little holes on the side of a hill
Just as you come to the cherry-red mill.
(Nose and mouth)
<$> What do you use to «hoe a row,
Slay a foe, and wring with woe»?
(Your hands)
Ф What hands cannot do anything to hold?
(The hands o f a clock)
<$> Two mothers have five sons of each,
And all have the same name.
What are they?
(Fingers)
Ф Five sons with one name.
(Fingers)
<$> Ten brothers work.
Their work together gathers.
(Fingers)
182
’§><•><§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls

<$> If life gels tough, what you have
On that you can always count on?
(Yourfingers)
Ф I can be long, or I can be short.
I can be grown, and I can be bought.
1 can be painted, or left bare.
I can be round, or square.
(Finger nails)
<	$> Used left or right, I get to travel,
Over cobblestone or gravel.
Used up, I vie for sweet success,
Used down, I cause men great duress.
(A thumb)
<	s> When is the nail not the fingernail?
(When it is an iron nail)
Ф When is it dangerous to have an arm?
(When it is a firearm)
<	$> When the liquid splashes me, none seeps through.
When I move much, the liquid I spew.
When I am hit, the color I change.
But after I come to a previous a range.
What I cover is very complex,
And I am very easy to flex.
(Skin)
<§><•>«§>
183
<§><•><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
<$> What belongs only to you
And yet is used more by others
Than by yourself?
(A name)
<s> What belongs to you,
But is used more by others?
( Your name)
<$> What is it that a man cannot live without?
(A name)
<$> The Pope has it but he docs not use it.
Your father has it but your mother uses it.
No one needs it.
The husband of your girlfriend.
Has it and she uses it.
(A last name)
Ф What is it that no one would want to have,
But no one does not want to lose?
(A bald head)
<$> What man wears the biggest hat?
(The one with the biggest head)
<J> The spider has eight of it,
The bee has six of it,
The elephant has four,
But only two that I have.
(Legs)
184

Riddles for Boys and Girls

<s> What part of your body disappears
when you stand up?
( Your lap)
It always beats and hops;
It never sleeps or stops;
Life-long wc do not part
With our little...
(Heart)
Ф If you break me, I will not stop working.
If you can touch me, my work is done.
If you steal me, you must find me with a ring soon
then.
(The human heart)
<§> The more of them you take,
The more you leave behind.
What arc they?
(Footsteps)
Ф What of us goes out
And never comes back?
(Your age)
Ф What you cannot hold for five minutes
Even if it is lighter than a feather?
(Your breath)
<s> 1 am free for the taking through all of your life,
Though given but once at birth.
<§><•><§>
185
<§><$><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
I am less than nothing in weight,
But will fell (he strongest of you if held.
(Breath)
Ф This is light as a feather,
Yet no man can hold it for a long time.
(One's breath)
Ф 1 fly in the air,
But I am not always there.
I cannot be touched,
But I can be felt or held.
Think very hard.
If you live near the equator,
You may have a tough time seeing me.
( Your breath)
<$> What is getting harder to catch
The faster you run?
(Your breath)
<§> What goes on four legs in the morning, two legs
At noon, and three legs in the evening?
(A man)
Ф You can sec nothing else
When you look in my face,
I will look you in the eye
And 1 will never lie.
(Your reflection)
186

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><$><§>
<	£- In (he eyes, it causes blindness.
In the nose, it causes sneezing;
But some people are looking for this,
And act as though it pleases.
(«Pepper»)
<	s> I do weaker all men for hours each day.
I show you strange visions while you arc away.
I take you in the night, and let you go of the day,
No one suffers from having me, but do from my
lack.
(Sleep)
<	$> What can you quit without loosing anything?
(A bad habit)
What is faster
Than the wind and the rain?
(Thoughts)
Ф What goes up and down at the same time?
(Steps)
<	$> My second is performed by my first.
And, it is thought,
A thief, if he left traces of them.
Can be caught.
(Footstep)
<	s> An apple a day
Keeps a doctor away.
(Health)

187

Загадки на английском языке...
<	$> You can have me but cannot hold me;
Gain me and quickly lose me.
If treated with care I can be great,
And if betrayed I will break.
What am I?
(Trust)
<	$> 1 can be cracked, I can be made.
I can be told, I can be played.
What am 1?
(A joke)
<	$> What is everything for someone,
And nothing for the rest?
(Your mind)
<	§> A mile from end to end,
Yet as close to you as a friend.
A precious commodity, freely given.
Seen on the dead and on the living.
Found on the rich, poor, short and tall,
But shared among children most of all.
(A smile)
<	$> I am so bright as the sunshine on a warm day,
I can go a long way.
I am seen on the young and the old that God made,
But I can fade.
1 have only five letters in my name.
And I am painted on both the strong and the lame.
1 can be as white as pearls,
Or as yellow as blond curls.
188	.
Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><$><&
1 will never get old,
Or never be sold,
Or turn to mold,
But I am more precious than gold.
(A smile)
<	$> I tie and hold, capture and bind.
Yet both knights and knaves crave me.
I faithfully enslave all within my grasp,
Whether or not they arc looking for me.
Yet those who have never felt my unmerciful hand,
Are pitied by their fellow Man.
(Love)
® I make you weak in the worst at all times.
I keep you safe, I keep you fine.
I make your hands sweat, and your heart grow cold,
I visit the weak, but rarely bold.
(Fear)
® If you have got it, you want to share it,
But if you shared it, you do not have it.
(A secret)
<	$> Two words, my answer is only two words.
To keep me, you must give me.
(Your word)
<	$> What can you break without touching it?
(Your promise)

189
<§><•><§>
Загадки на ашлийском языке...
<	$> Says not about love or hatred.
But tells me about it;
What a gift can you give to me,
That I can never buy for myself?
(Kindness)
<	$> I can be cool and sometimes hot.
When displayed, I rarely impress.
(Temper)
<	$> What can be swallowed,
But can also swallow you?
(Pride)
<	$> When I am used, 1 am useless,
Once offered, soon rejected.
In despair I am expressed.
Intentional but not protecting.
(A poor alibi or excuse)
Ф I can bring a smile on your face,
And the tears in your eyes,
Or even a thought in your head.
But, I can't be seen.
(Your memories)
I am a talc in childrens minds
I keep their secrets and share them inside
I turn their thoughts in a fantasies kept
Like a canvas of art or a submarine depth.
Though an illusion, I occurs every night;
1 give them a fantasy, I give them a fright
190

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><•><§>
Nor good or bad, but always nigh
I am interesting to tell.
(Dream)
<$> If you look, you can't sec me
If you see me, you cannot sec nothing else
I can make you walk if you can't
Sometimes 1 tell the truth, and sometimes I lie.
If I lie, I am nearer the truth.
(Dreams)
<$> I come in the dark, but fill the mind of light.
1 bring enlightenment to someone, while gripping
the others in the arms of fear.
With me it can be a journey of an inexplicable joy
and sorrow.
What I will show, is often can't reach.
Journey with me and what you sec, can haunt you.
Journey with me and you can never want to return
home.
Journey with me and you will never know when it
will be the end.
(Dreams)
Ф I cannot be felt, seen or touched;
But I can be found in everybody;
My existence is always in debate;
But I have my own style of music.
(A soul)
<$> You see it under the sun.
And under the moon and the lamplight.
<§><$><§>
191
<§><•><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
It follows you wherever you go,
But never says a word.
( Your shadow)
Ф You can see it,
But you can't touch it.
It may disappear,
But never really
Leave you throughout the day.
What is it?
(Your shadow)
Ф Each morning I appear
To lie at your feet,
All day I will follow you
No matter how fast you will run,
But I am almost perishing
In the midday sun.
(Your shadow)
Ф On a sunny day I have one.
And you have one too,
And the oak in the field
And the fish in the sea also have one.
(A shadow)
<$> Only one color, but not one size,
Stuck at the bottom, yet easily flics.
Appears in the sun. but not in the rain,
Doing no harm, and feeling no pain.
(A shadow)
192

Riddles for Boys and Girls	<§><•><§>
Ф Though I dance at the ball
I am nothing at all.
What am I?
(A shadow)
1 am pan of the bird that’s not in the sky,
I can swim in the ocean, but stay dry.
What am I?
(A shadow)
<$> There is a thing, which nothing is,
And yet it has a name,
It’s something tall and something short.
Joins our sport, and playing in every game.
(A shadow)
<$> I begin my job early, devouring your ankles and
thighs
I work my way above, eating your feet up to your
waist
And though around midday away 1 am chased,
1 return quickly to savor the arm to my taste
As evening falls I enter your lungs,
1 feast on your body, your soul, and your mind,
But as darkness falls you shall find
That away I will go, a relief for some;
Yet did not come tomorrow’s high morning.
(A shadow)
Ф What falls into the water
And never getting wet?
(A shadow)
<§><$><§>	193
7 Зак 14
<§><$><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
Ф They follow and lead, but only as you pass.
Dress yourself in darkest black.
And they are the darker still.
Always they flee for the light,
Though without the sun there would be none.
(Shadows)
<$> Who is working when he plays
And plays when he works?
(An athlete)
RIDDLES ABOUT RELATIVES
<	$> The man looked at the portrait and said:
«Sisters and brothers have 1 none,
But the man in the portrait
Is my father's son.»
(I)
<	$> My father's son is not my brother.
(J myself)
Ф My father has a son.
He is not my brother.
(I myselj)
<	£> My uncle has a brother.
He is not my uncle.
(My father)
<	$> If your aunt's brother is not your uncle,
What kind of relation he has for you?
('Father)
<§><•><§>
7*
195
<§><£<§>
Загадки иа английском языке...
Ф If Dick's father is Tom's son.
What a relative is Dick to Tom?
(Tom is his grandfather)
<$> In what relationship is this child with its father,
If is not its father's own son?
(It is its father's daughter)
<3> Two people arc walking along the street.
One says: «This is my father's house,
But I am not his son.»
Who is speaking?
(His father's daughter)
A big German and a little German
Were walking down the road.
The little German was the big German's son;
But the big German was not the little German's fa-
ther.
Who was the big German?
(The big German was his mother)
Ф Three taxi-driver had one brother,
But this brother had no brothers of his own.
Why?
(He had three sisters)
<$> There is a man standing over a dead body in a cof-
fin, .
And another man came in and asked, who was in
the coffin.
The first man replied, «brothers and sisters,
196

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><$>«§>
I have none, but this man's father is my fathers son.»
Who's in the coffin?
(His son)
<	e> There lived three workers,
Who had a brother called John.
However John himself had no brothers.
How do you explain this?
(He had sisters)
<	s> A father's child,
A mother's child,
Yet no one's son.
(A Daughter)
<	$> One who knows more
About your affairs than you do.
(The neighbor)
<	s> I can read.
I can talk.
I can go for a walk.
(A boy)
<	$> 1 can be created by humans,
But they can not control me.
I can be more of a hindrance than the help at times.
To my creators, I seem to be everywhere at once.
(A baby)
I cry a lot.
I love milk.
197
<§><$><§>	Загадки на английском языке...
Everyone smiles at me. Please pick me up. I am newcomer to the world.	(A baby)
<$> Read my riddle, I pray. What God never secs, The king seldom secs. And wc see every day?	(An Equality)
RIDDLES ABOUT CLOTHES,
FOOTWEAR, ORNAMENTS
AND OTHER THINGS
Ф Riddle-riddle, not a king, nor a priest,
But dresses for a feast.
(Clothes)
<J> My house has four doors. I go in through one.
Then 1 went out through three doors all at once.
(A shirt)
Ф I sit astride,
But on what I do not know.
I jump off whenever
I meet an acquaintance.
What am I?
Ф By day - a hoop,
At night - a snake.
(A hat)
(A belt)
<§><•><§>
199
<§><•><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
<$> When you come in, you take it off,
But when you go out, you put it on:
It is long and hung on a peg near the door.
(A coat)
What is neither fish nor flesh,
Feathers nor bone.
But still has fingers,
And thumbs of its own?
(Gauntlet)
<$> As I walked along the path,
I saw something with four fingers and one thumb,
But it was not flesh, fish, bone or fowl.
(A glove)
<$> Five cupboards.
But only one door.
(A glove)
Ф When 1 am filled I can point the way;
When I am empty nothing moves me.
I have two skins, one without and one within.
What am I?
(A glove)
<$> They have not flesh, nor feathers, nor scales, nor
bone.
Yet they have fingers and thumbs of their own.
(Gloves)
200

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><•><§>
Ф What has eight lingers and two thumbs
But cannot pick up anything by itself?
(A pair of gloves)
<$> What has feet and legs,
And nothing else?
(Stockings)
Two little boats without any sailors,
With ten passengers on board.
They do not go to the river or the sea,
But travel on dry land.
All day boats pass to and fro.
But at night they arc both empty.
(Shoes)
<$> Two brothers we arc,
Great burdens we bear,
On which we are bitterly pressed;
The truth is to say,
Wc arc full all the day,
And empty when we go to rest.
(Shoes)
Runs over fields and woods all day
Under the bed at night sits not alone,
With long tongue out,
Waiting for a new day.
(A shoe)
<^ <•><§>
201

Загадки на английском языке...
<$> What has no head,
No amis, no legs,
And yet has a tongue?
(A shoe)
<$> What runs around town all day
And lies under the bed at night
With its tongue hanging out?
(Shoes)
<$> I run over fields and woods all day.
Under the bed at night, I sit all alone.
My tongue hangs out, and
I am awaiting to be filled in the morning.
What am 1?
(A shoe)
Ф Two deep wells.
Filled by day,
Empty at night.
(High hoots)
<$> We are twins,
Wc walk together,
Wc never apart,
We make a pair forever.
(Boots or shoes)
<$> What is it that walks
With its head downwards?
(A nail in the shoe)
202
<§><•> <^
Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><•><§>
<§> Wc travel much, yet prisoners are,
And close confined to boot.
With the swiftest horse wc keep race,
Yet always go on foot.
(Spurs)
Ф Two shafts behind the ears,
Two wheels in front of the eyes,
And a little saddle on the nose.
(Spectacles)
Who are these twins
That bridge a man's nose
Every morning?
Who of those,
Whom you know?
(Spectacles)
<e> What binds two people
Yet touches to only one?
(A wedding ring)
Ф What do you find
Easiest to part with?
(A comb)
* Игра слов: to part (with) 1. расставаться (c),
2. расчесывать на пробор.
<$> My teeth arc sharp,
But I do not bite,
And you make use of me
All right.
<$>3><^
203
<§><£><§>	Загадки на английском языке...
Му humble duty is
Plain and fair -
To help you comb
Your lovely hair.
(A comb)
Ф What is it that never uses its teeth to eat?
(A comb)
Ф What has teeth,
But can not bite?
(A comb)
<$> What is that that is sometimes with the head
And sometimes without the head?
(A wig)
Ф What can go up in the chimney
But can't go down in the chimney?
(An umbrella)
<$> What goes up
When the rain comes down?
(An umbrella)
Ф When the rain -
Pat, pat, pat -
Starts its usual talk.
Its best friend,
I am sure,
Will be out for a walk.
(An umbrella)
204
<§><•><§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><$><§»
Ф A flower which is kept in the hand
That blossom when it rains.
(Ли umbrella)
Ф What can go for a walk
But can not stand by itself?
(A walking stick)
It has no top or bottom but it can hold flesh,
Bones and blood all at the same time.
(A ring)
Ф Lovely and round,
I shine with pale light,
Grown in the darkness,
A lady’s delight.
(A pearl)
Ф Whoever makes it, tells it not.
Whoever takes it, knows it not.
Whoever knows it, wants it not.
(Counterfeit money)
I am two-faced but bear only one,
I have no legs but travel widely.
Men spill much blood over me,
Kings leave there imprint on me.
I have greatest power when given away,
Yet greed for me keeps me locked away.
(A penny)

205
<^ <$><§>
Загадки иа английском языке...
<s> What goes further the slower it goes?
(Money)
<$> What's got a head
And a tail, but no body?
(A coin)
<$> A leathery snake,
With a stinging bite,
I will stay coiled up.
Unless I must fight.
(A whip)
CHARADES, ACROSTICS
AND ASSOCIATIONS
<$> My first is the indefinite article,
My second is the synonym of «wide»,
My whole means «in a foreign country».
(Abroad)
Ф My first is the two letters which begin the alphabet.
My second is the Past Tense of the verb «to send»,
My whole is the antonym of present...
(Ab + sent — absent)
<e> My first is the indefinite article,
My second means 'to go to the other side of the
street',
My whole is a preposition...
(Across)
Ф My first is one of the shortest words in English;
My second is the opposite of short;
I am either a preposition or an adverb.
You can find me in any English book.
(Along)
<§><$><§>
207

Загадки на английском языке...
<$> Му first is almost all,
So is my second.
Guess my whole.
(Al + so = also)
Ф (Thing 1)
At the start, I am old.
Many centuries I've been told,
Used by the Greeks
For counting techniques
After things were bought and sold.
Later is when I became known,
As an infinite figure, when shown,
You've counted my spaces,
Over two billion places,
And still, my amount, is unknown.
(Thing 2)
I am not young, too
1 am almost as old as Thing 1,
I am just a frog
On the natural log,
But I can make counting fun.
(Thing I and Thing 2)
When you combine us two
In the order of Thing 1 and Thing 2,
I will be a baked treat.
That's tough to beat
Whether cherry, peach, or aloo.
(An aloo pie is a potato pie)
Thing 1 is «Pi». Thing 2 is «с» the base of the natu-
ral logarithm. Thing 1 and 2 are, together, «Pic».
208
<§>«$><§>
Kiddies for Boys and Girls

<$> If you like pretty gems that sparkle and shine,
1 invite you to dig in my virtual mine.
My first is purple, fit for a king,
My second is green where Dorothy did her thing.
My third is red, July's birthstone as well.
My fourth is seen in strings and is found inside
a shell.
My fifth is hard, pure Carbon and expensive to buy.
My sixth is Crocodolite, striped like the big cat's
eye.
Seventh is two words, a man-made fake of April's
stone,
Eighth is very dark and found at Lightning Ridge
alone.
Now take from each gem, one letter in its turn,
And you will find the stuff for which even the god's
yearn.
(Ambrosia)
The gems are. Amethyst, Emerald (Emerald city
from The Wizard of OZ), Ruby, Pearl, Diamond, Ti-
ger's eye, Cubic Zirconium (Fake diamond). Black
Opal. Taking the first letter of Amethyst, second of Em-
erald etcetera gives Ambrosia - The food of the gods.
<J> When I was walking down the street I met a man.
He tipped his hat and drew his cane
And in this riddle I told his name.
What is his name?
(And drew = Andrew)
<§> Read forward, —
I am a living creature;
<§><•><§>
209
<§><£><§>	Загадки на английском языке...
Read backward, -
1 am a thin plate.
(Animal, lamina in reverse)
I am a set of three words,
Ail with the same six letters
First I am a kingdom
Though not royally so,
Then spell me backwards,
And I become a thin plate.
Now rearrange my consonants.
Leaving my vowels in place...
I am now a type of paper.
(Animal = a kingdom, not royal, but biological,
lamina = a thin plate, manila = a type of paper)
<$> My first is a verb which helps to make tenses,
My second is not high but its antonym,
My whole is the antonym of'above'...
(Below)
<§> I can take you to another place that's neat,
Or in a restaurant, hold your scat.
I can tell you about a company’s numbers,
Or find a hotel room for your slumber.
If I am thrown at you, you must have been really
bad,
But if your enter my good side, you'll always be
glad.
Policemen use me as you might tell,
They use me when you do not park so well!
(Book)
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Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§>«><§>
Novels can take you to another world.
You can book a table at a restaurant.
The company books tell you about it's financial in-
formation.
You can book a hotel room to stay at.
If you arc a criminal, police can «throw the book at
you».
If you are nice to people you are «in their good
books».
And if you park in the wrong area the police will
book you!
<& Pronounced differently but spelled the same
I have many meanings from obscure to mundane
In a trip across the water 1 get there before you
In precipitation amazing, a marvel to awe you
One naming of me means to acknowledge the praise
1 move fastest in music as the violin maestro plays
Taught to children of all ages , or trip up they would
I was also much favoured by a notorious Hood.
(Bow)
Pronounced Bow (as in cow) or Bow (as in Toe).
<j> If you like your Physics and you like your Chem-
istry,
You will find this puzzle, as easy as can be.
Firstly, from a glass of milk, take what is good for
bones.
Second take the metal used to glaze pottery with
pretty tones.
Thirdly you might cat me to get your innards on
a slide;
•§> <•><§>
211
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Last I am a diode in a «crystal-set» just look inside.
Now put us all together, and thus what can be seen?
A great big head? ; A large white moth? ; A vegeta-
ble that’s green?
(Cabbage)
<$> Here arc the elements with their symbols.
Calcium in milk is good for bones (Ca)
Boron in Borax is used to glaze pottery (B)
A «Barium Meal» is eaten to facilitate an X-Ray of
the intestines (Ba)
A diode used in crystal sets was often made from
Germanium (Ge)
Ca В Ba Ge
A head of cabbage.
A cabbage moth.
If it begins with а «с»
You can eat it,
If it begins w'ith an «1»,
You can swim there.
(Cake: lake)
Ф Anagram teaser; same letters, of course,
The first of the words is the movement of a horse,
The second of the words is used to make honey,
And the third is the look of a zombie.
(Canter = the movement of a horse, nectar =
raw material for honey, trance = the look of a zom-
bie)
<S> My first is in cat but not in kitten
My second is in hat but not in mitten
212

Riddles for Boys and Girls

My third in off is always found
My fourth is in rope and also round
My fifth is in us but not in we
My last in sight and also see
I am heard in rousing sound -
Repeated often, round and round.
(A chorus)
Ф My first is in ocean but not in sea,
My second in milk but not in me,
My third in three but not in throw,
My fourth in vow but not in crow,
My fifth in eight but not in night,
My last in wrong and also right,
My whole is praise for thoughts or men,
Or women, too, or tongue or pen.
(Clever (the word)
Ф My first represents company,
My second avoids company.
My third convenes company,
My whole perplexes company.
(Conundrum — Co.-mm-drum)
<e> My first displays the wealth and pomp of kings,
Lords of the earth’ Their luxury and case
Another view of man, my second brings,
Behold him there, the monarch of the seas’
But ah! United what reverse we have!
Man's boasted power and freedom, all arc flown
Lord of the earth and sea, he bends a slave,
And woman, lovely woman, reigns alone.

213
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Thy ready wit the word will soon supply.
May its approval beam in that soil eye!
(Courtship)
My first is a creature whose breeding is unclear.
My second, a price you must pay.
My whole can be found in the river
О Г Time and refers to events of today.
(Current)
<$> Read forward,
1 am a coarse, cotton material;
Read backward.
I have been dug for metals.
(Denim-mined)
<$> My first can be found, in a TREE, but not on the
GROUND.
My second not PERMITTED, but certainly AL-
LOWED.
My third is in GREY, if it is spelled the English way.
My forth is in PEA, but not in NUT.
Fifth is in HOUSES, also in HUTS.
SIXTH always in DAY but never night.
My last is in STICKY, but not in BUN
My whole very large, it weighs a ton.
(An elephant)
<$> My first letter is in the spell, but not the book.
My second letter is in the fright and also the shock.
My third letter is in the cauldron, but never in pot,
My fourth letter is in the net and also in the knot,
214
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Riddles tor Boys and Girls

My fifth letter is in the bat, but never in the vampire.
My sixth letter is in the coal, but not found in fire,
My seventh letter is in moon, but not in night.
(The Phantom)
Ф If you like solving puzzles, periodically,
Then, this may suit your particular body chemistry.
One is partly controversial but makes hard teeth
with just a trace,
Two is notoriously poisonous and sometimes seen
with old lace.
Three made the Hindcnbcrg rise and fall disastrous-
ly from the sky.
Four is most essential, without Thyroxin you would
surely die,
Five is up in the air and to life it is very dear,
Six is like your favourite pub, a lot to do with at-
mosphere.
Put us all together and wc wield economic power,
A magazine? ; a dress? ; a trend? ; I change by the
hour.
(Fashion)
<$> One: Fluorine in Fluoride prevents tooth decay. (F)
Two: Arsenic is poisonous (1944 Cary Grant movie
«Arsenic and Old Lace» (As)
Three: Airship Hindenberg was filled with Hydro-
gen (H).
Four: Iodine is required by the thyroid gland for
production of thyroxin. (I)
Five: oxygen required by most living organisms
(O).
<§><•><§>
215
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Six: Nitrogen makes up 80% of our atmosphere. (N)
F As H I О N
Fashion dictates spending patterns.
A Fashion Magazine.
A Fashion (able) dress.
Fashion is a trend.
<	e> My first is a number, my second another,
And each, I assure you, will rhyme with the other.
My first you will find is one-fifth of my second,
And truly my whole a long period reckoned.
Yet my first and my second (nay, think not I cozen).
When added together will make but two dozen.
How many am I?
(Four score)
<	$> My first is a preposition,
My second is a synonym of'receive',
My whole is the antonym of'remember'...
(Forge!)
<	$> Read forward,
I am an outdoor game;
Read backward,
I am to whip.
(Golf—flog)
<	$> I have one, you have one,
If you remove the first letter, a bit remains.
If you remove the second, bit still remains,
After much trying, you might be able
216

Riddles for Boys and Girls	<§><$><§>
To remove the third one also, but it remains.
It dies hard!
(Habit; remove «h» — a bit remums, remove «а» —
bit remains, remove «Ь» — it remains)
My first is in have but not in tray,
My second is in apple but not in weight,
My third and fourth you’ll find in pine,
My fifth and last is in try and thy inc.
(The opposite of very sad)
(Happy)
<$> I am a word of 11 letters.
My 4, 9, 5 is worn on the head.
My 10, 9, 1, 11 is a narrow road.
My 11,2, 3, 4, 5 is a number.
My 8, 6, 7 is a spirit.
My whole is an excellent singer.
(Hat, lane, eight, gin. nightingale)
<$> I am a male.
Add a letter
And I become female.
Add another letter
And I become male again
Add three more letters
And I return to being female.
Find all four words.
(He, her. hero, heroine)
<§><$><§>
217
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Ф Walking beneath me as you pass through.
Or a small land with an Everglade view,
I am useful to have where landmarks arc shown.
Notes by the seven with concordant tone.
One in a million will let you see
A vital secret when you have me.
(Key (keystone in an arch, Florida Keys, map
key, musical key, door key with combinations, es-
sential nature)
<$> My first is in PECKISH but isn't in RICE,
My second's in STACCATO but isn’t in TWICE,
My third is in GIANT but is far from SIGHT,
My fourth is in ALMOND and also in BLIGHT,
My fifth is in CHINA and also in GAME,
What is this creature’s name?
(Koala)
<$> My first is in kendo but not in Olympics,
My second is in hurdles and in hunting,
My third is in bowman and in bowling.
My fourth is in cycling and in golf,
My fifth is in flying and not in swimming,
My last is in running and not in dancing,
My whole is a sport.
(Kung Fu)
<?> My first is foremost legally,
My second circles outwardly,
My third leads all to victory.
218

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><$><§>
My fourth twice ends a nominee,
My whole is this riddle's only key.
(Love)
<	$> Guess the word of two syllables.
First syllable:
This little word can include us all,
Be only one, be large or small.
Second syllable:
A portion of time; no stated amount,
Applied to yourself, it's not a big count.
Whole word:
Look after things; take charge in fact,
Be able to, to be exact.
(Man + age = manage)
<	$> My first wears my second;
My third might be what my first would
Acquire if he went to the sea.
Put together my one, two, three,
And the belle of New York is the girl for me.
What one word am I?
(Manhattan)
Ф My first is often at the front door,
My second is found in the cereal family,
My third is what most people want,
My whole is one of the United States.
(Matrimony (mat rye money). Which is certainly
a «united state»)
<§><$-<§>
219
<§><$><§>
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<	$> Му first is a negative prefix,
Му second is a preposition,
My third we use when speaking about music,
My whole is unhappiness...
(Misfortune)
<	s> My first is in Comb but not in Brush,
My second’s in Loud but never in Hush,
My third is in Nanny but not in Goat,
My fourth’s in Oar and also in Boat,
My fifth is in Scarf and also in Jacket,
My sixth is in Parcel but not in Packet,
My seventh’s in Geese and also in Hens,
My whole is an elegant single lens.
(Monocle)
<e> Alone, 1 am nothing,
With В, I am purchased,
With F, I am struggled,
With N, I am nothing again
With 5,1 am looked for.
(Ought)
<$> My first three letters are a term for the golf,
While my second, third, and fourth are drawings.
My first four are less than a whole,
And all of me is a celebration.
(Party)
My first is in pay but not in clay
My second is in people but not in pray,
My third is in orange but not in grain,
220

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><•>*§>
My fourth is in canvas but not is same,
My last in yellow but not in green,
I am a flower often seen.
(Peony)
Ф My first is twice in apple but not once in tart,
My second is in liver but not in heart.
My third is in giant and also in ghost,
Whole I am best when I am roast.
(Pig)
I am a word of six letters:
Without my 5, 6, I am a scheme;
Without my 1, 6,1 am a narrow path;
Without my 5, I am a vegetable organism;
Without my 4, 5, 1 am to lay out in plots;
Without my 1,2, 5, I am an insect;
My whole is a heavenly body.
(Planet)
Ф Words of six letters, anagrams three,
Tell me then, what they can be?
The first:
A person that will marry you,
Waiting to hear the words «I do».
The second:
A ghost, a spirit, or fairy;
If it's evil, you'd best be wary.
The third:
What you see when you sec a skunk,
Lucky you've not an elephant's trunk.
<§><$»<$>
221
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(Priest = a person that will marry you, sprite =
a ghost, spirit, or fairy, stripe = what you see when
you see a skunk)
Ф I am a word of seven letters:
Without my I, 5, 7,1 am a garment,
Without my 2, 4, 5, 7,1 am a poet,
Without my 1,4, 7, I am a character,
Without my 4, 5,1 am a preface.
Without my 5, 7, I am an inquiry,
My whole is a difficult matter.
(Problem)
<	$> My first is in RAT, but not in MOUSE,
My second is in MANSION, but not in HOUSE,
My third is in LADY, but not in MAN,
My fourth is in BILL, but not in DAN,
My fifth is in NOTICE, and also in MENTION,
The whole is the name of a wonderful invention.
(Radio)
<	§> Three 5-Ietter words,
Anagrams of each other.
One is a cloth,
The second a spot,
The third is at home with the Father.
(Satin — a silky fabric, stain — a discoloration or
spot, saint — a spirit in Heaven)
<	$> Find the word of two syllables.
First syllabic:
Suffered a cut? But this you may find,
222
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Riddles for Boys and Girls

(When the story is told) is then left behind.
Second syllable:
Permission is given, no ban to impose,
Agreement is reached, or so wc suppose.
Whole word:
So vivid the tint, so bright to behold.
You’ll find it in flowers, or so I've been told.
(Scar + let = Scarlet)
Ф An anagram riddle to tease you:
Three five-letter words, each gets one clue.
A guillotine's use,
An act to get deuce,
And what you are reading now in view.
(Sever = the guillotine is used for beheading,
serve = in tennis, to put the ball into play, deuce be-
ing a score, verse = the poem that you are reading)
Ф 1 am a word that’s hardly there.
Take away my start, and I am a herbal flair.
(Sparsley, no «s» = Parsley)
<$> First think of the person who lives in disguise,
Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies.
Next tell me what's always the last thing to mend,
The middle of the middle and end of the end?
Finally give me the sound often heard
During the search for a hard-to-find word.
Now string them together, and answer me this,
What creature would you be unwilling to kiss?
(Spider)
^> <$><§>
223
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<	$> As a whole, I am both safe and secure,
Behead me, and 1 become a place for a meeting,
Behead me again, and I become the partner of ready,
Restore me, and I become the domain of beasts.
(Stable)
<	$> Read forward, I am heavy,
Read backward, 1 am not.
(Ton)
<	$> In the beginning, nobody will object.
That I am the matter, issue, and subject,
Change the third, then I become
Poisonous, hazardous, even fatal to some,
Change it again and then you’ll find me,
In the bars and pubs of the city.
(Topic, Toxic. Tonic)
<	$> I am a set of three words.
All with the same four letters.
First I am a type of carriage,
Then switch my middle letters,
And I am a cover often useful on a diamond.
Now switch my end letters...
When you see me, you also see hair.
(Trap = a light one-horse carriage, tarp =
a canvas cover, one use is to protect a baseball dia-
mond from rain, part = the line that divides hair.
when combing)
My first is what we say when we agree,
My second is the first syllabic of the word «terribly»,
224
<§><$><§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><•><§>
My third is the antonym of «night»,
My whole is the day before today...
(Yesterday)
Ф My first is what we do when your hands arc dirty.
My second is the suffix of Participle I,
My third is the letter that comes after «s»,
My fourth is a preposition,
My whole is the capital of a state...
(Washington)
<$> My first is in WELL, but not in ILL,
My second is in PAY, but not in BILL,
My third is in FAST, and also in SLOW,
My fourth is in H I G H, but not in LOW,
My fifth is in WIN, but not in LOSE,
My sixth is in STOCKING, but not in SHOES,
My seventh is in RIGHT, and also in WRONG,
My eighth is in CHANT, but not in SONG,
My ninth is in ONLY, but not in ME RE,
My tenth is in LISTEN, but not in HEAR,
The whole is the name of a patriot true,
Who gave glorious service to the Red, White and
Blue.
(Washington)
<$> We begin flat as mirrors, and become, at times,
a perfect circle.
We inspire poets and romantics, and elicit fear in the
most courageous.
Although not emotional, we have our monthly
moods,
<§><$>«§>	225
t) Зэк 14
<§><•><§>
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We carry the daring on our backs, yet stomp the
same and others,
Wc are spawned by a 2/3 interest in the holder of our
residence, who is often a silent partner.
/FK/ve.v?
<$> To five a fourth of five append,
One-third of one take then;
Let fifty follow, and to end
Affix two-thirds of ten.
Two-thirds of this will yield sweet sounds.
The whole with perfume sweet abounds.
(VIOLET, composed chiefly of Roman numerals)
SARCASTIC RIDDLES-JOKES
Ф What do you call a deaf dinosaur? - Anything you
like, he can't hear you!
What is brown and sticky? — A stick.
<	$> Why do witches fly on brooms? - Because vacuum
cleaner cords aren’t long enough!
<	$> Why are there fences around cemeteries? - Because
people arc dying to get in.
<	$> Who did Frankenstein take to the proms? - His
ghoul friend.
<	S> Why do ghouls like to hang out with demons? - Be-
cause demons arc a ghouls best friend!
Ф Did you hear the one about the woman who spent
all day and night learning how to cast spells? - She
wanted to be a witch quickly.
Ф How can you tell that vampires likes baseball? -
Every night they turns into bats.
<§><$>^>	227
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<$> A skeleton was at the witches' Halloween party ball.
Why didn’t he dance? - He had no body to dance
them.
Which building docs Dracula visit in New York? -
The Vampire State Building.
<$> What part of your body is like a musical instrument? -
Your nose, because you can pick it and blow it.
Ф How do you make a witch itch? - Take away her W.
<^> What is the difference between a cat and a complex
sentence? - A cat has claws at the end of its paws,
and a complex sentence has a pause at the end of its
clause.
Ф What has four wheels and flies? - The town garbage
wagon.
Ф What is a difference between a grandmother and
a granary? - One is one’s bom kin, the other is one's
com-bin.
When is an old hat like a deposed king? - When it
has lost its crown. * Игра слов: a crown 1. корона,
2. верх шапки.
<s> How many animals did Moses take on the ark? -
Moses didn't take anything on the ark. Noah did!
228

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§»<•><§>
<s> If a rooster laid an egg on top of a pointed- roof hen-
house, which side would the egg roll off? - Neither.
A rooster can’t lay eggs.
There was a big alligator walking down the street
with a little alligator. The little alligator was the big
alligator's son, but the big alligator wasn't the little
alligator’s father. Who was the big alligator? - The
little alligator's mother.
<$> If an electric train travels ninety miles an hour in
the west direction, and the wind is blowing from the
north, in which direction will the smoke blow? —
There is no smoke from an electric train.
<$> Who can jump higher than a house? - Anyone!
A house can’t jump.
<e> Two fathers and two sons went fishing. Each fisher-
man caught a fish, but only three fish were caught.
How is this possible? - A boy, his father, and his
grandfather went fishing together.
At this moment, everyone in the world is doing the
same tiling. What is it? - Getting older.
<$> If you dropped a tomato on your toe, would it hurt
much? - Yes, if it was in a can.
<$> How much dirt is there in a hole exactly one foot
deep and one foot wide? — None. A hole is empty.
<$> <♦><§>
229
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Ф Two teachers teach al the same school. One is the
father of the other's son. What relation are they to
each other? - Husband and wife.
<$> What can you hold in your left hand, but not in your
right hand? - Your right elbow.
Can a man living in New York be buried in Califor-
nia? -No! He’s still living!
Ф A man who worked in a butcher shop was six
feet tall and wore size eleven shoes. What did he
weigh? - Meat.
<$> What is the best exercise for losing weight? - Push-
ing yourself away from the table.
<$> What's the difference between a hill and a pill? -
One is hard to get up, the other is hard to get down.
Ф What occurs once in a minute, twice in a moment,
and not once in a hundred years? - The letter «m».
Ф Which is better: "The house burned down" or "The
house burned up"? - Neither. They’re both bad!
Ф What is the similarity between "Z + Z = 5" and your
left hand? - Neither is right.
Ф What can be right, but never wrong? - An angle.
230

Riddles for Boys and Girls

<£ What is it that a man can use for shaving, polishing
his shoes, and sleeping in? — Л razor, a brush, and
a pair of pajamas.
<	«> What is all over the house? - The roof.
<	$> What is a UFB? —An Unidentified Flying Banana.
<	$> Why did the piano student put her head on the pi-
ano? - Because she wanted to play by car.
<	$> Why did the man quit his job as a garbage collec-
tor? - He was always down in the dumps.
Ф Why did the teenager put his clock in the oven? -
He wanted to have a hot time.
<	§> Why did the fanner plant sugar cubes? — Because he
wanted to raise Cain.
Ф Who has the strongest fingers in the world? - A mi-
ser, because he’s always pinching pennies.
Ф Why was the mother flea so sad? - Because her chil-
dren were going to the dogs.
Ф Why did the student always take cold baths? - Be-
cause he didn't want to get into hot water.
When can a man be six feet tall and be short at the
same time? — When he is short of money.
^><$>^>
231
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Ф What happens to a refrigerator when you pull its
plug? - It loses its cool.
<5> Why did the teenager girl put sugar under her pil-
low? - She wanted to have sweet dreams.
Ф What happened when the icicle landed on the man's
head? - It knocked him with cold.
Ф Why are comedians like doctors? - They keep peo-
ple in stitches.
Ф What is the first thing that a gardener puts in the
garden? - His foot.
Ф Where is the ocean deepest? - On the bottom.
<$> On what side of a school does an oak tree grow,
traditionally? — On the outside.
Ф Do you say «Nine and five arc thirteen,» or «Nine
and five is thirteen»? - Neither. Nine and five is
fourteen.
What is the perfect cure for dandruff? - Baldness.
Ф What do you call a person who doesn’t have all his
fingers on one hand? — Normal.
Ф What's the best thing to take when you arc run
over? - The license plate number of the car that hit
you.
232
<§><•><§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls
<$><$> <^
<	$> How many months have twenty-eight days? — All
of them.
<	§> Name five things that contain milk. - Icc cream,
cheese...and three cows.
<	$> What's the best way to find a pin in a nig? - Take off
your shoes and walk around barefoot.
<	$> How many bricks docs it take to finish a house? -
Only one—the last one!
<	$> Why is it so hard to open a piano? - Because the
keys are inside.
Ф Why did the mother owl not worry about her
baby? - Because it doesn't give a hoot!
<	§> What do you call a man-made reservoir? — Fake
lake.
What did the fish say hit the side of his glass bowl at
50 miles per hour? - «Damn.»
Ф What do you call a 100 year old ant ? - An antique.
<	e> What do you call an ant who likes to be alone? -
An independent.
<	S> What do you call an ant who skips school? - A truant.
<	$> What games to ants play with elephants? - Squash.
«§><•><§>
233
<§><•><§>	Загадки на английском языке...
What is the biggest ant in the world? —An elephant.
What kind of ant is good at math? - An accountant.
What is it that no one wishes to have yet no one
wishes to lose? - A bald head.
Where did Pilgrims land when they arrived in
America? — On their feet.
<	s> Who succeeded the first President? - The second
one.
<	$> When is the best time to have lunch? - After break-
fast.
What animal uses a nutcracker? - A toothless squir-
rel.
What can be heard and caught but never seen? -
A remark.
Ф What kind of clothes do lawyers wear? - Lawsuits.
What do you have if an ax falls on your car? -
An ax-i-dent (accident).
<	$> Who is in the army and is corny? — A colonel
(kernel).
Ф What do you call a man when a Marine sits on
him? - Submarine.
234

Riddles for Boys and Girls
«§><><§>
<	§> When should you strike a match? - Only when it
becomes violent.
Ф What makes a man bald-headed? - Lack of hair.
<	$> What always ends everything? - The letter «g».
What is it that one which needs most in the long
run? - Your brcatlt.
<	$> What animal keeps the best time? - A watchdog.
<	$> Why should you always carry a watch when cross-
ing a desert? - Because it has a spring in it.
Ф A man went on a trip on Friday, stayed for 2 days
and returned on Friday. How is that possible? - Fri-
day is a horse.
<	$> How do you get to Carnegie Hall? - Practice, prac-
tice, practice.
<	$> What is the second most used letter in the English
language? Hint: it is also the first letter of the most
used word in the English language. - The letter «t».
<	$> How can you avoid hitting your fingers when driv-
ing in a nail with a hammer? - Hold the hammer
with both hands.
<	$> Why did the bubble gum cross the road? - It was
stuck on the bottom of the chicken's foot.
<§><•><§>
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<$> What walks on 4 legs in the morning, 2 legs in the
afternoon, and 3 legs in the evening? - A man -
crawls as a baby, then walks on 2 feet, then uses
a cane (3 legs) as an old man.
<$> What 5 letter word can have its last 4 letters re-
moved and still sound the same? QUEUE, remove
«UEUE», say Q. Q and queue are pronounced the
same. If you sec a bird sitting on a twig, how could
you get the twig without disturbing the bird? - Wait
until the bird flics away.
<$> When is a yellow dog most likely to enter a house? -
When the door is open.
<§> What has a head like a cat, feet like a cat, a tail like
a cat, but isn't a cat? - A kitten.
<$> When is a doctor most annoyed? - When he is out
of «patients».
<S> Why isn’t your nose twelve inches long? - Because
it would then be a foot.
<$> What has five eyes, but cannot sec? The Mississippi
River, (litter i)
<§> What is it that by losing an eye has nothing left but
a nose? - The word NOISE.
<$> What has a foot on each end and one in the middle? —
A yardstick.
236

Riddles for Boys and Girls

Ф Which one of our Presidents had the largest shoes? —
The president with the largest feet.
<$> Sonic months have thirty days and some months
have thirty-one days. How many months have twen-
ty-eight days? - All twelve months have 28 days.
Some have more as well.
<$> Compose a grammatical and sensible sentence in
which all words begin with the same sound and
yet none begin with the same letter. — Pneumonic
gnomes knew mnemonic names.
<s> Now compose a grammatical and sensible sentence
in which all words begin with the same letter and
yet none begin with the same sound. - Ptomaine
poisons Pnom-Penh’s psychedelic philosophers.
<$> What is the difference between a fanner and a seam-
stress? - One gathers what he sows, the other sews
what she gathers.
<$> What was given to you, belongs to you exclusively
and yet is used more by your friends than by your-
self? - Your name.
<s> What is it that we often return but never borrow? -
Thanks.
<$> Every time you stand up, you lose this. What is it? —
Your lap.

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Ф What is the hardest thing to deal with? - An old
deck of cards.
<e> What is the difference between an oak tree and
a tight shoe? - One makes acorns, the other makes
coms ache.
<$> How are a jeweler and a jailer alike? - The jeweler
sells watches and (he jailer watches cells.
<	$> Why was it so hard to find Abe Lincoln in Washing-
ton DC? - They were using his Gettysburg Address.
<	$> Where did King Arthur Icam to joust? - In Knight
school.
<	$> How much water can you put into an empty 2 quart
jar? - None, it would not be empty.
<	S> What stars should you stay away from? - Shooting
stars.
<	$> What can you count on no matter what? - Your fin-
gers or toes (or both!).
Ф Why would you put money in a freezer? - To get
some cold, hard cash.
<§> What is six inches long, soft and pliable, and women
like to hold it in their hands and blow it? - A hun-
dred-dollar bill.
238

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><$><§»
<e> What letter is like a buck’s tail? - The letter «п» is
at the end of venison.
<$> Which is correct to say, «The yolk of the egg are
white» or «The yolk of the egg is white»? - Neither,
the yolk of the egg is yellow.
<$> What kind of people are always in a hurry? - Rus-
sians.
Ф Explain the difference between a man going upstairs
and a man looking upstairs. - One man is stepping
up the stairs, the other is staring up the steps.
<$> What can you put in a barrel that makes it lighter,
yet has no density and takes up no space? - If you
thought of helium you were wrong. It is a hole.
Ф What do you call a man who spent all summer at the
beach? - Tangent.
<$> What do you say when you see an empty parrot
cage? - Polygon.
<$> What do you call a crushed angle? - A rectangle.
<S> What did the Italian say when the witch doctor re-
moved the curse? - Hexagon.
<$> What did the little acorn say when he grew up? —
Geometry.

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<	s> What do you call an angle which is adorable? -
Acute angle.
Ф What do you use to tic up a package? - A chord.
<	$> What do you call more than one L? - A parallel.
Ф What do you call people who arc in favor of trac-
tors? - Protractors.
Ф What should you do when it rains? - Гаке an um-
brella.
Ф Why did the kid put sugar under his pillow? - So he
would have sweet dreams.
<	$> Why did the farmer cross the road? - To check on
the chicks.
Ф Why did the kid throw a bucket of waler out the
window? - He wanted to see a waterfall.
Ф Why did the kid throw a bucket of butter out the
window? - He wanted to sec a butterfly.
<	$> What doesn’t get any wetter no matter how much it
rains? - The ocean.
Ф A guy went out in pouring rain with no umbrella or
hat or anything. Not a hair on his head got wet. How
come? - He was bald. He didn't have a hair on his
head.
240

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<@> <$><§>
<	$> What is an alligator’s favorite drink? - Water.
<	$> What kind of cheese isn't yours? — Nacho cheese.
<	$> Why did the kid cross the park? - To get to the other
side.
<	$> Why are E.T’s eyes so big? - Your eyes would be
big too if you saw the size of his phone bill.
<	s> Why did the cucumber blush? - It saw the salad
dressing.
Ф Why didn’t the chicken cross the road? - Because he
was too chicken.
<	$> How much do pirates pay for their carrings? - Buc-
caneer.
Ф When is a car not a car? - When it turns into a ga-
rage.
<	e> What happens when an elephant swallows you?
You run around until you get pooped out.
<	$> What's the difference between a good hair cut and
a bad one? - Two weeks.
<	$> How many sides docs a circle have? The inside
and the outside.

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<	S> What did the camel wear when he went into the jun-
gle to hunt? - Camelflage.
<	§> Why was the mouse crying? - He found out his dad
was a rat.
Ф What are two things people never eat before break-
fast? - Lunch and supper.
Why did the man put the clock in the safe? -
He wanted to save time.
<	$> Where is the ocean the deepest? - On the bottom.
<	$> Why did the man throw his watch out of the win-
dow? — He wanted to see time fly.
<	$> How many legs does an ant have? - Two, the same
as an uncle. (Hint: ant = aunt)
Ф How many people arc buried in that cemetery? -
All of them.
What can't be used until it's broken? - An egg.
<	$> What do tigers have that no other animals have?
Baby ligers.
Why is number six afraid? - Because seven eight
nine (seven ate nine).
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Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><$><§>
<	$> How do you know when a motorcycle policeman is
happy? - He has bugs on his teeth.
<	$> What did zero say to eight? - Nice belt.
Ф What did number 1 say to 7? - Nice hair
<	s> What letter can do the work in one day that you can
do in two days? - W (Double u Double you)
<	s> Why do not we need a compass at the North Pole? -
Because every direction is south.
Ф What is as big as a horse but doesn't weigh any-
thing? The horse’s shadow.
<	$> Do you know why birds Пу to south in the winter? —
Because it's too far to walk there.
Ф What arc the 3 important rings in life? - Engage-
ment ring, Wedding ring, and suffering.
<	$> Why didn't the skeleton go to the dance? - He didn't
have anybody to take, (any BODY)
<	$> Why did the student take a ladder to school? - Be-
cause hc/she was going to high school.
<	$> What arc the two strongest days of the week? They
are Saturday and Sunday. - ЛИ the others arc weak
(week) days.
<§><»<§>
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How far can a dog run into the forest? Halfway,
after that he is running out of the forest.
Ф What do you call a bear without an «ear»? -
BBBBBBB
<$> Which is faster, heal or cold? - Heat, because you
can catch a cold.
Ф How many apples can you cat if your stomach is
empty? - After eating one apple your stomach isn't
empty.
Why did Mickey Mouse go to outer space? —
To find Pluto.
Ф What is the difference between the capital of Russia
and a calfs mother? - One is Moscow, the other is
a cow's Ma.
Ф What do you call a Spaniard who can't find his
car? - Carlos. (It's pronounced «earless» (meaning
without a car)
Ф What’s the difference between electricity and light-
ening? - You do not have to pay for lightening.
<$> What's the difference between a TEACHER and
a CONDUCTOR ? - A teacher TRAINS the MIND
and a conductor MINDS the TRAIN.
244

Riddles for Boys and Girls

<$> What do you call a witch at the beach? - A sand-
wich.
<$> Why did the traffic signal turn red? - You would too
if you had to change in the middle of the street.
<$> What's the difference between a lion with toothache
and a wet day? - One's roaring with pain the other's
pouring with rain.
<$> Why are baseball stadiums so cool? - There is a fan
in every scat.
<$> Why were screams coming from the kitchen? - The
cook was beating the eggs.
<§> What has a foot on each side and one in the mid-
dle? - A yardstick.
<$> What docs no man want, yet no man wants to lose? -
Work - employment.
<$> What is filled every morning and emptied every
night, except once a year when it is filled at night and
emptied in the morning? - A Christmas stocking.
<e> What five-letter word becomes shorter when you
add two letters to it? - Short.
<$> What word in the English language uses all five
vowels plus Y in alphabetical order and uses each
one only once? - Facetiously.

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<$> What do you get when you cross a duck with a com-
puter? — A quackintosh.
Ф What do you call a person who speaks 3 languag-
es? — Tri-Lingual.
Ф What do you call a person who speaks two languag-
es? - Bi-Lingual.
<$> What do you call a person who speaks one lan-
guage? - An American.
What do you call a fish without an eye? - Fsh. (Hint:
No «eye» = No «i»)
<$> What has thirteen hearts but no body and no soul? -
A pack of playing cards.
Ф What do you call a fish that only cares about him-
self? - Selfish.
Ф Why couldn’t Mozart find his teacher? - Because
the teacher was Hayden. (Hayden — > Hidin' —>
Hiding)
Ф What's a minimum? - A very small mother! (mini-
mom)
Why can't a bicycle stand on its own? - Because it's
two-tired (too tired)
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Middles for Boys and Girls

<	3> What's got a head and a tail, but no body? - A coin.
<	$> What’s got a wave but no sea? - My hair
<	$> What has three feet but no legs or arms? - A yard
Where does a boxer who weighs 135 kilograms sit
on a bus? -Wherever he wants to.
<	t> What makes «oom» and gives milk? - A cow walk-
ing backwards.
<	$> What docs a man say when he walks into a bar? -
Ouch!
<	$> What do cows like to read? - The mooooospaper.
<	$> What is the longest word? - Smiles, because there is
a mile between the first and last s.
<	j> What is the word that everybody always says
wrong? - «Wrong».
<	$> What’s the longest word in the dictionary’? - Rub-
ber-band - because it streches.
Ф How many seconds arc there in one year? - Twelve.
January second, February second, .March second...
<	$> What two days of the week stall with the letter «Т»?
Tuesday and Thursday? - No, today and tomorrow!
O<§>
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Ф What did the doughnut say to the loaf of bread? —
If I had as much dough as you, I wouldn't be hang-
ing around this hole.
Ф Why did the pony have a sore throat? - Because it
was a little horse, (hoarse)
Ф Is there a word in the English language that uses all
the vowels including «у»? Unquestionably!
Ф Why do birds fly south for the winter? - Because it's
too far to walk.
Ф What is the tallest building in our town? - The li-
brary. (It has the most stories.)
Ф If you are Russian before you enter the bathroom
and Finnish after you leave the bathroom, what are
you when you are in the bathroom? - European.
(You arc a-peein’.)
Ф What do you call a test lube that graduates from
high school? - A graduated cylinder
Ф Why did God create the man before he created the
woman? The answer that men give: To give him
the chance to enjoy Heaven on Earth for a few mo-
ments. The answer that women give: Everyone
makes a draft first!
Ф How did Jonah feel after he got swallowed by
a fish? - Down in the mouth.
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<$> What did the monk say to the hotdog vendor? -
Make me one with everything.
<	$> What did the fish say when he hit the wall? -
Damn!
<	♦> What did one light bulb say to another light bulb? -
You are the light of my life.
<	$> Why did (he golfer wear two pairs of trousers? -
In case he got a hole in one!
<	e> What flowers have two lips? - Tulips.
<	$> They travel all over the world but end up in the cor-
ner, what are they? - Stamps
<	$> Ten copycats were sitting in a boat, and one jumped
out. How many were left? — None. They were all
copycats.
<	$> Why do cows have bells? - Because their horns do
not work.
<	♦> Why do seagulls fly over the sea? - Because if they
flew over the bay, they would be bagels!
<$> What’s the difference between a trampoline and an
English textbook? - You take off your shoes before
jumping on a trampoline.

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<$> Why were (he little drops of ink crying? Their
mother was in the pen and they did not know how
long her sentence would be.
<$> How many sheep docs it take to make one wool
sweater? - I didn’t even know sheep could knit?
<e> What's a teacher’s favorite nation? Expla-nation.
Ф What's the most colorful state of USA? - Color-ado.
In what state does it cost the most to live in? - Ex-
pcnnsylvania.
Ф What do you call Santa's helpers? - Subordinate
Clauses.
How do you top a car? - Tep on the brake, tupid!
<$> Do you know where people send a horse when it is
sick? - To a horsepital.
<§> What did the doctor say when the invisible man
called to make an appointment? - Tell him I can't
see him today.
<§> Which 'BUS' could cross the ocean? - Columbus!
Ф What a bee says when it gets in the hive? - Hi Hon-
ey! I am home!
250
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Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><$> «j»
How do you catch a squirrel? - Climb a tree and act
like a nut !
<$> What do you call a deer with no eyes? - No idea.
(No eye deer)
<$> Where do cows go for entertainment? - They go to
the mooovies!
Ф What's the difference between a musician and a sav-
ings bond? - A savings bond eventually matures and
cams money.
<$> What color is a guitar string? — Plink’ (It is the
sound the a guitar makes. The word sounds like the
color «pink».)
<$> What goes «ZUB, ZUB»? - A bee flying backwards
(Buz, Buz)
Ф How do porcupines kiss each other? - Very care-
fully.
<$> Why did the chicken cross the road? - To get to the
other side.
<$> Why did the turkey cross the road? - Because the
chicken was on vacation.
<$> Why did the baby cross the road? - Because it was
stapled to the chicken.
<§><•><§>
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•	$> Why did the germ cross the microscope? - To get to
the other slide!
<	$> Why did the chewing-gum cross the road? —
Because it was stuck to the chickens foot.
<	$> Why did the chicken cross the road? - To show the
possum it could be done.
<	$> Why do people call their own language their mother
tongue? - Because their fathers seldom get a chance
to use it.
Ф A big moron and a little moron arc walking across
a bridge when the big moron falls ofT. Why didn't
the little moron fall off? - He was a little more on.
<	J> Before Mount Everest was discovered, what was
the highest mountain on Earth? - Mt.Everest.
<	$> What didn't Adam and Eve have that everyone else
has? — Parents.
<	$> When docs a dialect become a language? - When its
speakers get an army and a navy.
Ф What is a Honeymoon Salad? - Lettuce alone with-
out any dressing.
Ф Why is it impossible to starve in the desert? - Be-
cause of all the sandwiches (sand which is) there.
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Riddles for Boys and Girls
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<	§> Why do not sharks cat clowns? — Because they taste
funny.
<	$> What is it that goes up and goes down but does not
move? - The temperature.
<	«> To what question can you never answer «yes»? -
A few actually... Offical Answer: Arc you sleeping?
Others: Are you dead? :) What's the opposite of yes?
Are you me?
Ф What are tears? - The greatest water power known
to women.
<	$> A sundial is a timepiece that has the fewest number
of moving parts. Which timepiece has the most
moving parts? - An hourglass.
<	$> If today is Monday, what is the day after the day be-
fore the day before tomorrow? - Monday, of course.
What is it that when you take away the whole, you
still have some left over? - Wholesome.
Ф How could a cowboy ride into town on Friday, stay
two days, and ride out on Friday? - His horse’s
name is Friday.
<	s> Scientists have proven that cats have more hair on
one side then their other side. Some people believe
that this is because when cats lay on their side they
<§><•><§>
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need insulation from the cold on the floor or ground.
Which side of a cat has more hair? - Well Duh’ The
outside of the Cat of course!
<$> What is the noblest musical instrument? - An up-
right piano.
Ф What insect docs a blacksmith manufacture? - He
makes the firefly.
A hundred feet in the air, but it's back is on the
ground. - A centipede flipped over.
LOGIC RIDDLES
<$> A man was driving a black truck through a busy
town. His lights were not on. The moon was not out.
Suddenly a young girl stepped on the road. The man
swerved to avoid her.But how did he see her?
Лмуж?г.- It was a bright, sunny day.
<§> Л flight from New York, carrying people from
America, Canada and France was heading towards
Glasgow Airport. Suddenly as the plane approached
the Scottish coastline there was an almighty explo-
sion. The aeroplane crashed into the sea close to the
Isle of Mull. Where should the survivors be buried?
Answer: Probably nowhere - if is very unusual
to bury the survivors of an accident!
<$> You arc in a house with 4 windows, which all are
faced South, a bear walks by. What colour is the
Bear?
Answer: White. Since all the windows face south,
the house must be at the North Pole. Thus the bear
is a Polar Bear.
<^<*><^
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<s> A man and his son were in a car accident. The man
died on the way to the hospital, but the boy was
rushed into surgery. The surgeon said «I can't oper-
ate, for that's my son!» How is this possible?
Answer: The surgeon was the boy's mother.
<t> A man lives on the twelfth floor of a building. Every
day he takes the elevator to go down to the ground
floor to go to work or to go shopping. When he re-
turns he takes the elevator to the tenth floor and walks
up the stairs to reach his apartment on the twelfth
floor. He hates climbing stairs, so why does he do it?
Answer: The man is too small to reach the but-
ton for the twelfth floor.
How much dirt is there in a hole that is 6 ft deep,
and 10 inches in diameter?
Answer: None. A hole only has air in it, no dirt.
<$> Dharam turns off (he light in his bedroom. The light
switch is twenty feet from the bed, but he still man-
ages to get into his bed before it is dark. How does
he do it?
Answer: He goes to bed when there is still day-
light.
<$> Why did the one handed man cross the road?
Answer: To get to the second hand store.
<s> Two grandmothers, with their two granddaughters,
Two husbands, with their two wives,
Two fathers, with their two daughters,
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Riddles for Boys and Girls

Two mothers, with their two sons,
Two maidens, with their two mothers,
Two sisters, with their (wo brothers,
Yet only six in all lie buried here.
All born legitimate, from incest clear.
Explain how this may be.
Answer: Two widows each had a son. and each
widow married the son of (he other and then each
had a daughter.
<$> Four men sat down to play,
They played all night till break of day,
They played for gold and not for fun
With separate scores for everyone.
When they came to square accounts.
They all had made quite fair amounts.
Can you this paradox explain.
If no one lost, how could all gain?
Answer: They were not playing against each
other.
<S> As I went to St. Ives, 1 met a man with seven wives;
Each wife had seven sacks, Each sack had seven
cats, Each cat had seven kits, Kits, cats, sacks, and
wives. How many were going to St. Ives?
Answer: There is just one person going to St. Ives.
Ф There are two dogs sitting on a porch - one dog is
fat and one is thin. The little dog is the son of the fat
dog, but the fat dog is not the father of (he thin dog.
Can you explain?
Answer: The fat dog is the mother.
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<t> Steve, a party magician, is carrying three pieces of
gold each piece weighing one kilogram. On the way
to a session he comes to a bridge which has a sign
posted saying the bridge could hold only a maxi-
mum of 80 kilograms. Steve weighs 78 kilograms
and the gold weighs three kilograms. He reads the
sign and still safely crossed the bridge with all the
gold. How did he manage this?
Answer: Sieve is a juggler When he came to
the bridge he juggled the gold, always keeping one
piece in the air.
<$> I was walking down Mulberry Lane
1 met a man doing the same
He tipped his hat and drew his cane
And in this rhyme I said his name
What was the man’s name?
Answer: Andrew - check the third line
<§> Л rich man's son was kidnapped. The ransom note
told him to bring a valuable diamond to a phone
booth in the middle of a public park. Plainclothes
police officers surrounded the park, intending to fol-
low the criminal or his messenger. The rich man ar-
rived at the phone booth and followed instructions
but the police were powerless to prevent the dia-
mond from leaving the park and reaching die crafty
villain. How did the kidnaper get away with the
valuable diamond?
Answer: This is a true story which happened
in Taiwan. When the rich man reached the phone
booth he found a carrier pigeon in a cage. Il had
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Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><•><§>
a message attached telling the man to put the dia-
mond in a small hag which was around the pigeon's
neck and to release the bird. When the man did this
the police were powerless to follow the bird as it
returned across the city to its owner.
<$> Does the Moslem religion allow a man to marry his
widow’s sister?
Answer: A dead man can't marry anyone — no
matter what his religion!
Ф If two boys and a girl can beat their father in a tug-
of-war, but their mother can win against a boy and
two girls, who should win a contest between the fa-
ther and a girl against the other and a boy?
Answer: The mother and boy. Pitting the 2 win-
ning teams against the 2 losing teams (boy + boy
4- girl 4- mother versus father 4- boy 4- girl 4- girl)
will obviously result in a win for boy 4- boy 4- girl 4-
Mother over father 4- boy 4- girl 4- girl. Take a girl
and boy away from each side, and boy 4- mother
must still beat father + girl. PHEW.
<$> A long, long time ago - before airplanes were in-
vented, a suspension bridge was being built to span
the gorge near Niagara Falls. However, there was
no way a boat could carry the necessary suspen-
sion cables across the violent water, and the bridge
could not be built until the cables spanned the river.
In desperation, the builders staged a contest, open to
the public, as a way to solve their problem. The con-
test was won by a young boy. Soon afterwards, the
<§»<$><§>	259
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Загадки на английском языке...
cables spanned the water. What countries did they
stage the contest? What was the contest and how did
it solve the problem?
Answer: The builders of the bridge offer a prize
to the first person to fly a kite from the American
side to the Canadian side. Once the kite string made
the crossing, a heavier cord was tied to this string
and it was pulled across. This process continued in
succession using heavier cords and ropes until the
first cable spanned the river.
Ф A steady stream of people enter Mike’s place of
business and remove its treasured belongings. The
people do not pay for what they take. Mike allows
them to take as much as they can carry as long as
they keep their mouths shut. What arc the people
taking and which type of business employs Mike?
Answer: Mike works in a library and the people
are taking books.
<$> An elderly man is going for a walk. Two young men
in excellent physical condition arc directly behind
him, sprinting toward him. No matter how fast they
run, they do not catch up with the man. Why can’t
the men catch up with the elderly man and where
arc al! three people?
Answer: The three people are on treadmills in
a gym.
<$> A cowboy rides into town on Tuesday. He has trav-
elled far and is tired, so he decides to stay in the
town's hotel. He rides out of town on Sunday. He
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hasn’t left town in the meantime or stayed any-
where else, but he only pays for the hotel for two
nights. How docs he do it, without breaking the
law?
Answer: The cowboys horse is called Tuesday.
So he could ride into town on Tuesday but the day
was Friday.
Abraham had always lived in the same country
and never traveled out of the country. He was bom
11 years ago but only three days could he really call
his birthday. How can this be?
Answer: Abraham was born on the 29 th of Feb-
ruary — during the 11 years since he was born there
have only been three leap years.
<$> A woman lives in a skyscraper thirty-six floors high
and served by several elevators which stop at each
floor going up and down. Each morning she leaves
her apartment and goes to one of the elevators.
Whichever one she takes is three times more likely
to be going up than down. Why?
Answer: She lives on the 27thfloor. The elevator
came down the 36th to the 28th-9 floors, or it came
up the 1st to the 27th-27floors. Therefore there is a
3 in 1 chance of it going up rather than down.
<$> There was a man one night. He started to run straight
forward. Then he turned left. Soon after, he turned
left again. Then he started running towards home.
When he got home there were 2 masked men wait-
ing for him. Who were they?

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Answer: The man running was a baseball player.
The 2 masked men were the catcher and the umpire.
<$> Brothers Mark and Ben arc twins. They have no
other brothers or sisters. At their birthday party Su-
san asks them what age they are. Mark says he is
fifteen. Ben says that he is only fourteen. Both boys
are telling the truth. How can this be?
Answer: Mark was born just before midnight but
his brother was born after midnight. So (hey have
birthdays on different days.
<5> Tom and Sam arc twins. Tom was bom on the 16th
of May and Sam on the 7th October. How can this
be?
Answer: Although both boys are twins they arc
not brothers.
<s> A man is wearing black. Black shoes, socks, trou-
sers, jumper, gloves, and balaclava. He is walking
down a black street with all the street lamps off.
A black car is coming toward him with its lights off
too, but somehow manages to stop in time. How did
the driver sec the man?
Answer: It's daytime.
<$> Kevin likes the opera but not the ballet. He has
a boxer but won't get a bulldog. He will travel to
Colorado but not Alaska. He collects dimes but not
nickels. Does he like bananas or grapes?
Answer: Kevin likes bananas. He likes words
that alternate vowels and consonants, like his name.
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Ф A boy leaves his house one summer day, and be-
gan to run into the wood to his grandmother’s house
which is on the other side of the woods. It should
also be known that the boy reached his grandmoth-
er’s house. How far did the boy run into the woods?
Answer: Halfway because once you reach the
m iddle, you are running out of the woods.
<§> Carl Jones introduced Roger Smith to his friend as
his «Uncle Roger'». Roger Smith introduced Carl
Jones to his friend as his «Uncle Carl». «If you are
uncles to each other.» said one of the friends, «you
must also be nephews to each other.» «That's cor-
rect,» replied Carl. Since there has been no breach
of marriage law, how can you explain such a rela-
tionship?
Answer: Two men, A and В marry each other's
mother. One son was born to each marriage, in
this case. Carl Jones and Roger Smith. Carl's fa-
ther is A, and his half brother is B. Also. Roger's
father is B, and his half brother is A; therefore,
Carl and Roger are both uncle and nephew to
each other.
Ф A large truck is crossing a bridge 1 mile long. The
bridge can only hold 14000 lbs, which is the ex-
act weight of the truck. The truck makes it half way
across the bridge and stops. A bird lands on the
truck. Does the bridge collapse? Give a reason.
Answer: No it does not collapse. Because it has
driven a half mile -you would subtract the gas used
from the total weight of the truck.

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<$> Sue is traveling by ship from south of the equator
to the north. She has a nice little cabin with a bath-
room, but no window. Sue has no compass nor other
instruments. Just the general luggage one brings on
board a long cruise. Yet, without leaving her room
or talking with anyone. Sue will be able to tell when
the ship has crossed the equator. How?
Answer: Sue can fill the sink and watch it drain.
When the water reverses direction when going
down the drain, she will know they have crossed
(he equator.
<$> How high would you have to count before you
would use the letter A in the English language spell-
ing of a whole number.
Answer: One thousand. If you answered one
hundred and one, it is incorrect. The number 101
should be spelled one hundred one.
<$> In the local spelling bee, Jane beat Alice, Zena beat
Billy. Tom was beaten by Billy but beat Jane. Jane
was neither first nor last. Who was last?
Answer: Alice (Zena, Billy, Tom. Jane then Alice).
<§> Maggie bought a bottle of perfume for her only sis-
ter's mother-in-law's only son's daughter. What rela-
tionship was she to Maggie?
Answer: Her niece.
<$> After two years, Dave was stepping down from be-
ing the treasurer of a group of animal rights activists.
To show him their appreciation a bunch of them took
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him out one sunny morning. Dave shot an eagle and
everyone congratulated him. Where had they gone?
Answer: They took him golfing.
Ф There is a low railroad bridge in your town. One day
you sec a large truck stopped just before the under-
pass. When you ask what has happened, the driver
tells you that his truck is one inch higher than the in-
dicated height of the opening. This is the only road
to his destination. What can he do to get through the
underpass the easiest way?
Answer: Let enough air out of the tires to lower
the truck.
Ф Л horse is tied to a 15 ft. rope and there is a bail of
hay 25 ft. away from him. Yet the horse is able to eat
from the bail of hay. How is this possible.
Answer: The rope isn't tied to anything, so the
horse can go freely to anywhere it pleases.
Ф If you are 8 feet away from a door and with each
move you advance half the distance to the door.
How many moves will it take to reach the door.
Answer: You will never reach the door! If you
only move half the distance, then you will always
have half the distance remaining no matter how
small the number.
Ф Two men play five games of checkers. Each man
wins the same number of games. There arc no tics.
Explain this.
Answer: They were not playing each other.
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<$> A naturalist, who was trying to pull the leg of Colo-
nel Crackham, said that he had been investigating
the question of blindness in bats. «I find,» he said,
«that their long habit of sleeping in dark corners
during the day, and only going abroad at night, has
really led to a great prevalence of blindness among
them, though some had perfect Sight and others
could see out of one eye. Two of my bats could see
out of the right eye, just three of them could sec
out of the left eye, four could not see out of the left
eye, and five could not see out of the right eye.»
He wanted to know the smallest number of bats
that he must have examined in order to get these
results.
Answer: The fewest possible would be 7.
<e> A man went 20 days without a minutes to sleep?
Yet he didn’t feel the slightest bit tired. How did he
manage to do this?
Answer: He slept every night!
<$> Alice is walking through the forest of forgetful-
ness. She wants to know what day of the week it is.
She stops and asks a lion and a unicorn. Now the
lion lies all of the time on Monday, Tuesday, and
Wednesday. The unicorn always lies on Thursday,
Friday and Saturday.
Alice asks the lion what day it is, he says, «Well
yesterday was one of my lying days.» Well Alice
cant figure it out just from the Lions answer so she
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asks the unicorn and the uniconi says, «Yesterday
was also one of my lying days.»
What day is it?
Answer: Thursday.
<$> When John was six years old he hammered a nail
into his favorite tree to mark his height. Ten years
later at age sixteen, John returned to sec how much
higher the nail was. If the tree grew by five centim-
eters each year, how much higher would the nail be?
Answer: The nail would he at the same height
since trees grow al their tops.
<§> There arc four girls, and four apples in a basket.
Every girl takes an apple, yet one apple remains in
the basket? How is this possible?
Answer: Simple: she took the apple and the basket.
<$> The rungs of a 10 foot ladder attached to a ship are
1 foot apart. If the water is rising at the rate of one
foot an hour, how long will it take until the water
covers over the ladder?
Answer: It will never cover the ladder because
as the water rises, so will the floating ship.
<$> There are two plastic jugs filled with water. How
could you put all of this water into a barrel, without
using the jugs or any dividers, and still tell which
water came from which jug?
Answer: Freeze them first. Take them out of the
jugs and put the ice in the barrel. You will be able to
tell which water came from which jug.
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<$> Two identical tanks full of water are being drained
at the same time. One of the tanks has one-two cen-
timeter circular drain outlet and the other has two-
one centimeter circular drain outlets. Will one of the
tanks empty faster than the other?
Answer: The tank with the one-two centimeter
drain outlet has twice the area as two-one centim-
eter outlets and will therefore empty first.
<$> The following sentence is false. The preceding sen-
tence is true. Arc these sentences tme or false?
Answer: Neither, it's a paradox. If the first is
true, then the second must be false, which makes the
first false: it doesn 't work.
Ф A guy bet his neighbor $100 dollars that his dog
could jump higher than a house. Thinking this not
possible, the neighbor took the bet an lost. Why did
he lose the bet?
Answer: Simple... a house cannot jump!
Ф Two sentries were on duty outside a barracks. One
faced up the road to watch for anyoc approaching
from the North. The other looked down the road
to sec if anyone approached from the South. Sud-
denly one of them said to the other, «Why are you
smiling?»
How did he know that his companion was smiling?
Answer: Although the guards were looking in
opposite directions, they were not back to back.
They were facing each other.
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<§><•>«§>
<$> How can a woman in New York, without getting
a divorce or becoming a widow, or otherwise legally
separated, legally marry 10 men?
Answer: She was a clergy woman.
Ф The Great Detective is hot on the trail of the guilty
party who has perpetrated some atrocious puns. «In-
tent to deceive» is the charge, and he is now interro-
gating three suspects. George says. «I am innocent,
Jane is too.» Jane says, «Sally did it, and George is
innocent.» Sally says, «1 am innocent and Jane did
it.» The guilty one lied, and the innocent both told
the truth.
Who is the perpetrator?
Answer: Sally.
Ф A chain link is broken into six parts. Four of these
parts consist of three links apiece, one consists of two
links, and one consists of only one link. A jeweler
wants forty cents to cut a link and sixty cents to weld
a link. What is the most economical way to put the
chain back together?
Answer: Break the double link and the single
link and use them to connect the others.
Ф Chuck, a bestselling author of romantic fiction, had
suspected for some time that his wife Eva was un-
faithful, though he had no proof. One afternoon,
while Chuck was working on his latest bodice-rip-
per, Eva mentioned that she intended to go to the
movies and would be out for a few hours. As Eva
went to the door, Chuck looked at her pensively,
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then resumed his work. Three hours later, Eva re-
turned, took her coat off and asked Chuck weather
he wanted some coffee. When she returned from the
kitchen. Chuck asked her to sit down as he wanted
to talk to her. «Eva,» he said, «I want a divorce.»
Can you figure out how he knew?
Answer: On Eva's way out. Chuck had noticed
a run in her stocking. When she went io the kitchen
for coffee, he noticed that the run was on her right leg.
<$> A chemistry teacher began the day’s lecture. He
held up a glass lube and said to his class, «In this
vial I have a liquid which immediately melt any
substance it touches.» He got no further. A student
loudly replied, «Professor, you arc just trying to kid
us.» Can you think as rapidly as the student and tell
how it was that he knew the professor wasn't telling
the truth?
Answer: If what the professor said were true, the
liquid would melt the glass tube it was in.
Ф A murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose
between three rooms. The first is full of raging fires,
the second is full of assassins with loaded guns, and
the third is full of lions that haven't eaten in 3 years.
Which room is safest for him?
Answer: Lions that haven’t eaten in 3 years are
dead so room the third room is the safest.
<$> A sharpshooter hung up his hat and put on a blind-
fold. He then walked 100 yards, turned around, and
shot a bullet through his hat. The blindfold was
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<§><•><§>
a perfectly good one, completely blocking the man’s
vision. How did he manage this feat?
Answer: He hung his hat on the barrel of his gun.
Ф You arc in a room that is completely bricked in on
all four sides, including the ceiling and floor. You
have nothing but a mirror and a wooden tabic in the
room with you. How do you get out?
Answer: You look in the mirror you see what
you saw, you take the saw and you cut the table in
half, two halves make a whole, and you climb out
the hole.
Ф A man is trapped in a room. The room has only two
possible exits: two doors. Through the first door
there is a room constructed from magnifying glass.
The blazing hot sun instantly fries anything or any-
one that enters. Through the second door there is
a fire-breathing dragon. How does the man escape?
Answer: He waits until night lime and then goes
through the first door.
<$> Five men raced their cars on a racing strip. There
were no tics. Will did not come in first. John was
neither first nor last. Joe came in one place after
Will. James was not second. Walt was two places
below James. In what order did the men finish?
A nswer: Janies was first, followed by John, Walt,
Will then Joe.
Ф General Custer is surrounded by Indians and he's
the only cowboy left.

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Не finds an old lamp in front of him and rubs it.
Out pops a genic. The genie grants Custer one wish,
with a catch. He says, «Whatever you wish for, each
Indian will get two of the same thing.»
Custer ponders a while and thinks: «If I get a bow
and arrow they get two. If 1 get a rifle they get two’»
He then rubs the bottle again and out pops the ge-
nie. «Well,» the genic asks «have you made up your
mind?»
What did Custer ask for to help him get away?
Answer: One Glass Eye.
<$> A fanner and his hired help were carrying grain to
the bant. The farmer carried one sack of grain and
the hired help carried two sacks. Who carried the
heavier load and why?
Answer: The farmer's load was heavier. His
hired help only carried two sacks, while the fanner
carries one sack, but his sack is a sack of grain. The
hired help only carried 2 sacks - both empty.
<$> Two convicts arc locked in a cell. There is an un-
barred window high up in the cell. No matter if they
stand on the bed or one on top of the other they
can’t reach the window to escape. They then decide
to tunnel out. However, they give up with the tun-
neling because it will take too long. Finally one of
the convicts figures out how to escape from the cell.
What is his plan?
Answer: His plan is to dig the tunnel and pile up
the dirt to climb up to the window to escape.
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<$ Ten people, all wearing hats, were walking along
a street when a sudden wind blew their hats off.
A helpfill boy retrieved them and, without asking
which hat belonged to which person, handed each
person a hat. What is the probability that exactly 9
of the people received their own hats.
Answer: The probaility is zero. If 9 people have
their own hats, then the tenth must too.
<$> A-town and В-town are two villages connected by
a bridge spanning a river. At the end of a war, the
occupying forces installed a sentry in the middle of
the bridge to prevent the inhabitants of А-town and
В-town from visiting each other. All means of trans-
port having been requisitioned, the only access from
village to village is by foot over the bridge, which
would take 10 minutes. The sentry is under strict or-
ders to come out of his bunker every 5 minutes, and
send anyone trying to cross back to his own village,
if necessary by force of arms. Michael in А-town is
desperate to visit his girlfriend in В-town. Is there
a way?
Answer: Michael set out for В-town as soon as
he saw the sentry disappear into his bunker. Timing
his progress, he walked for almost 5 minutes. He
then turned round and started running back towards
A-town. The sentry emerged and. seeing Michael.
<$> Perhaps if you have ever been caught in the ram
without an umbrella you will know the answer to
this one. Joe Soaks found himself in a torrential

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downpour. Not only didn't he have an umbrella,
he had no hat or any other object to place over his
head. Nor was there any shelter around. Yet his
hair didn't get the slightest bit wet. Can you ex-
plain why?
Answer: He was bald.
<s> A bookworm, feeling very’ hungry, is delighted to
come across the three volumes of Dr Johnson's
great Dictionary of the English Language standing
on a shelf. Starting from the front declared that she
trusted only the balance of the shop at the comer.
There, it appeared that the parts, supposed to be
equal, corresponded to the monetary' values of $3,
$4 and $5, respectively. The third partner decided
to weigh the ham on her home balance, which gave
a still different result. This led to a quarrel, because
the first woman kept insisting on the equality of her
division, the second one recognized only the bal-
ance of the shop, and the third only her own bal-
ance. In what way is it possible to settle this dis-
pute and to divide these pieces (without cutting
them anew) in such a way that each woman would
have to admit that she had got at least S4 worth of
ham if computed according to die balance which
she trusted?
Answer: Standing on a bookshelf in the normal
order, which we can reasonably assume, volume one
is on the left, its front flat against the back cover
of volume two, and the back cover of the third vol-
ume is flat against the front cover of the second vol-
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Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><•><§>
ume. Therefore the bookworm only actually bores
through the complete second volume, a distance of
8 cm.
<$> A black dog stands in the middle of an intcrsccton
in a town painted black. None of the street lights arc
working due to a power failure caused by a storm.
A car with two broken headlights drives towards
the dog but turns in time to avoid hitting him. How
could the driver have seen the dog in time?
Answer: It was daylight.
Ф You have a ping pong ball at the end of a curvy,
long, skinny hole in the ground. You want to get it
out but you can't stick your hand in it won't reach or
fit. A string won't work because you won’t be able to
attatch it.
What can you do to get it out without digging a hole?
Answer: Put water in the hole. The ping pong
ball is light and will float to the top!
Ф A ship entered the Panama Canal at its west end,
passed through the canal, and left al its cast end.
However, immediately after it left the canal, it en-
tered the Pacific Ocean. If the ship did not double
back or sail backwards, how could this be?
Answer: The west end of the Panama Canal is
in fact in the Caribbean and the east end is in the
Pacific The confusion arises because the isthmus
curves around at that point. As can be seen from any
atlas, the canal runs from north-west to south-east.
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Ф A beggar's brother died, but the man who died had
no brother. How could this be?
Answer: The beggar was a woman.
<$> You arc at a river. With you arc a Chicken, Bag of
Grain, and a Wolf.
You have to cross the river in your canoe but can
only lake one with you at a time.
You can’t leave the chicken with the grain. He’ll eat it.
You can’t leave the wolf with the chicken. He’ll cat it.
How do you get everything over and intact?
Answer: Take the Chicken over first and leave it on
the other side.
Next, take the Wolf across and leave him, but bring
the Chicken back with you.
Next trip, leave the Chicken where you started and
take the Grain across with the Wolf.
Finally, go back and get the Chicken.
<e> «There are only four pubs in this village,» the visi-
tor was informed, «one in each street. The village's
four streets meet at the crossroads at right-angles.
This street is the High Street.»
«To reach the Blue Boar from the Griffin you must
turn left. To reach the Dragon from the Red Lion
you have to turn right.»
'The visitor entered three of the pubs; he arrived at
the crossroads three times during this pilgrimage,
turning left the first time, going straight across the
second, and turning right the third time. He spent
the night at the Blue Boar.
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Which pub stands in the High Street?
Answer: The Red Lion.
<S> In a country, there exists over 100 streets. Street 1 is
named First Street, street 2 is named Second Street,
and so on and so forth. A traveller decides to walk
through all these streets in the country. He could
find all the streets except Street 62. No matter how
hard he tried, he could not find it. He later found that
the locals had given the street another name.
What is the name?
Answer: Minute street. This is because Street 62
is named Sixty Second Street, and Sixty Seconds - 1
Minute, hence Street 62 is also called Minute Street.
Ф In Jamaica, if you drop a steel ball weighing five
pounds from a height of 45 inches, will it fall more
rapidly through water at 20 degrees Fahrenheit or
water at 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Or will it make no
difference?
Answer: 40 degrees Fahrenheit. At 20 degrees
Fahrenheit the water would be ice.
Ф A traveler came to a fork in (he road at which he
found a bystander. He knew that at the end of one
of the forks there was a village inhabited by people
who always told the truth. At the end of the other
fork was a village inhabited by people who always
told lies. He also knew that the bystander lived in
one of the villages, but he didn't know which. How
could the traveler find which fork led to the village
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of the truthtellers by asking the bystander just one
question?
Answer: fie should ask. Is this the road to the
village in which you live? If the answer is no, then
the road has to lead to the village of the liars since
the answer would he no, whether the bystander were
a truth teller or a liar. Conversely, if the answer is a
yes, then the road would have to lead to the village
of the truthtellers.
<$> Jack and Joe were on vacation and driving along
a deserted country road from the town of Kaysville
to the town of Lynnsville. They came to a multiple
fork in the road. The sign post had been knocked
down and they were faced with choosing one of five
different directions. Since they had left their map
at the last gas station and there was no one around
to ask, how could Jack and Joe find their way to
Lynnsville?
Answer: They need to stand the signpost up so
that the arm reading Kaysville points in the direc-
tion of Kaysville, the town they had just come from.
With one arm pointing the correct way, (he other
arms will also point in the right directions.
<$> You do not need to be a master of prestidigitation to
figure this one out. All that is required is the power
of observation or a little logic: You have observed
that if you throw a tennis ball against a wall, it will
stop and return to you. Simple. But how would you
throw the same ball so it would completely stop, re-
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Riddles for Boys and Girls
<^> Ob-
verse itself and return to you even though it has hit
nothing and is connected to nothing?
Answer: You throw it up.
Ф Bouncing Bob was riding a particularly frisky horse
when suddenly its bridle came off. As they raced
down the road, a screaming Bob clung to the horse’s
ears for dear life. Out of the comer of his eye, Bob
saw a car coming, and realizing the horse was com-
pletely out of control, he panicked. Flailing his arms
about, he accidentally caused the horse to come to
an abrupt halt. What could Bouncing Bob have done
to make the horse stop?
Answer: He put his hands over the horse’s eyes.
Normally if a horse can't see. he will stop.
<$> The word CHEWED contains within itself two pro-
nouns, HE and WE. What common six-letter word,
a noun, contains five different pronouns, each show-
ing up as a solid word in its spelling? There is an-
other common noun, one of eight letters, from the
letters of which at least 17 different pronouns can
be formed by proper letter selection and shuffling.
Name the word.
Answer: USHERS contains US, SHE. HE.
HER and HERS. SMITHERY yields HE. HER.
HERS, HIM, HIS, I. IT. ITS. ME. MY. SHE. THEIR,
THEIRS. THEM. THEY. THY and YE.
<$> John was so proud of his running ability that he
boasted he could outrun Bill not only in distance

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but in speed. Naturally Bill scoffed at such a decla-
ration, and the two decided to put it to a test. They
found a convenient flat and straight road contain-
ing mileage markers. John started running at the 24-
milc marker and ran to the 6-milc indicator, while
Bill drove the car alongside him. He ran the distance
in three hours and twelve minutes. Bill ran from the
6-milc marker to the first in one hour and two min-
utes. Who was the faster runner?
Answer: John was the faster runner. He ran 18
miles in three hours and twelve minutes. Bill ran
five miles in one hour and two minutes. The distance
from the. six-mile marker to the first is five miles.
<$> A fanner in California owns a beautiful pear tree.
He supplies the fruit to a nearby grocery store. The
store owner has called the farmer to sec how much
fruit is available for him to purchase. The fanner
knows that the main trunk has 24 branches. Each
branch has exactly 12 boughs and each bough has
exactly 6 twigs. Since each twig bears one piece of
fruit, how many plums will the farmer be able to
deliver?
Answer: Did you ever hear of a pear tree having
plums-gotcha!
Ф Aman and a woman were driving in their car when it
broke down. The man decided to go for help at a gas
station a few miles back. He made sure nobody was
in the car, rolled all the windows up, and locked all
of the sedan's doors. He went off, but when he came
back, his wife was dead, and there was a stranger in
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the car. No physical damage was done to the car, so
how did the stranger get in?
Answer: The stranger was a baby and the woman
died in childbirth.
You own a tractor with a broken steering wheel that
cannot turn right. You need to drive around a square
patch of cabbages in the middle of your field. How
can you drive in a clockwise direction around the
patch without ever turning right?
Answer: Drive along the first side in a clockwise
direction. When you get to the first corner, do a 270
degree turn to the left. Continue driving along the
next side and follow the same pattern at each cor-
ner, until you get back to the origin.
<$> A man was locked in a room with only a bed,
a calendar, and a piano. How did he drink, how did
he cat, and how did he get out? Another man was
locked in a room with only a mirror and a table.
How did he gel out? A third man was locked in an
empty room. How did he escape?
Answer: The first man drank from the springs
of the bed, ate the dates of the calendar and played
the piano until he found the right key, which he used
to unlock the door. The second man looked in the
mirror to see what he saw. Then he took the saw
and cut the table in half. Next, he put the two halves
together to make a whole. Finally, he crawled out
through the hole. The third man broke out with the
measles.
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<$> A physical challenge
Mark and Billy have been the best friends ever since
they were little kids. They are also very competitive.
Throughout the years they have challenged each other
to do both physical and menial challenges. And they
completed the challenge.
But one day Mark thought of something to chal-
lenge Billy to do - somethimg he could start but never
finish. The average man could do it and so could Mark
and they were both the same sex and the same size. It is
a physical challenge.
Can you figure out what it was?
Answer: Mark challenged Billy to get a tan, but
he couldn't...Billy is an albino.
The Breakfast Challenge
You arc enjoying your breakfast after having put
some salt on your scrambled eggs when your ner-
dy brother presents you with an ice cube floating in
a glass of water and a short length of string. He chal-
lenges you to remove the ice cube from the glass us-
ing the string without tying any knots. What strategy
do you use to remove the ice cube from the water
glass?
Hint: you can use other elements that arc at your
disposal besides the string.
Answer: Take the string and soak it in the water.
Let the string rest across the ice cube. Reach across
the table and get the salt that you used on your eggs;
pour the salt over the string and the ice cube. The
salt causes the ice to melt. However, when you stop
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pouring the salt, the water that formed on the top of
the cube will refreeze with the string embedded in it.
Now you can lift the ice cube with the string.
<$> Leg Travel
A horse travels a certain distance each day.
Strangely enough, two of its legs travel 30 miles each
day and the other two legs travel nearly 31 miles. It
would seem that two of the horse's legs must be one
mile ahead of the other two legs, but of course this
can't be true. Since the horse is normal, how is this
situation possible?
Answer: The horse operates a mill and travels
in a circular clockwise direction. The two outside
legs will travel a greater distance than the two in-
side legs.
<$> The Sage's Hat
The three wisest sages in the land were brought
before the king to see which of them were worthy to
become the king’s advisor. After passing many tests of
cunning and invention, they were pitted against each
other in a final battle of the wits.
Led blind-folded into a small room, the sages were
seated around a small wooden table as the king de-
scribed the test for them.
«Upon each of your heads I have placed a hat. Now
you are either wearing a blue hat or a white hat. All
I will tell you is this - at least one of you is wearing
a blue hat. There may be only one blue hat and two
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hat, or there may be three blue hats. But you may be
certain that there arc not three white hats.»
«I will shortly remove your blind folds, and the test
will begin. The first to correctly announce the colour
of his hat shall be my advisor. Be warned however, he
who guesses wrongly shall be beheaded. If not one of
you answers within the hour, you will be sent home and
I will seek elsewhere for wisdom.»
With that, the king uncovered the sages' eyes and
sat in the comer and waited. One sage looked around
and saw that his competitors each were wearing blue
hats. From the look in their eyes he could see their
thoughts were the same as his, «What is the colour of
my hat?»
For what seemed like hours no one spoke. Finally
he stood up and said. «The colour of the hat I am wear-
ing is...»
Answer: The hat is blue.
At first glance, this problem appears to be impos-
sible to solve. Contributing to this is the feeling that the
King's only real clue - that there is at least one blue
hat - is useless since the sage can clearly see that there
are at least two blue hats.
Do not feel bad if you sat stuck on this one for
a while: as the puzzle clearly states, so did the three
wisest sages in the kingdom. It is this fact that allowed
our sage to give his answer. In truth, any one of them
w'ould have come up with it, given enough time. Why?
Consider a situation which wc knew was not the
ease - that there was exactly one blue hat. What would
happen? There would be a split second of ponder-
ing by the person wearing that hat, and he would say
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«I am wearing a blue hat.» No real puzzle there, but
of course there wasn't just one blue hat The impor-
tant fact is that everyone knew there was not one blue
hat. But more importantly than that, everyone knew,
or could quickly figure out that everyone else knew
this (by the fact that answer was did not come out in
the first few seconds.)
This leaves everyone wondering, «Are there two or
three blue hats?»
Consider this less obvious situation- that there were
exactly two blue hats. This seems a very real possibil-
ity at first, after all, we can see exactly two blue hats.
So everyone sits and thinks- for a little while. But if
there arc only two hats, then two people see one blue
and one white hat. These two people will very quickly,
by virtue of the other's silence, rule out the possibility
that there is only one blue hat. One of these two lucky
sages would cry blue within a few short minutes, if that
long.
There is only one case which forces the three sages
to sit in silence - three blue hats. Our sage, through his
shaqj wits was the first to reach this conclusion.
Ф The problem with fairies’
While exploring the wild highlands of Scotland,
Crazy Rob was captured by hostile wood fairies.
Smazze, the powerful chief of the fairies told him
he could make one final statement which would de-
termine how he would die. If the statement he made
was false, he would be boiled in water. If the state-
ment were true, he would be fried in oil. Crazy Rob
found neither of this options too his liking, so he made
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a statement that got him out of this seemingly impos-
sible situation.
What is the one statement he could make to save
himself?
Answer: Crazy Rob said: «You will boil me in
water.» The fairies were faced with a dilemma. If
they boil him in water, that would make his state-
ment true, which means he would have been fried
in oil. They can only fry him in oil if he makes a
true statement, but if they do, it would make his
final statement false. The fairies had no way out
of their situation so they were forced to set Crazy
Rob free.
<$> Dead Hard?
Two police officers were investigating a mysterious
death. When they arrived at the scene of the crime they
found a room with no windows and the dead man who
seemed to have hung himself by a rope from the ceil-
ing. There was no chair or table that the man may have
jumped off. The only clue was a puddle of water on the
floor.
How did the man manage to hang himself.
Answer: He stood on a block of ice until it melted.
<$> Tasting Words
Science brain teasers require understanding of the
physical or biological world and the laws that govern it.
Liz, Blondulla, and Fred were talking to each other.
Blondulla and Liz have been friends for many years,
but (hey just met Fred a week ago and were trying to
get to know him.
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They started talking about computers, and after
Fred had repeated the word, «Chip» a few times while
talking about computer chips Blondulla told him to stop
saying it, as it tastes bad. Fred thought she was full of
it, but Liz knew she was telling the truth. How could
Blondulla taste the word?
Answer Blondulla has a very rare ability called
Synaesthesia. It is where people are «Wired» a dif-
ferent way. and two senses come together. In her
case, she tastes what she hears. There have also
been cases where people feel what they hear, peo-
ple hear what they smell, etc. In fact, the majority
people who have this case are usually unaware that
they even have it. Some of you may be shocked to
learn as you read the answer that you have this con-
dition.
Ф Gatsby Riddle
The paragraph below is most unusual. How quickly
can you find out what is so unusual about it? It looks so
ordinary you'd think nothing was wrong with it - and
in fact, nothing is wrong with it. It is unusual though.
Why?
«Gatsby was walking back from a visit down in
Branton Hill's manufacturing district on a Saturday
night. A busy day's traffic had had its noisy run; and
with not many folks in sight, His Honour got along
without having to stop to grasp a hand, or talk; for
a mayor out of City Hall is a shining mark for any poli-
tician. And so, coming to Broadway, a booming bass
drum and sounds of singing, told of a small Salvation
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Army unit carrying on amidst Broadway's night shop-
ping crowds. Gatsby , walking towards that group, saw
a youg girl, back toward him, just finishing a long, soul-
ful oration... »
The above passage is taken from the book «Gatsby»
written by Ernest Vincent Wright in the late 1930's.
.Answer: The letter «Е» is the most commonly
used letter in the English language, yet in the whole
passage, there was no «Е» used.
<$> Dollar Riddle
Sabrina gave Samantha as many dollars as Saman-
tha started out with. Samantha then gave Sabrina back
as much as Sabrina had left. Sabrina then gave Sa-
mantha as back as many dollars as Samantha had left,
which left Sabrina broke and gave Samantha a total of
S80.00.
How much did Sabrina and Samantha have at the
beginning of their exchange?
Answer: Sabrina had $50 and Samantha had
$30.
<$> An evil wizard
There once was an evil wizard. He took 3 woman
from their homes and turned them into rose bushes that
looked exactly alike. He put them in his garden.
One of the woman had a husband and children and
begged the wizard to let her see them.
He agreed. At night, he brought the woman to her
house. In the morning he came and took her home.
One day the husband decided to go rescue her. So he
snuck into the wizard's garden.
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He looked and looked at the 3 identical rose bushes
trying to figure out which could be his wife. Suddenly,
he knew the answer and he took his wife home.
How did he know which rose bush was his wife?
Answer: The wizard brought the rosebush to her
home at night and returned her to the garden in the
morning. Therefore, she was the only plant without
dew.
<s> Heads or Tails?
You arc blindfolded before a tabic. On the table are
a very large number of pennies. You arc told 128 of
the pennies arc heads up and the rest are tails up. How
can you create two subgroups of pennies, each with
the same number of heads facing up, while remaining
blindfolded?-
Answer: Create a subgroup of any 128 pennies.
Then flip over all 128. That group of 128 and the
group of all the remaining pennies will have the
same number of heads facing up. This works be-
cause the «tails» that you grab while making your
subset of 128 will equal the «heads» that are left
in the original pile. Once you flip your 128 coins
over, these «tails» will turn into «heads» and the
two groups will have a matching number of heads-
up coins.
Ф Natural Disasters
A group of four prisoners were held captive by
the enemy and each prisoner was to be shot each day
through the week. As natural disasters were common
in this specific part of the world, the group of prison-
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ers decided to make up a plan of distracting the guards.
Before each prisoner would be shot, they would shout
out a natural disaster, which would cause chaos and dis-
tract everyone to give enough time for each prisoner to
escape. As ihrcc days passed the first three prisoners
escaped by shouting out their chosen natural disasters
and running away, however the tinal prisoner shouted
out a disaster and was shot dead on the spot.
What was the natural disaster he shouted?
Answer: Fire
<$> Take the Blue Pill
You’ve been placed on a course of expensive medi-
cation in which you are to take one tablet of Sildenafil
and one tablet of Citrate daily. You must be careful that
you take just one of each because taking more of cither
can have serious side effects.
Taking Sildenafil without taking Citrate, or vice
versa, can also be very serious, because they must be
taken together in order to be effective. In summary,
you must take exactly one of the Sildenafil pills and
one of the Citrate pills at one time. Therefore, you
open up the Sildenafil bottle, and you tap one Silde-
nafil pill into your hand. You put that bottle aside and
you open the Citrate bottle. You do the same, but by
mistake, two Citrates fall into your hand with the
Sildenafil pill.
Now, Here is the problem. You weren't watching
your hand as the pills fell into it. so you can't tell the
Sildenafil pill apart from the two Citrate pills. The pills
look identical. They are both the same size, same weight
(10 micrograms), same color (Blue), same shape (pcr-
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feet square), same everything, and (hey are not marked
differently in any way.
What arc you going to do? You cannot tell which
pill is which, and they cost S300 a piece, so you can-
not afford to throw them away and start over again.
How do you get your daily dose of exactly one Silde-
nafil and exactly one Citrate without wasting any of
the pills?
Answer: Carefully cut each of the three pills in
half and carefully separate them into two piles, with
half of each pill in each pile. You do not know which
pill is which, hut you arc 100% sure that each of the
two piles now contains two halves of Citrate and
half of Sildenafil. Now go back into the Sildenafil
bottle, take out a pill cut it in half and add one half
to each stack. Now you have two stacks, each one
containing two halves of Sildenafil and two halves
of Citrate. Take one stack of pills today, and save
the second stack for tomorrow.
<$> Twin Trouble
Ryan and Craig were identical twins bom in Seattle
in 1961. Ryan was bom before Craig, but according to
their birth certificates, Craig was older than Ryan. How
come?
Answer: Ryan and Craig were born in the fail on
the day’ that the clocks are set back one hour. Ryan
was horn at 1:45am. Craig was bom 30 minutes
later. Since the clocks were set back at 2am, Craig's
official time of birth was 1:15am.
<$><$><§>
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<§> Ages and Ages
King Tut died 120 years after King Eros was born.
Their combined ages when they died was 100 years.
King Eros died in the year 40 B.C.
In what year was King Tut bom?
Answer: King Tut was horn in 20 B.C. There
were 120 years between the birth of King Eros and
the death of King Tut, but since their ages amounted
to only 100 years, there must have been 20 years
when neither existed. This would be a period be-
tween the death of King Eros, 40 В. C, and the birth
of King Tut. 20 B.C.
Ф A lie that good deserves reward
Nora Shckrie led her brother and his wife through
the front door of her favorite public house, the back
room of the Sub Standard. She deposited Nelson and
Sharon in the front booth and went up to the bar to or-
der Horrid Hoagies and Lugar Lager for lunch. As she
waited for the waiter to appear, the grizzled sexage-
narian two stools away started into what sounded like
a typical sailor’s tall tale.
«Almost died that night, 1 did. Should have, by
rights. Wc were about 50 miles off the Alaskan coast.
I won't mention her name, but she's one of the Exxon
supertankers - enough bad news about them already. It
was wintertime; water would been frozen except for the
salt in it - y’know sea water do not freeze like rcg'lar,
don'cha?»
«Well, 'bout two in the A.M., I was doin' my work
on the port stem, when somethin' jostled a little, do
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not know what. Lost my footing on the deck, went
over the side, and the ship just kept glidin’ past me.
Thought I was dead, right there, no life jacket, nothin'
but the usual work clothes. Started treadin' water, and
prayed harder 'n ever in my life, which hadn’t been
much up 'til then. Just watched her go, knew that
shoutin' wouldn't do no good, not in the wind and over
them motors.»
«Mcbbc a minute later, mebbe two, I see some
lights, red 'n' green, where they shouldn't oughta be,
wrong places on the ship. 1 figgered right on that: some-
one had saw me, lettin' me know not to give up. I started
a-swimmin, and they turned that ship around. Got to
me, threw out a line, I tied it around me, an' my mates
hauled me up to th'olrop - that's the lowest deck on the
ship. Medic said a minute or two more, and I'd'a been
a goner.»
He leaned back and finished his beer. He looked
around at the handful of listeners. «Anyone want to hear
about the marlin 1 hauled in fishing in Puget Sound?
Talkin's thirsty work.»
Nora raised hcr hand. «You old salt, you tell a good
tale. A lie that good deserves reward. I can't stay to lis-
ten, but the next round's on me.» She signaled the bar-
tender to refill the sailor's glass and add it to her tab.
What gave him away?
Answer: Survival time in the water, before hypo-
thermia sets in. is highly dependent on water tem-
perature. At freezing (zero centigrade, implied by his
tale), a relatively still person has perhaps 15 minutes
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get exhausted sooner. Survival time is about 45 min-
utes, but that assumes that the searchers can find you:
a fully dressed body with no flotation device would
slip beneath the surface and be lost.
The problem with finding him in time is that it
lakes about 20 minutes and 3 miles to bring a cruis-
ing supertanker to a slop; going in a circle takes a little
longer, but would return the ship to his original position
sooner Either way, he wouldn't be able to swim and
wouldn't be able to tic a line around himself when the
ship reached him. The signal lights are a nice idea, but
wouldn't change the fatal outcome.
<e> Blind Man's Bluff
A blind man drives up to a house, gets out of the
car and goes up to the door with a package. The home-
owner takes the package and gives the blind man
a check. The blind man then drives away. What was in
the package?
Answer: The people bought blinds and the blind
man delivered them.
<$> Swindler's Dice
A swindler once approached an honest man with
a die. He handed him the die and told him about the bet.
The die had six sides, if the man rolled a ONE, he wins,
and gets back twice the amount of his bet. If not, the
swindler would keep the bet.
«But...my chances are only one out of six,» retorted
the man.
«True,» grinned the swindler, «But I will give you
three tries to get a one.»
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The man considered. Three tries, with each try hav-
ing a 1 /6 chance of winning. So his chances of winning
is 1/2. Why not give it a try?
Is the bet really fair? If not. what arc the chances of
the man winning?
Answer: As you have guessed...the bet is not
fair. He had calculated the probability wrongly.
Probability does not accumulate, like 1/6 x 3. The
probability of the man not getting a ONE in three
throws is: 5/6 x 5/6 x 5/6, which is 125/216. This is
the probability» of (he swindler winning. Hence, the
remaining fraction. 91/216, is the actual chances of
the man winning.
<§> The King and the Poison
In a far-off kingdom, it is well known that the only
way to counteract being poisoned is to drink a stronger
poison, in order to neutralize the weaker one. Long
ago, the king who ruled this kingdom wanted to ensure
that he possessed the strongest poison in the kingdom,
to ensure that he could counteract any attempts on his
life.
So the king called the royal treasurer and the king-
dom's best pharmacist. He gave each the task of con-
cocting the strongest poison possible within one week.
At the end of this week, each of the two men would
drink the other’s poison, followed by his own - who-
ever survived, succeeded.
The pharmacist went straight to work, but the treas-
urer knew he had no chance - after all, the pharmacist
was far more skilled in this field. Instead, the treas-
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the pharmacist died. At the end of the week, the phar-
macist came to the same conclusion, and realized that
the treasurer would use whatever underhanded means
necessary to survive. So the pharmacist, too, concocted
a plan to ensure his own survival.
At the end of the week, the king summoned both
of them once again, and the two drank the poisons as
planned: first the other's, and then their own. The treas-
urer died, the pharmacist survived, and the king did not
get what he wanted. What happened?
Answer: The treasurer planned to drink a weak
poison immediately before the trial, after which he
would drink the pharmacist's stronger potion and
neutralize his own. As his own poison, the treasurer
brought water — this would have no affect on him.
and would ensure that the pharmacist died from his
own strong poison. The pharmacist, being clever
enough to figure out the treasurer's plan, brought
water as well. In the end. both drank water in the
presence of the king, leaving the treasurer as the
only one who had drunk any poison. The pharma-
cist survived, the treasurer accidentally poisoned
himself... and the king was left with two bottles of
ordinary water.
<s> Bom Liars
Edward, Howard, and John arc three high school
students each of whom is taking three of the four sub-
jects, biology, chemistry, history, and mathematics. One
day while talking about their programs they made the
following statements.
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Edward: There is just one subject we’re all taking.
1 am the only one of us who is taking mathematics. No
two of us arc taking the same three subjects. John is
wrong when he says that Howard and I are both taking
chemistry.
Howard: Ed is the only one of us who is taking his-
tory. John and I are taking the same subjects. We’re all
taking biology. Two of us are taking both chemistry and
biology.
John: We're all taking mathematics. Howard is tak-
ing history. Ed is taking one subject that I am not. Both
Howard and Ed arc taking chemistry.
If two and only two of each boy's statements arc
true, what subjects is each boy taking?
Answer: Edward: chemistry, biology, history.
Howard: chemistry, biology, mathematics.
John: biology, mathematics, history.
Ф Valerie's accomplishments
«My four granddaughters arc all accomplished
girls.» Canon Chasuble was speaking with evident
self-satisfaction. «Each of them,» he went on, «plays
a different musical instrument and each speaks one
European language as well as-if not better than-a na-
tive.»
«What does Mary play?» asked someone.
«The cello.»
«Who plays the violin?»
«D’you know,» said Chasuble, «I've temporally for-
gotten. Anno Domini, alas But 1 know it's the girl who
speaks French.»
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The remainder of the facts which 1 elicited were of
a somewhat negative character. I learned that the organ-
ist is not Valerie; that the girl who speaks German is not
Loma; and that Mary knows no Italian. Anthca doesn't
play the violin; nor is she the girl who speaks Spanish.
Valeric knows no French; Loma doesn't play the harp;
and the organist can't speak Italian.
What arc Valerie's accomplishments?
Answer: Valerie plays the harp and speaks Italian.
<S> Baseball team
Andy dislikes the catcher. Ed's sister is engaged to
the second baseman. The center fielder is taller than the
right fielder. Harry and the third baseman live in the
same building. Paul and Allen each won $20 from the
pitcher at pinochle. Ed and the outfielders play poker
during their free time. The pitcher’s wife is the third
baseman's sister. The pitcher, catcher, and infielders
except Allen, Harry, and Andy, are shorter than Sam.
Paul, Andy, and the shortstop lost S50 each at the race-
track. Paul, Harry, Bill, and the catcher took a trounc-
ing from the second baseman at pool. Sam is involved
in a divorce suit. The catcher and the third baseman
each have two children. Ed, Paul, Jerry, the right field-
er. and the center fielder are bachelors. The others are
married. The shortstop, the third baseman, and Bill
each cleaned up SI 00 betting on the fight. One of the
outfielders is either Mike or Andy. Jerry is taller than
Bill. Mike is shorter than Bill. Each of them is heavier
than the third baseman.
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Using these facts, determine the names of the men
playing the various positions on the baseball team.
Answer: Hany is the pitcher, Allen the catcher,
Paul the first baseman. Jerry the. second baseman.
Andy the third baseman, Ed the shortstop. Sam the
left fielder. Mike the right fielder, an J Bill the center
'	fielder.
DIFFICULT MATHS RIDDLES
& PUZZLES
<§> If there are three oranges and you take away two,
how many will you have?
Answer: You took two.
<$> Two men were playing checkers. They played five
games. Each man won the same number of games.
How is this possible?
Answer: They played with different people.
<$> What’s my number? I am a three digit number. My
tens digit is five more than my ones digit. My hun-
dreds digit is eight less than my tens digit. What
number am I?
Answer: Number 194.
<$> Fred owns a pet store. He puls one canary per cage,
but has one bird too many. If he puts two canaries
in each cage, he has one cage too many. How many
cages and canaries does he have?
Answer: Fred has 3 cages and 4 canaries.
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Riddles for Boys and Girls

<$> You have two egg-timers. One is a four-minute
tinier and one a seven-minute timer. How do you
measure nine minutes?
Answer: The station clock is 3 minutes fast. The
morning jourfiey took 65 minutes, and the evening
journey therefore took 52 minutes, and the (rain ar-
rived 57 minutes after it should have left, that is,
3 minutes early.
® Three boys have twenty walnuts between them. Bil-
ly has three more walnuts than Alan, but five fewer
than Charlie. How many walnuts do they each have?
Answer: Allan has 3, Billy has 6 and Charlie
has 11.
Ф How many times can you subtract the number 5
from 25?
Answer: Only once. After the first calculation,
you will be subtracting 5 from 20, then 5 from 15,
and so on.
<S> Find the five-digit number in which the first digit
is arc more than the second, the second digit is the
cube of two, the third digit is two less than the sec-
ond, the fourth digit is one more than the third and
three more than the last, and the third digit is double
the square root of the first. The sum of all the digtis
is 34. Good luck!
Answer: 98,674.
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301
<§> <•>«§>
Загадки на английском языке...
A cowboy had twelve cows. All but nine died. How
many cows did he have left?
Answer: Nine.
Ф While on my way to St. Ives,
I saw a man with 7 wives.
Each wife had 7 sacks.
Each sack had 7 cats.
Each cat had 7 kittens.
Kitten, cats, sacks, wives,
How many were going to St. Ives?
Answer: Just one, me.
Ф A row of four figures in value will be
Above seven thousand nine hundred and three;
But when they are halved, you'll find very fair
The sum will be nothing, in truth I declare.
Answer: A row of number 88888-put a line
through the middle and you get 0 or nothing.
<$> If you reverse the digits of my age.
You have the age of my son.
A year ago, I was twice his age.
How old arc wc both now?
Answer: Our ages now arc seventy-three and
thirty-seven.
<$> Sandra was baking cookies for her son's class par-
ty, one-tenth were white chocolate, one-tenth were
peanut butter, one-tenth were nuts and chocolate
and 12 were gingersnaps. How many cookies were
gingersnaps?
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Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><><$>
Answer: 60 (30 chocolate chips. 6 each of the
other 3 and 12 gingersnaps).
. <$> Foward I am heavy,
tTut backward I am not.
(Ton)
Ф How many books can you put into an empty school
bag?
Answer: None. If you put a book in it, the bag is
no longer empty.
Ф Note: this riddle must be done in your head and not
using pencil and paper.
Take 1000 and add 40 to it. Now add another 1000.
Now add 30. Now add another 1000. Now add 20.
Now add another 1000. Now add 10. What is the total?
Answer: Most people will answer 5000, but the
correct answer is 4100. «Now» you can use pencil
and paper.
Ф A donkey was tied to a rope six feet long. A bale of
hay was eighteen feet away, and die donkey wanted
to eat the hay. How could he do it?
Answer: Easily, if the other end of the rope
wasn't tied to anything.
<$> Two pieces of metal chain were picked up on the
battlefield. Their original purpose is unclear, and,
anyway, is of no importance to us here. The chains
were formed of circular links, all of die same size,
made from metal half an inch thick. One piece of
<§><£<§>
303

Загадки на английском языке...
chain was precisely 3 feet long. The other piece was
22 inches. Assuming that one piece of chain con-
tained six links more than the other, how many links
were there in each piece of chain?
Answer: 9 links and 15 links.
How many times docs a coin rotate in rolling com-
pletely about another coin, of (he same size, without
slipping?
Answer: Twice.
You have 9 golfballs. 8 of which arc equal in weight.
The ninth is slightly heavier then the rest. You also
have a balancing scale. Can you use this scale two
times and only two times in order to tell which ball
is heavier?
Answer: Separate the balls into 3 groups of 3.
Place 3 balls on the left side of (he scale and 3 balls
on the right. If they balance out. you know that the
heavier ball is not one of those 6. If one side is heav-
ier. you know that the heavier ball is one of those 3.
& It takes twelve one-ccnt stamps to make a dozen. How
many six-cent stamps docs it take to make a dozen?
Answer: Twelve. It takes only twelve of anything
to make a dozen.
<$> An old man said to a young man, «I have a daughter.
She has as many brothers as she has sisters. Each one
of her brothers has twice as many sisters as he has
brothers. How many sons and daughters I have?»
Answer: 3 sons, 4 daughters.
304

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><$><§>
<$> Fanner Brown came to town with some watermel-
ons. He sold half of them plus half a melon, and
found that he had one whole melon left. How many
melons did he take to town?
Answer: He originally had 3 melons. He sold
half o f them (1 1/2) plus half a melon, which is the
same as saying he sold 2 melons, leaving him with
one whole melon as stated.
Ф If you have five potatoes and you have to divide them
equally among three people, what should you do?
Answer: Mash them first.
Ф Mr. and Mrs. Jones were walking home from the
shopping mall with their purchases when Mr. Jones
began to complain that his load was too heavy.
Mrs. Jones turned to her husband and said, «I do
not know what you are complaining about because
if you gave me one of your parcels, I would have
twice as many as you and if I gave you just one of
mine, we would have equal loads.» How many par-
cels were each carrying?
Answer: Mrs. Jones was carrying seven parcels
and Mr. Jones was carrying five.
Ф David and Mike arc brothers. David is 33 years old
today. This is three times as old as Mike was when
David was the age that Mike is today. How old is
Mike?
Answer: Mike is 22.

305
<§><•><§>	Загадки на английском языке,..
Ф The newspaper was offering a prize for a contest to
find the number of triangles in a complex draw ing.
Sam guessed 67, Sally figured 63, Susan figured
64, Jim thought 68 and John thought 65. One was
wrong by 4, one was wrong by 3, two ere in error
by I and one was correct. How many triangles were
there?
Answer: 64.
Ф If there were six crows sitting on a bench and
a hunter shot one of them, how many would be left?
Answer: None. The noise of the gun would
frighten the others away.
You have nine coins. One of the nine is counterfeit.
The counterfeit coin can only be distinguished by
weight, it is heavier than the rest. Using a balance
scale only twice, find the counterfeit coin.
Answer: Create three groups of three coins.
Groups I, 2 and 3. Balance Group I against Group
2. If the two groups balance, the bad coin is in
Group 3. If one group of coins weighs more than the
other, the bad coin is in the heavier group.
Ф A girl was nine on her last birthday, and she will be
eleven on her next. How is this possible?
Answer: Today is her tenth birthday.
Ф Three guys walk into town. They go into a hotel
and ask for a room they can share. The clerk has
just the thing they want for thirty dollars. Tire clerk
sends them to the room, takes out the ledger, and rc-
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Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><•><§>
alizes that he made a mistake. The room costs only
twenty-five dollars. Now he has to divide five dol-
lars evenly three ways. Can’t be done. So the clerk
pockets two dollars, tells the guys that he made
a three dollar mistake and gives them each a single.
Now, each man paid only nine dollars Гог his share
of the room. Nine times three equals twenty sev-
en, plus the two in the clerk's pocket equals twenty
nine. Where is the other dollar?
Answer: You are no! trying to find the thirty dol-
lars - you are trying to find twenty five dollars - the
3 guys Pai(i thirty, minus the 3 they got hack, minus
the 2 in the clerk's pocket - you are not supposed to
add them when he gives it hack, it’s still part of the
same thirty.
<$> The ages of Old and Young total 48. Old is twice
as old as Young was when Old was half as old as
Young will be when Young is three times as old as
Old was when Old was three times as old as Young.
How old is Old?
Answer: Old is 30, young is 18.
How many sides docs a circle have?
Answer: There are 2 of course. The inside and
the outside.
<$> A train leaves Edinburgh at 8:00 a.m. and travels
to London at 60 mph. At 9:00 a.m. another train
leaves London and travels towards Edinburgh at
90 mph. Which train is the nearer to London when
they pass?
<§><$><§>
307
<$><$><§>
Загадки иа английском языке...
Answer: They are both at the same distance
when they pass.
<t> There arc 2 ducks in front of 2 other ducks. There
are 2 ducks behind 2 other ducks. There arc 2 ducks
beside 2 other ducks. How many ducks arc there?
Answer: There are four ducks.
<$> If you count twenty horses on your right going into
town, and twenty horses on your left coming home,
how many horses have you counted in all?
Answer: Twenty. You counted the same horses
coming and going out.
Ф At the hardware store 1 was quoted 12 cents for one,
24 cents for 50, and 36 cents for 144. T wanted six.
What was I buying and how much did it cost me?
Answer: Prices quoted were for house numbers
at 12 cents per number. A number'6' cost me 12
cents.
Ф A chessboard has squares that arc two inches by two
inches by two inches. What is the diameter of the
largest circle that can be drawn on the board in such
a way that the circle's circumference is entirely on
black squares?
Answer: The diameter is 6.324 inches. Diameter
is equal to twice the radius.
Ф I started 2 watches at the same time, It turned out
that one of them went two minutes per hour too
slow, and the other went one minute per hour too
308
<§><$><§>
Riddles for Boys and Girls

fast. When I looked at them again, the faster one
was exactly one hour ahead of the other. How long
had the watches been running?
Answer: The faster watch gains on the slower
one at the rate of three minutes every hour. After 20
hours, the faster one will he ahead by one hour.
<J> If five persons can sew five dresses in five days...How
many persons can sew fitly dresses in fifty days?
Answer: 5 persons.
Ф You have four lengths of gold chain. One is made
up of five links, two arc made of four links, and one
made of three links. These need to be made into one
bracelet. The jeweler you have taken them to charg-
es 50 cents to break a link and SI.00 to weld a link
back together. You figure it would cost $6.00, but
the jeweler finds a cheaper way. What is it and how
much will it cost?
Answer: Jt will only cost $4.50 if you do this:
break all the links on the three-link chain and use
those to attach all the other three together.
Ф What is so unusual about the number 2520?
Answer: 2520 is the lowest number into which
all the digits from 1 to 10 will divide evenly.
Ф Under what conditions would a rope be most likely
to break? a. 20 men of equal strength with 10 pull-
ing on each end. b. 10 of the same men pulling on
one end and the other end being fastened to a tree. c.
It makes no difference.
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309
<§><$><§>
Загадки на английском языке...
Answer: If 20 men pull on the rope (10 on each
end), the stress on the rope will be no greater than
if 10 pulled from one end and the other was tied to
a tree. The tension on a rope is no greater than the
pull at one of its ends.
<$> An old fashioned bike wheel has 21 spokes. How
many spaces are between the spokes - 20, 21, or 22?
A nswer: 21. http://www. sixthsense, ru/riddles/
classic/38955/
Ф There is a certain 10-digit number where the first
digit is equal to the number of zeros in the entire
number, the second number is the number of l’s in
the entire number, and so on, to where the I Oth digit
is the number of 9's in the entire number. What is
the number?
Answer: 6210001000 (There are 6 zeros, 2 ones,
1 two and 1 six).
If 20 blackbirds are on a fence and you shoot one,
how many remain?
Answer: None, they would all fly away from the
sound of the shot.
Ф Friday the thirteenth is a lucky day! On average,
over a number of years, how often docs Friday the
13th occur?
Answer: Once every 213 days.
Ф If it takes three minutes to boil an egg, how long
will it take to boil three eggs?
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Riddles for Boys and Girls

Answer: Three minutes, if they're in the same
•	pot.
Ф There was a farmer who was cutting his grass in
a SQUARE field. It took him 90 minutes to do the
left side, 90 minutes to do the top and 90 minutes to
do the right side. But it took him 1 hour and a half
to do the bottom. Why?
Answer: Because 90 minutes is 1 hour and a
half.
<§> Here is one for you math pros: Find the five-digit
number in which the first two digits are the square of
the third digit and the last two digits arc the square
of the digit that is one less than the third digit. The
sum of all the digits is 22.
Answer: 36,625.
Ф A drugstore owner has his own system of pricing
items. Soap is 14ccnts, shampoo is 23cents, tooth-
paste is 32cents. How much docs a hairnet cost?
Answer: 23 CENTS (2CENTS PER CONSO-
NANT: 5CENTS PER VOWEL) - do not think he'll
get rich too fast!
Ф John was trying to take a short cut through a very
narrow tunnel when he heard the whistle of an ap-
proaching train behind him. Having reached three-
eighths of the length of the tunnel, he could have
turned back and cleared the entrance of the tunnel
running at 10 miles per hour just as the train entered.

311
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За1адки на английском языке...
Alternatively, if he kept running forward, the train
would reach him the moment he would jump clear
of the tracks. At what speed was the train moving?
Answer: At 40 miles per hour, the train would
enter the funnel when John was still two-eighths
from the exit or a quarter of the tunnels length. If
the train was to reach him at the exit, it would have
to travel at four times Johns speed, i.e. 40 miles per
hour.
Ф Use your mathematic skills to solve the following
problem: There arc a mix of red, green and blue
balls in a bag. The total number of balls is 60. There
arc four times as many red balls as green balls and 6
more blue balls than green balls. How many balls of
each colour are there?
Answer:
Blue halls = 15
Red balls = 36
Green balls = 9
<^> Mr. Moody grumbles about bad time-keeping trains
from morning till night! On one particular morning
he was quiet justified. His train left on time for the
one hour journey, to Clarksville, and it arrived 5 mi-
nutes late. However, Mr. Moody's watch showed it
to be 3 minutes early, so he adjusted his watch by
putting it forward 3 minutes. His watch kept time
during the day, and on the return joumey in the
evening the train started on time, according to his
watch, and arrived on time, according to the sta-
tion clock. If the train travelled 25 percent faster
312

Riddles for Boys and Girls
<§><$><§>
on the return journey than it did on the morning
journey, was the station clock fast or slow, and by
how much?
Answer: The station clock is 3 minutes fast. The
morning journey took 65 minutes, and the evening
journey therefore took 52 minutes, and the train ar-
rived 57 minutes after it should have left, that is, 3
minutes early.
Ф The ages of a father and son add up to 66. The fa-
ther's age is the son's age reversed. How old could
they be? Find all 3 solutions.
Answer:
51 and 15
42 and 24
60 and 06
Ф Sabrina gave Samantha as many dollars as Saman-
tha started out with. Samantha then gave Sabrina
back as much as Sabrina had left. Sabrina then gave
Samantha as back as many dollars as Samantha had
left, which left Sabrina broke and gave Samantha
a total of S80.00. How much did Sabrina and Sa-
mantha have at the beginning of their exchange?
Answer: Sabrina had $50 and Samantha had
$30.
Ф Jenny has a wonderful birthday cake with pink icing
and colourful candles. She takes a deep breath and
blows as hard as she can - one third of the candles
arc blown out. Once more Jenny blows hard and this
time one third of the remaining candles are blown

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Загадки на английском языке...
out. If there are still 8 candles alight, what age is
Jenny?
Answer: Jenny is 18.
Ф Amanda, Brian, and Caleb all have their birthday
on same day. At their joint birthday party there is
a huge cake with twenty-seven candles on it - rep-
resenting their combined age. Amanda is twice the
age of Brian and 2 years younger than Caleb. What
ages arc Amanda, Brian, and Caleb?
Answer: Amanda—10, Brians5, Caleh=12.
RIDDLES ABOUT NATURE:
THE SKY, THE EARTH, THE RIVER,
THE WEATHER
Calendar Riddles about the Year, the Time, the chandc
of seasons
Riddles about the Animals
Riddles about the Birds
Riddles about the Trees and Plants
Riddles about the Road, the Transport and Traffic
Riddles about the Instruments and Home Appliances
Riddles about the House and Internal Furniture of the
House
Riddles about the Ware Fruits, Vegetables and
Different Food-Stuff
Riddles about the Radio and Musical Instruments
Riddles about the School
Riddles about the Words and Letters
Riddles about the Parts of the Body
Riddles about Relatives
Riddles about Clothes, Footwear, Ornaments and
Other Things
Charades, Acrostics and Associations
Sarcastic Riddles-jokcs
Logic Riddles
Difficult Maths Riddles & Puzzles
<§><•><§>
315
СОДЕРЖАНИЕ
От автора..........................................3
Riddles about Nature: the Sky, the earth, the River,
the Weather.....................................8
Calendar Riddles about the Year, the Time,
the chande of seasons..........................31
Riddles about the Animals..........................45
Riddles about the Birds............................68
Riddles about the Trees and	Plants..........75
Riddles about the Road, the	Transport and Traffic..84
Riddles about the Instruments and Home Appliances....93
Riddles about the House and Internal Furniture
of the House...................................101
Riddles about the Ware Fruits, Vegetables
and Different Food-Stuff......................119
Riddles about the Radio and Musical Instruments....133
Riddles about the School...........................137
Riddles about the Words and Letters................153
Riddles about the Parts of the body...............177
Riddles about Relatives...........................195
Riddles about Clothes, Footwear, Ornaments
and Other Things..............................199
Charades, Acrostics and Associations..............207
316

Riddles for Boys and Girls	<§><•><§>
Sarcastic Riddles-jokes............................227
Logic Riddles......................................255
Difficult Maths Riddles & Puzzles..................300
Riddles about Nature:
the Sky, the earth, the River, the Weather....315
Учение с увлечением
Автор-составитель
Филиппенко Михаил Петрович
ЗАГАДКИ
НА АНГЛИЙСКОМ ЯЗЫКЕ
ДЛЯ МАЛЬЧИКОВ И ДЕВОЧЕК
RIDDLES
FOR BOYS AND GIRLS
Ответственный редактор
Технический редактор
Дизайн обложки
Л. Алексеева
Г. Логвинова
М. Сафиуллина
Формат 84 х Ю8 7П,
Печать офсетная. 11еч. л. 10.
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I ISBN 978*5*222*1S76T«6