Wordplay: riddles for every age, with answers

#187 Ages 18+

Start with the word STARTLING. Remove exactly one letter at a time, and after every single removal, what remains must still be a real English word — all the way down to one letter. What's the sequence?

#188 Ages 18+

What five-letter palindrome (reads the same forwards and backwards) names a small boat you paddle?

#189 Ages 18+

Rearrange the letters of the word LISTEN to form another common word — one that describes paying quiet attention.

#190 Ages 18+

What single word describes both a financial institution and the sloped land beside a river?

#191 Ages 18+

What seven-letter word — spelled T-H-E-R-E-I-N — contains, without skipping or rearranging any letters, all of these five smaller words hidden inside it: 'the,' 'he,' 'her,' 'here,' and 'rein'?

#192 Ages 18+

What word famously means the exact same thing whether or not you add the prefix 'in-' to the front of it — to the eternal confusion of firefighters?

#193 Ages 18+

What is the only number from one to a hundred whose letters, spelled out in English, appear in strict alphabetical order?

#194 Ages 18+

What is the longest common English word that can be typed using only the left hand on a standard QWERTY keyboard?

#195 Ages 18+

What is the only common English word that ends in the letters '-mt'?

#196 Ages 18+

Barely any English words contain a double U ('uu'). Name the everyday one that means a space with all the matter taken out of it — or the machine named after that idea.

#197 Ages 18+

What four-letter word reads the same backwards as forwards — and also reads the same when you rotate the page a half turn?

#198 Ages 18+

One eight-letter word for being under pressure becomes, spelled backwards, the sweet course at the end of a meal. What are the two words?

#199 Ages 18+

Which English verb is its own opposite, meaning both 'to split violently apart' and 'to cling faithfully to'?

#200 Ages 18+

Which everyday word means 'to rub something to a shine' in lowercase, but names a nationality the moment you capitalise its first letter?

#131 Ages 12–15

I'm a five-letter word. Even if you remove my last four letters, I'm still pronounced exactly the same. What word am I?

#132 Ages 12–15

Which word in the English language is always spelled incorrectly, no matter which dictionary you check?

#133 Ages 12–15

I contain cities with no houses in them, mountains with no trees on them, and water with no fish in it. What am I?

#134 Ages 12–15

I have a heart, yet it never beats. I have layers you peel away before you find the tender part inside. What am I?

#135 Ages 12–15

I'm covered in sharp needles, yet I've never sewn a single stitch in my life. What am I?

#136 Ages 12–15

I start out tall, but I get shorter every single time you use me for your schoolwork. What am I?

#137 Ages 12–15

I'm an English word made of three doubled letters in a row (like -oo-, -kk-, -ee-). I'm someone who manages a company's financial records. What word am I?

#138 Ages 12–15

What do you call a fish that has no eye?

#139 Ages 12–15

I'm a five-letter word for something you might skip across a pond. Knock off my first two letters and I become the number 1. What word am I?

#140 Ages 12–15

Which common English word runs nine letters long but contains only a single vowel?

#141 Ages 12–15

Say me out loud and I could be any of three different words: one points at a place, one shows that something belongs to a group of people, and one is two words squeezed together. Spell all three.

#142 Ages 12–15

One nine-letter English word contains all five vowels — A, E, I, O, U — each exactly once and in perfect alphabetical order. It means treating a serious subject with unhelpful humour. What word is it?

#143 Ages 12–15

I'm fifteen letters long and not one of my letters repeats — every single one is different. Fittingly, I describe a work that nobody can legally claim ownership of. What word am I?

#144 Ages 12–15

Which is correct: "the yolk of the egg is white" or "the yolk of the egg are white"?

#75 Ages 10–12

A farmer has 17 sheep, and all but 9 run away. How many sheep does the farmer have left?

#76 Ages 10–12

What comes once in a minute, twice in every moment, but never once in a thousand years?

#77 Ages 10–12

I am an odd number. Take away just one letter from my name, and I become even. What number am I?

#78 Ages 10–12

You spot a boat full of people out on the lake, yet you can honestly say there isn't a single person on board. How can that be?

#79 Ages 10–12

What five-letter word becomes shorter every time you add two letters to it?

#80 Ages 10–12

Here's a word puzzle: the first two letters refer to a male, the first three letters refer to a female, the first four letters refer to a great person, and the whole word names a great woman. What's the word?

#81 Ages 10–12

Forward, I weigh a lot. Backward, I mean 'no.' What word am I?

#82 Ages 10–12

I begin with the letter E and end with the letter E, but usually I only hold one letter inside me. What am I?

#83 Ages 10–12

I am full of words, yet I have never spoken a single one out loud. What am I?

#84 Ages 10–12

I open no doors and turn no locks, yet a piano can't play a single song without me. What am I?

#45 Ages 7–9

You can catch me from a friend who is sick, but you can't throw me back. Doctors help you get rid of me, but they hope they never catch me too. What am I?

#46 Ages 7–9

Which month of the year has 28 days?

#47 Ages 7–9

What kind of tree can you always carry around with you, right at the end of your arm?

#48 Ages 7–9

I have one eye, but I cannot see anything with it. You use me for sewing, and thread goes through my eye instead of a pupil. What am I?

#49 Ages 7–9

What kind of room has no doors and no windows, and you might even find slices of it on a pizza?

#50 Ages 7–9

I have a bed, but I never sleep in it. I have a mouth, but I never eat with it. Fish swim through me every day. What am I?

#51 Ages 7–9

What kind of coat can only be put on when it's wet?

#52 Ages 7–9

What kind of band never plays a single note of music, but stretches around a stack of papers instead?

#53 Ages 7–9

What has lots of black and white keys and can make beautiful music, but can't open a single lock or door?

#54 Ages 7–9

Which building has the most stories, even though it's usually not the tallest one in town?