57 thoughts on “A New Year riddle”

  2. Oldy but goodie!

    ‘What’ is a word that’s formed of 4 letters,
    ‘But’ consists of 3,
    ‘Sometimes’ is written with 9,
    ‘Never’ with 5,

    and

    ‘occasionally’is made up of 12

  5. the riddle works when spoken but not when written. using correct punctuation gives it away and not using correct punctuation seems like a cheap trick.

    “what” is a word that’s formed of 4 letters. “but” consists of 3, etc.

    1. Riddles are the cheapest tricks there are! I like the ones where the task is to add punctuation so it makes sense, such as …

      John where James had had had had had had had had had had the teacher’s approval

      … typically in those riddles, the result is technically valid grammar but so tortured improbable as to constitute a cheap trick.

      2. This is my chance to drag out that old
        Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo
        thing

    3. Another riddle which works only when spoken goes (I usually add details about overhearing a conversation in a hotel lobby):

      Q. If the answer is 9w, what was the question?

      A. Do you spell Wagner with a v?

        1. Q. If the answer is uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, what was the question?

          A. Do you spell Wagner with a v?

          (9w = 9uu = uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu)

          Ok, too big a stretch.

  7. It’s cheating. In writing, “What”, “but” etc should be quoted, or italicized, otherwise it’s simply not grammatical. A thing is not in general the same as “a thing”.

    In programming languages it’s called indirection, and failing to use it correctly results in the compiler covering you in invectives.

    I actually have trouble finding precise references about this for English grammar though, so perhaps I’m wrong about not being grammatical in English. But I maintain that would be a bug!

    When spoken, however, it can be a perfectly cromulent riddle (though good timing should replace the quotes).

  9. Railroad crossing,
    Look out for the cars,
    Can you spell it
    Without any Rs?

    (my parents’ riddle whenever we went over a level crossing…4 kids…)

    3. For Jethro Tull fans only:

      Q: What did zero say to the power of 10
      A: My zero to your power of 10 equals nothing at all.

  13. My eight-year-old thought this was wildly hilarious. We made a Spanish translation for her to befuddle her bilingual ed classmates with next week! Que tiene tres letras, pero tiene quatro letras …

    1. Very good! But I don’t quite get the “12” part, unless you’re referring to some people thinking that a 12-year-old is a teenager?

  16. Another one that should be heard, not seen, is:

    What comes between fear and sex? fünf

    [Between vier and sechs, you see.]

    On second thought, it probably shouldn’t be heard, either.

    1. I think the right way to ask this one is: “According to Sigmund Freud, what comes between fear and sex?”.

    2. What comes between fear and sex?

      Depending on personal preference, that could be a very nuanced answer. Up to 50 shades of grey, and another 50 shades darker.

      [Names may not be entirely accurate. I read about 3 random paragraphs from my step daughter’s copy, and she’s responsible for where the book falls open to.]

  17. The word “eggs” would answer the riddle, with a bit of modern internet culture.

    Four letters, three of which are unique. The practice of substituting similar numbers for letters yields the clearly recognizable ‘e99s’, and the most common collection size is a dozen.

    1. …except that its “never 5” and “occasionally 12”, whereas I always get my eggs by the dozen and there are always 5 left at some point. |:

  18. One of my favorite riddles, from a book by Raymond Smullyan:

    What is older than God, the dead eat it, and if the living eat it, they die?

    1. Did you mean:

      What is greater than God, worse than the devil, the dead eat it, and, if the living eat it, they die?

      If so, there is actually no verifiably meaningful answer to this riddle (;

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