Can You Solve These Word Puzzles?

By: Ian Fortey
Estimated Completion Time
4 min
Can You Solve These Word Puzzles?
Image: Mel Yates/ Cultura/ Getty Images

About This Quiz

Everyone loves a puzzle. We love a little mystery to solve where the stakes are low and the reward is just our own sense of delight at having solved it. The answers can range from deviously clever to insultingly obvious, but the journey to get to them is where the fun is. From a simple "fill in the blank" type puzzle to a silly pun to a mysteriously worded riddle that plays on metaphor and symbolism, there are no end to the word puzzles language lets us set up. 

Riddles have likely been told as long as our ability to communicate has existed. They play on linguistic parallels when words and meanings can be confused with one another, or jokes where meanings have different layers and applications. Other times they present mysteries, offering just enough misleading clues to take you to many false answers. You'll only find the correct one if you're clever enough to catch where the riddle misleads you. They are witty and fun because they actually make us think instead of just offering up answers right away. They tease and entice because we get into them knowing there is a trick involved, but unaware of what it may be. It's like visiting a magic show or an escape room. Just because you know you're being fooled doesn't mean you know how it's happening.

If you consider yourself a puzzle expert and a master of tricky riddles, it's time to put yourself to the test. Take the quiz and puzzle through!

Question 1 - palindrome
Klaus Vedfelt/ DigitalVision/ Getty Images
What's a 5-letter word that can be read the exact same way forward as it is backward and upside down?
Sagas
Madam
Refer
Swims
Question 2 - father
Oliver Rossi/ Stone/ Getty Images
Your father is my father's son but I have no brothers or sisters at all. How does that happen?
You're my father.
You're my mother.
We're brothers.
I'm your father
Question 3 - MominLaw
Russell Monk/ The Image Bank/ Getty Images
Can you figure out this puzzle? "COMOMURT"
Comb over
Mother in law
Cummerbund
Motor court

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Question 4 - donuts
Flavia Morlachetti/ Moment/ Getty Images
Joe has five donuts, 10 muffins and 15 Danish. If we assume all his donuts are Danish, how many Danish does he have?
5
15
20
30
Question 5 - best friend
Klaus Vedfelt/ DigitalVision/ Getty Images
Your best friend says "I am lying." Are they telling the truth or lying?
Truth
Lying
Neither
You can never know for sure.
Question 6 - Noon
Kristina Strasunske/ Moment/ Getty Images
This word is the same forward, backward and upside down. What is it?
SWIMS
NOON
PEEP
BIB

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Question 7 - Sleep
Juanmonino/ E+/ Getty Images
The world record for going without sleep is 264 hours. Tom hasn't slept one day in the past 12 and feels fine. How?
Tom is medicated.
It's not possible.
Tom naps.
Tom sleeps at night, not during the day.
Question 8 - Dissolve
ciricvelibor/ E+/ Getty Images
Which word fits if you refuse to show someone respect and are trying to figure out an answer?
Dissolve
Hateful
Understate
Rejected
Question 9 - handful of dimes
Zoonar RF/ Zoonar / Getty Images Plus
Double meaning time! What word are you looking for when you have a handful of dimes that turn into nickels?
Money
Change
Coinage
Finance

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Question 10 - foxglove
Ashraful Arefin photography/ Moment/ Getty Images
When you're in the garden, what kind of fluffy-tailed plant is keeping your hands toasty?
Snapdragon
Lily of the Valley
Forget-me-not
Foxglove
Question 11 - butcher
Image Source/ Image Source/ Getty Images
If your butcher is 6'1" tall, his hair is shoulder-length, he wears size 12 shoes and a size 10 ring, do you know what he weighs?
How could I know?
185 lbs
Meat
Himself
Question 12 - pharoah
Carol Yepes/ Moment/ Getty Images
Do you know which word is spelled incorrectly almost all the time?
Pharaoh
Incorrectly
Word
Which

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Question 13 - birds
Christopher Jimenez Nature Photo/ Moment/ Getty Images
What idiom are we talking about if we say HAABIRDND?
Bird-brained
Free as a bird
Birds of a feather
A bird in hand
Question 14 - Ark
JoeLena/ E+/ Getty Images
Do you remember the story of the ark and the great flood? Science has come a long way since then, but if Joseph really had two of every species, how many animals were on his ark?
None
Two
1,000
8.7 million x 2
Question 15 - teeth
Howard Kingsnorth/ Stone/ Getty Images
I'll come to you one day and stay until you lose me. Then I'll come back just once more. If you lose me again, only an impostor can replace me. What am I?
A dream
An idea
A tooth
A best friend

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Question 16 - sandbags
Sally Anscombe/ Moment/ Getty Images
Do you know how many bags of sand it takes to complete a sandbag wall to hold back a river that is rising by 2 inches per hour?
One
One hundred
One thousand
None
Question 17 - physical education
Richard Lewisohn/ Photodisc/ Getty Images
Crossword time! Ten letters. The child of Mr. Naismith: _ a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.
Candidates
Facilities
Navigation
Basketball
Question 18 - meats
omersukrugoksu/ E+/ Getty Images
Which lunch meat do most people enjoy periodically?
Ham
Spam
Pastrami
Salami

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Question 19 - your heart
Artur Debat/ Moment/ Getty Images
I live in the shadows; in sun I would be shunned. I'm the last thing in your stomach but the first in your heart. What am I?
Love
Memory
The letter H
Sound
Question 20 - kenny
Wikicommons by Mathew Brady
What word is going to link "The Scarlet _______ Kenny?"
Pimpernel
Witch
Letter
Johansson
Question 21 - heroes
Wikicommons by Pikawil from Laval, Canada
How well do you know your anagrams? You could call this hero "DNA Primes." Who is it?
Iron Man
Spider-Man
Superman
Black Panther

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Question 22 - choices
10'000 Hours/ DigitalVision/ Getty Images
You can have three of these or two of these but if you only have one you really have none. What is it?
Lives
Instincts
Regrets
Choices
Question 23 - eggs
stilllifephotographer/ Stone/ Getty Images
The English language can be very puzzling indeed. Is "the yolk of an egg is white" correct or is it "the yolks of an egg are white?"
The yolk of an egg is white.
The yolks of an egg are white.
Either one is right.
Neither one is right.
Question 24 - cow
Compassionate Eye Foundation/Robert Kent/ DigitalVision/ Getty Images
Which three-letter word can you spell in 14 letters?
Dog
Cow
Pit
Eye

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Question 25 - house
The Good Brigade/ DigitalVision/ Getty Images
There's a house facing north. On the west side is a palm tree. On the east side is a cherry tree. Which side of the house gets the most sun?
The north side
The east side
The south side
The outside
Question 26 - longjohns
Oliver Rossi/ Stone/ Getty Images
Can you figure out what JJJJJOOOOOHHHHHNNNNN means?
Johnny Quest
Long John
Little John
Johnny on the Spot
Question 27 - Titanic
Wikicommons by Willy Stöwer, died on 31st May 1931
Imagine that you're on the Titanic just after it hits the iceberg. All the lifeboats are gone. What's the best way for you to escape?
Use a table.
Use a door.
Swim for it.
Stop imagining it.

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Question 28 - morning
Tara Moore/ Stone/ Getty Images
Where will you find today ahead of yesterday, the afternoon before the morning and always ahead of never?
The Big Bang
Google
Space
The dictionary
Question 29 - question
Robert Recker/ The Image Bank/ Getty Images
I+I+N+N+S+J+U+U+L+R+T+Y means what?
A blessing in disguise
Adding insult to injury
In it to win it
Inside out
Question 30 - Calendar
Nitat Termmee/ Moment/ Getty Images
What are the missing letters in the sequence _ F _ A _ J J _ _ O _ D?
JMMASN
AJMMNS
JJSANJ
SOJMNP

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Question 31 - car tree
Johannes Kroemer/ The Image Bank/ Getty Images
What word links TREE to CAR?
Wood
Bark
Root
Trunk
Question 32 - Chihuahua
Hillary Kladke/ Moment/ Getty Images
Chihuahua is to dog as ______ is to _______ ?
Teacher: student
Horror: movie
Apple: orange
Plane: flying
Question 33 - foot
Adrienne Bresnahan/ Moment/ Getty Images
Do you know what "12" Other" means?
Foot long
On the other foot
A dozen others
One foot in front of the other

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Question 34 - sundial
Styrmir Kári/ Moment/ Getty Images
A sundial can tell time with no movng parts at all. Watches and clocks use gears to do so. What kind of timepiece has the most moving parts?
Digital watch
Grandfather clock
Hourglass
Chronograph watch
Question 35 - water
oxygen/ Moment/ Getty Images
What does "WA_____T___E_R" mean?
Break water
Dripping water
Holy water
Water main