Updated: Aug. 13, 2024
Anyone can memorize and repeat facts, but tackling trick questions requires a different skill set. These quirky queries are less about what you know and more about your ability to think critically and creatively. In fact, answering a trick question is more like solving a hard riddle than taking a test in school—especially because studying won’t help. On the plus side, it’ll be a lot more fun, and you won’t be graded!
And that’s not all: By tackling brain games like this, you’ll boost your brain power and improve your memory. Even if it takes you a while to get going, once you start figuring out these puzzles, the easier it will be to continue. Think of your brain like a muscle: The more you use it, the stronger it gets.
Ready to give your brain a workout? Dust off your thinking cap, and see how many of these 125 trick questions you can answer correctly. No peeking!
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Challenging trick questions
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1. How many letters are in the alphabet?
11. (“The alphabet.”)
2. If you build a fort, drive a Ford and fill out a form, then what do you eat soup with?
A spoon.
3. You have two coins that equal 30 cents, and one of them is not a quarter. Which coins do you have?
A quarter and a nickel. (The nickel is the one that isn’t a quarter.)
4. A man once said he went 35 days without sleep. How is that possible?
He slept at night.
5. What thrives when you feed it but dies when you give it something to drink?
A fire.
6. What kind of button can’t be unbuttoned?
A belly button.
7. What is the answer to this question?
“What.”
8. If Mrs. Smith’s rooster lays an egg in Mr. Brown’s yard, who owns the egg?
No one. Roosters don’t lay eggs.
9. Ted is the father of Sam, but Sam is not the son of Ted. How is that possible?
Sam is not a boy.
10. What can run but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, and is often found between banks?
A river.
11. The more of this there is, the less you see. What is it?
Darkness.
12. A deli worker in a grocery store is described as being 6’1″ and wearing size 10 shoes and a medium-sized shirt. What does the deli worker weigh?
Lunch meat.
13. A suspected burglar is brought in for questioning for a robbery that happened on the 4th of July. He tells the police he has an alibi, as he was home at the time of the robbery. A mailman verifies that he saw the suspect at home at the time of the robbery while on his mail route. The police, however, immediately know the mailman is lying. How?
The mail doesn’t run on the 4th of July, so there’s no way the mailman could have seen the suspect on his mail route.
14. What babbles but never talks?
A brook.
15. What’s something that has teeth but can’t chew?
A comb.
16. If the assistant captain of a sports team were to die, who would lead the team?
The captain.
17. What’s something that always wants an answer but doesn’t have a question?
A phone.
18. You can catch me, but I can’t be thrown. What am I?
A cold.
19. A woman quickly realizes there is no air in her driver’s-side tire, but she finds something else in the tire instead. What is it?
A hole.
20. What’s something that gets wetter the more it dries?
A paper towel.
Want another challenge? See how many of these tongue twisters you can say without stumbling.
Funny trick questions
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21. When you put your socks on, why are you sure to make a mistake?
Because you put your foot in it.
22. Let’s say you have to lift a hippo with one finger. How would you do it?
You wouldn’t because you can’t find a one-fingered hippo.
23. What happens when you throw a blue rock into the Red Sea?
It sinks to the bottom.
24. How can you drop a glass vase on a concrete floor and not crack it?
Concrete floors are hard to crack.
25. Which word in the dictionary has an odd spelling?
“Odd.”
26. What’s something that copies your looks but not your sounds?
A mirror.
27. I wave, even if you don’t say hello. What am I?
A flag.
28. Bill fell from a 30-foot ladder but didn’t get hurt. How is that possible?
He fell from the bottom rung.
29. What word becomes longer after you add two letters to it?
“Long.”
30. What’s something that has a lot of holes in it but can still hold water?
A sponge.
31. A train pulls up to the station. You notice that one car is full of people, but there isn’t a single person on board. How can that be?
Everyone in that train car is married.
32. Sandy claims she saw an ocean without water, and it turns out, she was being honest. How is that possible?
She was looking at a map.
33. What’s something you can break but can’t put back together?
A promise.
34. How many times can you cut a cake in half?
Technically, only once.
35. What’s something that gets warmer the more it cools?
An air conditioner.
36. What are two things you can’t eat for dinner?
Breakfast and lunch.
35. What’s something that has a lot of problems not many people are eager to solve?
A math book.
38. If you were in a race and passed the person in third place, what place would you be in?
Third place.
39. A woman goes into the forest and sees 10 trees. She then proceeds to snap all their branches at once. How is this possible?
She took a picture of the trees.
40. What was the president’s name in 1990?
The same as it is today.
If you got a kick out of those, check out these emoji riddles next.
Easy trick questions
41. What has a spine but no bones?
A book.
42. What has a bottom at the top and helps you stand?
A leg.
43. What’s something that has a head and a tail but no paws?
A quarter.
44. Is it normal for someone to have all their toes on one foot?
No, as people’s toes are on two feet, not one foot.
45. Which word in the dictionary is always spelled incorrectly?
“Incorrectly.”
46. What’s something that always rises and never lowers?
Your age.
47. What gets larger the more you take away from it?
A hole.
48. What’s something that belongs to you, but others seem to use it more than you?
Your name.
49. A group of 10 ostriches are in a field. If four of them take off flying, how many are left in the field?
All of them. Ostriches can’t fly.
50. How many sides does a house have?
Two: an inside and an outside.
51. The person who makes it has no need for it. The person who buys it has no use for it. The person who uses it cannot see it or feel it. What is it?
A coffin.
52. What’s something you can you hold without touching it?
Your breath.
53. What has keys but can’t open locks?
A piano.
54. What has a neck but no head?
A bottle.
55. What has one eye but can’t see?
A needle.
56. What can travel around the world while staying in a corner?
A stamp.
57. What has hands but can’t clap?
A clock.
58. What is always in front of you but can’t be seen?
The future.
59. What can you hold in your right hand but never in your left hand?
Your left hand.
60. There are two kinds of keys that can’t unlock any doors. What are they?
A donkey and a monkey.
Did you breeze through those easy trick questions? Give your brain a tougher workout with these word puzzles that will leave you stumped.
Trick questions for kids
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61. A cowboy rode into town on Friday. He stayed in town for three days and rode out on Friday. How was that possible?
Friday was the name of his horse.
62 What’s black and white and red all over?
A sunburned zebra.
63. What has eyes but can’t see?
A potato.
64. What has a heart that doesn’t beat?
An artichoke.
65. What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?
The letter “m.”
66. What has cities but no houses, forests but no trees, and rivers but no water?
A map.
67. What runs around the whole yard without moving?
A fence.
68. What can be cracked, made, told and played?
A joke.
69. What has a neck but no head, and two arms but no hands?
A shirt.
70. What has a foot but no legs and is used for measurement?
A ruler.
71. What has a ring but no finger?
A telephone.
72. What can you hear but not touch or see?
Your voice.
73. What has a bed but never sleeps, and flows but never moves?
A riverbed.
74. I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I don’t have a body, but I come alive with wind. What am I?
An echo.
75. The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?
Footsteps.
76. I’m tall when I’m young, and I’m short when I’m old. What am I?
A candle.
77. I am taken from a mine and shut up in a wooden case from which I am never released, and yet I am used by almost every person. What am I?
Pencil lead.
78. When rain falls, does it ever get up again?
Yes: in dew time.
79. What comes up as soon as it rains?
An umbrella.
80. If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring?
Pilgrims.
Got a precocious child on your hands? These brainteasers for kids will stave off boredom.
Classic trick questions
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81. What is so fragile that it breaks if you mention it?
Silence.
82. What’s black and white and read all over?
A newspaper.
83. How do you make “one” disappear?
Add a “g” and it’s “gone.”
84. What’s easy to lift but hard to throw?
A feather.
85. Why did the scarecrow win an award?
Because he was outstanding in his field.
86. What combination of two words has the most letters?
Post office.
87. What has four wheels and flies?
A garbage truck.
88. What do you actually find at the end of every rainbow?
The letter “w.”
89. What’s as big as a moose but weighs nothing?
A moose’s shadow.
90. Going forward, I’m heavy. Going backward, I’m not. What am I?
A ton.
91. What kind of umbrella does everyone carry on a rainy day?
A wet umbrella.
92. When is a door no longer a door?
When it’s ajar.
93. Why shouldn’t you tell secrets on a farm?
Because the potatoes have eyes and the corn has ears.
94. What tastes better than it smells?
A tongue.
95. What goes up and down but stays in the same place?
A staircase.
96. What kind of bow can’t be tied?
A rainbow.
97. What’s something you make but no one can see?
Noise.
98. What is bought by the yard and worn by the foot?
Carpet.
99. What always ends everything?
The letter “g.”
100. I can’t be used until I’m broken. What am I?
A coconut.
If you liked that last one, give these “What am I?” riddles a try.
Trick questions for adults
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101. Every single person at a restaurant got sick, except for two people who were completely fine. How is that possible?
The two people were a couple and, therefore, not single.
102. What kind of cheese is made backward?
Edam.
103. I’m where yesterday follows today, and tomorrow’s in the middle. What am I?
A dictionary.
104. What’s one question that nobody can honestly say “no” to?
“Are you awake?”
105. Two men are caught in the rain and soaked from head to toe. Why did only one get his shoes wet?
Because only one was wearing shoes; the other was barefoot.
106. What kind of ship has two mates but no captain?
A courtship.
107. If you had only one match and walked into a dark room containing an oil lamp, some kindling wood and a newspaper, which would you light first?
The match.
108. What three-letter word sounds like a letter it does not contain?
Eye.
109. How many animals did Moses allow onto the ark?
None. Moses wasn’t on the ark.
110. What kind of dress can never be worn?
An address.
111. What kind of band doesn’t play music?
A rubber band.
112. What building has more stories than any others in the neighborhood?
The library.
113. What kind of coat is best to put on wet?
A coat of paint.
114. What can fill a room but takes up no space?
Light.
115. What happened when the wheel was invented?
It caused a revolution.
116. Is it correct to say “the yolk of eggs is white” or “the yolk of eggs are white”?
Neither—egg yolks are yellow.
Did you answer all of those correctly? Let’s see how many of these riddles for adults you can figure out.
Trick questions with numbers
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117. If seven adults can eat seven cupcakes in seven minutes, how long would it take 30 adults to eat 30 cupcakes?
Seven minutes: One adult takes seven minutes to eat a cupcake.
118. What has five fingers but isn’t a hand?
A glove.
119. What five-letter word becomes smaller when you add two letters, and even smaller when you add three?
Short.
120. Some months have eight letters in their name, whereas others have five. How many have three?
They all do.
121. What has 13 hearts but no other organs?
A deck of cards.
122. How many months have 28 days?
All of them.
123. What has three feet but can’t walk?
A yardstick.
124. If there are eight oranges in a bag and you take away two, how many do you have?
Two.
125. Two is a duo, and three is a trio. So what do four and five make?
Nine.
Now that your brain is warmed up, give these logic puzzles a shot.
Additional reporting by Kelly Kuehn.
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