Rhyming Riddle 15

Here is today's riddle:

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I am a flag; my color's red;
I wave in a cave inside your head.
White horses all around me stand,
Who champ and stamp at your command.
Who am I?

clue:

It hurts you if you bite me.

clue:

It's important to brush the horses every day.

clue:

It's very wet inside the cave.

reveal/hide answer

Your tongue.

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This is one of my favorite traditional riddles. I like even better the ones where "it" is a lady in a red dress, dancing, but this idea of a flag is very nice too. We usually say "chomp" instead of "champ," but the phrase "champing at the bit" is a phrase we still use!

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Rhyming Riddle 14

Here is today's riddle:

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I met some people; they were three:
Not men nor women nor children they be.
Who were they?

clue:

There was a man, but not men.

clue:

There was a woman, but not women.

clue:

There was a child, but not children.

reveal/hide answer

A man, a woman, and a child.

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I like the way this riddle plays with singular and plural. It's kind of a "gotcha" riddle, but a grammatical "gotcha" — so that works for me!

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Rhyming Riddle 13

Here is today's riddle:

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Whimmy-whammy Jelly Bean:
This big round thing, it goes up green.
Whimmy-whammy Gingerbread:
When it comes down, it turns to red.

clue:

Whimmy-whammy: First half begins with W.

clue:

Whimmy-Whammy: Second half begins with M.

clue:

The red has little black seeds inside.

reveal/hide answer

Watermelon.

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I made up this refrain with half-nonsense, and half-food! The nonsense part gives clues to the spelling of the word, and the mention of food itself is a kind of clue too.

FreeRangeStock

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Rhyming Riddle 12

Here is today's riddle:

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I have a back without a spine;
Two arms but without bones are mine;
Three fourths of me a bed for sleep,
Three fourths of me a pet you keep.
Who am I?

clue:

My arms don't have hands.

clue:

A cot is a bed you sleep on.

clue:

A cat is a pet that you keep.

reveal/hide answer

A coat.

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I like the way this riddle combines two different types: there is the anatomical type, i.e. things that have what sound like human body parts — plus the spelling type, where you have to spell the word and count the number of the letters too! That means I used two different types of clues.

Flickr

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Rhyming Riddle 11

Here is today's riddle:

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My feet touch the ceiling, not the floor;
Whatever you hear, I hear much more.
My arms spread wide to give me a boost,
When daylight comes, I go home to roost.
Who am I?

clue:

I have two wings, but I do not sing.

clue:

My wings are like leather; they don't have feathers.

clue:

I mostly fly out at night, avoiding the light.

reveal/hide answer

A bat.

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I made the clues rhyme this time! And I think by the time people get to the last clue, it will be obvious, right? 

Of course, this is a riddle near and dear to my heart, living here in Austin. :-)

Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin

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Rhyming Riddle 10

Here is today's riddle:

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The calf, the goose, the bee:
The world is ruled by these three.
How do they do that?

clue:

What do you do with a goose-feather?

clue:

What can you make from the skin of a calf?

clue:

Besides honey, what do you get from a bee?

reveal/hide answer

Parchment, quill, sealing wax.

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This is one of those traditional riddles that comes from a long-ago time: no more feather quills writing on parchment and sealed with sealing wax as the edicts of kings and popes are promulgated. But it's still a cool riddle!

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Rhyming Riddle 9

Here is today's riddle:

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Apple Grape Banana Pear:
I tremble at each breath of air,
but the heaviest burdens I can bear.
Parsley Sage Rosemary Thyme:
I love to fall but cannot climb,
and I run smoother than any rhyme.
Who am I?

clue:

I fall down mountains and I also fall from the sky.

clue:

A puff of air makes me ripple, and so does a pebble.

clue:

I can lift up things made of wood and things made of steel!

reveal/hide answer

Water.

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I added the two lines about "Apple Grape Banana Pear" and "Parsley Sage Rosemary Thyme." I like how it sounds, but they are not needed; the poem also rhymes on its own without them. 

It would also be possible to create a nonsense refrain too: "Riddle Diddle Dabble Dare" and "Riddle Diddle Dabble Dime" or something like that!

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Rhyming Riddle 8

Here is today's riddle:

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Rain will fall, and wind will blow:
Tomorrow I was, just one day ago.
Storm has passed, the sky turns blue:
All too soon, I'll be yesterday too.

clue:

I'll be here all day.

clue:

But once I'm gone, I can never come back.

clue:

I am the first day of the rest of your life.

reveal/hide answer

Today

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This is a famous traditional riddle, and I turned it into a rhyming riddle by adding the parts about the rain, wind, storm, and sky. It's not a nonsense refrain; instead, I tried to pick something that resonates with the answer to the riddle.

FreeRangeStock

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Rhyming Riddle 7

Here is today's riddle:

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A skin have I,
More eyes than one;
Living underground,
I hide from the sun.
Who am I?

clue:

My eyes cannot see.

clue:

My eyes are how I grow.

clue:

You can eat my skin.

reveal/hide answer

A potato.

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The "eyes" and "skin" in this riddle do not belong to a human or an animal, but to something else instead! There are lots of these anatomical riddles, although it means people need to know that vocabulary. I hope everybody know about the "eyes" that are invoked in this riddle; the "skin" people know for sure, but I'm curious about how well the "eyes" are surviving. That's why there are two clues about the eyes!

PickPik

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Rhyming Riddle 6

Here is today's riddle:

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Yip-dip-yippity-dippity, tell me my friend:
Something you saw, and I saw, and everyone saw,
But now no one will see it, not ever again.

clue:

It vanished 24 hours ago at most.

clue:

Yip yip yippity: Y is the first letter.

clue:

Yip yip yippity: Y is the last letter too.

reveal/hide answer

Yesterday.

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I added the nonsense yip-dip-yippity-dippity in order to give clues based on the spelling of the answer.

This is a kind of clue too:

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Rhyming Riddle 5

Here is today's riddle:

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Two in one, but one in ten,
and only one in two.
Can you tell me what they are,
or do you need a clue?

clue:

Three, seven, nine: they all have two.

clue:

There are also two in four and five and eight.

clue:

But there's only one in six.

reveal/hide answer

Vowels.

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There are all kinds of ways you can remix this riddle and the clues, based on one in two, six, and ten; two in one, three, four, five, seven, eight, and nine... and you can go farther: two in twelve and twenty; three in eleven, thirteen, fifteen, and sixteen; four in fourteen, seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen. Have fun!

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Rhyming Riddle 4

Here is today's riddle:

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Hickamor Hackamor bursts through the window,
Hickamor Hackamor knocks at the door.
Hickamor Hackamor, can't you come in now?
No, he says, please, won't you open the door?
Riddle-me riddle-me riddle-me-ree:
Hickamor Hackamor, who can he be?

clue:

He comes through the window, whether it's open or closed.

clue:

He can get through the door if it's open, but not if it's closed.

clue:

He never comes to visit you at night, only during the day.

reveal/hide answer

Sunshine (sunbeam, daylight, sun).

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This one was inspired by a traditional riddle which goes:

Hickamor Hackamor over the kitchen door;
all the king's horses and all the king's men
couldn't pull Hickamore Hackamore
off the king's kitchen door. 

I really like the paradox of being able to get in through the window but not through the door, unless/until you open the door.

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Rhyming Riddle 3

Here is today's riddle:

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Green is the house, round as a ball,
With one red room, and one white wall.
Inside the people are so small
That you can never count them all.

clue:

It really is a home sweet home.

clue:

You need a knife to open the door.

clue:

Once the door is open, you cannot close it again.

reveal/hide answer

Watermelon.

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This food has inspired many riddles. Here are a few more with the same answer:

• Once I was going 'cross London Bridge; I met a man, drank his blood, and threw his hide away. 
• Who is that girl dressed in green with the biggest, reddest, sweetest heart of all?
• God made the house; a knife opens the door: look at all the itty-bitty babies inside the red room!
• I have a house: I painted it green outside, white inside, with a pink prison in which many prisoners are locked up. Who am I?

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Rhyming Riddle 2

Here is today's riddle:

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What goes from A to Z?
The alphabet, the alphabet.
What goes from Z to A?
Tell me that! Tell me that!

clue:

It runs on four feet.

clue:

It wears a beautiful coat.

clue:

Its coat is black and white.

reveal/hide answer

A zebra.

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The clues will help zoom in from the other possible answers: zeugma, zeta, zinnia, zoysia grass, and also Zambia, Zarathusa and Zenobia. Want to see all the z-to-a words in English? Use OneLook!

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Rhyming Riddle 1

Here is today's riddle:

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Tippity-tet,
Lippity-let,
The more I dry,
The wetter I get.
Who am I?

clue:

Tippity-tet, I start with the letter T.

clue:

Lippity-let, I end with the letter L.

clue:

Hang me up and I'll dry out again.

reveal/hide answer

A towel.

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I am trying a new clue strategy today! The first two clues are the first and last letters of the answer, and I wove those clues into the riddle itself with the nonsense doggerel. That way the clues are "in" the riddle, and they also form part of the rhyme.

This will work only with one-word answers, but a lot of riddles have one-word answers!

I really like how this prompts you to think about the answer to the riddle as a thing, but also as a word, which means as something that is made up of letters. Having letter clues like this makes it like a crossword, where you might have letters to help you find the answer.

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