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Top 100 Riddles and Brain Teasers

If you liked word problems in math class as a kid in school, chances are you may also enjoy the challenge that the top 100 riddles and brain teasers provide. These mind games test your logic and problem-solving skills, which makes them so fun. It's great to challenge your friends and family with riddles and brain teasers.

History of Riddles


If you were to compile your own list of top 100 riddles and brain teasers, you have only to look to literature for plenty of puzzling questions. Literature offers many twists to riddles and brain teasers. Its role has always been to entertain or to educate and riddles provide the perfect means to do so.

In her book, "Enigmas and Riddles in Literature," author Eleanor Cook relates how these early riddles were known as a figure of speech called aenigma. They may cloak a pun to solve or perhaps metaphors for truths not readily apparent. They may also disguise hidden truths. It is up to you to solve their mystery.

One of the more famous exchange of riddles takes place in J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit," where Bilbo and Gollum exchange riddles, including some of the classic riddles most worthy of inclusion in the best of riddles and brain teasers.

"What has roots as nobody sees, Is taller than trees, Up, up it goes, And yet never grows?" begins Gollum to which Bilbo quickly replies, "Mountain." Gollum delivers his second riddle, again stating the obvious in a metaphor for which Bilbo must deliver his answer. "Voiceless it cries, Wingless flutters, Toothless bites, Mouthless mutters." The answer, of course, is wind.

Other Riddles and Brain Teasers

To compile your own list of favorites, you can look toward the many brain games or mind fitness sites online. Riddles and brain teasers serve an important mental health function in addition to their entertainment value.

Challenging your mind may have other health benefits. A 2010 study in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry (Jun 10, 2010, E-publish ahead of print) found cognitive training helped prevent depression in older adults. The act of engaging your mind is powerful.

Top 100 Riddles and Brain Teasers

Your list will include things apparent to you. Why, of course, you know what walks on four legs, then two, and finally three. It is man. It's obvious that two girls born to the same mother on the same day, at the same time are not twins. They are triplets.

You have to observe and look for the truth, which is not obvious. It requires observation and logical thinking. One way you can open your mind to these possibilities if to try some brain games. Sites such as Brain Connection and Luminosity offer ways to train your brain to observe, remember, and find solutions quickly. Use the skills you learn from such training to put together your top 100 list.

Online sites, of course, will give you a plethora of riddles and brain teasers. Mix and match to come up with your own customized list. Among the offerings include:

Other sources you can use include puzzles such as optical illusions and trivia questions. Each will challenge your ability to observe and recall seemingly obscure facts and figures. What could be more entertaining for someone who enjoys this sort of esoteric knowledge? Part of the enjoyment of riddles and brain teasers, after all, is the knowledge of the answer that others may not have.

Your list of top brain teasers and 100 riddles creates a world of obscure knowledge of which only you have the solution to all their questions and puzzles. Only you have the key to these challenging questions. It is your pathway to training your brain to observe what others only see.