Have Fun with the Best Thanksgiving Riddles for the Family

“After a good dinner, one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relations.” — Oscar Wilde

Thanksgiving puns and Dad jokes are as much a part of family Thanksgivings (Friendsgivings too!) as butter ball, pumpkin pie and sweet potatoes. You can take part in the festivities and have fun with the best Thanksgiving riddles for the family – find your favorite ones below!

This post provides some of the best Thanksgiving riddles that you can ask as people watch the Thanksgiving day parade, are cooking up the big feast or making a light snack, or are relaxing after the big feast!

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to gather with family and friends, and engaging in fun activities that can bring laughter to kids of all ages and the older crowd alike. From corny jokes at the kids’ table to complex riddles that challenge the critical thinking and problem-solving skills of everyone around, there is something for everyone.

You could always start it off with a classic Thanksgiving riddle: “What’s the most musical part of a turkey?” and watch as everyone at the table ponders over this fun riddle—it’s the drumsticks, of course!

What Date Does Thanksgiving Fall On This Year?

THANKSGIVING DAY IN THE UNITED STATES IS ALWAYS THE FOURTH THURSDAY IN NOVEMBER.

One of the best things at the end of Thanksgiving is the light-hearted entertainment that follows the meal. Some folks do treasure hunts, while others play board games. Of course, most have some football games on too!

Another great idea for Thanksgiving is to challenge everyone with some brain teasers.

If you don’t happen to have a fun riddle book, we got you! These trick questions can test the wits of children of different age groups – and all the adults of different age groups too!

Thanksgiving riddles and silly jokes with some “fowl language” can keep the spirit high during the festivities.

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Best Thanksgiving Riddles – For The Kids!

Here are some funny riddles you can say during the Thanksgiving Holiday.

1. Inside a huge palace on a desert island there were a king, queen, and twins – but no people. How can that be?  
2. A bat and a ball cost $1.10. The bat costs one dollar more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?
3. There are 20 people in an empty, square room. Each person has full sight of the entire room and everyone in it – without turning his head or body, or moving in any way (other than the eyes). Where can you place an apple so that all but one person can see it?
4. Two mothers and two daughters went out to eat. Everyone ate one burger, yet only three burgers were eaten in all. How is this possible?
5. Billy’s mother had 5 children. The first was named Lala, the second was named Lele, the third was named Lili, and the fourth was named Lolo. What was the fifth child named?
6. What is easier to get into than out of?
7. Remove my skin and I won’t cry, but you might!
8. Where are the lakes always empty, the mountains always flat and the rivers always still?
9. What has legs but cannot walk?
10. What goes up but never comes down?
11. What kind of band never plays music?
12. What did the triangle say to the circle?
13. A word I know, six letters it contains, remove one letter and 12 remains, what is it?
14. What kind of lion never roars?
15. Without me Thanksgiving and Christmas are incomplete, when I’m on the table everyone tends to overeat. What am I?
16. What kind of tree can you carry in your hand?
17. What building has the most stories in the world?
18. The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?
19. What kind of dog never bites?
20. I have branches, but no fruit, trunk or leaves. What am I?

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ANSWERS:

1. The king, queen, and twins were mattresses.
2. The ball costs 5 cents. One dollar more than 5 cents is $1.05, the sum of which is $1.10.
3. Put the apple on someone’s head!
4. They were a grandmother, mother, and daughter.
5. Billy!
6. Trouble.
7. An onion.
8. A map.
9. A chair.
10. Your age.
11. rubber band.
12. You are pointless.
13. Dozens.
14. A dandilion.
15. A turkey.
16. A palm.
17. A library.
18. Footprints.
19. A hot dog.
20. A bank.

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Best Thanksgiving Riddles – For The Adults!

These fun Thanksgiving riddles will keep everyone chatting as they are getting the Thanksgiving menu put together!

1. You are in a place called Wally’s World and there is only one law. There is a mirror, but no reflection. There is pizza with cheese, but without sauce. There is pepper, but no salt. There is a door, yet no entrance or exit. What is the law?
2. What 4-letter word can be written forward, backward, or upside down, and can still be read from left to right?
3. What can go up a chimney down, but can’t go down a chimney up?
4. It has keys, but no locks. It has space, but no room. You can enter, but can’t go inside. What is it?
5. Marty throws a ball as hard as he can. It comes back to him, even though nothing and nobody touches it. How?
6. Turn me on my side and I am everything. Cut me in half and I am nothing. What am I?
7. What is unusual about the following words: revive, banana, grammar, voodoo, assess, potato, dresser, uneven?
8. A pet shop owner had a parrot with a sign on its cage that said, “Parrot repeats everything it hears.” Davey bought the parrot and for two weeks he spoke to it and it didn’t say a word. He returned the parrot but the shopkeeper said he never lied about the parrot. How can this be?
9. How can you take 2 from 5 and be left with 4?
10. A truck is stuck under a bridge and the driver cannot get it out. A man walks by and stops to help. He easily gets the truck unstuck. How did he do it?
11. What is in seasons, seconds, centuries, and minutes but not in decades, years, or days?
12. I fly without wings. I cry without eyes. Wherever I go, darkness follows me. What am I?
13. Grandpa went for a walk, and it started raining. He forgot to bring an umbrella and didn’t have a hat. When he got home, his clothes were soaking wet, but not a hair on his head was wet. How was this possible?
14. Which question can you never answer “yes” to?
15. I have no sword, I have no spear, yet rule a horde which many fear, my soldiers fight with a wicked sting, I rule with might, yet am no king. What am I?
16. Nobody empties me, but I never stay full for long. What am I?
17. What has no beginning, middle or end?
18. What kind of foods are the most fun at parties?
19. How far can a dog run into the woods?
20. With pointed fangs it sits in wait, with piercing force it doles out fate, over bloodless victims proclaiming its might, eternally joining in a single bite. What is it?

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ANSWERS:

1. Each word must contain a double letter.
2. Noon.
3. Umbrella.
4. Keyboard.
5. He throws it straight up.
6. 8. On its side it is infinity symbol. In half it is two zeros.
7. Take 1st letter of each word, place it at th eend, it will sepell the same word backwards.
8. The parrot was deaf.
9. F I V E – remove the letters F&E and you have the roman numeral for 4.
10. He let the air out of the tires.
11. The letter N.
12. A cloud.
13. Grandpa is bald.
14. Are you asleep?
15. A queen bee.
16. The moon.
17. A doughnut.
18. Fungi.
19. Only halfway, after that, he’s running out of the woods.
20. A stapler.

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Best Thanksgiving Riddles – Quick Takes

These are the rapid fire quick brain teasers that everyone will love!

1. I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I come alive with wind. What am I?
2. You measure my life in hours, and I serve you by expiring. I’m quick when I’m thin and slow when I’m fat. The wind is my enemy.
3. I come from a mine and am surrounded by wood. I help others to express themselves. What am I?
4.  What is brown and has a tail, a head, and no legs?
5.  If all Wibbles are Criggles, all Borkins are Kwumblins, no Hoggles are Borkins, and all Criggles are Borkins, is it true that all Borkins are Criggles?
6. What English word has three consecutive double letters?
7. A bus driver goes the wrong way down a one-way street. He passes the cops, but they don’t stop him. Why?
8. Name the next three letters in this combination: OTTFFSS.
9. There came a bird featherless and sat on the trees leafless. There came a maiden speechless and ate the bird featherless, from off the trees leafless. What is it?
10.  You don’t know me yet, but you always miss me when I’m gone. What am I?
11. Poor people have it. Rich people need it. If you eat it you die. What is it?
12.  I can fly but have no wings. I cry but have no eyes. What am I?
13.  Sam is outside a shop. She can’t read the signs, but she knows she needs to go in to make a purchase. What store is she at?
14.  What walks on four feet in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three at night?
15. I have only two words but thousands of letters. What am I?
16. What can travel all around the world while remaining stuck in a corner?
17. What can you hold in your right hand but never in your left?
18. What has many teeth but cannot bite?
19.  You go at red and stop at green. What am I?
20. How much dirt is in a hole that measures four feet by four feet by five feet?
    

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ANSWERS:

1. An echo.
2. A candle.
3. Pencil lead.
4. A penny
5. No.
6. Bookkeeper.
7. He was walking.
8. ENT. Each represents the first letter of a number in a sequence beginning with “one.” So what comes after six and seven? Eight, nine, and ten.
9. Snow.
10. Time.
11. Nothing.
12. A cloud.
13. An eyeglass store.
14. A man. The times of day represent a lifetime. He crawls as a baby, walks as an adult, and walks with a cane as an elderly man.
15. The post office.
16. A stamp.
17. Your left hand.
18. A comb.
19. A watermelon.
20. None; holes are empty.

Looking for a more challenging riddle, or maybe some math riddles? Check out these next 20!

1. Double my number, I’m less than a score, half of my number is less than four. Add one to my double when bakers are near, days of the week are still greater, I fear. What am I?
2. Four golfers named Mr. Black, Mr. White, Mr. Brown, and Mr. Blue were competing in a golf tournament. The caddy didn’t know their names, so he asked them. One of them, Mr. Brown, told a lie The 1st golfer said, “The 2nd golfer is Mr. Black. The 2nd golfer said, “I am not Mr. Blue!” The 3rd golfer said, “Mr. White? That’s the 4th golfer.” And the 4th golfer remained silent. Which one of the golfers is Mr. Blue?
3. What occurs once in January and again in February, but doesn’t occur again until the summer months of June, July, and August?
4. What word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?
5. A man leaves home, turns left three times, and returns home to face two men wearing masks. Who are the two men?
6. I am a word. If you pronounce me right, you are wrong; if you pronounce me wrong, you are right. What word am I?
7. Mr. and Mrs. Mustard have six daughters and each daughter has one brother. How many people are in the Mustard family?
8. Three playing cards in a row. Can you name them with these clues? There is a two to the right of a king. A diamond will be found to the left of a spade. An ace is to the left of a heart. A heart is to the left of a spade. Now, identify all three cards.
9. Four cars come to a four-way stop, all coming from a different direction. They can’t decide who got there first, so they all go forward at the same time. They do not crash into each other, but all four cars go. How is this possible?
10. Put a coin into an empty bottle and insert a cork into the neck. How can you remove the coin without removing the cork or breaking the bottle?
11. I grow richer with alcohol but die with water. What am I?
12. A woman builds a house with all four walls facing south. A bear walks past the house. What color is the bear?
13. What problem does a teacher with uncontrollable eyes have?
14. I have hands, but I cannot shake your hand. I have a face, but I cannot smile at you. What am I?
15. What has a bottom at the top?
16. If you drop me on the ground, I survive. But if you drop me in water, I die. What am I?
17. What sounds like a war machine but is a piece of clothing?
18. You live in a one-story house made entirely of redwood. What color are the stairs?
19. My first letter is in chocolate but not in ham. My second letter is in cake and jam, and my third is in tea but not in coffee. What am I?
20. What type of music do rabbits like?

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Answers:

1. The Number 6.
2. The Third Golfer.
3. The Letter U.
4. The word “short.”
5. A catcher & an umpire.
6. The word “wrong.”
7. There are nine Mustards in the family. Since each daughter shares the same brother, there are six girls, one boy, and Mr. and Mrs. Mustard.
8. The Ace of Diamonds, King of Hearts, and the Two of Spades.
9. They all made right-hand turns.
10. Push the cork down into the bottle. Then shake the coin out.
11. Fire.
12. White. It is a polar bear since this must be the North Pole if all walls face south.
13. He cannot control his pupils.
14. A clock.
15. Your legs.
16. Paper.
17. A tank top.
18. There are no stairs.
19. A Cat.
20. Hip Hop.

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Best Thanksgiving Riddles – 10 of the Hardest Riddles of All Time

These next 10 riddles are for the ones who want to really put on their thinking cap as they sit around the Thanksgiving dinner table waiting for their Thanksgiving turkey to digest after the whole family has eaten.

1. The Riddle of the Sphinx

Riddle: What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?

2. The Missing Dollar Riddle

Riddle: Three men check into a hotel room that costs $30. They each contribute $10. Later, the hotel manager realizes that there’s a discount and gives $5 back to the bellboy to return to the men. The bellboy decides to keep $2 and gives $1 back to each man. Now each man has paid $9, totaling $27. Plus the $2 the bellboy kept, that equals $29. Where’s the missing dollar?

3. The Paradoxical Frog Riddle

Riddle: A frog is at the bottom of a well 30 meters deep. Every day, it jumps up 3 meters and slides back 2 meters. How many days will it take the frog to get out of the well?

4. The Two Doors Riddle

Riddle: You are in a room with two doors. One leads to certain death, the other to freedom. There are two guards, one always tells the truth, the other always lies. You can ask one question to one guard to determine the door to freedom. What do you ask?

5. The Three Switches Riddle

Riddle: You are in a room with three switches that control three light bulbs in another room. You can only go into the room with the bulbs once. How do you determine which switch controls which bulb?

6. The River Crossing Riddle

Riddle: A farmer needs to get a wolf, a goat, and a cabbage across a river. The boat can only hold the farmer and one other item. If left alone, the wolf will eat the goat, and the goat will eat the cabbage. How does he do it?

7. The Five Pirates Riddle

Riddle: Five pirates have 100 gold coins. They must decide how to distribute the coins, but the proposal must get more than half of the votes, or the pirate making the proposal will be thrown overboard. The most senior pirate always proposes first. How do they distribute the coins to ensure the most senior pirate survives?

8. The Bridge and Torch Problem

Riddle: Four people need to cross a bridge at night. They have one flashlight and the bridge is too dangerous to cross without it. The bridge can only hold two people at a time. Each person takes a different time to cross the bridge: 1 minute, 2 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes. How do they all get across in the shortest time possible?

9. School Library

Riddle: You and a group if your friends are in the school library. One friend says there is a $100 hidden between pages 25 and 26 of one of the books on the top shelf of the library. You decide not to go and look for it. Why?

10. The Loving Wife

Riddle: A woman shoots her husband, then holds him underwater for five minutes. Next, she hangs him. Right after, they enjoy a lovely dinner. Explain.

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Answers:

1. A human (crawling as a baby, walking as an adult, and using a cane in old age).
2. There is no missing dollar. The men paid $27, $25 of which went to the hotel and $2 went to the bellboy. The initial $30 calculation is misleading.
3. 28 days. On the 27th day, the frog reaches 27 meters and jumps 3 meters to reach 30 meters and gets out of the well.
4. Ask either guard, “If I were to ask the other guard which door leads to freedom, what would he say?” Then, choose the opposite door.
5. Turn on the first switch and leave it on for a few minutes. Turn it off and turn on the second switch. Go into the room. The bulb that is on is controlled by the second switch. The bulb that is off but warm is controlled by the first switch. The bulb that is off and cold is controlled by the third switch.
6. The farmer takes the goat across first, then returns alone and takes the cabbage across, brings the goat back, takes the wolf across, and finally returns to get the goat.
7. Pirate A gives 98 coins to himself, 1 coin to Pirate C (third pirate), and 1 coin to Pirate E (fifth pirate). Pirates C and E will vote for this distribution to avoid getting nothing in subsequent rounds.
8. First, the 1-minute and 2-minute people cross together (2 minutes), then the 1-minute person returns with the flashlight (3 minutes total). Next, the 7-minute and 10-minute people cross together (13 minutes), and the 2-minute person returns with the flashlight (15 minutes total). Finally, the 1-minute and 2-minute people cross again (17 minutes total).
9. You know that the odd number in a book is always on the right and the even number is always on the left. The page numbers you were given could not be facing each other. So you know that the money could not be hidden there.
10. She took a picture of him and developed it in her darkroom.

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Best Thanksgiving Riddles

No matter how you choose to celebrate, incorporating riddles is a great way to keep everyone engaged and having fun. We hope these best Thanksgiving riddles help make your Thanksgiving a happy, fun day!

It opens doors for conversations about history (think “Mayflowers” and “Plymouth Rock”), encourages problem-solving skills, and creates lasting memories. It might just become a new Thanksgiving tradition that everyone, from the young children at the kids’ table to the older crowd, will enjoy.

Can’t get enough Thanksgiving? You can check out our Thanksgiving section of the blog for more ideas.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the Slowestuff newsletter for year-round content! We love to talk about seasonal topics, and keep an ongoing discussion about books and scrapbooking all year long!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Slowestuff

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