Mystery Riddles With Answers
Updated · Best Riddles With Answers editorial team
Quick answer: Mystery riddles are puzzles with a shadowy feel: fog, locked doors, secret messages and buried treasure. This page has 42 of them with answers. Some are what-am-I riddles you can guess, and the harder ones are codes and number mysteries that you solve by working carefully, with every step explained.
Easy Mystery Riddles
I follow you in the sunshine, copy every move you make, and vanish in the dark. What am I?
Your shadow.
I open locks without any hands, and I am easily lost. What am I?
A key.
I am drawn on old paper, and I lead to treasure when you follow my dotted line to the X. What am I?
A treasure map.
I am woven in the corners of old rooms by a creature with eight legs. What am I?
A cobweb.
I sparkle on the grass at dawn and I am gone by noon. What am I?
Dew.
I roll in over the harbour, soft and grey, and swallow the lights of ships. What am I?
Fog.
I whisper through keyholes and rattle shutters, and no one has ever seen me. What am I?
The wind.
I stand on a rocky coast and flash my light to warn ships of danger. What am I?
A lighthouse.
I groan under your foot in an old house, and I am always loudest when you tiptoe. What am I?
A creaky floorboard.
I carry a secret in an envelope and wear a blob of wax as a seal. What am I?
A sealed letter.
I am an old creaking house where children dare each other to go inside. What am I?
A haunted house.
I am a flame in a glass cage, carried through the dark to light your way. What am I?
A lantern.
Trickier Mystery Riddles
I come out at night without being called, I am too many to count, and I vanish at sunrise. What am I?
Stars.
I am built to protect secrets, yet I am made to be cracked. What am I?
A code.
I am written in lemon juice and show up only when held near a flame. What am I?
Invisible ink.
I travel the sea alone in a corked glass home, carrying a note for whoever finds me. What am I?
A message in a bottle.
I hoot at midnight and can turn my head almost all the way round. What am I?
An owl.
I run behind a bookcase and under a castle, and I am used by those who need to escape unseen. What am I?
A secret passage.
I have tall walls but no roof, many paths that fool you, and just one way out. What am I?
A maze.
I show a face, but it is not yours, and I hide who you really are at the ball. What am I?
A mask.
I sail with no crew in old sea legends, and sailors who spot me fear what comes next. What am I?
A ghost ship.
I shine at night, but my light is borrowed from the sun. What am I?
The Moon.
I am a ball of string unrolled behind someone who enters a maze so that they can find the way back. What am I?
A thread (a ball of thread).
I am black and white and read all over. What am I?
A newspaper (read sounds like red).
Hard Mystery Riddles
A treasure message reads: GSV GIVZHFIV RH FMWVI GSV LZP GIVV. The first letter of the alphabet stands for the last, the second for the second to last, and so on. What does it say?
THE TREASURE IS UNDER THE OAK TREE. A becomes Z, B becomes Y, so G becomes T, S becomes H and V becomes E.
A safe code is hidden in a rhyme: 'Take the days in a week, add a spider's legs, and take away the sides of a triangle.' What is the code?
12, because 7 + 8 - 3 = 12.
At noon a 1 metre stick casts a shadow 1 metre long, while a tower casts a shadow 30 metres long. How tall is the tower?
30 metres. The sun's angle is the same for both, so a shadow equal to the height means the tower's shadow equals its height.
A hiker shouts at a cliff and hears the echo four seconds later. Sound travels about 340 metres per second. How far away is the cliff?
About 680 metres. The sound covers 340 x 4 = 1,360 metres there and back, so the cliff is half of that away.
A map says: from the old oak walk 12 paces north, then 5 paces east. Walking straight back to the oak, how many paces is the shortest way?
13 paces. The two legs form a right angle, and 12 squared plus 5 squared is 169, which is 13 squared.
Pick a three digit number whose first digit is at least 2 more than its last, reverse it, and subtract the smaller from the larger. Reverse that answer and add it to the answer. What always appears?
1089. For example, 532 - 235 = 297, and 297 + 792 = 1089.
Think of any number, double it, add 10, halve the result, then subtract the number you started with. What do you end with?
Always 5. Starting with x, you get (2x + 10) / 2 - x, which is x + 5 - x = 5.
A mysterious six digit number, when multiplied by 7, gives 999999. What is it?
142857, because 999999 divided by 7 is 142857.
A chest has a three digit lock. The digits are consecutive and rise from left to right, and they add up to 15. What is the combination?
456, because 4 + 5 + 6 = 15.
A girl says, 'In three years I will be twice as old as I was seven years ago.' How old is she?
17. In three years she will be 20, and seven years ago she was 10.
Quick-Fire Mystery Riddles
What letter marks the spot on a treasure map?
X.
Which eight-armed sea monster of legend is said to drag ships beneath the waves?
The Kraken.
Who is the secret worker who goes undercover to gather hidden information?
A spy.
Which word meaning a puzzle or mystery starts with E?
Enigma.
Which winged monster of Greek legend asked travellers riddles?
The Sphinx.
Which stretch of ocean is famous for vanishing ships?
The Bermuda Triangle.
What does a magician pull out of a hat?
A rabbit.
In which Scottish lake is a famous monster said to live?
Loch Ness.
How to Enjoy Mystery Riddles
Mystery riddles work best told with atmosphere. Dim the lights, lower your voice, and read the clues slowly, pausing before the last line. The easy set suits a spooky story hour, and the trickier set rewards listeners who picture the scene. For codes and number mysteries, hand out paper and pencils.
To solve a code, test small ideas first: swap each letter for the next one, reverse the alphabet, or read every other letter. For number mysteries, try an example with simple digits and watch what happens. Most mysteries become clear once you work one case through by hand.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes a riddle a mystery riddle?
A mystery riddle uses hidden things, secrets, shadows or codes as its theme. It may be a what-am-I riddle with a spooky tone, or a puzzle where you decode a message or reveal a number trick.
How do mystery riddles differ from detective riddles?
Detective riddles ask you to name a culprit from evidence. Mystery riddles are broader: they include atmospheric what-am-I riddles, codes and number tricks, with no suspect to find.
Are these mystery riddles scary?
No. They have a spooky mood, with ghosts, fog and shadows, but nothing frightening or violent. They are suitable for families, and younger children will enjoy the easy set.
How do I solve a coded message riddle?
Try simple ciphers first: shift each letter by a fixed number, reverse the alphabet, or swap letters for numbers. If a short word appears, such as THE, you have found the right idea.
