Riddles for Adults #2 — Answers

Full answers for Riddles for Adults Set 2. The surgeon riddle has an explanation that names the assumption directly, because that is the whole puzzle.

#1easy

What has a spine but no bones?

Answer: a book

The spine of a book is the bound edge that holds the pages together.

#2medium

What comes once in a year, twice in a week, but never in a day?

Answer: e

There is one E in 'year', two in 'week', and none at all in 'day'.

#3medium

What can you give away and still keep for yourself?

Answer: your word

You give someone your word, and yet you keep it at the same time.

#4hard

What has one head, one foot and four legs?

Answer: a bed

A bed has a headboard at one end, a foot at the other, and four legs underneath.

#5hard

A father and his son are in a serious crash. The father dies at the scene. The boy is rushed to hospital, where the surgeon looks at him and says: I cannot operate on this boy, he is my son. How?

Answer: his mother

The surgeon is the boy's mother. The puzzle only works if you assumed a surgeon must be a man.

#6hard

What is the one thing that gets sharper the more you use it?

Answer: your brain

A blade dulls with use, but the brain does the opposite and sharpens.