Holiday Riddles
PLAY
Holiday riddles for the whole season are here, and every card carries an Easy, Medium or Hard label so you can pick a run that fits the room. They work wonderfully as holiday riddles for kids at class parties and family dinners, and every Hard card keeps a hint in reserve for when the room gets stuck.
Holiday riddles: the season's own names hide other words inside them
Most cards here name an object and stack two or three plain details on it, and the detail that decides the answer is rarely the first one you notice. Something draped along a roof could be candles until the words plugged in arrive. A red and white stripe could belong to a barber pole until the shepherd's hook turns up. So read to the end of the card before you commit.
The Hard run splits in two. Cards 61 through 68 stop describing objects and start hiding a real word inside the season's own vocabulary: a vehicle that sounds like a verb, a surname that sounds like a grammar term, an evergreen one vowel away from an animal's coat. Say those aloud, spell them out, then try removing or swapping one letter. From 69 onward the job changes again to recall: carols, storybook characters, a Scottish song sung at midnight, a feeding trough. Six of those eighteen still turn on a word with two meanings, but you reach them by sense, not by sound.
This is the December page that covers more than one holiday, so the menorah, the dreidel, the kinara and the New Year countdown all live here. For the tree and Santa on their own, Christmas riddles stays with a single holiday from top to bottom, while winter riddles ask what the cold did to the water rather than what a festive name is hiding.
- Riddle 7: most people say A barber pole. Red and white stripes belong to both, so the color half cannot decide. A shepherd's crook curves at one end and a barber's pole does not, and it is that curve that lets the sweet hang on a branch.
- Riddle 46: most people say A gift box. Plenty of boxes turn up under a tree in bright patterns, so that part of the card fits a box fine. Ripped to shreds is what rules it out, because a box is still a box once the lid comes off.
- Riddle 59: most people say A pair of skis. Skis also turn a slope into a playground, but lacing is the wrong verb for them, since skis strap or clip onto a boot. Laces plus a blade leave only the footwear made for ice.
- Riddle 61: most people say A sled. A sled glides quietly over snow too, so the closing clue fits it just as well. The opening clue does not: nothing meaning to defeat a rival sounds like sled, while the answer is a homophone of exactly such a word.
Read every detail first. When two things still fit, say the name aloud and then spell it, and when neither moves, ask what the season itself is famous for.
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1. I visit every home in a single night, but I only use the chimney as my door. Who am I? Easy
Most people first say: The Tooth Fairy
Need a hint?
Ho, ho, ho!
Show answer
Santa Claus.
The route is the pivot. Plenty of night visitors get imagined for children, but only one is said to arrive by rooftop and flue instead of through a window or under a pillow.
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2. My nose glows so bright that I get to lead the whole sleigh. Who am I? Easy
Most people first say: Dasher, the lead reindeer
Need a hint?
The other reindeer used to laugh at me.
Show answer
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer.
Being out front is the pivot. The team already had a named leader, so this asks who got promoted, and the promotion came from a light the others lacked, not from speed.
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3. I wear lights and ornaments, but I'm not a person, and I only come indoors in December. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: A potted house plant
Need a hint?
There's a star on my head.
Show answer
A Christmas tree.
One word does the cutting here: indoors. Greenery gets hung with bulbs outside all season, so a thing carried into the living room for a single month narrows to the one that stands in a stand.
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4. I hang by the fireplace all December, hoping to get stuffed. What am I? Easy
Need a hint?
Check inside me on Christmas morning.
Show answer
A stocking.
Hoping is the tell. The card hands a feeling to a piece of cloth, and that feeling is emptiness waiting to be filled, which fits a hung tube and nothing you wear.
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5. Catch me if you can! I'm sweet, spiced, and shaped like a little person. What am I? Easy
Need a hint?
Run, run, as fast as you can.
Show answer
A gingerbread man.
A cookie taunting you is the move. Once the speaker is given a voice and a shape, the shape matters most: arms, legs and a head cut out of dough.
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6. I'm a circle of green that hangs on your front door for the whole season. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: A garland
Need a hint?
I'm often decorated with a red bow.
Show answer
A wreath.
Circle is the word that cuts. Greenery gets hung all over a house at this time of year, but only one piece of it is bent into a closed ring and fixed at eye level on the way in.
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7. I'm striped red and white and shaped like a shepherd's hook. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: A barber pole
Need a hint?
I taste like peppermint.
Show answer
A candy cane.
Stripes alone fit a lot of sweets, so lean on the hook. A crook shape borrowed from a shepherd is what turns a peppermint stick into something you loop over a branch.
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8. I'm small, I love making toys, and I work all year at the North Pole. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: One of Santa's reindeer
Need a hint?
I'm one of Santa's helpers.
Show answer
An elf.
Work is the clue that narrows it. Several small helpers live in holiday stories, but this one is on the payroll all year in a workshop, which rules out anything hitched to a sleigh.
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9. I hide surprises under paper and bows, and people shake me to guess my secret. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: A gift bag
Need a hint?
You'll find me under the tree.
Show answer
A present.
Shaking to guess is the pivot. A bag lets you peek straight down inside, so the thing described must be sealed all the way round, and that seal is the only reason anyone has to shake it at all.
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10. Stand under me during the holidays and you might just get a kiss. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: Holly hung on the door
Need a hint?
I hang from the ceiling or a doorway.
Show answer
Mistletoe.
Position does the work here. Several sprigs get hung for the season, yet only one is fixed overhead so that people caught beneath it owe each other a kiss.
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11. We jingle all the way, wherever the sleigh goes. What are we? Easy
Most people first say: Church bells
Need a hint?
There's a very famous song about us.
Show answer
Sleigh bells.
A plural speaker plus a sleigh is the narrowing pair. Bells hang in plenty of places, so the ride is what matters: these ones are strapped to a harness and sound only while it moves.
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12. I'm a creamy holiday drink with a name that sounds like it belongs in a henhouse. What am I? Medium
Need a hint?
A sprinkle of nutmeg finishes me off.
Show answer
Eggnog.
Henhouse is doing the pun. The card points at a bird's product rather than a bird, so the first syllable of the drink's name is what you are meant to hear.
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13. I hold nine candles and I shine for eight special nights. What am I? Medium
Need a hint?
I'm lit during Hanukkah.
Show answer
A menorah.
The count is the whole thing, and the two numbers are not a mistake. Eight nights get one flame each, and the ninth holder is for the helper candle used to light the others.
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14. I spin and spin during Hanukkah, and I have four letters on my sides. What am I? Easy
Need a hint?
I'm a spinning top.
Show answer
A dreidel.
Four letters on four sides is the detail to hold onto. The spinner is a top, and the Hebrew initials painted on its flats set the rules of the game played for coins.
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15. I drop once a year in New York City while millions of people count down and cheer. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: The Rockefeller tree
Need a hint?
Ten, nine, eight...
Show answer
The Times Square ball.
Once a year plus a countdown is the pair that narrows it. Lots of New York landmarks draw a crowd, but only one of them is lowered down a pole while the seconds are read out.
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16. I bloom in the night sky with a bang when the new year begins. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: A shooting star
Need a hint?
Look up at midnight.
Show answer
Fireworks.
Bloom is a borrowed word, not a plant clue. The bang is what matters: something silent that streaks across the sky cannot make a noise, while these open outward in petals of sparks.
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17. I'm the guest of honor at the holiday table, but I never eat a single bite. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: The host of the dinner
Need a hint?
I'm served on a big platter.
Show answer
The turkey.
Guest of honor and never eats cannot both describe a person, so the contradiction is the point. Resolve it by making the honored guest the dish itself, carried in on a platter.
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18. Shake me and watch a tiny winter storm fall inside me. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: A snowball
Need a hint?
I fit right in your hand.
Show answer
A snow globe.
Shake is the verb to watch. A storm you can start by hand has to be sealed in glass with water and flakes, which rules out anything you pack outdoors.
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19. I travel far and wide every December, carrying warm wishes from family and friends. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: A letter to Santa
Need a hint?
I arrive in the mailbox.
Show answer
A holiday card.
Traveling and carrying are what a piece of mail does, so the narrowing detail is direction: these go out from you to many people, rather than in from one child to the North Pole.
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20. Santa uses me as a front door, even though I'm full of smoke the rest of the year. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: The fireplace
Need a hint?
I sit on top of the roof.
Show answer
The chimney.
Front door is a figure of speech here. Smoke the rest of the year fixes the spot on the roof, so what the card names is the brick shaft above the hearth, not the hearth itself.
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21. Open one of my little doors each day in December. Sometimes chocolate hides behind them. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: A box of chocolates
Need a hint?
I count down the days until Christmas.
Show answer
An advent calendar.
Little doors opened on a schedule is the pivot, not the chocolate. One door a day means the object is counting something down, which a plain sweet box never does.
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22. We knock on your door in the cold, then fill the street with song. Who are we? Medium
Most people first say: Halloween trick-or-treaters
Need a hint?
Fa la la la la.
Show answer
Carolers.
Two clues pull in different directions: knocking at doors and singing in the street. Only one group does both, and the season fixes which songs they bring rather than which sweets they ask for.
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23. I'm the holiday dessert everyone jokes about giving away again next year. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: A plum pudding
Need a hint?
I'm dense, sweet, and surprisingly heavy.
Show answer
A fruitcake.
Nothing about the flavor would decide this. What the card leans on instead is a running joke, the one about a dense loaf that gets passed along and outlives every December it meets.
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24. I'm a wooden soldier with a very strong jaw, and I star in a famous ballet. What am I? Medium
Need a hint?
Tchaikovsky wrote music about me.
Show answer
A nutcracker.
Wooden soldiers fill every toy shop, so the ballet clue is what singles this one out. Tchaikovsky set that Christmas story to music, and the toy at its center has a hinged jaw built to crack shells.
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25. Millions of people make me on January 1 and forget all about me by February. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: A gym membership
Need a hint?
This year I'll definitely go to the gym...
Show answer
A New Year's resolution.
A date pair carries this one: made on the first of January, abandoned by the second month. Nothing physical is described at all, so what gets named is a promise rather than an object.
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26. I'm shiny and stringy, and I drape myself all over the tree. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: A length of ribbon
Need a hint?
I sparkle in the light.
Show answer
Tinsel.
Look at stringy. Beads come in strands, paper comes in sheets, and only one shiny decoration hangs off the branches as loose silver threads you can pull apart.
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27. What did the gingerbread man use to make his bed? Medium
Show answer
A cookie sheet
The pun rides on sheet. A bed needs a sheet, and a baker slides cookies onto a flat metal one, so the same word covers bedding and bakeware.
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28. Which reindeer has a shiny red nose? Easy
Show answer
Rudolph
Eight reindeer are named in the old Christmas Eve poem and not one of them glows. The ninth came along much later, and the red lamp on his face is what earns him the front of the team.
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29. What falls all winter at the North Pole but never gets hurt? Easy
Show answer
Snow
Falls is doing double duty. A person who falls can be hurt, but what drops from a winter sky arrives in soft flakes and cannot be injured by landing.
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30. What kind of music do wrapped presents listen to? Medium
Show answer
Wrap music
Say the four options aloud and one of them stops being a music style. Wrapping paper turns rap into wrap, so the pun lives in the spelling of a word you hear every day.
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31. How many nights does Hanukkah last? Easy
Show answer
Eight
Two numbers get mixed up on this holiday. The lamp has nine branches, but only eight of them stand for nights, because the ninth is the helper flame that lights the rest.
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32. ❄️ + 🌎 Easy
Need a hint?
Shake it and watch.
Show answer
A snow globe (snow + globe).
Name each picture instead of reading a scene. A flake gives the first half and a world gives the second, and pushed together they land on a desk toy full of water.
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33. 🍬 + 🦯 Easy
Need a hint?
It hangs on the tree and tastes like peppermint.
Show answer
A candy cane (candy + cane).
Two nouns, said in the order shown. The sweet supplies one half and the white stick the other, and the pair names a striped hook that hangs on a branch.
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34. 🥚 + 🥛 Medium
Need a hint?
It's a classic holiday drink.
Show answer
Eggnog (egg + a mug of creamy milk).
This pair is a recipe, not a word splice. One picture hands over the egg and the other the dairy poured in with it, so read them as a mixture whisked together rather than two syllables.
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35. 🦌 + 💡 Medium
Need a hint?
He leads the sleigh.
Show answer
Rudolph (a reindeer with his own light).
The bulb stands for a detail from one story. Reindeer all look alike in a picture, so the light is what names the single member of the team who carries his own.
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36. 🌰 + 💥 Medium
Need a hint?
It's a wooden soldier from a famous ballet.
Show answer
A nutcracker (nut + crack).
The burst is a verb, not an explosion. One picture hands over a hard shelled seed and the other the action done to it, and the tool that performs that action is a wooden figure.
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37. I'm a plant with red berries and pointy green leaves, and my name rhymes with 'jolly'. What am I? Easy
Show answer
Holly
Berries and pointy leaves fit more than one winter plant, so the rhyme does the deciding. A two syllable name that chimes with a cheerful adjective leaves one candidate standing.
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38. Santa makes me and then checks me twice. What am I? Easy
Show answer
His list
Checking twice is a quoted line, not a general habit. One well known song describes the writing and the double check together, which pins down what is being made.
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39. In what month does the new year begin? Easy
Show answer
January
Nothing tricky sits in this one. Western calendars start counting on the first day of the opening month, so this card is a plain date check rather than a pun.
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40. The nine-branched candle holder lit during Hanukkah is called a menorah. Medium
Show answer
True.
True, and the number in the question is the part people get wrong. Eight nights each take a candle, and a ninth branch carries the shamash, the helper flame; the Hanukkah lamp is also called a hanukkiah.
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41. I'm built outdoors on a snowy day, with a carrot for a nose and a coal for a smile. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: A snow angel
Show answer
A snowman.
Built is the verb that matters. A shape pressed flat into snow needs no nose, so a face made of kitchen leftovers means someone stacked and dressed this one standing up.
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42. I'm a potted plant famous for the bright red leaves I show off around Christmas. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: A red rose
Show answer
A poinsettia.
Leaves, not petals, is the catch. What looks like a bloom on this plant is colored foliage, so the December favorite wins over any flower with true red petals.
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43. We wrap around the tree and drape across the roof, twinkling only once we're plugged in. What are we? Easy
Most people first say: Candles on the tree
Show answer
Christmas lights.
Plugged in is the deciding clue. Anything that burns glows on its own, so a decoration that stays dark until it meets an outlet has to run on a cord.
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44. Hop on and I'll carry you swishing down a snowy hill. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: A sleigh
Show answer
A sled.
Hop on tells you how big it is. A vehicle you board yourself, with no animals in front and no road under it, comes down to the plastic tray kids drag uphill.
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45. I'm round, shiny, and I dangle from a branch by a tiny hook. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: A jingle bell
Show answer
An ornament.
The tiny hook is the detail that cuts. Plenty of round shiny objects exist, but a built in wire loop means this one was made to be hung on a twig and taken down again.
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46. I cover your gifts in bright colors, then get ripped to shreds on Christmas morning. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: A gift box
Show answer
Wrapping paper.
Color is not the deciding clue, the damage is. Whatever the card describes cannot be flattened and kept, so it has to be the thin sheet that works once and goes in the bin by lunchtime.
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47. I sit higher than every ornament, right at the very top of the tree. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: An angel
Show answer
The star.
Higher than every ornament is a ranking, not a description. The card only tells you the position, so you supply the shape yourself, and the one that sits up there by tradition has five points.
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48. I'm a crispy potato pancake fried up and enjoyed during Hanukkah. What am I? Medium
Show answer
A latke.
This dish is built on the oil, not the potato. The festival remembers a lamp that burned far longer than its fuel allowed, so fried food carries the story, here as shredded potato in a pan.
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49. I'm a chocolate coin wrapped in shiny gold foil, handed out during Hanukkah. What am I? Medium
Show answer
Gelt.
Money is the point, not chocolate. Small coins were once handed to children at this festival, and the sweet version copies that custom right down to the foil that mimics metal.
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50. I hold seven candles and I'm lit during Kwanzaa, one for each day. What am I? Medium
Show answer
A kinara.
Seven is the number to hold. The festival runs a week from late December, and each candle stands for one of its seven guiding principles as well as one evening.
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51. I hang from the edge of the roof, clear and pointed, and I drip when the sun comes out. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: A leaky gutter
Show answer
An icicle.
Sunshine is the trigger to notice. A gutter drips whenever it rains, but this one waits for warmth, which means the water was being held as a solid spike until then.
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52. Warm me in a mug, float marshmallows on top, and sip me after playing in the snow. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: Warm apple cider
Show answer
Hot cocoa.
Marshmallows are the deciding detail. Plenty of hot drinks warm you after a snow fight, but only one is thick enough to hold little white cubes on its surface.
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53. In the famous Christmas Eve poem, visions of me danced in the children's heads. What am I? Medium
Show answer
Sugar plums.
One line of an old Christmas Eve verse carries this. The children in it are asleep while a sweet dances behind their eyelids, and the sweet it names is a sugary comfit rather than fresh fruit.
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54. I'm a rolled cake frosted to look like a piece of bark, served for Christmas dessert. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: A fruitcake
Show answer
A yule log.
Bark is the shape reference, not an ingredient. Rolled sponge frosted in ridges imitates a log that used to be burned on the hearth, so the dessert borrows its name from firewood.
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55. No two of us are ever exactly alike, and we drift down by the millions on a winter day. What are we? Easy
Most people first say: Falling raindrops
Show answer
Snowflakes.
The uniqueness line is a well known claim about ice crystals, and it is the half that does the work. No one says that about rain, so the plural speaker here must be frozen.
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56. Slip your hands inside me to stay warm; unlike gloves, I keep all your fingers together. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: A coat pocket
Show answer
Mittens.
Gloves are named and ruled out on the card, so the open question is what else bundles fingers. A pocket does that too, but a pocket stays sewn to a coat, and this thing is pulled on and off a hand.
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57. Wobbling on the plate right beside the turkey, I'm the tart red side dish. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: Gravy on the plate
Show answer
Cranberry sauce.
Wobbling is the texture word that decides it. Anything poured spreads out flat, so a side dish that holds a jiggling shape came out of a can or a mould.
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58. A famous holiday song says you should roast me on an open fire. What am I? Medium
Show answer
Chestnuts.
A lyric is the key. One much played winter song opens with nuts heating over flames, and that opening line is the only place this one hides.
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59. Lace me up and a frozen pond turns into a dance floor. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: A pair of skis
Show answer
Ice skates.
Lace me up is the instruction that narrows the gear. Boots and bindings clip or strap, while this pair ties tight and rides on a thin blade, which is what turns a pond into a floor.
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60. Looping along the mantel and winding up the staircase, I'm a long leafy rope. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: Tinsel on the mantel
Show answer
Garland.
Leafy is the word doing the work. Metal strands and fabric bows both drape the same way, so the material is the tell: this one is a rope of greenery, not of foil.
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61. I sound exactly like a word that means to defeat someone, but I just glide quietly over the snow. What am I? Hard
Most people first say: A sled
Need a hint?
Two spellings, one sound: pick the peaceful one.
Show answer
A sleigh.
Two words share one sound here. The card describes a quiet ride, so pick the spelling with the silent g and h, and leave the battlefield word to the poets.
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62. Santa's last name sounds just like a piece of a sentence that your grammar teacher loves to point out. What is it? Hard
Need a hint?
Think of the word your English teacher circles.
Show answer
Claus, which sounds like clause.
Read the name and nothing happens; say it and the trick lands. Out loud, that final s on the surname matches the grammar word for a chunk of a sentence, so the ear solves this one and the page never will.
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63. Brought indoors for the holidays, I'm an evergreen whose name sounds like something warm on a cat. What am I? Hard
Need a hint?
Swap one vowel and you have a cat's coat.
Show answer
A fir.
Warm on a cat points at a three letter sound, and the tree name shares it. Swap the i for a u and you have the animal coat, which is the joke the card sets up.
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64. Hidden in my name are a word for wet weather and a sweet term of affection. Say me slowly. What am I? Hard
Need a hint?
Say the name in two beats, weather first.
Show answer
A reindeer.
Say it slowly and the seam appears. Two everyday words sit end to end inside the animal's name, one for weather and one for a pet name, and neither has anything to do with antlers.
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65. Short and old, my name means the whole festive season and sounds just like 'you will' squeezed together. What am I? Hard
Need a hint?
Four letters, and a contraction hides in the sound.
Show answer
Yule.
The card asks for one short old word doing two jobs: naming the festive weeks and matching the sound of a very common contraction. Only four letters manage both.
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66. Take the pointy plant with red berries, drop one letter, and you are left with a word that means sacred. What word? Hard
Need a hint?
Drop a letter and the meaning turns solemn.
Show answer
Holy.
Holly loses one letter and stops being a plant. The double l is the target: take one away and what remains is a short word for something set apart as special, which is the sense the card asks for.
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67. Change one letter in the cheerful holiday word 'merry' and suddenly you are walking down the aisle. What word do you get? Hard
Need a hint?
Swap the vowel that sits right after the m.
Show answer
Marry.
One vowel carries the whole trick. Keep the m, the double r and the y, then swap the vowel right after the m, and a cheerful greeting turns into a wedding verb.
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68. Nipping at fingers and toes all winter, my name even ends with a word for a nibble. What am I? Hard
Need a hint?
Split the name; the second half is a chomp.
Show answer
Frostbite.
The last four letters are a word on their own. Read the name as two pieces and the second piece is a small chomp, which explains why the card calls the cold a nibbler.
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69. I paint feathery patterns on cold windows and pinch your nose red, yet you never once see my brush. Who am I? Hard
Need a hint?
A folklore painter blamed for winter windows.
Show answer
Jack Frost.
A brush you never see is the tell. Give the weather a hand and a paint pot and the culprit becomes the folklore figure blamed for window patterns and red noses.
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70. My heart was two sizes too small until a small town's singing taught it to grow. Who am I? Hard
Need a hint?
A Dr. Seuss grump who hated the noise.
Show answer
The Grinch.
A measured heart is the detail to catch. The story gives an exact undersize, and the cure is a town that keeps singing after its presents are gone, which fixes the character.
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71. Three ghosts in a single night cured me of my 'bah, humbug' ways. Who am I? Hard
Need a hint?
Dickens wrote this miser and his three visitors.
Show answer
Ebenezer Scrooge.
Count the ghosts. One night with three visitors is a specific plot, and the grumbling catchphrase belongs to the London miser of that story rather than to any other holiday grouch.
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72. An old silk hat brought me to life one day, but I always melt away when the sun grows strong. Who am I? Hard
Need a hint?
A song figure with a magic silk hat.
Show answer
Frosty the Snowman.
A hat doing the magic is the detail that names him. Plenty of snow figures appear in songs, but only one is animated by secondhand headwear and mourned when spring arrives.
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73. Naughty children dread finding me in their stocking, though I could have warmed the whole fireplace instead. What am I? Hard
Need a hint?
Cheap fuel, delivered as a scolding.
Show answer
Coal.
Dreaded in a stocking, valuable in a grate: the card sets those two readings against each other. One black lump answers both, because worth depends on where it lands.
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74. Sit on top of a gift or bend at the waist after a show, and either way I am spelled the very same. What am I? Hard
Need a hint?
One spelling covers a loop and a bend.
Show answer
A bow.
Same three letters, two different sounds. On a parcel it is a tied loop; after a performance it is a bend from the waist, and English never bothered to give them separate spellings.
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75. In a certain counting carol, the very first gift my true love sent was a single bird in a fruit tree. What was it? Hard
Need a hint?
Day one of the counting carol.
Show answer
A partridge in a pear tree.
Order is what the card is testing. The gifts in that counting carol arrive one day at a time, and day one fixes both the bird and the tree it perches in.
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76. In that same twelve-day song, I'm the gift everyone slows down to belt out at the top of their lungs. What am I? Hard
Need a hint?
The line that everyone stretches out.
Show answer
Five golden rings.
Singers give one line a long pause and a big breath, and the card is asking which. It is day five of the twelve, the verse where the tune slows and stretches out for metal jewelry.
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77. Strangers cross arms and sing my old Scottish title at midnight, though hardly anyone knows the words. What song am I? Hard
Need a hint?
Robert Burns supplied the words.
Show answer
Auld Lang Syne.
Crossed arms at midnight are a custom, and the Scottish title is what the card hangs on. A poem set to an older tune gets sung at the turn of the year by crowds who never learned its verses.
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78. A flash of bright red against fresh snow, I land on many a holiday card. What bird am I? Hard
Most people first say: A robin
Need a hint?
Red all over, not just the chest.
Show answer
A cardinal.
Bright red against white narrows the field to two birds. One of them wears red only as a patch on the chest, while the other reads as red all over at a distance, which is what a card printer wants.
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79. I'm an old-fashioned word that means both a spiced holiday drink and the act of singing door to door. What am I? Hard
Need a hint?
One word for the cup and the caroling.
Show answer
Wassail.
One old word covers a drink and an activity, which is why the card gives two definitions. Hearing it as only a beverage loses the half about going from door to door.
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80. Named for chopped meat yet usually packed with fruit and spice, I'm a little holiday pie. What am I? Hard
Need a hint?
The filling no longer matches the name.
Show answer
A mince pie.
The name kept a meaning the filling dropped. Mince once told you there was meat inside; today the jar holds dried fruit and spice, and only the label stayed behind.
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81. I land twelve days after Christmas and mark the day the wise men finally reached the manger. What day am I? Hard
Need a hint?
Look up the sixth of January.
Show answer
Epiphany.
Counting twelve days on from Christmas lands on a fixed date in the church calendar, and the visit of the wise men is what that date marks. The carol's count ends there too.
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82. The day right after Christmas carries a punchy name, but not a single fist is thrown. What day am I? Hard
Need a hint?
Think parcels, not punches.
Show answer
Boxing Day.
Boxing here is about boxes, not gloves. The usual account traces the name to gift boxes handed out the day after Christmas, so the fighting sense is the reading to drop.
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83. On a soccer field I'm a sneaky move between the legs, but on eggnog I'm the spice grated on top. What am I? Hard
Need a hint?
Football slang borrowed a spice rack word.
Show answer
Nutmeg.
Two fields, one word. Football slang borrowed a kitchen jar, so the card can describe a trick between an opponent's legs and a grater over a mug in the same breath.
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84. Santa's frosty home address, I share my name with a person born in Warsaw. What am I? Hard
Need a hint?
A citizen of Poland shares the spelling.
Show answer
The North Pole.
Capitalization is the hinge. Lowercase, it is a stick; uppercase, it names someone from Poland, and Warsaw is that country's capital, which is how the address turns into a pun.
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85. The calmest carol by name, I was first sung by candlelight when a church organ broke down. What song am I? Hard
Need a hint?
The quietest title in the carol book.
Show answer
Silent Night.
The title is the fact in play: a carol whose name promises quiet. The candlelight story about a broken organ is a legend often retold, and it is the detail the card borrows.
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86. I began as a plain feeding trough for farm animals, then became the most famous baby bed in the world. What am I? Hard
Most people first say: A wooden cradle
Need a hint?
Farm animals ate from it first.
Show answer
A manger.
A feeding trough is the literal sense, and a nativity scene is the fact that gives it fame. The same wooden box holds hay for cattle in one reading and a newborn in the other.
Christmas riddles about Santa, elves, and treats
The opening run covers the December icons: a glowing red nose, a stocking hoping to get stuffed, and the gingerbread man daring you to catch him.
Hanukkah and New Year riddles
The menorah, a spinning dreidel, the Times Square ball drop and the New Year fireworks each get a card, and the Kwanzaa kinara turns up later on, so the whole season is covered rather than one holiday.
Holiday riddles for kids: quiz and emoji rounds
The middle of the page turns into a party game: a run of multiple choice questions, five emoji pairs, three type-in answers and one true or false card, all of them gentler than the Hard run that closes the page.
Your score
FAQ about Holiday Riddles
Which holidays do these riddles cover?
Christmas takes the biggest share, with Santa, reindeer and tree cards. Hanukkah brings a menorah, a spinning dreidel, a latke and a handful of gelt, and Kwanzaa supplies a seven candle kinara. New Year cards hand over the ball drop, the fireworks and the resolution nobody keeps, so one page covers the whole festive stretch.
Are these holiday riddles kid friendly?
Every card is family safe, and most are written for kids. The quiz run in the middle asks the least of a solver, because a printed set of choices, an emoji pair or one short typed answer takes less than open recall, while the Hard tier at the end mixes wordplay with carols and characters that grown-ups are likelier to know.
How can I use these at a holiday party or in class?
Read them aloud between activities, print a few onto gift tags, or run the multiple choice block as a team quiz. Every answer sits behind a tap to reveal, so the host is never left stuck.
What changes once the Hard tier starts?
Two things, in order. Items 61 to 68 take the season's own words apart, so sleigh, Claus, fir, holly and merry each hide or neighbor another word, and those get solved by ear and by spelling. From 69 onward the page asks what you remember instead: song titles, storybook figures and December customs you either know or look up, plus six cards that hinge on a word carrying two meanings.
Christmas keeps its own collection here: Christmas riddles drops Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and the New Year and stays with the tree, Santa and the snow around them. And when a sentence stops being clue enough, switch formats with our Christmas rebus puzzles, where the puzzle is drawn and the answer has to be read out of the picture.