The Riddler's Best Riddles
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Riddle me this, Detective. These riddler riddles are written in the green question mark voice Gotham fears, from quick taunts to full logic traps. All 88 cards carry a difficulty grade, and every reveal explains why the answer works. Between the batman riddles sit nine cards that swap the taunt for a question you answer by picking a choice, seven of them trivia from the comics, the screen, and the Arkham games, so you can prove you are the World's Greatest Detective.
How to beat the Riddler: find the clue that kills your first guess
Work the clue that excludes rather than the clue that invites. A card promises to open Arkham's heaviest door while hiding inside a closed fist, which a plastic keycard does too, so the deciding word is turn. Another hangs like a dagger from a gutter, as a frozen knife would, yet only an icicle strikes the pavement because it melted away. Ask which clause your first guess fails.
The difficulty grade tells you which muscle to use. There are 36 Easy, 26 Medium and 26 Hard among the 88 cards, and the hard ones are where arithmetic sneaks in. Check your own shortcut before you trust it. Ten divided by one predicts the snail leaves the well on day ten, yet tracking its height each dawn gives the eighth. Twelve feels right for overlapping clock hands, but the minute hand gains only eleven whole laps across the twelve hours the card names.
Not every card behaves the same way. Nine of the 88 score the choice you pick, seven of those trivia about the comics, the screen and the Arkham games, and two logic puzzles wearing four answer options. One card asks you to type what you think. The remaining 78 hold their answer back until you tap. Tap only after you have named the clue that does the ruling out. For more of the same practice, try our tricky riddles.
- Riddle 18: most people say a janitor's keyring. A keyring opens locks, and this clue denies opening anything in Arkham. Count the keys instead: eighty-eight of them, black and white, laid in a row and struck rather than turned.
- Riddle 47: most people say a hidden panic room. A panic room still has walls, a floor and a ceiling, and the clue denies all three. The word room is hiding inside a longer word, and the autumn gathering points at the damp garden rather than the house.
- Riddle 79: most people say two more rungs. Adding two feet of tide to a fixed ladder gives two more rungs, which assumes the boat is nailed to the seabed. A hull rises with the water, so the gap between the third rung and the surface never changes.
- Riddle 78: most people say five candles. Seven minus two leaves five, which counts the candles still alight. Those five burn down to nothing by morning, so what remains at dawn is the pair the draft put out early.
Name the clue that rules out your first guess before you answer, then recheck any number you worked out in your head.
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1. Riddle me this: I have a bat, but I never play ball. I have a cave, but I am not a mountain. I have a butler, but I am rarely home for dinner. Who am I? Easy
Most people first say: a baseball player
Need a hint?
The Riddler's favorite target.
Show answer
Batman.
Each line names a Bruce Wayne fixture instead of the sports gear you expect: the creature, the hideout under the manor, Alfred serving upstairs.
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2. Riddle me this: the more you take from me, the bigger I get. Dig into that one, Detective. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: a pile of dirt
Need a hint?
Grab a shovel.
Show answer
A hole.
Dirt piles shrink when you scoop them, so that guess fails its own test. Whenever removal makes something larger, the subject is an absence rather than a substance.
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3. Riddle me this: I have a face that never frowns, hands that never wave, and I strike without throwing a punch. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: a boxer in a ring
Need a hint?
The Riddler loves leaving me ticking at crime scenes.
Show answer
A clock.
Clock parts pun on a human face, hands, and striking the hour.
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4. Riddle me this: what belongs to the Dark Knight, yet criminals in Gotham use it far more than he does? Easy
Most people first say: the Batmobile
Need a hint?
Whisper it in an alley and watch everyone run.
Show answer
His name. They can't stop saying it.
Vehicles stay with whoever drives them, ruling out the Batmobile. Look for a label instead of a possession: anyone can speak a word without ever removing it from its owner.
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5. I am green as envy and curved like a hook. You will find me at the end of every question, and all over my suit. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: a green snake
Need a hint?
The Riddler's whole wardrobe answers this one.
Show answer
A question mark.
Three attributes stack until one candidate survives: color, hook shape, and closing every sentence that asks something. A green snake fails the last test.
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6. Riddle me this: I can fill an entire room in Arkham without taking up any space at all. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: a loud noise
Need a hint?
Flip the switch and I am everywhere at once.
Show answer
Light.
A noise is only the room's own air in motion, so it brings nothing of its own. Pump that air out and the noise cannot exist, while the winner still crosses empty space and floods the cell the instant a switch closes.
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7. Riddle me this: what building in Gotham has the most stories? Easy
Most people first say: the tallest skyscraper
Need a hint?
Stories are not only floors.
Show answer
The Gotham City library.
A library holds the most stories, punning building floors against tales.
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8. What is the Riddler's most commonly used real name in the comics? Easy
Show answer
Edward Nygma
Edward Nygma, sometimes spelled Nigma. Say it fast: E. Nygma, enigma. The others are Mr. Freeze, the Penguin, and Two-Face.
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9. I am lighter than a feather, yet even the World's Greatest Detective cannot hold me for ten minutes. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: a helium balloon
Need a hint?
Even in the Batsuit, this rule applies.
Show answer
His breath.
A balloon can be gripped all afternoon, so grip is the wrong reading. Hold also means keep inside the body, and lungs give out long before ten minutes pass.
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10. Riddle me this: what gets sharper the more you use it, Detective? Easy
Most people first say: a kitchen knife
Need a hint?
The Riddler thinks his is the sharpest in Gotham.
Show answer
Your mind.
The mind sharpens with practice, unlike a blade that dulls.
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11. Jim Carrey played the Riddler in the 1995 film 'Batman Forever.' Easy
Show answer
True.
True. Carrey wore the green question-mark suit opposite Val Kilmer's Batman.
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12. The Riddler leaves a note: 'I am always in front of you, yet you will never see me.' What is he taunting you with? Easy
Most people first say: your own shadow
Need a hint?
It arrives one second at a time.
Show answer
The future.
A mirror or a shadow sits in front of you but both are visible, so the answer must be something ahead in time rather than space.
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13. Riddle me this: what breaks the moment you say its name, even inside the quietest cell in Arkham? Easy
Most people first say: a fragile promise
Need a hint?
Every guard in Arkham wishes for more of it.
Show answer
Silence.
Speaking the word aloud makes noise, so the quiet it names ends.
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14. In the Batman Arkham video games, how does the Riddler mainly challenge the player? Easy
Show answer
Hidden trophies and riddles scattered across the map
The games hide hundreds of Riddler trophies and environmental riddles. Arkham City alone has over 400 to find.
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15. A riddle in reverse, Detective: what question can you ask all day in Gotham and get a different true answer every time? Easy
Most people first say: the question How are you
Need a hint?
The answer changes sixty times a minute.
Show answer
'What time is it?'
Opinion answers change with the person you ask, not with the clock, so How are you misses. Look for a measurement the world itself updates second by second, making each reply true only briefly.
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16. Riddle me this: I am the one thing the Riddler cannot leave a crime scene without doing. What compulsion gives him away every single time? Easy
Most people first say: grabbing the loot
Show answer
Leaving a riddle
His ego demands credit, so he signs every crime with a puzzle.
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17. I have one eye that opens only at night, sweeping the clouds above Gotham. Every crook knows my stare. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: the full moon
Need a hint?
Commissioner Gordon flips my switch.
Show answer
The Bat-Signal.
Nobody aims the moon or switches it off, and moonlight carries no emblem. Look for a beacon a person points at the clouds, its stencil shaping the mark that crooks already know.
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18. Riddle me this: what has 88 keys but cannot unlock a single cell in Arkham? Easy
Most people first say: a janitor's keyring
Need a hint?
The Riddler plays me dramatically in at least three lairs.
Show answer
A piano.
Keys means the black-and-white kind, not the metal ones that open locks.
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19. Riddle me this: I get wetter and wetter the more I dry. Even Alfred keeps a stack of me. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: a hair dryer
Need a hint?
Check the Batcave locker room.
Show answer
A towel.
Hot air blows moisture away and stays dry itself, so the appliance fails. Drying can instead mean absorbing, and anything you keep in a folded stack soaks up what it removes.
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20. The Riddler paints a clue on a wall: 'Forward I am ton, backward I am not.' What single word is he hiding? Easy
Most people first say: a palindrome
Need a hint?
Read the clue in a mirror.
Show answer
The word 'ton.' Read backward it spells 'not.'
The letters reverse into another real word, heavy one way and negative the other.
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21. Riddle me this: what invention lets a Gotham crook look straight through a solid brick wall? Easy
Most people first say: X-ray goggles
Need a hint?
No gadgets from my workshop required.
Show answer
A window.
X-ray goggles feel right, but no gadget is needed: a pane of glass set in the masonry lets any thief peer inside, and it counts as an invention.
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22. The Riddler's cane traditionally has a bat on top of it. Easy
Show answer
False.
False. His cane is topped with a golden question mark, of course. He would never carry a bat anywhere.
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23. Riddle me this: what can the Riddler keep even after giving it to Batman a hundred times? Easy
Most people first say: a whispered secret
Need a hint?
Villains give it, break it, and somehow still have it.
Show answer
His word. Also every single riddle.
You give your word by speaking it yet still keep the promise.
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24. 🐈 + 👩 Easy
Most people first say: a cat lady
Need a hint?
She steals jewels, not answers.
Show answer
Catwoman (cat + woman). Gotham's slyest burglar, and the Riddler still cannot figure her out.
Read each picture as a sound and glue them together in order: the feline first, the person second. Reversing that order gives nothing, so sequence decides it.
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25. Which actor played the Riddler in the 2022 film 'The Batman'? Easy
Show answer
Paul Dano
Paul Dano played a dark, puzzle-obsessed Riddler. Colin Farrell was the Penguin, and Frank Gorshin was the classic 1966 TV Riddler.
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26. Riddle me this: I am a number. Multiply me by any other number and the answer is always the same. What number am I? Easy
Show answer
0
Zero. Anything times zero is zero. The Riddler calls it the only honest number in Gotham.
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27. Riddle me this: I grow shorter the longer I live, and a single breath from the Dark Knight can snuff me out. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: a sharpened pencil
Show answer
A candle.
A pencil also loses length with use, so the first clue alone settles nothing. The breath clause is the filter: only a living flame dies from moving air, which points at wax and wick.
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28. Riddle me this: the faster the Riddler flees from Batman, the more of me he leaves behind, yet I never once leave the ground. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: a cloud of dust
Show answer
Footprints.
Dust also thickens when someone sprints, but dust rises into the air. The second clause bars anything airborne, leaving marks pressed flat into mud where each shoe landed.
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29. Riddle me this: shout in the empty Batcave and I answer you back, though I have no mouth of my own. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: your own voice
Show answer
An echo.
Your voice starts at a mouth, so it cannot pass the second clause. What returns is a delayed copy, born when sound strikes stone and travels back, needing no speaker at all.
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30. Riddle me this: I can open Arkham's heaviest door, yet I hide easily inside a closed fist. Turn me and freedom or a cell follows. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: a plastic keycard
Show answer
A key.
A keycard palms just as neatly and opens the same door, so size settles nothing. The turning clause decides it: only a toothed piece of metal rotates inside a lock to throw the bolt.
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31. Riddle me this: Two-Face adores me. I have a head but no brain, and a tail but no body. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: a snake
Show answer
A coin.
Head and tail describe faces of metal money, not an animal. Solvers guess a snake first, but a snake owns a spine, so only currency fits both sides.
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32. Riddle me this: I belong to you alone, I ride on every doorknob you touch, and I am exactly how the Detective finds you. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: your signature
Show answer
A fingerprint.
A signature is unique too, but you must choose to write one. The middle clue names something deposited without intent: oils from skin ridges transfer onto any surface your hand brushes.
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33. Riddle me this: I am packed with days yet I never age a single one, and Batman circles a date on me for every villain's parole. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: a clock
Show answer
A calendar.
A clock also measures time without aging, so the paradox rules out nothing. Circling a date is the test, and only a printed grid of squares lets ink mark one square forever.
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34. Riddle me this: I hold all of Gotham in my hands, yet I fold up into a glove box. Cities, rivers, and alleys live on me with no life at all. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: a globe
Show answer
A map.
A globe also shows cities and rivers without any life, so that clause decides nothing. Folding is the test: a rigid sphere cannot collapse flat, while printed paper creases into a glove box.
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35. Riddle me this: the Riddler stuffed every word he knows inside me, yet I never say one aloud. Even the word 'riddle' sits waiting quietly under R. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: a notebook
Show answer
A dictionary.
It stores every word without speaking, each one alphabetized under its letter.
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36. Riddle me this: tip me once and my whole family falls in a neat line. One clever push from the Riddler and all of Gotham topples. What am I? Easy
Most people first say: a house of cards
Show answer
A domino.
A card tower collapses into a heap rather than a line, so the clue about a neat line excludes it. Each tile here stands alone and topples the next, passing force along a single file.
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37. I am the part of the bird that is not in the sky. I can swim in the ocean and yet remain dry. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: the bird's reflection
Need a hint?
The bird flies in the sun. Look down.
Show answer
A shadow.
A reflection floats on the surface and breaks up when ripples cross it. The clue needs something that slides beneath the waves onto the sand below, which only a dark outline cast by sunlight does.
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38. The Riddler first appeared in Detective Comics #140 in 1948. Medium
Show answer
True.
True. Writer Bill Finger and artist Dick Sprang introduced him in 1948, complete with the question-mark suit.
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39. Riddle me this: I follow the Bat wherever he goes, I copy his every move, yet I make no sound and cast no shadow of my own. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: his shadow
Need a hint?
The Batcave has polished floors.
Show answer
His reflection.
A shadow stretches and shrinks as the light shifts, so it copies badly. The clue demands an exact twin, detail for detail, which appears only where polished glass or still water bounces the image back.
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40. A safe in my hideout opens with a 3-digit code. Clue: each digit is twice the one before it, and they add up to 14. Crack it. Medium
Most people first say: the code 1, 2, 4
Need a hint?
Start small. Very small.
Show answer
2, 4, 8. Each digit doubles, and 2 plus 4 plus 8 equals 14.
The tempting start of one gives a total of seven, half of what the clue demands. Two conditions must hold together, so double the whole chain until the sum lands right.
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41. Riddle me this: I have teeth all over Gotham but I have never bitten a soul. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: a crocodile's jaws
Need a hint?
Machines are full of me.
Show answer
A gear. Or a zipper, or a comb. The gear is the one ticking inside my death traps.
Gears, combs, and zippers all have teeth that never bite anything.
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42. Riddle me this: I have a head like a cat and a tail like a cat, but I am not Catwoman and I am no cat. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: a lion cub
Need a hint?
Think smaller. Much smaller.
Show answer
A kitten.
Ask what each candidate is called once grown. The cub becomes a lion, so the word the clue refuses was never its label. The answer must be the young of the animal that word names, which ordinary speech calls something else until it matures.
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43. I am kept in a case in the Batcave but I am not a trophy. The harder you look at me, the more of yourself you see. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: a sheet of polished steel
Need a hint?
Every display case has me in front.
Show answer
Glass. Look closely and your reflection looks back.
Polished steel throws back an image too, but you could not see the exhibit through it. A display case needs a clear front, and any clear pane bounces back part of the light while passing the rest.
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44. Riddle me this: the Bat has me, the Cat has me, the Penguin has me, even I have me. Say me and you speak of the past. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: a secret identity
Need a hint?
Villains love to monologue about theirs.
Show answer
A history. Everyone in Gotham has one.
Not everyone hides a second name, and saying that phrase tells you nothing about bygone events. The winning word must do double duty: a personal record, and the whole study of what came before.
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45. Riddle me this: I run all through Gotham without moving my feet, and criminals disappear into me every night. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: the Gotham subway
Need a hint?
Killer Croc calls me home.
Show answer
The sewer system.
Run means flow, not step, and drains carry crooks out of sight.
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46. Logic trap: the Riddler tells you 'Everything I say is a lie.' If that sentence is true, then... Medium
Show answer
The sentence contradicts itself
It is the classic liar paradox. If the sentence is true, it must be false. The Riddler loves leaving it on Arkham chalkboards.
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47. I am a room in Wayne Manor with no walls, no floor, and no ceiling, yet the Wayne family gathers near me every autumn. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: a hidden panic room
Need a hint?
Say the answer slowly and listen for the room.
Show answer
A mushroom. The only 'room' that grows in the garden.
The word hides a smaller word inside: mush plus room. Solvers hunt Wayne Manor blueprints for a hidden chamber, but no chamber lacks all three surfaces, so the pun wins.
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48. Riddle me this, Detective: I am taken before you see me, shown before you remember me, and I never let a moment escape. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: a memory
Need a hint?
The Gotham Gazette prints hundreds of me a day.
Show answer
A photograph.
A memory cannot be handed round a room, and it blurs with each year. These verbs belong to an object a lens makes: pressing a shutter captures the instant and keeps it unchanged.
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49. In the 1966 Batman TV series, the Riddler was played by Frank Gorshin. Medium
Show answer
True.
True. Gorshin's giggling, jumpsuit-wearing Riddler earned an Emmy nomination and defined the character for a generation.
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50. My final riddle: I am the one thing in Gotham that even Batman cannot escape, though he meets me every morning. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: his own reflection
Need a hint?
The night is darkest just before it.
Show answer
The dawn. Every long night in Gotham ends with it.
You can avoid a mirrored surface by looking away, so a twin image escapes nothing. Choose the event the turning planet delivers on schedule, arriving whether or not anybody waits for it.
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51. Riddle me this: I climb up and down Wayne Manor without ever taking a step, and everyone in the house treads on me. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: an elevator
Show answer
The stairs.
A lift carries passengers, so their feet never work, and the cabin itself travels. Here the structure stays fixed while soles press each tread, climbing only in the sense of rising across floors.
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52. Riddle me this: I have rungs but I am no bell, I help the Bat rise without wings, and I always lean while I work. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: a staircase
Show answer
A ladder.
Rungs are its steps, not a bell being rung, and it must lean to climb.
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53. Riddle me this: Mr. Freeze would be proud of me. I hang like a dagger from Gotham's gutters and I strike the pavement only at the moment I melt away. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: a frozen knife
Show answer
An icicle.
A knife would need somebody to place it there, and it survives a thaw. This shape builds itself from dripping water, hangs point down, and drops precisely because warmth loosens its grip.
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54. Riddle me this: I journey clear across Gotham while stuck in one tiny corner, and the Riddler sends his taunts to Batman by pressing me down. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: a letter
Show answer
A stamp.
The letter is what travels, not something stuck to a corner of itself, and nobody presses a letter down to post it. Look for the small paid square glued on before the envelope leaves.
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55. Two guards stand at two doors in my funhouse. One door leads out, one leads to a trap. One guard always lies, one always tells the truth. You get ONE question. What do you ask? Hard
Most people first say: asking which door leads out
Need a hint?
Design one question that forces both guards to give the same wrong answer.
Show answer
Ask either guard: 'Which door would the OTHER guard say leads out?' Then take the opposite door. Both guards point you at the trap, so flip their answer.
Routing through the other guard guarantees one lie on either path, so invert.
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56. The Riddler steals something from a bank vault, yet the police report says nothing is missing. He took it without touching a thing. What did he steal? Hard
Most people first say: a bag of cash
Need a hint?
Some prizes fit inside a camera.
Show answer
A photograph of the vault. He stole information, not objects.
Copying information leaves every object in place, so the theft is invisible to inventory.
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57. Riddle me this: I turn up once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a hundred years. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: a single second
Show answer
The letter M.
Minute has one M, moment has two, and 'a hundred years' has none, so it turns on spelling rather than on time.
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58. Edward Nygma taunts: which word in Batman's dictionary is always spelled incorrectly? Medium
Most people first say: the word rhythm
Show answer
The word 'incorrectly.'
The puzzle turns on pointing at itself. Hunting for a commonly misspelled entry leads nowhere, because every spelling of that adverb still reads i-n-c-o-r-r-e-c-t-l-y, exactly as required.
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59. Riddle me this: I have keys but open no locks, I have space but hold no room, you can enter me but never step inside. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: a piano
Show answer
A keyboard.
A keyboard has keys, a space bar, and an enter key, none of which are the literal objects they name.
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60. The Penguin never waddles out without me: I blossom in a downpour and fold away in the sun. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: a garden flower
Show answer
An umbrella.
Real blooms do the opposite, opening in sunshine and shutting when storms arrive. The clue reverses that habit, so look for a carried object whose ribs spread only while rain falls.
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61. Crack this one, Detective: I run through Gotham but never walk, I have a mouth but never talk, I have a bed but never sleep. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: a road through the city
Show answer
A river.
Solvers picture a road first, but roads lack a mouth and a bed. Each phrase uses the water sense of those words, so the flowing channel fits all three at once.
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62. Riddle me this: the whole city can feed me, yet a single cup of water is my undoing. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: a city sewer
Show answer
Fire.
A sewer also swallows whatever the city dumps, yet water flows through it harmlessly. Only something destroyed by liquid fits, which points at burning rather than at any container or drain.
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63. The Riddler whispers: the more of me you give away, the less of me you own. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: money you hand out
Show answer
A secret.
Money shrinks when you hand it out too, yet money can be earned back. Nothing spoken aloud returns to hiding, so the thing shrinking each time you tell it is hidden knowledge.
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64. Riddle me this: I only ever climb higher, never down, no matter how young Bruce Wayne wishes to feel. What am I? Medium
Most people first say: time itself
Show answer
Your age.
Time passes for everyone, but the riddle says 'me' belongs to a person, and the count of birthdays is the one personal number that rises and refuses any return trip downward.
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65. The Riddler chalks a clue: I am a five-letter word, but speak only my second and fourth letters aloud and you have said me whole. What am I? Hard
Most people first say: the word hollow
Need a hint?
Say the letters as sounds, not spelling.
Show answer
Empty.
Hunting synonyms for bare rooms wastes effort. Sound the letters instead: M and T standing in positions two and four pronounce the word by themselves, which is why no other spelling works.
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66. Riddle me this: I am a five-letter word, yet drop my final four letters and I still sound exactly the same. What am I? Hard
Most people first say: the word knife
Need a hint?
Only the first letter is doing any talking.
Show answer
Queue.
Silent-letter words like knife lose a letter without changing sound, but here four letters vanish. The name of the letter Q already carries the full pronunciation, so u, e, u, e do no audible work.
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67. Edward Nygma studies a portrait and says: 'Brothers and sisters I have none, but this man's father is my father's son.' Who is in the portrait? Hard
Most people first say: Nygma himself
Need a hint?
With no siblings, who is your father's son?
Show answer
His son.
The quick guess is Nygma staring at his own picture. Since he has no brother, 'my father's son' can only mean Nygma, so the portrait shows the boy Nygma fathered.
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68. Solve or suffer: eight identical Riddler trophies sit before you, one heavier than the rest, and you may use a balance scale only twice. How do you find the heavy one? Hard
Most people first say: a four against four split
Need a hint?
Do not halve them; leftovers can be useful.
Show answer
Weigh three against three, then narrow to the heavier group or the leftover two.
Halving leaves four suspects after one weighing, and a single balance reading has only three outcomes, so four cannot be split. Trios work because tipping points at three and balance points at the pair set aside.
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69. Riddle me this: how many times can Batman subtract 5 from 25? Hard
Most people first say: five times
Need a hint?
After one takeaway, is the starting number still there?
Show answer
Once, because after that it is no longer 25.
Arithmetic says five, and that answer ignores the wording. The question fixes the starting value, and only the first takeaway begins there, since every later one begins from a smaller total.
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70. The Riddler paints a word on the ceiling: it reads exactly the same when you flip it upside down, and it is something Killer Croc does. What word is it? Hard
Most people first say: the word NOON
Need a hint?
Rotate the page, do not mirror it.
Show answer
SWIMS.
NOON also survives a half turn, yet it names a time rather than an action, so the second clue drops it. Rotation reverses letter order and swaps W with M, leaving this verb intact.
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71. Riddle me this: what five-letter word grows shorter when you add two letters to it? Hard
Most people first say: the word small
Need a hint?
Think spelling change, not a smaller meaning.
Show answer
Short.
People hunt for a word meaning small, but the puzzle is about spelling, not meaning. Tack the comparative ending onto it and the new spelling states the very idea of less length.
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72. Solve this, Detective: I am an odd number, but remove a single letter from my name and I become even. Which number am I? Hard
Most people first say: the number nine
Need a hint?
Peel off one letter and read what remains.
Show answer
Seven.
Nine tempts first, but dropping any of its letters leaves nothing. Peel the opening S off this number name and the four letters left spell the opposite kind of number.
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73. Riddle me this: I am a number whose letters, when spelled out, march in perfect alphabetical order. What number am I? Hard
Most people first say: the number eighty
Need a hint?
Say numbers aloud and check each letter against the last.
Show answer
Forty.
Guesses like eighty break quickly, since G falls before I. Test each name letter by letter: F, O, R, T, Y each sit later in the alphabet than the letter before, so nothing slips backwards.
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74. The Riddler's clue: name the everyday word that hides three double letters back to back. Hard
Most people first say: the word committee
Need a hint?
Three pairs must touch with no letters between.
Show answer
Bookkeeper.
Committee looks right until you spell it out, because single letters break up its pairs. The winning word stacks oo, kk and ee with nothing between them, which is what back to back demands.
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75. From the funhouse: a snail starts at the bottom of a ten-foot well, climbs three feet each day, and slips two feet back each night. On which day does it finally escape? Hard
Most people first say: the tenth day
Need a hint?
Track the height each dawn, not the daily average.
Show answer
The eighth day.
Dividing ten by the one-foot net gain per full cycle predicts day ten, which overshoots. Measure the height at each dawn: seven feet after seven cycles, then a three-foot climb clears the rim before nightfall.
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76. Riddle me this: two fathers and two sons go fishing in Gotham harbor, each catches one fish, yet only three fish are caught in all. How? Hard
Most people first say: four people fishing
Need a hint?
One person can wear two family roles.
Show answer
There were only three people, a grandfather, his son, and his grandson.
Counting bodies gives four anglers, one per title. Let the middle person hold both titles at the same time and the party drops to three heads, matching the three fish exactly.
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77. Edward Nygma hands you three pills and says take one every half hour. How long until the last one is gone? Hard
Most people first say: an hour and a half
Need a hint?
Count the waiting gaps, not the pills.
Show answer
One hour.
Multiplying three doses by thirty minutes gives ninety, but the gaps between doses number only two. Start the clock at the first swallow and the waiting adds up across two intervals, not three.
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78. Riddle me this: seven candles light my lair, a draft blows two of them out, and the rest burn away by morning. How many candles are left? Hard
Most people first say: five candles
Need a hint?
Which candles are still standing at dawn?
Show answer
Two.
Subtracting gives five, the usual reflex. The question asks what is left by morning, and flames finish their wax, so the survivors are the pair the wind saved from burning down.
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79. Solve or suffer: a rope ladder hangs off Batman's boat with rungs one foot apart, the water touching the third rung. The tide rises two feet in an hour. How many more rungs are underwater then? Hard
Most people first say: two more rungs
Need a hint?
Does the boat sit on the water or below?
Show answer
None more, the boat floats up with the tide.
Two feet over one-foot spacing suggests two extra rungs, which assumes the hull stays put. Anything buoyant climbs with the surface, so the gap from deck to waterline never changes.
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80. Riddle me this: a Gotham man pushes his car to a hotel and instantly loses his entire fortune, though there is no gas station in sight. What happened? Hard
Most people first say: a broken down car
Need a hint?
Look for a game board, not a garage.
Show answer
He was playing Monopoly.
Readers picture a breakdown on a real street, which cannot bankrupt anyone instantly. Shrink the scene to a board game: the little token, the rent on a built-up property, and the empty bank all line up.
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81. The Riddler grins: the more of me there is, the less you can see. What am I? Hard
Most people first say: fog over Gotham
Need a hint?
Think about what light leaves behind.
Show answer
Darkness.
Fog fits the clue too, but fog needs weather while this answer needs only the absence of light. Vision depends on light reaching your eyes, so every bit taken away hides more of the room.
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82. Crack the sequence, Detective: 1, 11, 21, 1211, 111221. What comes next? Hard
Most people first say: the term 13112221
Need a hint?
Read each line aloud as a count of the last.
Show answer
312211.
Searching for sums or doubling fails here. Each line is a spoken tally of the line above, so read the previous digits as three ones, two twos, one one and write that count down.
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83. Riddle me this: I appear once in a year, twice in a week, but not once in a day. What am I? Hard
Most people first say: the letter Y
Need a hint?
Count written letters, not spoken sounds.
Show answer
The letter E.
The letter Y tempts you because day ends in it. Count occurrences instead of looking at sounds: one in the first word, a pair in the second, none in the third, which only E satisfies.
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84. Edward Nygma's clue: find the single word that parades all five vowels in their proper A, E, I, O, U order. Hard
Most people first say: the word education
Need a hint?
Check vowel order in long playful adjectives.
Show answer
Facetious.
Education has all five vowels but drops them in the wrong sequence. Scan a candidate vowel by vowel and reject it the moment one arrives early, which leaves the nine-letter joking word standing.
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85. Riddle me this: I am the only number in Gotham whose name has exactly as many letters as its own value. What number am I? Hard
Most people first say: the number five
Need a hint?
Spell each small number and count its letters.
Show answer
Four.
Five is the reflex answer, yet five has four letters, so it fails its own test. Count the letters in each spelled name and only one value matches the tally exactly.
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86. The Riddler's safe holds a three-digit code: the tens digit is five more than the ones digit, and the hundreds digit is eight less than the tens digit. Crack it. Hard
Most people first say: the code 941
Need a hint?
Start from the largest digit a column allows.
Show answer
194.
Work from the limits. Tens cannot exceed nine, so ones is four or less. Hundreds must be at least one, so ones is four or more. Both squeezes meet at four, leaving a single possible code.
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87. Solve this, Detective: in a full twelve hours, how many times do the hour and minute hands of a Gotham clock overlap? Hard
Most people first say: twelve times
Need a hint?
Noon counts once, not twice, in twelve hours.
Show answer
Eleven times.
Twelve feels right because the dial carries twelve numerals. The faster hand must gain a whole lap to catch up again, and across that span it manages the feat only eleven times.
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88. Riddle me this: I am thinner than a whisper and float on a breath, yet the strongest man in Gotham cannot hold me for long before I burst. What am I? Hard
Most people first say: a party balloon
Need a hint?
Soap and air, thinner than paper.
Show answer
A bubble.
A balloon matches the bursting part, yet a balloon has real weight and can sit in a pocket. Only a film of soap around trapped air is light enough to ride a breath and fragile enough to fail on touch.
Riddle me this: classic Riddler taunts
Short, smug, and signed with a question mark. Footsteps, holes, echoes, and shadows, all dressed up in Gotham green.
Batman riddles and Gotham logic traps
Two guards and two doors in the funhouse, a 3-digit safe code, and a liar's paradox straight from Arkham. These take pen and paper, Detective.
Riddler trivia from comics, films, and games
His real name in the comics, his first appearance in 1948, and the actors who wore the question mark from Frank Gorshin to the 2022 film.
Your score
FAQ about The Riddler's Best Riddles
Are these actual Riddler riddles from the Batman comics?
No. Nothing here is lifted from a comic or a film. Several are classic riddles you may have met before, reworded in the Riddler's taunting voice with Gotham details added. Seven cards are genuine trivia, covering his debut, his real name, the question-mark topper on his cane, how the Arkham games use him, and the actors who played him on screen. Two more are logic puzzles you answer by picking a choice.
How hard are the Riddler's riddles?
They are graded 36 Easy, 26 Medium, and 26 Hard across all 88 cards. The easy taunts are quick classics. The hard end holds the two-guard funhouse question, a snail climbing out of a ten-foot well, and a three-digit safe code, and those reward pen and paper. One card asks you to type an answer, nine score the choice you pick, and the other 78 reveal on tap.
Do I need to know Batman to enjoy this page?
It helps on a handful. Five cards ask for a Gotham fact outright: the card whose bat, cave and butler answer to Batman; the eye that sweeps the clouds above Gotham, which is the Bat-Signal; the emoji pair that spells Catwoman; the typed card about the compulsion he cannot resist at a crime scene; and the upside-down word that names something Killer Croc does. The trivia cards want real facts too, about the comics, the Arkham games, and the screen Riddlers. Where a card only drops a Gotham name in passing, read past the name and solve the clue it leaves you.
If the Riddler's mind games have you hooked, keep the challenge going with our collection of tricky riddles that will really test your wits, then put your solving skills to work on a fresh batch of brain teasers to puzzle out and share.