Clever Riddle : Only Genius

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Everyone loves riddles. They are often the quickest and funniest jokes in the

world. In a split second a clever riddle will jolt even a deadpan into

uncontrollable laughter.

After a good deal of serious study, I have come to the conclusion that the

main trouble with riddles is that no one knows enough of them! This was

proved when I was collecting riddles for this book. Whenever I could, I

tried out riddles to see if they were as funny as I thought they were. Over

and over again, my unsuspecting victims looked blank for a second or two,

then burst into guffaws of laughter. To my great delight, most of these poor

guinea pigs had never before heard the riddles I sprang on them. I hope

that you, dear reader, will find them just as fresh.

Oddly enough, hardly anyone seems to know the difference between a

riddle and a conundrum. A riddle is a question to which the answer, while

unexpected, is pretty straightforward. For example: “What can be heard

and caught but never seen?” The answer is: “A remark.”

Conundrums, on the other hand, are based on double meanings or plays

on words. Hundreds of these puns are so outrageous that they would make

the shaggiest of shaggy dogs howl, tear up the ground with his paws, and

run away and hide for shame. An example of a not-too-shaggy kind would

be: “What is the difference between a mouse and a pretty girl?” The

answer: “One harms the cheese, the other charms the he’s.”

Independent research, however, has shown that really shaggy

conundrums split more sides than do cautious ones!

Riddles and conundrums are a kind of puzzle, and the answers to many

of them can be figured out—after a while. In this book they are told mostly

just for fun, and for this reason, the answers are printed right beneath the

riddles. It is easier for the reader than looking for the answers in a separate

section in the back of the book, and it is done because most people would

rather laugh at the answers right away than try to puzzle them out.