The Island English Tutor
Nanaimo English Tutor, AJ Mittendorf.
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          RIDDLES THAT USE PUN

More often than not, well written riddles make good use of four linguistic devices: paradox, pun, poetic description and red herring. Sometimes more than one may be used in concert, for it often takes a pun to create a paradox, for example, but, speaking generally, it is these four devices that make riddles become the brain teasers that we all enjoy.
    Please keep in mind that, as a pun--the deliberate jumbling of the multiple meanings of a given word--is often necessary to create a paradox, so also is a red herring often needed to create a pun. On this page you'll find a series of riddles that emphasize the use of pun, even though you may also find red herring in some. But knowing that there's a pun won't, necessarily, give you much of a hint in solving each riddle, but feel free to give it a try anyway. The answers are in smaller print at the bottom of the page.
    I've not yet seen anyone make this type of study of riddles, so just remember folks: you saw it here first.
copyright © 2013 by A. J. Mittendorf All rights reserved

1.
What is it that, after you take away the whole, there is some remaining?

2.
What runs up and down the stairs without moving?

3.
What is it that can be full but will never overflow?

4.
What is the center of gravity?

5.
He discovered Pluto, among other stars.

6.
I'm a weight on a scale,
a dog's kind of jail,
a poet to hail.
What am I?

7.
I always run; I never walk.
I often murmur, but I never talk.
I have a bed, but I never sleep;
I have a mouth, but I never eat.

8.
After a good licking, I'm sent to a corner.

9.
What is it that you can keep after you have given it away?

10. (NEW)
What goes around the wood but never enters the wood?

11. (NEW)
What famous building in New York has the most stories?

12. (NEW)
What road vehicle has four wheels and flies?

13. (NEW)
What is the best month for a parade?

14. (NEW)
He has married many women without ever being married. Who is he?

15. (NEW)
How are penitentiary inmates and astronauts alike?

16. (NEW)
What gets whipped and beaten without ever squealing?

17. (NEW)
What has a foot on the left, a foot on the right, and a foot in between? 
ANSWERS
1. WHOLESOME: There is no red herring, metaphor or paradox in this riddle. Just pure pun: both "whole" and "some" have double meanings.
2. CARPET or A RUG: The idea of "without moving" is the red herring that gives you the wrong meaning for the word "runs." You are lead to believe that the idea is "moving 
    swiftly" when the answer reveals that "runs" means "covers the length of."
3. MOON: The word "overflow" is the red herring that leads you to misunderstand "full."
4. "V": The entire phrase "center of gravity" is the pun in this riddle.
5. WALT DISNEY: "Pluto" is the pun, but "stars" might also be considered one.
6. POUND: This riddle used metaphor rather than red herring. The poet mentioned in the riddle is Ezra Pound, and American expatriate (1885-1972).
7. RIVER: "Run," "murmur," "bed" and "mouth" are all puns in this case.
8. A STAMP: "Licking" is the pun.
9. YOUR WORD: "Keep" is the pun. (There is also a paradox in this riddle, but there are so many riddles that use paradox, that I thought this one would be better here.)
10. The bark of a tree.
11. The library
12. A garbage truck
13. March
14. A priest / preacher / parson
15. They are both interested in "outer space."
16. An egg
17. A yardstick

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