21 more riddles to train lateral thinking

My previous post with riddles turned out to be my most popular post so far. In the meantime all the riddles have been solved, so it’s time to present new ones. Enjoy!

1. She has tasteful friends
   And tasteless enemies
   Tears are often shed on her behalf
   Yet never has she broken a heart
2. What goes with a wagon that
   doesn’t benefit the wagon
   but the wagon cannot move without it?
3. Passed from father to son
   And shared between brothers
   Its importance is unquestioned
   Though it is used more by others
4. Never resting, never still
   Moving silently, hill to hill
   It does not walk, run nor trot
   All is cool where it is not
5. Though easy to spot
   When allowed to plume
   It is hard to see
   When held in a room
6. Brought to the table
   Cut and served
   Never eaten
7. Has feather
   But can’t fly
   Rests on legs
   But can’t walk
8. This side of a cat
   Has the most hair
9. What has keys that open no locks
   space but no room
   and you can enter but not go in
10. I am slim and tall
    Many find me desirable and appealing
    They touch me and I give a false good feeling
    Once I shine in splendor
    But only once and then no more
    For many I am “to die for”
11. This old one runs forever
    But never moves at all
    He has not lungs nor throat
    But still a mighty roaring call
12. What famous North American landmark is constantly moving backward?
13. A man dies and arrives at the Pearly Gates of Heaven. He finds himself in a long corridor with two doors, and he knows that one leads to Heaven and one leads to Hell. However, he doesn’t know which is which! Sitting next to these two doors, at either end of the corridor, are two men: the truthful man and the liar. The liar is not deceitful, because he can’t help but lie when asked a question. However, the man can always rely on what the truthful man says. However, they look identical and he cannot tell which one is the liar and which one the truthful man. To find out which is the door to Heaven, he can ask either the man on the left or the man on the right just one question!
14. A traveller comes to a fork in the road which leads to two villages. In one village the people always tell lies and in the other village the people always tell the truth. The traveller needs to conduct business in the village where everyone always tells the truth. A man from one of the villages is standing in the middle of the fork, so there is no indication of which village he comes from. The traveller approaches the man and asks him just one question. From the man’s answer, he knows which road to follow.
15. You are visiting an island on which two tribes of natives live. One tribe has black soles and always lies; the other tribe has white soles and always tells the truth. There are three natives standing near you. You can’t see the bottoms of their feet, and indeed you find out it is extremely rude to look at another’s soles, but you are curious so you ask the first man, “Sir, what colour are your soles?” Now he happens to understand English, but he can’t speak it, so he replies in his native tongue, “Glub Glub.” You turn to the second man and ask, “Sir, what did he say?” The second man replies, “He said he has white soles.” Now to be sure, you turn to the third and ask, “Sir, what colour soles does this second man have?” The third man replies, “Sir, he has black soles.” Now the question is, what colour are the third native’s soles?
16. A man lives in the penthouse of an apartment building. Every morning he takes the elevator down to the lobby and leaves the building. Upon his return, however, he can only travel halfway up in the lift and has to walk the rest of the way – unless it’s raining.
17. A police officer saw a truck driver clearly going the wrong way down a one-way street, but did not try to stop him. Why not?
18. There was once a recluse who never left his home. The only time anyone ever visited him was when his food and supplies were delivered, but they never came inside. Then, one storm winter night when an icy gale was blowing, he had a nervous breakdown. He went upstairs, turned off all the lights and went to bed. Next morning, he had caused the deaths of several hundred people. How?
19. You throw away the outside and cook the inside. Then you eat the outside and throw away the inside. What did you eat?
20. What can run but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps?
21. I never was, am always to be,
    No one ever saw me, nor ever will,
    And yet I am the confidence of all
    To live and breathe on this terrestrial ball.

Please post answers in the comments.

Warning! There will be spoilers and answers if you scroll down from this point.

Numbers 10 – 12 are from Riddles.com
Numbers 13 – 15 are from Creative Puzzels
Numbers 16 – 18 are from Lateral Thinking Problems
Numbers 19 – 21 are from Brain Food @ Rinkworks

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Posted in jelly beans on Sat 2007.07.28