Humans have been puzzled from thousands of years ago. The puzzles are fun to tell and it's even more fun to guess! You can make up your own puzzles to give to friends and family.
Step
Part 1 of 2: Get Ready to Make Up Puzzles
Step 1. Read a lot of riddles
Reading various puzzles can help you understand how puzzles work. There are many books on puzzles available, or you can find them online.
- Many cultures have a tradition of playing puzzles. Puzzles originating from the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons are still popular today in English-speaking countries, even though they were created thousands of years ago! These puzzles usually have simple answers, like “key” or “onions”, but are made in creative ways. You can find many sets of puzzles on the internet.
- Puzzles are also quite popular in modern literature and films. Even J. R. R. Tolkien in his book The Hobbit has a whole chapter dedicated to "Riddles in the Dark" ("Riddles in the Dark") between the two characters.
Step 2. Determine the subject of your puzzle
Puzzles can be about anything you can imagine, but physical objects that are familiar to people are a common topic.
- Other topics are natural phenomena such as storms or snow, animals, or actions.
- Avoid topics that are too abstract or require some insight.
Step 3. Determine the length of the puzzle you are going to make
Some puzzles are brief, with just a phrase or two, while others are made like miniatures of a story. You can make the puzzle as long as you want, but it shouldn't be too long because your listeners won't be able to follow the flow.
- Here's an example of a very short puzzle: "This animal can fly and has six legs." (Answer: three birds)
- Here's an example of a longer puzzle that relates one guess to another: "How do you put an elephant in the fridge?" (The answer: Open the refrigerator door, and put the elephant in). "What about the giraffe?" (The answer: open the refrigerator door, take out the elephant, and put in the giraffe).
Part 2 of 2: Making up Puzzles
Step 1. Start with the answer
When you have found the answer to the puzzle to be made, you will move backwards to make the puzzle. Try to choose something that is easy to personify, personification (making inanimate objects have human-like properties or behavior) is the most commonly used technique when creating puzzles.
For example, you could use “pencil” as the answer because most people are familiar with it
Step 2. Think about what the answer does and what it looks like
Gather these ideas in a list. Try to think of verbs and adjectives. Think of synonyms of several meanings and write down your findings.
- For the answer “pencil”, some things that could be included in your list are: “2B” (the type of pencil commonly used), “wood”, “rubber”, “brown”, “pink hat”, “looks like the letter ' l' or number '1'”(physical aspect of pencil shape).
- You can also include other aspects of the pencil: for example, it must be sharpened when used for writing. This means that this object will shorten the more it is used (a possible paradox).
- Another common trick is to think about what the object can do: for example, even though it's small, a pencil can hold a lot of things (because you can write "anything" with a pencil).
Step 3. Draft your puzzle
Puzzles use metaphors to describe ordinary things in unusual ways. Think about the list of ideas you created in the previous step. If the answer to your riddle is “pencil,” think of words that can be used to create a metaphorical description: “stick finger” or “yellow sword” sound fancy, but can still provide clues that lead to the answer.
- This is a riddle that uses a metaphor to describe a pencil: "Golden sword wearing a pink hat, tree minions of rank HB and 2B".
- Pencils are called "swords" because they have a pointed tip. This description is also related to the proverb, "The point of the pen is sharper than the sword", so it can provide clues. The “pink hat” refers to the eraser at the end of the pencil.
- The "children of the trees" are taken from the main material for making pencils, namely trees.
- "The ranks of HB and 2B" refer to the previous sentence which describes "men" and also refers to the type of pencil that is often used.
Step 4. Use simple and strong words
Riddles are usually told by word of mouth, not written down, so think about how your puzzle sounds when you say it. Try not to destroy your puzzles with superfluous words and abstract concepts.
- For example, a simple word puzzle about pencils might read: “This thing is small but it can hold anything; the longer, the shorter."
- Here is an example of the famous riddle from The Hobbit novel which uses simple descriptive language: “A box without hinges, locks, or covers / But a treasure of gold is hidden within”. (Answer: eggs).
Step 5. Personalize your answer
Another way to create memorable riddles is to make the answers to your riddles appear to be talking about yourself. Begin the puzzle with the word "I" and a verb.
For example, this pencil puzzle uses personification as well as metaphor: “I wear a pink hat but no head; I'm sharp but brainless. I can say anything, but make no sound. Am I?"
Step 6. Think about how your puzzle sounds
Since puzzles are usually passed on orally, paying attention to how they sound will help you create better puzzles. Techniques such as alliteration (using letters with the same sound throughout the puzzle) and rhyming can make it easier for you to tell and listen to your puzzles.
- For example, “I berpink hat, te tfire ti berhead". This sentence uses the repetition of the syllable “ber” and the letter “t” to create interesting alliteration.
- This is an example of a riddle in the form of a rhyme whose answer is a common object: "The parrot dove / fly to the side of the garden of heaven / Try to find it, brother / the more it is filled the lighter". (Answer: balloon).
- Sometimes, puzzles also use “kenning”, which is a poetic and figurative description of a simple thing-a puzzle within a puzzle! In the puzzle above, the “park of heaven” is the sky that the balloons fly to. This technique is a technique commonly found in Viking riddles.
Step 7. Tell your friends about your riddle
The best way to tell if your puzzle was successful is to tell your friends and family and ask them to answer it. Telling riddles to friends and family can even convince them to come up with their own!
Step 8. Revise the puzzle if necessary
If your friends and family can answer them right away, you may have to rework the puzzle and add more metaphors. If they are having a hard time finding the answer, you may have to play with words to make the answer more visible.
Tips
- Don't get too stressed; puzzles made for fun! Relax and enjoy the process.
- Ask your friends for help. If you get stuck, invite a friend to help you come up with ideas for your chosen puzzle topic. Doing puzzles together can be a fun activity!
- Try to include sentences that are vague but still relevant to confuse listeners when they get to the main puzzle. (This isn't required, but you can do it if you want to make the puzzle more difficult).
