Even the smartest of smarties can get stumped by a few tricky riddles for adults. While tossing a few good jokes into slowing conversations liven things up for a moment, you’ll want something with a bit more substance to pick up the pace when your interactions hit a standstill. Since coming up with conversation starter after conversation starter can get a bit dry and unnatural-feeling after a while, consider storing some riddles in your back pocket to whip out to test people’s critical thinking skills and enrich your engagements when the discussion has you twiddling your thumbs and checking the clock.

Riddles are carefully crafted little word problems that aim to trick you with distracting or intentionally confusing verbiage. They invite you to look beyond the trees in order to see the forest — a feat easier said than done when it comes to some of these sneaky brain teasers. Whether you can solve them in a pinch or get stuck on one for half an hour, adult-level word problems and riddles are highly mentally stimulating, prompting some thoughtful and meaningful follow-up conversation. Plus, it’s always fun to flex your brain muscles to your friends, family, date, colleagues, or partner.

While you’ll find a few easier warm-up level word puzzles that a particularly clever kid may be able to crack, these riddles for adults are geared toward a grown-up audience. Get ready to stretch your smarts with these funny, tricky, easy, and clever riddles for adults.