Challenging Riddles ( O _ o) ?!
1) A sealed land forgotten,
To precious shapes it yields.
Zephyr on zenith found
Across strange woods and fields.
2) Mother of magic and father of air,
Their colorful children heard everywhere.
Ancientest stone wears no blemish nor crack.
Take a half-step forward, then three steps back.
3) Life within death, water in fire,
A path opened in child's darkest hour.
Secret behind a marker of stone,
From tunnel emerges a far away home.
4) Treasure untold — no key, nor lid,
Yet inside purest ichor hid;
We turn earth’s bounty to liquid gold;
Our reserves, for a song, we never withhold.
5) A haven for rest, though secrets abound . . .
Have faith and be shown a way underground.
6) The damned leading the blind,
On a pathway ill-defined.
No memory of silence, no thought of sky,
Sight wasted, yet delivered by the eye.
7) Walk across the ropes,
Beneath protector's gaze;
Bounded by a golden arch,
Ancient are these ways.
8) Creature of half-sight, by tribulation healed;
Beloved of divinity, with wound by goddess sealed.
9) Once left, never the same.
Two halves of a whole,
Each well-defined;
Brief expanse of blue,
Wood-bridge combined;
Low marks innocence,
Height, experience.
Once back, ever the same.
10) Five in order, one by one,
It will not stop until it's done;
Wrested from unseemly hand,
A spirit rests within its band.
11) In the center of the rose,
Where helpful being rose,
A witness from beneath the rose —
An iteration’s rose!
12) I live in earth, on earth, and above;
In loam and rock, strong stone I love.
Though I go unnoticed I never depart;
My power, my essence, lies deep in the heart.
13) Plucked from life to a Hero’s quest:
A promise of riches and peace;
A pool, a tower, and greed without cease —
His family a traitor possessed.
14) The fruits of senescence
Are wisdom’s quintessence;
Sagacious yet greedy
(And overly needy),
The goods of our coffer
In danger we’ll proffer.
15) I come from a princess ‘ere princess was sired,
Grew up in a stone-ringéd town;
Robed like a king, yet considered a clown
My counsel and speech are admired.
Who am I?
16) Apart from all my brethren,
I have infinite use;
Not silver, no, but golden,
My godhood you’ll educe.
17) I hide myself, from your eyes,
In this uncanny valley.
I bind my life to your life;
Once found, I’m gone forever.
18) Welcome to the hinterlands!
Four corpses mark my door.
Cryptic secrets, myths, and lore,
All passing through my hands.
Worldly symbols lie arrayed
In field of sable-black —
Sympathy I proudly lack;
Unjustly do I trade.
The sages say: "Not cold nor hot,
Take aim and find the mean!"
But me? I find my eyes glow green
When taking all you've got!
19) I am the gatekeeper,
And servant to the throne.
Within my restless, beating heart
Do life and water flow.
20) Above me lies a weapon;
Beneath, a desert old.
Beside me lies a puzzle;
Behind, the answer’s told.
21) Head to the midpoint hypotenuse,
We stand isosceles and slightly obtuse!
Squaring our secret, you might be annoyed,
So play us a tune and we’ll end up rhomboid!
22) Do you fear me, looking within?
Can you give me what I want?
Are you privy to the heart’s secrets?
23) Begin me to complete the other,
Pass on through secrets your wealth;
Through me enrich my brother,
Unlocking what’s written in stealth.
24) Although I am less than my former self
(I once stood as tall as a tower!),
I weather all things, unchanged by time’s flow —
Ascend me and know greater power!
25) My makers cannot use me;
My watchers never see me;
Those who find me, lose me.
Those who wield me, yield me.
26) Bezel for the brightest gem,
A shell around the pearl;
Great fastness guarding softness:
The force ‘round which all swirls.
27) One of only two, and
One of only three;
One as well of countless more:
A sprout on autumn’s tree.
28) Lightly walks from stem to leaf,
Soars from heart to shielding arm;
Dances o’er the farmer’s sheaf,
Preaches Dao with child’s charm.
29) Through me, all beings know,
And, in return, are known;
Thus, Nature’s laws are shown,
And all true natures show.
30) Sleepy owns me; Singer tends me;
Evil haunts me; Music frees me;
I can free you; I can haunt you;
I can tend you; I can own you.
31) Organic, not analog,
Digitized viscosity --
Small outputs of Big Data.
How do two vacuous shades
Somehow yield consciousness?
32) One gives better than she takes.
One seems worse than she is.
The first extols the truthful word.
The other is not at the height of her power.
Where do they dwell?
33) A creature once taken is given in trust,
A being quite foreign in source.
No amount of its name will render it hoarse;
Its diet will leave you nonplussed.
34) We all of us are present,
But where is our last guide?
With Light and Fire and Spirit,
Why’s Shadow been denied?
35) My form: unworldly.
My gift: dichotomy.
I’m found through tempest gale,
And crowned past mother’s veil.
36) Mistaken for a tasty treat,
Wade through guts and tainted meat --
Aberrations stoke a fevered heat
With chaos that takes two to beat.
37) While in dungeons you fight,
Your brains I devour;
It’s your wisdom I seek —
I ignore your power.
38) Fell power of wisdom inverse,
Of ancient pride and darkling curse --
Rent and hid by brilliance true,
Its legacy now follows you.
39) Tripartite in parts, it plays with our hearts;
Short but complex, its aim to perplex?
Stories all told with stories untold;
Pleasing to some, it leaves others glum:
A blunder to wonder, at least!
40) An isle not far
from foggy veil;
Atop lone tree
a forceful gale;
In dark of night
deceased assail;
Of helpful friend,
Memory prevail.
41) Fulfill your oaths,
Unite the Spheres —
Radiate crown,
Guise of madness.
A dyad merged
Will come forth one.
42) My father’s only son, I have 10,000 brothers
I eat my mother’s flesh, I fashion sturdy arms
From the life-blood of my children’s mother.
Kinswoman I knew never. Who am I?
43) Everpresent, never-seeing,
Closed or wide, perception freeing.
44) After you’re done and have beaten my game,
Tougher it grows when you mention my name.
45) Nothing special, though in past lives a specialist
In locks, I now unlock the mind.
You break my silence, and I purchase yours.
46) Cut my bonds to free me;
Free me to weaken me;
Use my chains to free yourself.
47) “Go ‘head and leave me here —
Oh, wait! Please do come back!
Rolling around’s no fun anymore . . .
And why this endless attack?”
48) My flesh reeks of rot,
My blood helps you die;
Stronger when I’m hot,
Lord of thorns am I!
49) Whence started a legend, near age’s conclusion,
A fateful bestowal in twice-lit occlusion.
50) Two lips, yet not a man;
Two leaves, yet not a tree.
Misnamed but not mischaracterized;
Not a balm, but cure for ears and tongue.
51) Ever a germinal mystery,
Yet they crop up like clockwork;
Ye shall know them by their fruits --
Well, all except for one . . . .
52) Victims, then thieves, made perfect twins
With jeweled eyes and hardened skins.
Although distinct in source and name,
They check the heavens all the same.
53) Ten gems to mine
(Though, in truth, nine) —
Near gathered spines,
These motley lines.
To precious shapes it yields.
Zephyr on zenith found
Across strange woods and fields.
2) Mother of magic and father of air,
Their colorful children heard everywhere.
Ancientest stone wears no blemish nor crack.
Take a half-step forward, then three steps back.
3) Life within death, water in fire,
A path opened in child's darkest hour.
Secret behind a marker of stone,
From tunnel emerges a far away home.
4) Treasure untold — no key, nor lid,
Yet inside purest ichor hid;
We turn earth’s bounty to liquid gold;
Our reserves, for a song, we never withhold.
5) A haven for rest, though secrets abound . . .
Have faith and be shown a way underground.
6) The damned leading the blind,
On a pathway ill-defined.
No memory of silence, no thought of sky,
Sight wasted, yet delivered by the eye.
7) Walk across the ropes,
Beneath protector's gaze;
Bounded by a golden arch,
Ancient are these ways.
8) Creature of half-sight, by tribulation healed;
Beloved of divinity, with wound by goddess sealed.
9) Once left, never the same.
Two halves of a whole,
Each well-defined;
Brief expanse of blue,
Wood-bridge combined;
Low marks innocence,
Height, experience.
Once back, ever the same.
10) Five in order, one by one,
It will not stop until it's done;
Wrested from unseemly hand,
A spirit rests within its band.
11) In the center of the rose,
Where helpful being rose,
A witness from beneath the rose —
An iteration’s rose!
12) I live in earth, on earth, and above;
In loam and rock, strong stone I love.
Though I go unnoticed I never depart;
My power, my essence, lies deep in the heart.
13) Plucked from life to a Hero’s quest:
A promise of riches and peace;
A pool, a tower, and greed without cease —
His family a traitor possessed.
14) The fruits of senescence
Are wisdom’s quintessence;
Sagacious yet greedy
(And overly needy),
The goods of our coffer
In danger we’ll proffer.
15) I come from a princess ‘ere princess was sired,
Grew up in a stone-ringéd town;
Robed like a king, yet considered a clown
My counsel and speech are admired.
Who am I?
16) Apart from all my brethren,
I have infinite use;
Not silver, no, but golden,
My godhood you’ll educe.
17) I hide myself, from your eyes,
In this uncanny valley.
I bind my life to your life;
Once found, I’m gone forever.
18) Welcome to the hinterlands!
Four corpses mark my door.
Cryptic secrets, myths, and lore,
All passing through my hands.
Worldly symbols lie arrayed
In field of sable-black —
Sympathy I proudly lack;
Unjustly do I trade.
The sages say: "Not cold nor hot,
Take aim and find the mean!"
But me? I find my eyes glow green
When taking all you've got!
19) I am the gatekeeper,
And servant to the throne.
Within my restless, beating heart
Do life and water flow.
20) Above me lies a weapon;
Beneath, a desert old.
Beside me lies a puzzle;
Behind, the answer’s told.
21) Head to the midpoint hypotenuse,
We stand isosceles and slightly obtuse!
Squaring our secret, you might be annoyed,
So play us a tune and we’ll end up rhomboid!
22) Do you fear me, looking within?
Can you give me what I want?
Are you privy to the heart’s secrets?
23) Begin me to complete the other,
Pass on through secrets your wealth;
Through me enrich my brother,
Unlocking what’s written in stealth.
24) Although I am less than my former self
(I once stood as tall as a tower!),
I weather all things, unchanged by time’s flow —
Ascend me and know greater power!
25) My makers cannot use me;
My watchers never see me;
Those who find me, lose me.
Those who wield me, yield me.
26) Bezel for the brightest gem,
A shell around the pearl;
Great fastness guarding softness:
The force ‘round which all swirls.
27) One of only two, and
One of only three;
One as well of countless more:
A sprout on autumn’s tree.
28) Lightly walks from stem to leaf,
Soars from heart to shielding arm;
Dances o’er the farmer’s sheaf,
Preaches Dao with child’s charm.
29) Through me, all beings know,
And, in return, are known;
Thus, Nature’s laws are shown,
And all true natures show.
30) Sleepy owns me; Singer tends me;
Evil haunts me; Music frees me;
I can free you; I can haunt you;
I can tend you; I can own you.
31) Organic, not analog,
Digitized viscosity --
Small outputs of Big Data.
How do two vacuous shades
Somehow yield consciousness?
32) One gives better than she takes.
One seems worse than she is.
The first extols the truthful word.
The other is not at the height of her power.
Where do they dwell?
33) A creature once taken is given in trust,
A being quite foreign in source.
No amount of its name will render it hoarse;
Its diet will leave you nonplussed.
34) We all of us are present,
But where is our last guide?
With Light and Fire and Spirit,
Why’s Shadow been denied?
35) My form: unworldly.
My gift: dichotomy.
I’m found through tempest gale,
And crowned past mother’s veil.
36) Mistaken for a tasty treat,
Wade through guts and tainted meat --
Aberrations stoke a fevered heat
With chaos that takes two to beat.
37) While in dungeons you fight,
Your brains I devour;
It’s your wisdom I seek —
I ignore your power.
38) Fell power of wisdom inverse,
Of ancient pride and darkling curse --
Rent and hid by brilliance true,
Its legacy now follows you.
39) Tripartite in parts, it plays with our hearts;
Short but complex, its aim to perplex?
Stories all told with stories untold;
Pleasing to some, it leaves others glum:
A blunder to wonder, at least!
40) An isle not far
from foggy veil;
Atop lone tree
a forceful gale;
In dark of night
deceased assail;
Of helpful friend,
Memory prevail.
41) Fulfill your oaths,
Unite the Spheres —
Radiate crown,
Guise of madness.
A dyad merged
Will come forth one.
42) My father’s only son, I have 10,000 brothers
I eat my mother’s flesh, I fashion sturdy arms
From the life-blood of my children’s mother.
Kinswoman I knew never. Who am I?
43) Everpresent, never-seeing,
Closed or wide, perception freeing.
44) After you’re done and have beaten my game,
Tougher it grows when you mention my name.
45) Nothing special, though in past lives a specialist
In locks, I now unlock the mind.
You break my silence, and I purchase yours.
46) Cut my bonds to free me;
Free me to weaken me;
Use my chains to free yourself.
47) “Go ‘head and leave me here —
Oh, wait! Please do come back!
Rolling around’s no fun anymore . . .
And why this endless attack?”
48) My flesh reeks of rot,
My blood helps you die;
Stronger when I’m hot,
Lord of thorns am I!
49) Whence started a legend, near age’s conclusion,
A fateful bestowal in twice-lit occlusion.
50) Two lips, yet not a man;
Two leaves, yet not a tree.
Misnamed but not mischaracterized;
Not a balm, but cure for ears and tongue.
51) Ever a germinal mystery,
Yet they crop up like clockwork;
Ye shall know them by their fruits --
Well, all except for one . . . .
52) Victims, then thieves, made perfect twins
With jeweled eyes and hardened skins.
Although distinct in source and name,
They check the heavens all the same.
53) Ten gems to mine
(Though, in truth, nine) —
Near gathered spines,
These motley lines.