“Name the Game (Riddle)” by Monty Edwards

Leave a comment

“Name the Game” by Monty Edwards is his 100th poem of the day since November 2015.

Congratulations and Thankyou for sharing your creativity with us.

 

My riddle is about a game, so see if you can guess its name.

Of course, I’ll give you many clues, but in the end, you’ll have to choose.

The game is played by day or night, but if at night you’ll need some light.

Play summer, winter, there’s no reason not to play in any season.

 

This game is played in many lands and players need to use their hands,

Although one hand would be enough, because this game’s not very rough.

It can’t be called a contact sport, and never needs a field or court.

So do not think you’ll use a ball, for that would not be right at all.

 

Out of doors or play inside – play wherever you decide.

Play in almost any place. This game doesn’t need much space. 

Players always move in turn and there are other rules to learn.

There is no need to use your feet; that’s not the way that you compete.

 

This game does not have any aces, nor any Jacks with funny faces,

But players each have king and queen, while cards are nowhere to be seen!

Most find it best to share a table, but please make sure your table’s stable!

This rule must never be ignored, since you’ll place pieces on a board.

 

But boards are used in many a game: can you give my game a name?

Now since this riddle’s almost done, I’ll give a clue – another one:

The pieces number thirty two. Sixteen of them will be for you.

Another player has the rest and you two play to see who’s best!

 

Your pieces form a fighting force, though blood is never shed, of course

And though a kind of war you play, no-one is injured in the fray, 

Since mostly you will think and plan, then make each move as best you can.

But win or lose or even draw, you’ll want to play this game some more.

 

It’s time for you to make your guess. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

This riddle’s answer must be . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . .  . . .  .

 

“The Octopus Riddle” by Celia Berrell

Leave a comment

Will I find an octopus

if in a tree I start to seek?

It has no wings, but I’ve been told

it’s got a parrot’s horny beak.

 

Will I find an octopus

if I should dig within the soil?

It has no legs, but I’ve been told

it’s got eight arms that stretch and coil.

 

Will I find an octopus

if I look in a flower-bed?

It doesn’t have a skeleton

and has a very squishy head.

 

Might I find an octopus

if I could swim a lake so still?

It lays its eggs in water but

it has no lungs and breathes with gills.

 

It’s not a bird, worm, slug or frog.

These animals it never meets.

To find out where it likes to live

it helps to know just what it eats.

 

An octopus can squeeze in cracks

and use its arms most cleverly

to open salty shellfish … so

its habitat is in the sea!

From The Science Rhymes Book

Do You Know What I Am? by Tabitha Page

Leave a comment

Click, clack, click, clack

No, I’m not a knick-knack

Do you know what I am?

Can you do what I can?

 

Crash, clang, bang, bash

Eyes flash the cymbals smash

Put me down, see me go

Watch me give a tuneful show

 

Walking, marching, shuffling too

Do you need another clue?

 

Wind me up and I will roam

Romping, plodding through your home.

In a fancy stripy jacket,

Making such an awesome racket.

 

A very long and curly tail

Swirling like a garden snail

Brown and fluffy, squashed flat nose

Arms and legs and curly toes.

 

Do you know what I am?

Can you do what I can?

 

I am of course a children’s toy,

A lovable pal for girl or boy.

A wind-up monkey with a hat

To chase away that sneaky cat!

 

 

 

Polliwogs and Pobblebonks by Jenny Erlanger

Leave a comment

I could be quite mistaken

but I’m feeling pretty sure

that polliwog’s a word

you’ve never come across before.

And pobblebonk’s another,

with a funny kind of sound,

a word I’m also certain

you have never seen around.

They’re not a type of candy

or variety of fish.

They’re not exotic items

in some oriental dish.

They don’t have beaks or feathers

and they’re not a breed of dog.

A polliwog’s a tadpole

and a pobblebonk’s a frog.

Silvery Riddle by Celia Berrell

Leave a comment

Silvery Riddle

I will give you a smile if you care to look up

but I won’t show my face on a dark, dark night.

 

I will rule over oceans as though they are slaves

but I won’t ever say if that’s wrong or right.

 

I will make a lake’s surface a silvery spread

but I won’t share my shine when the day is bright.

 

I will block out the Sun every once-in-a-while.

My Solar Eclipse is an awesome sight!

Celia Berrell

Celia said: There was a Total Solar Eclipse over part of the USA recently.  Our Moon is 400 times smaller, yet 400 times closer than the Sun.  This precise difference makes them appear the same size from Earth.  When they line up perfectly, it can take our breath away!  Imagine what a riddle this event must have posed to people centuries ago, before we really understood the movements of the stars, planets and our silvery Moon.

Portrait of a Puddle by Pat Simmons

Leave a comment

Portrait of a Puddle

I can tell you about the weather.

Am I growing or shrinking?

 

I can show you how a paper boat floats,

and be a mirror for your smiling face.

 

I can be a drink for a thirsty bird,

or a short slurp for a cat on the prowl.

 

I can annoy new shoes,

but splashing gum boots love me.

 

I can be a short stay hostel

for tadpoles or mozzie larvae.

 

I can be temporary and tempting.  

I have possibilities and potential.

I am a puddle.

 

Pat Simmons

Riddle by Katherine Gallagher

Leave a comment

What goes up

and never down?

 

When you’re born,

you count me in

race me on,

only occasionally forget me.

 

When you’re old,

I’m still growing.

 

What am I?

Answer:

upsidedown

 

Katherine Gallagher

 

A Zooish Riddle by Monty Edwards

Leave a comment

A Zooish Riddle

 

Today I’m all excited ’cause we’re going to the zoo

And there’s something that we’ll see there that I’ll now describe to you.

Since it’s found throughout Australia you would hardly call it rare –

Live for long in any city and you’ll surely find one there.

 

Not so common in the country, but you still may see a few,

It’s no cuddly koala nor a bounding kangaroo.

Do not think of an echidna or a little bandicoot

This is something that you’ll never ever hear described as cute.

 

In appearance, on occasions, it’s been likened to a snake,

But it’s certainly not legless in the moves that it can make.

If you see a very large one, you will wish it wasn’t so,

Should it move along quite slowly, you may even see it grow!

 

You can rule out any reptile, bird or fish that comes to mind,

But I will not tease you further, that would really be unkind.

It’s a line. No, not a lion. There, I’ve given you a clue.

It’s a line of ticket buyers gaining entry through a queue!

Monty Edwards

Author comment: I found the array of spellings used to convey the final sound of “queue” quite remarkable and used several. Among them, the zoo provided a useful context for the poem, as aside from rhyming with the key word, the zoo is a familiar and positive experience for most children. Describing the queue as if an unnamed exhibit seemed a good way of arousing curiosity without compromising truth on the way to a surprise conclusion.

Space Riddle by Katherine Gallagher

Leave a comment

Space Riddle

My face
Is as wide as a mountain.

When I give orders,
I roar in thirty languages
and the stars blink.

I live on thin air
and sleep with my eyes open.

What am I?

Answer: Nobody knows.

© Katherine Gallagher,