EasyClassic
"I begin the autumn with a full head and end it with an empty one. Someone carves me a grin I never asked for and lights a fire where my thoughts should be. What am I?"
Answer
A Jack-o'-Lantern
Explanation
A pumpkin is hollowed out, given a carved face and lit from within by a candle. The custom came from Ireland and Scotland, where lanterns were originally carved from turnips — pumpkins took over when the tradition crossed to America.
This is an easy riddle in the Classic category — Time-honoured riddles passed down through generations.
Featured in: Halloween Riddles
Tags:halloweenpumpkinautumn
✦
More Classic Riddles
Keep going — other riddles in this category:
- I wear a sheet but have no bed. I pass through doors without opening them and climb the stairs without a single creak. They say I know only one word. What am I?
- Most of the year I sweep the floor, but on one night I am said to sweep the sky. I carry a rider yet have no saddle, no wheels and no wings. What am I?
- I am inside every guest at the party, yet when I turn up on my own everybody screams. I have a ribcage but no heart, and a grin but no lips. What am I?
- My doors creak, my floorboards groan and my windows are dark. Nobody lives in me, yet somebody is always said to be at home. What am I?
- I'm a threat that ends in a gift. Strangers in costume say me at your door, and if you pay up with sweets, nobody gets tricked. What two words am I?
- I never show up in a mirror, never watch a sunrise, and never come in unless invited. I sleep in a box and cannot abide garlic. What am I?