[For Seniors] Have Fun with Wordplay Characters! A Collection of Funny Puzzles
We’ve put together a collection of brain teasers that people of all ages can enjoy.
For seniors, they can also serve as brain training, so this might be a popular idea.
These riddles range from ones that use kanji and hiragana to questions that make you think about what’s being described, such as “Where is the highest-altitude train station in Japan?” and “What vehicle occasionally eats bread?”
The nice thing about brain teasers is that you don’t need prior knowledge—if you twist your thinking a bit, you can figure them out.
Thinking them through together with seniors around you can spark interaction and make things lively!
Be sure to take this opportunity to give them a try.
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[For Seniors] Have Fun with Wordplay! A Collection of Funny Puzzles (11–20)
A wordplay rebus using the characters “ri,” “u,” and “n”
Let's focus on each character's distinctive features and think! Here's a wordplay puzzle using the characters “り,” “う,” and “ん.” You can see a blue “り,” a black “う,” and an “ん” that has fallen over.
There’s not much uniformity, so many people might need time to reach the answer.
The hints are that it’s a phrase describing a dangerous act, and that in addition to the blue “ri,” the “n” has toppled over.
The answer is “あおり運転” (aggressive driving/road rage tailgating).
Once you hear it, you think, “Oh, that’s what it means!”
A wordplay lettering using “ka,” “n,” and “mai”
Let’s try a riddle that feels satisfying once you get the answer.
Here’s a wordplay puzzle using “ka,” “n,” and “mai.” The letters “mai” are arranged vertically three times between “ka” and “n.” The hints are that it’s a type of greeting card and that there are three “mai” inside “ka” and “n.” The answer is “kanchū mimai” (a midwinter greeting card).
The key is reading the three “mai” as “mimai.” Once you reach the answer, the confusion clears up nicely!
punny characters (bad)
The first question from a roughly 8-minute problem set! How about using spare moments, break time, or fun time with family and friends to face off with these questions? A buzzer-beater format or racing to see who gets the right answer fastest would be exciting, too.
Among the other questions, there are not only text-based ones but also illustration problems.
Keep your mind flexible and think from different angles to figure out what words they can be converted into.
There’s a 20-second time limit until the hint appears, and from there you get an additional 30 seconds to answer.
It’s nice that you can take your time to think, isn’t it?
Where is the highest-altitude train station in Japan?
Where is the highest station in Japan? Here's a hint: trains have 'up' and 'down' directions. The answer is Tokyo Station, because all 'up' lines terminate there. It's a riddle that requires you to reinterpret the meaning of 'high.'
Acrostic letters camera
See the answer
Security camera
You can see only half of a katakana character, right? First, what do you think it is? If you look closely, it actually says “camera.” There’s a stick-like shape in front of it, isn’t there? If you keep reading it becomes “stick half camera” → “bo-han camera” → “security camera.” It’s a pun, but it’s pretty funny!
Tonchi moji uresu
See the answer
Waitress
There are eight instances of the hiragana “う,” so let’s start by dealing with that first! The number 8 is read “hachi,” and in English it’s “eight.” If you kind of mash those together, the letters “weight” emerge. Then just combine that with “less.” The answer is “waitress,” the person at a restaurant who brings you drinks and food.
[For Seniors] Have Fun with Riddle Letters! A Collection of Funny Puzzles (21–30)
What is something you can’t cut no matter how much you try?
What is something you can keep cutting but can never cut apart? Think about the different meanings of the word “cut.” It’s used for more than just separating things. The answer is playing cards. Shuffling cards is also called “cutting” the deck, right? In that sense, no matter how much you cut the cards, you can’t cut them apart.