Cryptic questions

As recommended by the QI Elves on Twitter:

Make sure you download your FREE Cryptic Companion to Bless the Buccaneer with Barbecued Blood, with almost 700 cryptic questions on the words in the book, but you'll have to buy the book to find the answers. You can also follow the Cryptic Q of the Day on my Twitter account at Marcoloe, with answers and explanations the next day.

book cover

This page is devoted to cryptic questions, which are designed to get you thinking about the words in the book and point you to the answers. New questions will be added regularly to keep you interested (I hope), though they will not necessarily be easy to solve. After all, cryptic is from the Greek word for "hidden". Remember, you have to get the book to get the answers (unless, of course, you can work them out yourself). Have fun!

Why can men never be hysterical?

How can saying your prayers give you the gift of the gab?

Why can't you truly be another brick in the wall?

Which fruit may have led to the conquest of Mexico?

Would a bachelor choose a wife with eight legs or eighty decades?

Who is the biggest cheat in history?

Why should you beware of fire-breathing dragons when digging your garden?

Why should north be south and south be north?

Why would you give a plough to someone with a high fever?

Why would you make a song and dance if someone took away your hamburger?

Why can no one hold a candle to Tutankhamun?

When is one a twelfth and a sixteenth at the same time?

Why should you beware of a bear when drinking a beer?

What would a Manx cat do for a tail?

When would you have a Balkan round your neck?

What animal has the most sneering attitude to everything?