Terese, maybe I'm the minority view here, but to me the real mark of a good riddle isn't its difficulty, and the real fun of a riddle isn't guessing the answer. The mark of a good riddle poem is whether it remains enjoyable and significant even after one knows the answer. The "guess the answer" aspect is really just a pose, I think. We certainly don't want all the fun to be gone when we know the "answer." In a way, many riddles just do what much poetry does, i.e., allow us to see common things in a new light, but the writer of a riddle underlines that aspect by turning it into a puzzle to be solved.
I suppose I'm speaking of the ideal riddle, though. There are many riddles that amount to no more than little puzzles, and they can also be fun. Still, I confess that I am quick to look at the answers when they are available, and I can still appreciate (or perhaps greater appreciate) the riddle's ironic pose when I am in on the irony.
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