Desks are common pieces of furniture found in homes, offices, and schools around the world. They provide a surface to write, work, and study on. Desks come in many shapes, sizes, and styles – from simple wooden desks to large executive desks with drawers and features. Despite their ubiquity, desks can actually be quite fascinating. Here are 77 riddles that challenge you to think about the puzzling aspects of the desk!
Riddles about the appearance of a desk
1. What has drawers but wears no clothes?
A desk has drawers but does not actually wear clothing. The drawers contain supplies, files, and other items.
2. What has legs but cannot walk?
A desk often has four legs but cannot move or walk around on its own.
3. What gets bigger the more you take away?
A desk gets bigger and more exposed as you remove items from its surface and drawers.
4. What has a flat surface, yet you cannot eat on it?
A desk has a flat surface for working on, but it would be odd to eat a meal sitting at your desk.
5. What has drawers but no clothes?
A desk often contains drawers to store supplies, but contains no actual articles of clothing.
Riddles about desk materials
6. What desk surface is made from trees?
Wooden desks are made from trees that have been cut and processed into boards.
7. What material might a desk be made of that comes from the ground?
Some desks are made from metal materials like steel that come from minerals mined from the earth.
8. What part of a tree can be made into a desk?
Wood from the trunk and branches of trees can be used to construct wooden desks.
9. What part of a desk could be made from melted sand?
The glass top of a desk is made from melted sand that has cooled and solidified.
10. What are desk drawers sometimes lined with to make items slide more smoothly?
Desk drawers may be lined with a smooth silk or satin fabric to reduce friction when pulling the drawers in and out.
Riddles about desk shapes and sizes
11. What shape is most desks?
Most traditional desks have a rectangular shape with rectangular work surfaces and drawers.
12. What shape might you see for a desk in a corner office?
A corner desk has an angled or L-shaped design to fit neatly into office corners.
13. What shape desk might require less space?
A rounded or oval desk can fit more compactly into smaller spaces than rectangular desks.
14. What kind of desk could be hollow in the middle?
Some desks have a wraparound design or are U-shaped with an open middle section.
15. What size desk might a child use?
A child’s desk is smaller in scale and lower to the ground to fit young students.
Riddles about desk locations and spaces
16. Where might you find a desk in a library?
Librarians often sit behind a reference desk to assist library patrons.
17. Where might a desk be located outdoors?
An outdoor patio or garden might feature a small outdoor desk.
18. What room of a school has rows of desks?
Classrooms are filled with desks lined up in rows for students.
19. What room of a house often contains a desk?
A home office or study room may have a desk for working and managing household tasks.
20. Where might you see a built-in desk?
Some desks are custom built-in pieces of furniture integrated into rooms as part of the architecture.
Riddles about desk purposes
21. What might a secretary use a desk for?
A secretary may use their desk to answer phones, file papers, and typing.
22. Where could you pay your bills at a desk?
A home office desk provides a space to sort through bills and write checks for bill payments.
23. What might a student use a school desk for?
Students use classroom desks for activities like writing, reading textbooks, and taking tests.
24. What kind of project could you complete atop a desk?
An arts and crafts project is easier to complete with the flat surface of a desk to lay out supplies.
25. Where might an executive make important decisions?
An executive desk in a top manager’s office provides a space for critical decision making.
Riddles about desk contents
26. What kinds of office supplies might you find in desk drawers?
Typical desk drawers contain supplies like pens, notepads, folders, staplers, tape, and scissors.
27. What might a student store in their school desk?
Students may store school supplies like notebooks, pencils, erasers, and calculators in their desk.
28. What might a desk organizer hold?
Desk organizers hold small office supplies like paper clips, pins, rubber bands, and push pins.
29. What important documents might you keep in a home office desk?
Files with bills, tax documents, insurance policies, and other important paperwork are often kept in home office desks.
30. What kind of light might sit atop a desk?
Many desks have a desk lamp or another source of task lighting to illuminate the work surface.
Riddles about desk features and accessories
31. What is under a desk that you can rest your feet on?
A footrest can provide a place to rest your feet beneath a desk.
32. Where could you set a hot drink on a desk?
A desk may have a mug or cup holder to provide a place to set down hot coffee or tea.
33. What might you hang above a desk on a wall?
Pictures, calendars, bulletin boards, or inspiration boards can be hung above a desk.
34. What might you roll a desk chair on?
Chairs can have wheels or casters that roll along the floor around a desk.
35. What device could you use to hold notes on a desk?
Sticky notes posted to a desk surface can remind you of important notes and tasks.
Riddles about desk functions
36. What might you use desk drawers for?
Desk drawers provide handy storage for office supplies, files, and materials.
37. Where could you write down ideas at a desk?
A notebook or notepad on a desk provides a space for jotting down thoughts and ideas.
38. What could a student practice on top of their school desk?
Students can practice skills like writing, math, and drawing using the flat surface of their desk.
39. What allows you to reach high shelves from a desk?
A step stool tucked under a desk can provide extra height for reaching high objects.
40. Where could you sort mail at home?
A home office desk provides a central place to sort through the mail.
Riddles about desk jobs and professionals
41. Who might sit at a reception desk?
The receptionist greets guests and visitors from behind the reception desk.
42. What job involves making calls at a desk?
Telemarketers often work at desks with phones to make outgoing sales and promotional calls.
43. What profession frames pictures at a desk?
Framing technicians carefully frame artwork, photos, diplomas, and certificates at their desks.
44. What job requires grading papers at a desk?
Teachers grade stacks of homework and tests at their classroom or home office desks.
45. What desk job could involve entering data?
Data entry clerks have desk jobs where they type data into databases and spreadsheets.
Riddles about desk spaces
46. What is a workspace called within an office?
An individual’s desk and surrounding area is known as their workstation in an office.
47. What do you call the surface of a desk?
The flat top that you work on is specifically called the desktop.
48. What is the knee space area under a desk called?
The open area under the desk for your knees is known as the kneehole.
49. What is a built-in shelf under a desk top called?
A desk can have a keyboard tray or keyboard shelf to hold a keyboard.
50. Where do you rest your wrists while typing at a desk?
A padded wrist rest provides a place to rest your wrists comfortably at the front edge of a desk.
Riddles about desk designs and styles
51. What style of desk has a slanted surface?
A drafting table is angled or slanted to make it easier to draw and sketch.
52. What desk setup has multiple surfaces?
A modular orbridge desk system has multiple interconnected surfaces for spreading out.
53. What desks could face each other?
Opposing desks or face-to-face desks let two people sit across from each other.
54. What kind of desk could have a glass surface?
A glass desk has a clear glass top rather than an opaque wooden surface.
55. What might a compact desk attach to?
A wall-mounted or floating desk saves space by attaching directly to the wall.
Riddles about desk appearances
56. What desk surface could be shiny?
Polished wood and glass desktops have a very smooth, shiny reflective surface.
57. What might make a desk surface scratch resistant?
A desk pad or blotter made of leather or felt protects the desk surface from scratches.
58. What color could a painted wooden desk be?
Wooden desks can be painted or stained different colors like red, green, blue, black, or white.
59. What pattern could a desk surface or drawer have?
Desk surfaces could have wood grain patterns while drawers might have decorative carvings.
60. What could you use to cover clutter on a desk?
A desk with a hutch on top provides a space to store things cluttering up the actual desk.
Riddles about organizing a desk
61. Where could you store pens and pencils on a desk?
Pencil cups and pen holders organize writing utensils in an upright position on a desk.
62. What could help organize papers on your desk?
In and out boxes help organize paperwork by separating incoming and outgoing documents.
63. Where should you store things you use most often?
Items used most frequently belong in the top drawers for easy access.
64. What helps keep a desk free of dust and crumbs?
A protective desk mat catches debris and is easier to clean than the desk itself.
65. Where could you neatly store office supplies within arms reach?
Desktop organizers and trays keep frequently used supplies organized and nearby.
Riddles about activities at a desk
66. What could you use to hold a paper still while writing?
A paperweight keeps papers from shifting while you write.
67. What could you use while speaking at a desk?
A microphone amplifies your voice when speaking across a desk.
68. What might reflect light if angled properly on a desk?
A small mirror on a desk can redirect light and brighten the workspace.
69. What makes sounds louder at a desk?
Speakers allow you to listen to music and audio clearly.
70. Where might you hang headphones near a desk?
Headphone hooks or stands provide a convenient place to hang headphones.
Riddles about cleaning and care
71. What can remove tough stains from a wooden desk?
Cleaning wipes or a gentle wood cleaner can clean up spills and remove stains on a wooden desk.
72. How might you reach cobwebs and dust in high corners?
A duster with an extendable handle makes it easier to remove dust and cobwebs around a desk.
73. What household staple can you use to kill germs?
Lysol or other household disinfectant sprays kill germs on desks.
74. What can you use to polish and treat wood furniture?
Furniture polish conditions wood desks to protect and shine the surface.
75. What should you use to clean glass desktops?
Glass cleaner or vinegar solution cleans glass desk surfaces without leaving streaks.
Riddles about desk history
76. Where did the first desks likely originate thousands of years ago?
The earliest desks were developed in ancient Egypt for scribes.
77. What was first used in the 18th century as an early desk?
Highboys were early forms of desks with tall storage to hold supplies.
Conclusion
There are so many fascinating aspects of the common desk! While we use desks daily, there are still interesting puzzles, riddles and mysteries around their design, history and purpose. A desk can be tailor-made for any task, from intricate crafting to writing best-selling novels to completing giant jigsaw puzzles. The many clever riddles about the shapes, sizes, styles and functions of desks encourage us to think about how creative this simple piece of furniture can be. Whether at home, at school or on the job, desks facilitate productivity and learning in so many ways. The next time you sit down at your desk, think about how these riddles shed new light on an often overlooked object!
