Riddlers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who poses riddles, often engaging others in solving tricky or puzzling questions
2. An individual skilled in crafting enigmatic statements that challenge critical thinking and creativity
3. One who delivers or creates complex problems that require clever reasoning to answer

Etymology: "Riddler" is built from "riddle" plus the agent suffix "-er," which English attached to verbs to name the person who performs the action. The "riddle" part has two separate sources. One is the verb meaning to puzzle someone with a question, which comes from the Old English noun "hriddel" (a sieve). The other is an older Germanic root, *rēdan, meaning to advise or think, the same root that gives "read" in its old sense of interpreting. So the word for a puzzle-setter is tied, through its verb, to a kitchen sieve. Riddles and sieves meet in the idea of sifting or sorting meaning, though the exact link between the two senses is not fully settled. What is clear is that "riddle" meaning a puzzle was in English by Middle English, and "riddler" follows the same pattern as "hunter" or "baker," naming someone by what they do. The plural "riddlers" simply refers to several such people.

Synonyms: puzzlers, enigmists