Can You Solve the ‘I Turn Polar Bears White’ Riddle?

Polar bear and cubs

There are so many great distractions during the day that not only make you think, but also give you a sense of accomplishment—like playing Wordle or Connections, doing a crossword or puzzle, or trying to answer some riddles.

A tricky riddle has gone viral on social media recently, challenging people's logic and lateral thinking skills. Called the "I Turn Polar Bears White" riddle, it presents a series of cryptic statements that don't seem to make sense at first glance.

Take a closer look at this perplexing puzzle and see if you can solve it.

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What Is the ‘I Turn Polar Bears White’ Riddle?

The riddle goes like this: 

I turn polar bears white and I will make you cry.
I make guys have to pee and girls comb their hair. 
I make celebrities look stupid and normal people look like celebrities. 
I turn pancakes brown and make your champagne bubble. 
If you squeeze me, I’ll pop. If you look at me, you’ll pop. 
Can you guess the riddle?

‘I Turn Polar Bears White’ Riddle Hints

This riddle definitely seems nonsensical. Polar bears are already white, and what single thing could make people cry, use the bathroom, comb their hair and cook pancakes? The statements don't seem to connect or point to one answer. That's what makes this riddle so confusing.

However, the entire riddle relies on one single line.

‘I Turn Polar Bears White’ Riddle Answer Reveal

The answer to the viral riddle is...drum roll, please...

"No." 

That's it! The solution is to ignore the various conflicting clues and instead focus on answering the question "Can you guess the riddle?"—to which the answer is simply "No."

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‘I Turn Polar Bears White’ Riddle Explained

The riddle contains strange imagery to misdirect from the actual question being asked. The polar bear, crying, bubble baths and pancakes act as distractions. The only logical response is that no, you cannot guess a cohesive riddle based on those clues.

Once you realize the question is the focal point, instead of the confusing statements, the answer becomes clear. While some riddles rely on wordplay and hidden meanings, this one hinges entirely on a little trickery.

There’s an equally valid case that the answer could be "yes" instead of "no." The question asks, "Can you guess the riddle?" to which one could reply in the affirmative—"Yes, I can make a guess, even if it ends up being wrong."

While "no" is understood to be the definite solution, some imaginative minds have put forth other possibilities for the riddle's answer. A few creative suggestions making the rounds online are “time,” “pressure,” and even “water” to try and connect the different elements in the riddle.

While clever, unfortunately, none of those options adequately match all parts of the riddle. Time itself does not directly cause champagne bubbles or make people look like celebrities. Pressure and water? Even less so.

However, the only sensible answer is “No, I cannot guess the riddle.” These alternate guesses unfortunately do not hit the mark. The answer is far simpler than that.

So, did you solve the "I Turn Polar Bears White" head-scratcher or was it trickier than expected?

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