The older I get, the more I'm worth. I spend years lying on my side in the dark, and right before anyone enjoys me, I'm supposed to breathe. What am I?
Hint: Try me with dinner.
AnswerWineFine wine gains value with age, bottles are stored on their sides in dark cellars, and wine is often left to breathe before drinking.
I'm a concert nobody bought tickets for. The playlist is one song long, the speaker is pressed against your ear, and every so often a recorded voice cuts in to promise you're important. What am I?
Hint: Press 1 to hear me again.
AnswerHold musicHold music loops the same tune while you wait on a call, interrupted by messages saying your call matters.
People pay me to make them suffer, thank me afterward and book me again for next week. I count out loud all day long, but almost never past fifteen. What am I?
Hint: I count your reps.
AnswerA personal trainerTrainers push clients through tough workouts, get thanked for it, and count reps in sets of ten to fifteen.
I'm made at midnight while a crowd counts down. I'm usually broken before the snow melts, and most people make the very same one of me again a year later. What am I?
Hint: Gyms are packed when I'm brand-new.
AnswerA New Year's resolutionResolutions are made as the year turns at midnight, often abandoned within weeks, and repeated the next New Year's Eve.
Guests ask for my secret before they ask for a drink. You can't see me, yet you wander the house hunting for the spot where I'm strongest, and when I'm weak, everyone blames the blinking box in the corner. What am I?
Hint: Have you tried turning the box off and on again?
AnswerWi-FiVisitors ask for the Wi-Fi password, the signal is invisible and stronger in some rooms, and the router gets the blame when it's slow.
I have teeth but never bite, I ride in your pocket but never pay a fare, and I only go missing when you're already late. When you finally find me, I jingle like I've been laughing at you. What am I?
Hint: You need me to start the car.
AnswerYour keysKeys have teeth, ride in pockets, disappear at the worst moment and jingle on their ring.
Every night you give me an order, and every morning you're furious that I followed it. You can silence me with one finger, but I'll be back a few minutes later, and I never take it personally. What am I?
Hint: You set me before bed.
AnswerAn alarm clockYou set an alarm yourself, resent it when it goes off, and the snooze button only quiets it for a few minutes.
I'm the only letter that thanks you before you've done anything. I show up on schedule, I always end with a number, and the longer you leave me unopened, the bigger that number gets. What am I?
Hint: There's a due date on me.
AnswerA billBills often say 'Thank you for your business,' arrive every month, end with an amount due and grow with late fees if you ignore them.
I lose my family and my roots in the same afternoon, then ride home strapped to the roof of a car. Inside, you give me a drink every day and hang heavy jewelry on my arms. For a few weeks I'm the center of attention, then one cold morning you drag me outside and leave me at the curb. What am I?
Hint: I was green before I came inside.
AnswerA Christmas treeA Christmas tree is cut down and tied to a car roof, watered every day, hung with ornaments on its branches and set out at the curb after the holidays.
I lose my brains and get a grin in return. A flame is my only thought, I keep watch from the front steps, and by the middle of November I'm caving in. What am I?
Hint: I started out in a patch.
AnswerA jack-o'-lanternA jack-o'-lantern is a hollowed pumpkin with a carved face and a candle inside, and it rots within a few weeks.