The ‘I Met a Man on the London Bridge’ Riddle’s Answer Seems Random—Can You Figure It Out?

Riddles are a fun way to exercise your brain. Thinking through word games or pondering a tough riddle can really get the cogs in our minds turning in a way that everyday tasks just don’t. And the latest viral riddle has a lot of people scratching their heads at first glance. Is the "I met a man on the London Bridge” riddle too tough to figure out?

The riddle itself, which is just a couple of sentences long (we’ll show you in a minute), doesn’t seem to have very much information to figure it out. But that’s all part of the problem-solving aspect of it, right? So, check out the “Man on the London Bridge” riddle yourself and see if you get stumped.

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What Is the ‘I Met a Man on the London Bridge’ Riddle?

Like most viral riddles, this one has been around for a while and is picking up steam once again.

There are a few variations of the riddle. There’s “I met an old man on London Bridge. As the sun set on the ridge, he tipped his hat and drew his name and cheated at the guessing game. What was the man’s name?”

It’s a little wordy, so another version is very short and to the point: “I met a man on the London Bridge. He tipped his hat and drew his name. In this riddle I told you his name.”

But the wording we’ll go with today is:

“I met a man on London Bridge. He tipped his hat and drew his name and cheated at the guessing game. What was the man’s name?”

Time to figure it out!

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Hints to Figure Out the Man on the London Bridge Riddle

Before we give you the answer, we’ll give you a minute to try to figure it out for yourself. And if you need some hints while doing so, we’ve got you covered.

When looking at this riddle, like we said at the beginning, it seems like the answer is arbitrary. There surely isn’t enough information in those sentences to figure out what the man’s name is. Do we just make one up?

While it certainly does read like the answer is nowhere to be found, it’s actually right in the riddle itself.

Need another hint? Think of how the riddle would sound as opposed to reading it. Is there a name in there that you hear when reciting those words together?

Related: 25 Logic Puzzles (with Answers) for Adults

‘I Met a Man on the London Bridge’ Riddle Answer Reveal

The man’s name is Andrew.

Man on the London Bridge Riddle Explained

Going off the hint we gave you, the name Andrew is heard within the wording: “He tipped his hat and drew his name and cheated at the guessing game.” So even though it’s written like that, really it tells us the man’s name: “He tipped his hat—Andrew, his name—and cheated at the guessing game.” The cheating surely comes in the fact that he “wrote” out or said the riddle in a way to makes you think “Andrew” was “and drew.”

This riddle is a good example of why commas and correct punctuation are important when you’re writing out sentences. You’d never want to write, “No more coffee,” you’d probably mean to write, “No, more coffee.” Those sentences mean two very opposite things. But for the purpose of a riddle? The wording was just fine.

Next up, if you loved figuring out this riddle, check out the Theresa's Daughter riddle, which also has people stumped.