Riddle: I have lakes with no water, mountains with no stone and cities with no buildings. What am I?
Answer: A map
Riddle Explanation + Meaning
Maps are illustrations or representations of the Earth's surface.
They are designed to show geographical features, places, and various natural and human-made aspects of the world on a flat surface.
The riddle cleverly describes characteristics of a map by talking about lakes, mountains, and cities which are commonly found on maps.
However, the twist lies in the fact that these features on the map are not real.
A lake on a map doesn't contain real water; it's simply a representation.
Similarly, mountains are not made of stone on a map, they are usually indicated by shapes or shadings.
And cities, which in reality consist of buildings and infrastructure, are often just dots, names, or small icons on a map.
Thus, the answer to the riddle is a map because it has representations of lakes, mountains, and cities without containing the physical elements themselves.
This riddle plays with the idea of representation versus reality, making us think about how we depict and understand the world around us through maps.