Rebus Puzzles With Answers (Hard): 40 Brain-Breakers

6 min read · IQ Tester

Looking for rebus puzzles with answers, hard edition? Rebus puzzles hide a word or phrase in how letters are placed, sized, repeated or flipped: "MIND over MATTER" is literally MIND written over MATTER. The 40 below skip the kiddie ones and go straight to brain-breakers, with every answer grouped at the bottom so nobody gets spoiled.

If word puzzles like these melt your brain, IQ Tester shows whether verbal reasoning or pattern-spotting is your weak spot and drills it daily: Find my weak spots.

How rebus puzzles work

What is a rebus puzzle? It's a picture-word riddle where the layout is part of the message. In the UK they're often called dingbats, after a popular board game of that name.

You read a rebus by describing what you see, out loud, in plain words:

• Where is it? (over, under, inside, beside)
• How big is it?
• Which way is it facing?
• How many times does it appear?
• What's missing?

Then you turn that description into a phrase you already know. That last jump is the hard part, and the reason hard rebus puzzles with answers are such a good verbal workout.

How to read this page: since this is text, a slash (/) means the first part sits on top of the second. So MIND / MATTER means MIND is written above MATTER.

The 6 tricks rebus puzzles use

Almost every rebus uses one or more of these. Learn them and even very hard rebus puzzles get easier.

Rebus puzzle tip: if you're stuck, try the six tricks in order on the same puzzle. One of them almost always cracks it.

Hard rebus puzzles 1-20

Warm-up is over. These hard rebus puzzles with answers start tricky and get worse.

1. MIND / MATTER
2. STAND / I
3. ECNALG
4. HISTORY HISTORY HISTORY
5. GROUND / FEET FEET FEET FEET FEET FEET
6. WEAR / LONG
7. CYCLE CYCLE CYCLE
8. TIMING TIM ING
9. DICE DICE
10. YOU JUST ME
11. STOOD / MIS
12. ALL / WORLD
13. HEAD / HEELS
14. SGEG
15. BAN ANA
16. JOB IN JOB
17. GIVE GET GIVE GET GIVE GET GIVE GET
18. SIDE SIDE
19. TRAVEL / CCCCCCC
20. LE VEL

Here's the hard bit about doing these alone: when you finally check the answer, it's tempting to say "oh, I basically had that." Rebus puzzles lean on verbal reasoning and pattern-spotting, and it's hard to judge your own level honestly. IQ Tester does that for you: 20 untimed questions across verbal analogy, pattern, logic and number series, then a breakdown of which category is your strength and a short daily drill for your weakest one. Find my weak spots

Hardest rebus puzzles 21-40

The hardest rebus puzzles with answers, for adults, teens who think they're too good for the first 20, and anyone who likes suffering.

21. MAN / BOARD
22. GETTINGITALL
23. CHIMADENA
24. PAANTSNTS
25. FEELING / WEATHER
26. CHTONGUEEEK
27. YYUR YYUB ICUR YY4ME
28. COF FEE
29. HE'S HIMSELF
30. ARREST / YOU'RE
31. BJAOCXK
32. ONCE / TIME
33. NEPAINCK
34. DOCTOR DOCTOR
35. I RIGHT I
36. EVERYRIGHTTHING
37. WORKED / PAID
38. ST4ANCE
39. MILL1ON
40. XQQME

Answers

Grouped at the bottom so you can check one at a time.

Answers 1-20

1. Mind over matter
2. I understand (I under STAND)
3. Backward glance
4. History repeats itself
5. Six feet underground
6. Long underwear (LONG under WEAR)
7. Tricycle (three cycles)
8. Split-second timing (the second TIMING is split)
9. Paradise (pair of dice)
10. Just between you and me
11. Misunderstood (MIS under STOOD)
12. All over the world
13. Head over heels
14. Scrambled eggs
15. Banana split
16. Inside job
17. Forgive and forget (four GIVEs and four GETs)
18. Side by side
19. Travel overseas (over seven Cs, "seas")
20. Split level

Answers 21-40

21. Man overboard
22. Getting it all together (no spaces)
23. Made in China (MADE inside CHINA)
24. Ants in your pants (ANTS inside PANTS)
25. Feeling under the weather
26. Tongue in cheek
27. Too wise you are, too wise you be, I see you are too wise for me
28. Coffee break
29. He's beside himself
30. You're under arrest
31. Jack in the box (JACK woven inside BOX)
32. Once upon a time
33. Pain in the neck
34. Paradox (pair of docs)
35. Right between the eyes
36. Right in the middle of everything
37. Overworked and underpaid
38. For instance (4 in STANCE)
39. One in a million (a 1 inside MILLION)
40. Excuse me (X-Qs me)

How'd you do? Rough scoring: 30+ is elite, 20-29 is strong, under 20 means you just need to learn the six tricks (seriously, it jumps fast once you do).

Make your own rebus

Making rebus puzzles is the best way to get better at solving them, and it's a great group chat or class game.

1. Pick a phrase with a position or number word. "Over the moon," "in between," "second hand," "three blind mice."
2. Turn that word into layout. For "over the moon," don't write the word OVER. Put something above the word MOON instead, like JUMP / MOON or COW / MOON.
3. Use sound-alikes. "For" → 4, "to/too" → 2, "see" → C, "you" → U, "eye" → I.
4. Test it on one friend. If they get it instantly, it's too easy. If nobody gets it even after hearing the answer, it's too vague.
5. Post a daily one. Rebus of the day in the group chat, winner picks tomorrow's.

Ideas to try: once in a blue moon, a step backward, reading between the lines, crossroads.

Like puzzles where the trick is your own assumptions? Try lateral thinking puzzles for teens. Prefer numbers? The 6÷2(1+2) fight is waiting for you.

Find out if words or patterns are your superpower

Rebus puzzles with answers hard enough to hurt are a mix of verbal reasoning and pattern-spotting. If you want to see which of those is actually your strength, IQ Tester's 20 untimed questions give you a free score band and three of your four reasoning categories in a few minutes, and its guides turn your weakest one into a short daily drill.

Find my weak spots

FAQ

What is a rebus puzzle?

A rebus puzzle is a word picture where the position, size, direction or repetition of letters spells out a phrase. For example, MIND / MATTER means "mind over matter." In the UK they're often called dingbats.

What are the hardest rebus puzzles with answers?

Some of the hardest use several tricks at once, like YYUR YYUB ICUR YY4ME ("too wise you are, too wise you be, I see you are too wise for me") or GIVE GET repeated four times ("forgive and forget"). The 40 above are sorted from hard to hardest.

How do you solve difficult rebus puzzles?

Describe exactly what you see out loud: where the words sit, how many there are, which way they face and what's missing. Then run through the six tricks (position, inside, direction, repetition, split, sounds) until a familiar phrase pops out.

Are rebus puzzles good for adults?

Yes. Hard rebus puzzles for adults are a fun verbal workout, and they're great for parties, team icebreakers and group chats. They practice flexible thinking and wordplay.

Where can I play rebus puzzles online?

You can use the 40 rebus puzzles on this page for free, with answers at the bottom. Try posting one a day in a group chat and let whoever solves it first pick the next one.