“I Met a Man on the London Bridge” Riddle: Try to Solve the Viral Riddle

Updated: Mar. 08, 2024

Just like the English nursery rhyme, the "London Bridge" riddle has taken the world by storm. Don't fall down trying to solve it!

Have you heard of the “I met a man on the London Bridge” riddle? The viral sensation is a word riddle that has resurfaced with gusto and taken the internet by storm. It’s a simple few-sentence riddle that asks the listener to figure out a man’s name with a few clues.

So what is it about discovering this dapper dude’s moniker that is so perplexing? You don’t have to employ the same sleuth skills you use for hard riddles or math riddles or long riddles, like the “man steals $100 from a shop” riddle. Just like the “woman in the boat” riddle, the answer is in the phrasing—and hidden in plain sight. And while this tricky brain-teaser might sound like the English nursery rhyme, it has nothing to do with falling down—unless you think too hard. Here’s how to solve it.

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“I met a man on the London Bridge” riddle

The riddle goes like this: “I met a man on the London Bridge. He tipped his hat and drew his name. In this riddle, I told you his name.”

Another version of the “I met a man on the London Bridge” riddle

“I met an old man on the 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?

The hint

Before your mind swims across the pond, inspect the riddle, focusing on the two words before “his name” in the first sentence. The answer is the same in both versions and has nothing to do with him being old.

The answer

The moniker of the gent on the bridge is Andrew. (If you are a member of the grammar police, you are probably taking out a red pen and noting that the sentence should read, “He tipped his hat; Andrew, his name.”)

Other solutions

In most examples of the riddle, the answer is Andrew. However, there is some debate that the dude is dubbed Drew. When you Google “I met a man on the London Bridge” riddle, many versions of the conundrum pop up, but the one consistent element is that you will always find the words “and drew” in the riddle.

Ready for more riddles? First, give your brain a workout with some trick questions. Next, test your smarts with “What am I?” riddles. And then have some fun with these emoji riddles.