Socks and Prizes
Read me forwards and I am the prize you earn. Read me backwards and I am where your socks live. What am I, read forwards?
Spell the sock place backwards.
REWARD
REWARD spelled backwards is DRAWER.
How to solve it
This riddle hides two words that are the same letters in opposite order. The quickest way in is to start from the clue that is easier to picture.
Step one: name where socks are kept. The usual answer is a drawer, so write it out: D, R, A, W, E, R.
Step two: read those letters backwards: R, E, W, A, R, D. That spells REWARD.
Step three: test it against the other clue. A reward is something you earn for doing well, so it is the prize you earn. Both clues fit, and the riddle asks for the word read forwards, which is the prize word.
The common wrong answer is DRAWER itself. Solvers find the sock word first and stop there, but the riddle says that word is what you get when you read the answer backwards. Other near misses, such as PRIZE, MEDAL or TROPHY, fit the first clue but do not reverse into anything.
Takeaway: when a riddle says forwards and backwards, solve the easier half first, then flip its letters and see what appears. A word that reads as another word in reverse is sometimes called a semordnilap.
