130+ Mill Riddles with Answers
These 136 mill riddles move from grain and grinding to the many meanings that grew around the mill. Expect the running joke of machines working hard while going nowhere, vocabulary such as millstones, sluice gates, grist, and mill races, and answers dominated by mills themselves. Windmills and watermills share the page with pepper mills, sawmills, paper mills, steel mills, and familiar expressions built from milling. When this deck runs dry, the Caboose riddles pick up right where these leave off.
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Three Mill riddles, answers included
- I swallow grain by the sack, yet what leaves me is lighter, softer, and ready for bread. What am I?
- Answer: a mill
- What building can turn a windy day into tomorrow's loaf without baking anything?
- Answer: a mill
- What workplace gets excited when business really starts grinding?
- Answer: a mill
Mill Riddles
- I swallow grain by the sack, yet what leaves me is lighter, softer, and ready for bread. What am I?a mill
- What building can turn a windy day into tomorrow's loaf without baking anything?a mill
- What workplace gets excited when business really starts grinding?a mill
- I have four arms that wave all day, but I am not saying hello. What am I?a windmill
- What part of an old tower turns its whole head so its arms can catch an invisible worker?the cap
- What mill worker arrives for every shift but never collects wages?the wind
- I chase the breeze in circles, although my feet never leave the building. What am I?a mill
- What four partners work best when all of them keep going around in circles?windmill sails
- What old machine can have arms, a head, and no body at all?a mill
- I stand beside moving water, but instead of getting washed away, I put the current to work. What am I?a mill
- What wheel gets somewhere only when it stays exactly where it is?a waterwheel
- What river detour goes to work instead of going sightseeing?a mill race
- I look like a quiet little lake, but I am really stored muscle waiting for a gate to open. What am I?a millpond
- What gate can make a wheel hurry without ever touching it?a sluice gate
- What old factory could make a stream clock in for work?a mill
- I am fed by a pond and emptied into a race, yet I never swim. What am I?a mill
- What power source disappears downstream after doing its job?water power
- What machine lets gravity take the morning shift?a mill
- I have a floor where stones dance, but nobody is invited to step between them. What am I?a mill
- What pair works best when one refuses to move and the other never stops?a pair of millstones
- What stone can spend years traveling without moving across the room?the runner stone
- I lie beneath a restless partner and do my work by staying perfectly still. What am I?the bedstone
- What old workplace makes flour by arranging a very slow stone sandwich?a mill
- What necklace became famous precisely because nobody wants to wear it?a millstone around your neck
- I am carved into stone so grain can escape the very place where it is being crushed. What am I?millstone furrows
- What does a stone need when years of hard work make its sharp lines go dull?millstone dressing
- What workshop job makes a stone sharper without giving it an edge?stone dressing
- I use grooves as roads, but every traveler on them ends the trip as powder. What am I?a mill
- What tiny adjustment can separate fine flour from two stones striking sparks?millstone clearance
- What machine can be ruined by letting two coworkers get too close?a mill
- I fear a kiss between stones because one brief touch can begin a fiery disaster. What am I?a mill
- What unwanted flash can turn a flour-making building into a fire scene?a millstone spark
- What dusty workplace has good reason to take one little spark very seriously?a mill
- I arrive in kernels, pass between stones, and leave wearing a completely different texture. What am I?grist
- What word once meant grain brought for grinding but now also means useful material for an argument?grist for the mill
- What old phrase turns useful trouble into imaginary grain?grist to your mill
- I eat what farmers harvest, but my meal belongs to somebody else when I finish chewing. What am I?a mill
- What customer could bring a sack of grain and leave with the same harvest wearing a new name?a miller's customer
- What building takes grain apart without opening a single zipper?a mill
- I am pale enough to look quiet, yet I am the noisy machine's most famous result. What am I?flour
- What payment could a worker take from every customer's sack without touching a coin?the miller's toll
- What business once got paid by keeping part of what it was hired to process?a mill
- I am a workplace where the owner may keep a little of what everyone else brings in. What am I?a mill
- What word for a grain-processing worker became a family name in its own right?Miller
- What job became so common that millions of descendants still carry it around?miller
- I may belong to someone who has never ground grain, because an ancestor's occupation stuck to the family. What am I?a miller surname
- What does Smith have in common with Miller, besides looking ordinary on a mailbox?an occupational surname
- What ancient workplace helped put an occupation into phone books for centuries?a mill
- I can explain a surname in many languages even though my machinery never learned to speak. What am I?a mill
- What English surname has German Muller and French Meunier as occupational cousins?Miller
- What profession kept turning long after it became somebody's last name?milling
- I was once so loud that the person who knew me best could notice trouble before seeing it. What am I?a mill
- Who could diagnose a machine by hearing one wrong note inside a roar?the miller
- What workplace made listening part of mechanical maintenance long before microphones?a mill
- I shake, clatter, rumble, and grind, yet silence from me could be the worrying sound. What am I?a mill
- What kind of expert might hear a worn bearing while everyone else hears only thunder?an experienced miller
- What building could be the loudest machine a village resident ever entered?a mill
- I turn one useful motion into dozens of rattling, spinning jobs under a single roof. What am I?a mill
- What hidden wooden teeth can pass a wheel's motion around a building without chewing anything?mill gearing
- What old factory could have plenty of teeth but no dentist?a mill
- I make a whole building move while remaining firmly attached to the ground. What am I?a mill
- What vertical shaft can send power upstairs while never climbing a staircase?the upright shaft
- What machine has floors that work even though the building never goes anywhere?a mill
- I can turn a field's invisible breeze into motion you can hear through walls. What am I?a mill
- What device lets a miller stop the grind while the wind outside keeps blowing?the mill brake
- What old machine needs a brake even though it has no road to travel?a mill
- I am ordinary by reputation because I came straight from production without being singled out. What am I?run-of-the-mill
- What phrase makes an old industrial process sound like the opposite of exceptional?run of the mill
- What expression turns a working factory into a synonym for nothing special?run-of-the-mill
- I can turn without wind, water, grain, or stone when people use my name for gossip. What am I?a mill
- What factory produces stories faster when nobody checks the raw material?the rumor mill
- What mill runs best on whispers and needs no electricity?a rumor mill
- I process no grain, yet people say I am working whenever speculation keeps circulating. What am I?a mill
- What imaginary production line turns one uncertain fact into 20 confident versions?office gossip
- What workplace can exist entirely inside a conversation?a mill
- I fit in one hand, but I still promise a choice between coarse work and fine work. What am I?a pepper mill
- What tiny table machine makes its product finer when you tighten its expectations?a pepper grinder
- What mill is most likely to work during dinner?a spice mill
- I have a setting that changes the size of my results, though I never grade an exam. What am I?a mill
- What adjustment decides whether crushed seasoning lands chunky or nearly powdery?the grind setting
- What kitchen mill gets twisted at the table instead of beside a river?a hand mill
- I turned punishment into exercise equipment without changing the basic idea of endless steps. What am I?a treadmill
- What machine once made prisoners work by walking and now charges people to do something similar?the prison treadmill
- What mill lets you run for an hour and arrive exactly where you started?a treadmill
- I contain a mill in my name, but modern versions mostly turn calories into sweat. What am I?a mill
- What old punishment gave a modern gym machine the second half of its name?a treadwheel
- What machine made going nowhere into both a sentence and a workout?a penal treadmill
- I can fill a town with whistles and shift changes while turning bales into industrial output. What am I?a cotton mill
- What kind of settlement could grow around one factory until the factory shaped nearly everyone's day?a mill town
- What building could once set the alarm clock for an entire town?a mill
- I may have no millstones at all, yet generations still used my old name for industrial production. What am I?a mill
- What industrial workplace turns molten heat and heavy machinery into long beams and sheets?a steel mill
- What mill is more likely to glow orange than turn grain white?an integrated steelworks
- I share my name with grain machinery, but my appetite is measured in tons of metal. What am I?a mill
- What fiery part of a metalmaking complex sounds more like a volcano than a workshop?a blast furnace
- What mill can make a beam without growing a tree?a rolling mill
- I can announce myself downwind before you ever see my smokestacks. What am I?a paper mill
- What factory can make clean white sheets while earning a reputation for an unmistakable smell?a pulp mill
- What mill makes sheets nobody sleeps on?a paper mill
- I can turn wood into something thin enough to carry a novel, without writing a word. What am I?a mill
- What wet intermediate material can begin as wood and eventually become a dry page?paper pulp
- What factory sends trees into a career in publishing?a mill
- I take logs in at one end, but unlike a forest, I prefer them straight, measured, and leaving as boards. What am I?a sawmill
- What building makes a tree flatter without asking it to lie down?a lumber mill
- What mill gives logs a much more rectangular future?a sawmill
- I make repeated cuts while the timber advances, so the traveler changes shape more than the road does. What am I?a mill
- What carriage travels through a building while carrying something that used to stand still in a forest?the log carriage
- What factory turns round arrivals into square departures?a mill
- I was mistaken for a giant by a rider whose imagination was much larger than his target. What am I?a windmill
- What harmless machine became a famous enemy because Don Quixote refused to see it as machinery?a windmill
- What giant has sails, stands still, and exists only if your name is Don Quixote?a windmill
- I gave English a phrase for fighting imaginary enemies after a fictional lance came my way. What am I?tilting at windmills
- What literary mistake turns renewable machinery into a battlefield?Don Quixote's attack on the windmills
- What mill won a duel simply by being what it actually was?a mill
- I describe a crowd that moves plenty but makes almost no progress toward anywhere. What am I?milling about
- What verb borrowed from machinery can describe people wandering around with no clear destination?to mill about
- What kind of milling needs a crowd instead of grain?crowd milling
- I can be full of motion while accomplishing almost nothing, especially when people borrow my name. What am I?a mill
- What phrase makes a station crowd sound as though it belongs inside machinery?people milling around
- What mill has no building, only people who cannot decide where to go?a mill
- I promise credentials with the speed of a factory line, which is exactly why my name is an insult. What am I?a diploma mill
- What kind of institution gets compared with a factory when its qualifications seem too easy to produce?a degree mill
- What mill produces graduates instead of flour?a diploma mill
- I can put a person through hardship even when there is no machinery anywhere nearby. What am I?the mill
- What phrase turns a grinding machine into a metaphor for a punishing experience?put through the mill
- What imaginary mill processes people and sends them out more experienced?the school of hard knocks
- I make grain disappear and breakfast appear. Am I a magician with a very boring cape?a grain crusher
- What catches the breeze all day but never complains about having a bad hair day?a windmill blade
- I shake flour through tiny holes, but nobody invites me to dance. What am I?a flour sifter
- What gets fed kernels, works through lunch, and never asks for a sandwich?a grain hopper
- I turn and turn at work, yet my commute is exactly zero miles. What am I?a grinding wheel
- The workplace where every employee is expected to go against the grain.a flour factory
- What wooden worker has teeth, loves logs, and never needs a dentist?a circular saw blade
- I carry water toward work without owning a bucket. What am I?a mill leat
- The old-fashioned workplace where getting dusty can mean you're doing a flour job.a gristmill
- What lets ground grain escape after the stones have finished giving it a rough time?a meal spout
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How to Solve These Mill Riddles
The main trick is deciding whether "mill" means grain machinery, another kind of factory, or a metaphor borrowed from grinding and production. A clue about whispers points toward the "rumor mill," while something ordinary "straight from production" leads to "run-of-the-mill." Hardship suggests being "put through the mill," and a wandering crowd may be "milling about."
Other riddles depend on actual milling vocabulary. Grain brought for grinding is "grist," the moving millstone is the runner stone, and the stationary partner is the bedstone. Water clues introduce the mill race, millpond, sluice gate, and waterwheel. When the clues swap grain for logs, paper, metal, pepper, or credentials, keep the same production idea in mind. That is how answers shift naturally from sawmill and steel mill to pepper mill and diploma mill.
When to Use These Mill Riddles
This collection fits classroom vocabulary breaks, family riddle rounds, museum visits, history activities, and trivia sessions where old machinery or industrial language is already in the air. Use Kids selections when the visible action gives the game away, such as a windmill catching the breeze or a sawmill turning logs into boards. They work especially well when players can picture the machine before naming it.
Choose Hard riddles for adults, older students, or wordplay fans who know expressions such as "grist for the mill," "run-of-the-mill," and "tilting at windmills." A history teacher can also pull clues about miller's toll, occupational surnames, millstones, water power, and prison treadmills to turn period vocabulary into a quick guessing game instead of a definition drill.
More Mill Riddles by Type
Mill Riddles for Kids
41 kid-friendly mill riddles with simple words, safe themes, and answers that make young solvers feel clever.
Example Mill Riddles for Kids
- I swallow grain by the sack, yet what leaves me is lighter, softer, and ready for bread. What am I? a mill
- I have four arms that wave all day, but I am not saying hello. What am I? a windmill
- What mill worker arrives for every shift but never collects wages? the wind
- What old machine can have arms, a head, and no body at all? a mill
Hard Mill Riddles
For solvers who like a fight: 36 hard mill riddles that resist the first guess, and often the second.
Example Hard Mill Riddles
- I am fed by a pond and emptied into a race, yet I never swim. What am I? a mill
- What machine lets gravity take the morning shift? a mill
- What pair works best when one refuses to move and the other never stops? a pair of millstones
- What stone can spend years traveling without moving across the room? the runner stone
Mill Riddles for Adults
43 mill riddles with grown-up wit: subtler wordplay and references, zero crudeness, all challenge.
Example Mill Riddles for Adults
- What workplace gets excited when business really starts grinding? a mill
- What river detour goes to work instead of going sightseeing? a mill race
- What power source disappears downstream after doing its job? water power
- What necklace became famous precisely because nobody wants to wear it? a millstone around your neck
Funny Mill Riddles
The punchline crowd: 37 mill riddles built for a laugh, with puns, twists and groan-worthy wordplay included.
Example Funny Mill Riddles
- What old factory could make a stream clock in for work? a mill
- What old workplace makes flour by arranging a very slow stone sandwich? a mill
- What machine can be ruined by letting two coworkers get too close? a mill
- I eat what farmers harvest, but my meal belongs to somebody else when I finish chewing. What am I? a mill
Easy Mill Riddles
Warm up with 37 easy mill riddles for quick wins to build momentum before the tricky ones.
Example Easy Mill Riddles
- I stand beside moving water, but instead of getting washed away, I put the current to work. What am I? a mill
- What dusty workplace has good reason to take one little spark very seriously? a mill
- What building takes grain apart without opening a single zipper? a mill
- I am pale enough to look quiet, yet I am the noisy machine's most famous result. What am I? flour
Tricky Mill Riddles
52 tricky mill riddles that bait the obvious answer, so read slowly, the trap is in the wording.
Example Tricky Mill Riddles
- What building can turn a windy day into tomorrow's loaf without baking anything? a mill
- I chase the breeze in circles, although my feet never leave the building. What am I? a mill
- What four partners work best when all of them keep going around in circles? windmill sails
- What wheel gets somewhere only when it stays exactly where it is? a waterwheel
What Am I Mill Riddles
The classic guessing game: 46 what-am-I mill riddles that describe themselves clue by clue. Read, commit to a guess, then reveal.
Example What Am I Mill Riddles
- I look like a quiet little lake, but I am really stored muscle waiting for a gate to open. What am I? a millpond
- I have a floor where stones dance, but nobody is invited to step between them. What am I? a mill
- I lie beneath a restless partner and do my work by staying perfectly still. What am I? the bedstone
- I am carved into stone so grain can escape the very place where it is being crushed. What am I? millstone furrows
Clever Mill Riddles
47 mill riddles built on a genuinely neat idea rather than a trap: fair on the first read, satisfying on the reveal.
Example Clever Mill Riddles
- What part of an old tower turns its whole head so its arms can catch an invisible worker? the cap
- What gate can make a wheel hurry without ever touching it? a sluice gate
- What does a stone need when years of hard work make its sharp lines go dull? millstone dressing
- I arrive in kernels, pass between stones, and leave wearing a completely different texture. What am I? grist
Long Mill Riddles
44 mill riddles with a full setup and room for real misdirection, the ones worth reading out loud.
Example Long Mill Riddles
- I fear a kiss between stones because one brief touch can begin a fiery disaster. What am I? a mill
- What word once meant grain brought for grinding but now also means useful material for an argument? grist for the mill
- What customer could bring a sack of grain and leave with the same harvest wearing a new name? a miller's customer
- I am a workplace where the owner may keep a little of what everyone else brings in. What am I? a mill
Mill Riddles to Ask Your Friends
48 mill riddles built to stump someone: text one without the answer, watch them squirm, then enjoy the reveal.
Example Mill Riddles to Ask Your Friends
- I use grooves as roads, but every traveler on them ends the trip as powder. What am I? a mill
- What job became so common that millions of descendants still carry it around? miller
- What does Smith have in common with Miller, besides looking ordinary on a mailbox? an occupational surname
- What profession kept turning long after it became somebody's last name? milling
Short Mill Riddles
In a hurry? 92 bite-size mill riddles that get to the point in one line, perfect to text a friend.
Example Short Mill Riddles
- What workshop job makes a stone sharper without giving it an edge? stone dressing
- What tiny adjustment can separate fine flour from two stones striking sparks? millstone clearance
- What unwanted flash can turn a flour-making building into a fire scene? a millstone spark
- What old phrase turns useful trouble into imaginary grain? grist to your mill
All 136 Mill Riddles with Answers
1. I swallow grain by the sack, yet what leaves me is lighter, softer, and ready for bread. What am I?
Answer: a mill
2. What building can turn a windy day into tomorrow's loaf without baking anything?
Answer: a mill
3. What workplace gets excited when business really starts grinding?
Answer: a mill
4. I have four arms that wave all day, but I am not saying hello. What am I?
Answer: a windmill
5. What part of an old tower turns its whole head so its arms can catch an invisible worker?
Answer: the cap
6. What mill worker arrives for every shift but never collects wages?
Answer: the wind
7. I chase the breeze in circles, although my feet never leave the building. What am I?
Answer: a mill
8. What four partners work best when all of them keep going around in circles?
Answer: windmill sails
9. What old machine can have arms, a head, and no body at all?
Answer: a mill
10. I stand beside moving water, but instead of getting washed away, I put the current to work. What am I?
Answer: a mill
11. What wheel gets somewhere only when it stays exactly where it is?
Answer: a waterwheel
12. What river detour goes to work instead of going sightseeing?
Answer: a mill race
13. I look like a quiet little lake, but I am really stored muscle waiting for a gate to open. What am I?
Answer: a millpond
14. What gate can make a wheel hurry without ever touching it?
Answer: a sluice gate
15. What old factory could make a stream clock in for work?
Answer: a mill
16. I am fed by a pond and emptied into a race, yet I never swim. What am I?
Answer: a mill
17. What power source disappears downstream after doing its job?
Answer: water power
18. What machine lets gravity take the morning shift?
Answer: a mill
19. I have a floor where stones dance, but nobody is invited to step between them. What am I?
Answer: a mill
20. What pair works best when one refuses to move and the other never stops?
Answer: a pair of millstones
21. What stone can spend years traveling without moving across the room?
Answer: the runner stone
22. I lie beneath a restless partner and do my work by staying perfectly still. What am I?
Answer: the bedstone
23. What old workplace makes flour by arranging a very slow stone sandwich?
Answer: a mill
24. What necklace became famous precisely because nobody wants to wear it?
Answer: a millstone around your neck
25. I am carved into stone so grain can escape the very place where it is being crushed. What am I?
Answer: millstone furrows
26. What does a stone need when years of hard work make its sharp lines go dull?
Answer: millstone dressing
27. What workshop job makes a stone sharper without giving it an edge?
Answer: stone dressing
28. I use grooves as roads, but every traveler on them ends the trip as powder. What am I?
Answer: a mill
29. What tiny adjustment can separate fine flour from two stones striking sparks?
Answer: millstone clearance
30. What machine can be ruined by letting two coworkers get too close?
Answer: a mill
31. I fear a kiss between stones because one brief touch can begin a fiery disaster. What am I?
Answer: a mill
32. What unwanted flash can turn a flour-making building into a fire scene?
Answer: a millstone spark
33. What dusty workplace has good reason to take one little spark very seriously?
Answer: a mill
34. I arrive in kernels, pass between stones, and leave wearing a completely different texture. What am I?
Answer: grist
35. What word once meant grain brought for grinding but now also means useful material for an argument?
Answer: grist for the mill
36. What old phrase turns useful trouble into imaginary grain?
Answer: grist to your mill
37. I eat what farmers harvest, but my meal belongs to somebody else when I finish chewing. What am I?
Answer: a mill
38. What customer could bring a sack of grain and leave with the same harvest wearing a new name?
Answer: a miller's customer
39. What building takes grain apart without opening a single zipper?
Answer: a mill
40. I am pale enough to look quiet, yet I am the noisy machine's most famous result. What am I?
Answer: flour
41. What payment could a worker take from every customer's sack without touching a coin?
Answer: the miller's toll
42. What business once got paid by keeping part of what it was hired to process?
Answer: a mill
43. I am a workplace where the owner may keep a little of what everyone else brings in. What am I?
Answer: a mill
44. What word for a grain-processing worker became a family name in its own right?
Answer: Miller
45. What job became so common that millions of descendants still carry it around?
Answer: miller
46. I may belong to someone who has never ground grain, because an ancestor's occupation stuck to the family. What am I?
Answer: a miller surname
47. What does Smith have in common with Miller, besides looking ordinary on a mailbox?
Answer: an occupational surname
48. What ancient workplace helped put an occupation into phone books for centuries?
Answer: a mill
49. I can explain a surname in many languages even though my machinery never learned to speak. What am I?
Answer: a mill
50. What English surname has German Muller and French Meunier as occupational cousins?
Answer: Miller
51. What profession kept turning long after it became somebody's last name?
Answer: milling
52. I was once so loud that the person who knew me best could notice trouble before seeing it. What am I?
Answer: a mill
53. Who could diagnose a machine by hearing one wrong note inside a roar?
Answer: the miller
54. What workplace made listening part of mechanical maintenance long before microphones?
Answer: a mill
55. I shake, clatter, rumble, and grind, yet silence from me could be the worrying sound. What am I?
Answer: a mill
56. What kind of expert might hear a worn bearing while everyone else hears only thunder?
Answer: an experienced miller
57. What building could be the loudest machine a village resident ever entered?
Answer: a mill
58. I turn one useful motion into dozens of rattling, spinning jobs under a single roof. What am I?
Answer: a mill
59. What hidden wooden teeth can pass a wheel's motion around a building without chewing anything?
Answer: mill gearing
60. What old factory could have plenty of teeth but no dentist?
Answer: a mill
61. I make a whole building move while remaining firmly attached to the ground. What am I?
Answer: a mill
62. What vertical shaft can send power upstairs while never climbing a staircase?
Answer: the upright shaft
63. What machine has floors that work even though the building never goes anywhere?
Answer: a mill
64. I can turn a field's invisible breeze into motion you can hear through walls. What am I?
Answer: a mill
65. What device lets a miller stop the grind while the wind outside keeps blowing?
Answer: the mill brake
66. What old machine needs a brake even though it has no road to travel?
Answer: a mill
67. I am ordinary by reputation because I came straight from production without being singled out. What am I?
Answer: run-of-the-mill
68. What phrase makes an old industrial process sound like the opposite of exceptional?
Answer: run of the mill
69. What expression turns a working factory into a synonym for nothing special?
Answer: run-of-the-mill
70. I can turn without wind, water, grain, or stone when people use my name for gossip. What am I?
Answer: a mill
71. What factory produces stories faster when nobody checks the raw material?
Answer: the rumor mill
72. What mill runs best on whispers and needs no electricity?
Answer: a rumor mill
73. I process no grain, yet people say I am working whenever speculation keeps circulating. What am I?
Answer: a mill
74. What imaginary production line turns one uncertain fact into 20 confident versions?
Answer: office gossip
75. What workplace can exist entirely inside a conversation?
Answer: a mill
76. I fit in one hand, but I still promise a choice between coarse work and fine work. What am I?
Answer: a pepper mill
77. What tiny table machine makes its product finer when you tighten its expectations?
Answer: a pepper grinder
78. What mill is most likely to work during dinner?
Answer: a spice mill
79. I have a setting that changes the size of my results, though I never grade an exam. What am I?
Answer: a mill
80. What adjustment decides whether crushed seasoning lands chunky or nearly powdery?
Answer: the grind setting
81. What kitchen mill gets twisted at the table instead of beside a river?
Answer: a hand mill
82. I turned punishment into exercise equipment without changing the basic idea of endless steps. What am I?
Answer: a treadmill
83. What machine once made prisoners work by walking and now charges people to do something similar?
Answer: the prison treadmill
84. What mill lets you run for an hour and arrive exactly where you started?
Answer: a treadmill
85. I contain a mill in my name, but modern versions mostly turn calories into sweat. What am I?
Answer: a mill
86. What old punishment gave a modern gym machine the second half of its name?
Answer: a treadwheel
87. What machine made going nowhere into both a sentence and a workout?
Answer: a penal treadmill
88. I can fill a town with whistles and shift changes while turning bales into industrial output. What am I?
Answer: a cotton mill
89. What kind of settlement could grow around one factory until the factory shaped nearly everyone's day?
Answer: a mill town
90. What building could once set the alarm clock for an entire town?
Answer: a mill
91. I may have no millstones at all, yet generations still used my old name for industrial production. What am I?
Answer: a mill
92. What industrial workplace turns molten heat and heavy machinery into long beams and sheets?
Answer: a steel mill
93. What mill is more likely to glow orange than turn grain white?
Answer: an integrated steelworks
94. I share my name with grain machinery, but my appetite is measured in tons of metal. What am I?
Answer: a mill
95. What fiery part of a metalmaking complex sounds more like a volcano than a workshop?
Answer: a blast furnace
96. What mill can make a beam without growing a tree?
Answer: a rolling mill
97. I can announce myself downwind before you ever see my smokestacks. What am I?
Answer: a paper mill
98. What factory can make clean white sheets while earning a reputation for an unmistakable smell?
Answer: a pulp mill
99. What mill makes sheets nobody sleeps on?
Answer: a paper mill
100. I can turn wood into something thin enough to carry a novel, without writing a word. What am I?
Answer: a mill
101. What wet intermediate material can begin as wood and eventually become a dry page?
Answer: paper pulp
102. What factory sends trees into a career in publishing?
Answer: a mill
103. I take logs in at one end, but unlike a forest, I prefer them straight, measured, and leaving as boards. What am I?
Answer: a sawmill
104. What building makes a tree flatter without asking it to lie down?
Answer: a lumber mill
105. What mill gives logs a much more rectangular future?
Answer: a sawmill
106. I make repeated cuts while the timber advances, so the traveler changes shape more than the road does. What am I?
Answer: a mill
107. What carriage travels through a building while carrying something that used to stand still in a forest?
Answer: the log carriage
108. What factory turns round arrivals into square departures?
Answer: a mill
109. I was mistaken for a giant by a rider whose imagination was much larger than his target. What am I?
Answer: a windmill
110. What harmless machine became a famous enemy because Don Quixote refused to see it as machinery?
Answer: a windmill
111. What giant has sails, stands still, and exists only if your name is Don Quixote?
Answer: a windmill
112. I gave English a phrase for fighting imaginary enemies after a fictional lance came my way. What am I?
Answer: tilting at windmills
113. What literary mistake turns renewable machinery into a battlefield?
Answer: Don Quixote's attack on the windmills
114. What mill won a duel simply by being what it actually was?
Answer: a mill
115. I describe a crowd that moves plenty but makes almost no progress toward anywhere. What am I?
Answer: milling about
116. What verb borrowed from machinery can describe people wandering around with no clear destination?
Answer: to mill about
117. What kind of milling needs a crowd instead of grain?
Answer: crowd milling
118. I can be full of motion while accomplishing almost nothing, especially when people borrow my name. What am I?
Answer: a mill
119. What phrase makes a station crowd sound as though it belongs inside machinery?
Answer: people milling around
120. What mill has no building, only people who cannot decide where to go?
Answer: a mill
121. I promise credentials with the speed of a factory line, which is exactly why my name is an insult. What am I?
Answer: a diploma mill
122. What kind of institution gets compared with a factory when its qualifications seem too easy to produce?
Answer: a degree mill
123. What mill produces graduates instead of flour?
Answer: a diploma mill
124. I can put a person through hardship even when there is no machinery anywhere nearby. What am I?
Answer: the mill
125. What phrase turns a grinding machine into a metaphor for a punishing experience?
Answer: put through the mill
126. What imaginary mill processes people and sends them out more experienced?
Answer: the school of hard knocks
127. I make grain disappear and breakfast appear. Am I a magician with a very boring cape?
Answer: a grain crusher
128. What catches the breeze all day but never complains about having a bad hair day?
Answer: a windmill blade
129. I shake flour through tiny holes, but nobody invites me to dance. What am I?
Answer: a flour sifter
130. What gets fed kernels, works through lunch, and never asks for a sandwich?
Answer: a grain hopper
131. I turn and turn at work, yet my commute is exactly zero miles. What am I?
Answer: a grinding wheel
132. The workplace where every employee is expected to go against the grain.
Answer: a flour factory
133. What wooden worker has teeth, loves logs, and never needs a dentist?
Answer: a circular saw blade
134. I carry water toward work without owning a bucket. What am I?
Answer: a mill leat
135. The old-fashioned workplace where getting dusty can mean you're doing a flour job.
Answer: a gristmill
136. What lets ground grain escape after the stones have finished giving it a rough time?
Answer: a meal spout
That's all 136, solved, peeked, or saved for later. The generator up top can re-deal them in any order, or filter down to exactly the kind you want.
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