For the narrator who doesn't want to have to copy the string cheese wrappers. These riddles are at least somewhat tied in with Grimm or the theme.
The PCs are going to go up against the Riddler. Yes, from Batman, but a more 'neutral' version. He's definitely not a good guy, but he's not truly evil, either. If people manage to solve his riddles, he rewards them with a clue about something (never Babylon, though, a topic he deliberately avoids).
In my game, the children need to fetch a candle for this odd little goblin (he's actually Rumplestiltskin, but nobody knows that until later). Jack, an evil jack o' lantern, stole it for unknown reasons (unknown to the kids, anyways).
To get at Jack, they have to get the key to his gate. It's under a panel (with 'WELCOME' on it). The Riddler is tasked with guarding it, but he mostly hangs around the gate, leaving the panel itself and a creature not unlike the pumpkin things on the cover of the Grimm book to handle that task.
The panel can be lifted with a 7th grade Muscle test. Since the children are grade 4, this means it probably won't be possible, and on the third test it completely seals. However, faint writing can be made out...
Rumpled egos bring to bear
Little children marching on
They don't know what they'll find there
Too late to warn, they're too far gone.
Then, a little below that:
The thing we covet
But cannot have
The thing you have
But may yet miss
More valuable than Babylon
What is this thing? Does it exist?
The first part exists only for the first word. The second part's answer is 'sanity'.
When the answer is spoken, the panel springs open to reveal a small hole. At the bottom is the key.
The key makes the other guards leave you alone, but the Riddler is smarter than that. He immediately challenges the children, and forces them to engage in a riddling contest or die. The rules are simple:
Each side is allowed ten minutes to come up with a riddle, and seven to answer one.
The side which fails to answer a riddle—or provide one—first loses. The riddles he provides:
That which invites the foul gray velvet
And which lives within the casket
The child which you just can't stand
The stench which now pervades this land
Possible answers: Rot, Decay, or Spoil.
A wolf runs along to Grandmother's house
Can you guess what there he glimpsed?
Why can this poem never finish, regardless of the time?
Why, it's because the fact is that there is simply no
Answer: Rhyme, for nothing rhymes with 'glimpsed'.
The Big, Bad Wolf once swallowed a clown
He started walking to a town
On the way, he joined a huntsman
On the way, they joined a knight
On the way, they joined The Dragon
Each one of them started down
But how many made it to the town?
Five: Counting the clown, they all made it in the dragon's stomach.
Finally, the clue he gives as a reward:
The more things change, they're stilt the same
He's changed his name but not his game
If you don't want to be his dinner
Keep your eyes open
And trust the Grinner
The 'stilt' ties in with the 'rumpled' from earlier, to give an extra hint. The first two lines are obvious, I hope, if you figure out who the goblin is: Rumplestiltskin can still be beaten by hearing his name--his new name, of course. 'Keep your eyes open' seems clear, but it's actually referring to Jack's eyes (since he's a jack o' lantern with a torso, they are 'open'). I haven't totally decided yet, but there's something important about them. Finally, 'trust the Grinner' refers to the Cheshire Cat, who will come in later.
More riddles to follow. What do you think?