What has a neck but no head?

How to think about it

1. Note the odd combination. In a living thing, a neck always connects a head to a body, so the riddle must be about something that is not alive.
2. Ask which objects borrow the word “neck”. Guitars, shirts, bottles and vases all have one.
3. Cross off anything that also has a part called a head. A guitar has a headstock, so it is a weaker fit.
4. You are left with containers that narrow at the top. The simplest and most common one is the intended answer.

Why “a bottle” is the answer

A bottle has a narrow neck below its opening and nothing above it that could be called a head. People say “the neck of the bottle” every day, which is why the answer feels obvious the moment you hear it. The riddle depends on a word that moved from anatomy to everyday objects without taking the rest of the body along.

Common wrong answers

• A guitar. A guitar has a neck, but the top of the neck is called the headstock, so it does have a head of sorts.
• A shirt. A shirt has a neckline, which is a hole for a neck rather than a neck itself.