charade

Definitions

• (literature) A genre of riddles where the clues to the answer are descriptions or puns on its syllables, with a final clue to the whole.
• (uncommon) A single round of the game charades, an acted form of the earlier riddles.
• (obsolete) A play resembling the game charades, particularly due to poor acting.
• A deception or pretense, originally an absurdly obvious one but now in general use.