Bilbo used riddling talk with smaug because

He used riddling to talk to Smaug I think because he wanted to stall and waste time as he figured out a plan. He also used riddles to talk to Golem who he clearly was trying to stall to save himself as Golem wanted to kill and eat Bilbo. So it is a reoccurring theme of Bilbo and it makes sense.

a) walter looks unhealthy