Answer:
Give it food and it will live, give it water and it will die.
My first keeps time, my second spends time, my whole tells time.
Hold these between your knees if you want to set a Cuban beat.
What starts with a 'T', ends with a 'T', and has T in it?
I am never quite what I appear to be. Straight-forward I seem, but it's only skin deep. For mystery most often lies beneath my simple speech. Sharpen your wits, open your eyes, look beyond my exteriors, read me backwards, forwards, upside down. Think and answer the question...
Do what he says and you'll be fine, don't and you lose the game.