Eat.
Gollum misunderstood him. Bilbo was saying 'I need more time.' Gollum heard 'time', which was the answer.
There is actually no race in The Hobbit. It was not a race against Time as in The Lord of the Rings. Bilbo's quest was simply to steal for the dwarves, that was it. Nothing is described as a race.
Because he was wearing The One Ring at the time.
The events in The Hobbit occurred about 55 years before the events of the Lord of the Rings. Bilbo was 55 when he went on his adventure with the dwarves in The Hobbit and turned 56 on that journey. The Party that starts the Lord of the Rings was Bilbo's eleventy-first (111) birthday.There is no real time associated with this story, it is fiction.The Hobbit took place in the middle earth,with eggs and bacon.
Bilbo told Smaug a riddle to keep him distracted.
Thorin was dying, he had been mortally wounded in the Battle of Five Armies. He wanted to make his peace with Bilbo before he died. Bilbo was found and brought to him just in time.
The Hobbit is fairly linear. There are a few places where the time line backs up, particularly when the dwarves and Bilbo are exploring Smaug's den and Smaug is attacking Laketown.
The dwarves left a note for Bilbo under the mantle clock. It stated that they would be awaiting him at 11 am sharp. Bilbo didn't get the note until 10 minutes before that and ran the whole way to be on time.
The Dwarves are from the Ered Luin during Bilbo's time. Erebor was their original home but Smaug chased them away.
After Bilbo puts on the Ring and turns invisible, Gollum cannot find him, and thinks he has made his way towards the exit. Gollum heads to the exit and Bilbo follows him.
That is one of the pivotal parts of the story. He felt sorry for the poor creature. By showing mercy, Bilbo started off his time with the ring in a benevolent mood, and was much less susceptible to the evil intentions of the ring.
The Riddle Game isn't played with a "mythical" creature - it's played with Gollum. We learn later that Gollum is actually Smeagol, and that he was once a Hobbit himself, from a time before they migrated to the Shire.