Author Topic: Riddle time!  (Read 27262 times)

thegreyarea

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Re: Riddle time!
« Reply #240 on: June 11, 2020, 03:55:45 AM »
Sorry Róisín but that's not the answer. The good news is that you can try again!  ;)

Wave, well done! Wanna try the others? It's free!  :)
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JoB

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Re: Riddle time!
« Reply #241 on: June 11, 2020, 12:47:20 PM »
G5:
“If you break me, I’ll not stop working.
If you can touch me, my work is done.
If you lose me, you must find me with a ring soon after. What am I?”
(FWIW, I looked that one up - yeah, sometimes my impatience gets the better of me - and found that I'm one of those who "still don't get it"
Spoiler: show

and consider the description to be misleading beyond what one'd expect from even a hard riddle

so I shall step out of this one.)

G7: A very ancient one, from the Sumer Civilization
 “There is a house. One enters it blind and comes out seeing. What is it?”
Spoiler: show

Considering the role of Sumerian cuneiform in the development of scripture and that, a couple centuries later, literacy was indeed expanded beyond scribes in Sumer, my first guess would be "a school".

Of course, with a more literal interpretation, it could also be a doctor's office ...
(Did the Sumerians have maternity rooms? If so, the one who enters it blind would be the unborn, of course!)

... or, assuming that the average Sumerian did not have the time and/or money to go there very often, a hairdresser salon ... ;D


G8: From Jane Austen's "Emma"
“My first displays the wealth and pomp of kings,
Lords of the earth! their luxury and ease.
Another view of man, my second brings,
Behold him there, the monarch of the seas!”
Spoiler: show

(First/second meaning, i.e., we're looking for two homonyms? First/second part, i.e., the final solution is a compound word? I do not feel like I got any proper grip on this one yet ...)

... assuming that there was a "Justice" in maritime history a tad more impressive than this tug boat, could the solution be "palace of justice"?


G10: It's said to be Theodore Roosevelt's preferred:
I talk, but I do not speak my mind
I hear words, but I do not listen to thoughts
When I wake, all see me
When I sleep, all hear me
Many heads are on my shoulders
Many hands are at my feet
The strongest steel cannot break my visage
But the softest whisper can destroy me
The quietest whimper can be heard.
Spoiler: show

It would be a rather surprising topic for Teddy as far as I can tell as a non-American, but ... an insurrection?
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thegreyarea

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Re: Riddle time!
« Reply #242 on: June 11, 2020, 02:21:59 PM »
JoB, as for G5, I understand your feelings. But please remember there are several riddles in this thread that rely on a metaphorical approach, sometimes a very stretchy one.
Spoiler: contains solution for G5 • show

If you "break" a heart, It will not stop working
If you can touch a heart, it's not working, so that person is dead and the heart work is done (unless you are a surgeon...)
If you "lose" a heart, you must find that person with a ring (a serious proposal? I admit that's a stretch. There are several other possibilities to recover the relationship beyond "will you marry me" :D ) soon after (because that person can give his/her heart to somebody else)

So we have two very metaphorical lines with a very concrete one in the middle, and IMHO that's what makes this riddle one that nobody solved it yet. Blame Mr. King, not me, I'm just the messenger.

As for G7 your answer is correct! Congratulations! And the others are fine too, particularly the last one. :D

As for G8,
Spoiler: show
I'd say that it's reasonable to think in two parts that make a word.

As for G10 all I can say is that's a good answer, but not the right one according to the source.




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JoB

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Re: Riddle time!
« Reply #243 on: June 11, 2020, 07:29:28 PM »
Spoiler: contains solution for G5 • show

If you "break" a heart, It will not stop working
If you can touch a heart, it's not working, so that person is dead and the heart work is done (unless you are a surgeon...)
If you "lose" a heart, you must find that person with a ring (a serious proposal? I admit that's a stretch. There are several other possibilities to recover the relationship beyond "will you marry me" :D ) soon after (because that person can give his/her heart to somebody else)

So we have two very metaphorical lines with a very concrete one in the middle, and IMHO that's what makes this riddle one that nobody solved it yet. Blame Mr. King, not me, I'm just the messenger.

Spoiler: mention *and* discussion of said solution • show

I'm willing to OK the first line, "if you break me, I’ll not stop working", even though there has been the occasional case where even the treating doctor judged a death by heart failure to be the consequence of the patient having had his heart broken. Usually, that will not happen, so.

A heart that you can touch is likely not to work anymore, but that's not what the wording "my work is done" implies. It's a phrase that I would use when the guy dies of old age, or maybe when the heart reached its own maximum lifetime (cardiac defect), not for the cases where someone rips the chest open and physically interferes with the heart's ability to continue the work it's been set to do.

But it's the third line that's the worst, because you need to change only a single word to make it correct: When you lost your heart to someone, you'll WANT to "find your (sweet)heart with a ring (= married to you) soon after" - but "must"? I'ld say that those who've fallen head over heels in love are particularly likely to continue the relationship but skip on usual rites, material symbols like a ring, even the very act of a formal marriage, if circumstances make obtaining those a problem. And if it's only yourself who has fallen in love but the other doesn't reciprocate, as you suggest, the other's free will even more clearly trumps your "must".

To die when someone rips your heart out of your chest, that is a "must". >:(

... and, needless to say, these flawed wordings irk me partly because Mr. King is one of the people I'd expect to wield language with more exactitude ...


As for G7 your answer is correct! Congratulations! And the others are fine too, particularly the last one. :D
Spoiler: show

... just to be sure, my first answer (school) was the correct one?

(Because, if only Sumer had those, I'd consider the maternity wards a "better" solution. Also prisons, if they had the habit of blindfolding people they send off to them ...)
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thegreyarea

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Re: Riddle time!
« Reply #244 on: June 11, 2020, 08:43:59 PM »
JoB, as usual I agree with you. Mr. King could have done better :)

(And yes, your first answer on G7 is the correct one. The others and pretty good, tough)
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Re: Riddle time!
« Reply #245 on: June 12, 2020, 02:05:57 PM »
Spoiler: mention *and* discussion of said solution • show
I'm willing to OK the first line, "if you break me, I’ll not stop working", even though there has been the occasional case where even the treating doctor judged a death by heart failure to be the consequence of the patient having had his heart broken. Usually, that will not happen, so.

A heart that you can touch is likely not to work anymore, but that's not what the wording "my work is done" implies. It's a phrase that I would use when the guy dies of old age, or maybe when the heart reached its own maximum lifetime (cardiac defect), not for the cases where someone rips the chest open and physically interferes with the heart's ability to continue the work it's been set to do.

But it's the third line that's the worst, because you need to change only a single word to make it correct: When you lost your heart to someone, you'll WANT to "find your (sweet)heart with a ring (= married to you) soon after" - but "must"? I'ld say that those who've fallen head over heels in love are particularly likely to continue the relationship but skip on usual rites, material symbols like a ring, even the very act of a formal marriage, if circumstances make obtaining those a problem. And if it's only yourself who has fallen in love but the other doesn't reciprocate, as you suggest, the other's free will even more clearly trumps your "must".

To die when someone rips your heart out of your chest, that is a "must". >:(

... and, needless to say, these flawed wordings irk me partly because Mr. King is one of the people I'd expect to wield language with more exactitude ...
Spoiler: more discussion • show
Given that the book was published in the US in 1997, I expect that the attitudes back then were different than those of the Europe of today.

Vulpes

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Re: Riddle time!
« Reply #246 on: June 26, 2020, 07:25:15 PM »
It's been a couple of weeks, I guess riddle-mania is wearing off, but a post by Jitter reminded me of this one so here it is.

A man and his son are in a terrible accident. They are both rushed to the nearest emergency room, and whisked into adjacent operating rooms. The surgeon comes into the boy's room, looks at him and says, "I can't operate on this child, he is my son." How is this possible?

I quite enjoyed all the riddles even if I am entirely hopeless at figuring them out!
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thegreyarea

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Re: Riddle time!
« Reply #247 on: June 26, 2020, 07:57:49 PM »
It's been a couple of weeks, I guess riddle-mania is wearing off, but a post by Jitter reminded me of this one so here it is.

A man and his son are in a terrible accident. They are both rushed to the nearest emergency room, and whisked into adjacent operating rooms. The surgeon comes into the boy's room, looks at him and says, "I can't operate on this child, he is my son." How is this possible?

I quite enjoyed all the riddles even if I am entirely hopeless at figuring them out!
I guess riddle-mania is something that comes and goes like the wind. :)
I'm also terrible at solving them, but I'll try yours:

Spoiler: show
The surgeon and his son accidents happened at different times.

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muidole

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Re: Riddle time!
« Reply #248 on: June 26, 2020, 08:18:11 PM »
It's been a couple of weeks, I guess riddle-mania is wearing off, but a post by Jitter reminded me of this one so here it is.

A man and his son are in a terrible accident. They are both rushed to the nearest emergency room, and whisked into adjacent operating rooms. The surgeon comes into the boy's room, looks at him and says, "I can't operate on this child, he is my son." How is this possible?

I quite enjoyed all the riddles even if I am entirely hopeless at figuring them out!

(I hope it's ok to guess before the previous guess was confirmed/denied...)

Spoiler: show
The surgeon is the son's mother?
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thegreyarea

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Re: Riddle time!
« Reply #249 on: June 26, 2020, 08:26:45 PM »
(I hope it's ok to guess before the previous guess was confirmed/denied...)

Spoiler: show
The surgeon is the son's mother?

I did said that I'm terrible at solving them! My guess is that your guess is better than mine! ;)
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wavewright62

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Re: Riddle time!
« Reply #250 on: June 27, 2020, 03:14:06 AM »
I'm with CeilingFan on this one.
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Re: Riddle time!
« Reply #251 on: June 27, 2020, 05:12:16 AM »
Me too, CeilingFan you are right.

I’m confident I can confirm because I know what Vulpes mentions as bringing this to his mind :) (Also I may have heard it before but not sure)
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Re: Riddle time!
« Reply #252 on: June 27, 2020, 08:03:40 AM »
This is the only riddle in French that I know, and it's damn' clever.

Je suis le chef de vingt-cinq soldats, et sans moi Paris serait pris. Qui suis-je?
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Vulpes

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Re: Riddle time!
« Reply #253 on: June 27, 2020, 02:58:43 PM »
CeilingFan, you are indeed correct! I knew it wouldn't remain unsolved for long.

It's an interesting reminder of our strong unconscious biases. Not a whole lot we can do about them, but it does help to be reminded they're there.
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Vulpes

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Re: Riddle time!
« Reply #254 on: June 27, 2020, 03:03:52 PM »
This is the only riddle in French that I know, and it's damn' clever.

Je suis le chef de vingt-cinq soldats, et sans moi Paris serait pris. Qui suis-je?


Je peux le comprendre, mais je n'ai aucune idée de la réponse.

(Edit for dumb typo introduced while trying to remember how French works)
« Last Edit: June 27, 2020, 03:25:10 PM by Vulpes »
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