Fafnir
Level: Smiter

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I thought it might be neat to start a puzzle tag using classical riddles. Here are the rules:

1) No 'joke' riddles (eg "Why did the chicken cross the road?", "What have I got in my pocket?" etc.)

2) Lateral thinking exercises (eg "A man is found dead surrounded by 53 bicycles", etc.) are fine.

3) One hint should be provided by the riddler every 24 hours.

4) If you've already heard the riddle and know the answer, don't answer for 24 hours.

5) If you post an answer, be ready to post another riddle in 24 hours.

6) Give the first person to guess the answer to your riddle a mod point.

7) You can ask for clarification as necessary, but the riddler is under no obligation to answer if doing so would spoil the riddle. So you could ask almost anything in a lateral thinking exercise, but not much in, say, the riddle below.

I'll get the ball rolling:

I have a mouth, but no body.
I have a bed, but no house.
I have a source, but no code.
What am I?

____________________________
Stupidity kills.
Absolute stupidity
Kills absolutely.

agaricus5
Level: Smitemaster
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Fafnir wrote:
I have a mouth, but no body.
I have a bed, but no house.
I have a source, but no code.
What am I?

Is it... a river?

____________________________
Resident Medic/Mycologist

Fafnir
Level: Smiter

Rank Points: 315
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Correct! An easy one, I know...

____________________________
Stupidity kills.
Absolute stupidity
Kills absolutely.

agaricus5
Level: Smitemaster
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Can't think of anything better, so here's an easy one.

I'm a very hard-working builder, for I must work hard to delve dungeons efficiently, since the Master Architect will fire me if I do not do so. Last month, he made me work for ten days in a row without ever stopping for a break. How did I achieve this feat?

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Resident Medic/Mycologist

gamer_extreme_101
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He sleepwalked and built while sleeping, carried food and water with him and worked as he ate, and had a Palm-Pilot to check his email and play MiniDROD? Either that, or he bribed a goblin to do the work for him...

____________________________
--That guy with a million different aliases since he doesn't like this name anymore.

agaricus5
Level: Smitemaster
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gamer_extreme_101 wrote:
He sleepwalked and built while sleeping, carried food and water with him and worked as he ate, and had a Palm-Pilot to check his email and play MiniDROD?

Erm...

A small bit is correct, but the rest isn't. I'd guess that if he was caught playing MiniDROD, the Architect would accuse him of laziness and delving into the Dungeon Architects' Association's secrets.

Either that, or he bribed a goblin to do the work for him...

Not correct.

____________________________
Resident Medic/Mycologist

DiMono
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1181
Registered: 09-13-2003
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He's an ant

____________________________
Deploy the... I think it's a yellow button... it's usually flashing... it makes the engines go... WHOOSH!

agaricus5
Level: Smitemaster
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DiMono wrote:
He's an ant

Not correct.

Hint: the builder is a builder, of course.

____________________________
Resident Medic/Mycologist

Fafnir
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Do you mean "ten days" as ten 12-hour periods or ten work days rather than ten 24-hour periods?

If not, do you mean "The builder is a builder" in a metaphorical sense (e.g. he might be an ant/natural force/etc.) or a literal sense (an actual, physical, human builder)?

____________________________
Stupidity kills.
Absolute stupidity
Kills absolutely.

agaricus5
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1838
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

Fafnir wrote:
If not, do you mean "The builder is a builder" in a metaphorical sense (e.g. he might be an ant/natural force/etc.) or a literal sense (an actual, physical, human builder)?

Oops. I meant he is a human builder. Sorry about that.

Do you mean "ten days" as ten 12-hour periods or ten work days rather than ten 24-hour periods?

Well...



____________________________
Resident Medic/Mycologist

Fafnir
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Fair enough, in that case you meant 'days' as from sunrise to sunset, so he was able to work through 10 days without a break because he got nights off. If that's the answer, it's rather devious!

[Edited by Fafnir at Local Time:11-30-2004 at 08:18 PM]

____________________________
Stupidity kills.
Absolute stupidity
Kills absolutely.

agaricus5
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1838
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

Fafnir wrote:
Fair enough, in that case you meant 'days' as from sunrise to sunset, so he was able to work through 10 days without a break because he got nights off. If that's the answer, it's rather devious!

[Edited by Fafnir at Local Time:11-30-2004 at 08:18 PM]

Yup. That was the answer I was looking for. I was surprised no-one had gotten it first time, since it wasn't very hard in its original form, but perhaps the DRODification made it slightly more confusing.

I guess you're up!

[Edited by agaricus5 at Local Time:11-30-2004 at 08:21 PM]

____________________________
Resident Medic/Mycologist

Fafnir
Level: Smiter

Rank Points: 315
Registered: 11-05-2004
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Once upon a time, there was an evil, omniscient genie. The Hero Of Truth And Light stumbled across his lamp and set him free by accident, being a rather stupid Hero. The genie decided to offer false hope to the Hero, and told him that he would voluntarily re-enter the lamp and (importantly) not kill him if he could ask a question the genie couldn't answer. From local folklore, the Hero knew the genie was omniscient, and ten seconds later the genie was back in the lamp, cursing.

What question did the Hero ask?

____________________________
Stupidity kills.
Absolute stupidity
Kills absolutely.

agaricus5
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1838
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

Okay. I shouldn't be the only guesser, but that riddle begs me to give this silly answer. I understand he's stupid, but he nevertheless (should have) asked...

"What is the exact value of pi?"



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Resident Medic/Mycologist

eytanz
Level: Smitemaster

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agaricus5 wrote:
Okay. I shouldn't be the only guesser, but that riddle begs me to give this silly answer. I understand he's stupid, but he nevertheless (should have) asked...

"What is the exact value of pi?"

Heh. But seriously, given that the Genie was omniscient, he could answer that. Sure, he'd never be able to stop answering it, but he could.

____________________________
I got my avatar back! Yay!

bdcribbs
Level: Smiter
Rank Points: 390
Registered: 04-08-2003
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Is this it?
The Hero asked the genie:
"What is one question (other than this one), that you cannot answer?"

[Edited by bdcribbs at Local Time:11-30-2004 at 09:19 PM]

Fafnir
Level: Smiter

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Correct! You could leave out the 'other than this one' actually - if he gives that question as its own answer, he's answered incorrectly. Your turn, bdcribbs.

____________________________
Stupidity kills.
Absolute stupidity
Kills absolutely.

bdcribbs
Level: Smiter
Rank Points: 390
Registered: 04-08-2003
IP: Logged

Yay!

Beethro Budkin's second uncle had three sons. The first son, Rab Budkin, became a lawyer. Ymra Budkin, the middle son, became a soldier. The youngest son became sailor. What was his name?

Oneiromancer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2936
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Yvan?

Game on,

____________________________
"He who is certain he knows the ending of things when he is only beginning them is either extremely wise or extremely foolish; no matter which is true, he is certainly an unhappy man, for he has put a knife in the heart of wonder." -- Tad Williams

bdcribbs
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You got it.

Oneiromancer
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A farmer and his wife are travelling to market when they are waylaid by bandits. They are quickly surrounded and their money stolen. The bandits are eager to be off, but their leader always enjoys a cruel game. He makes this offer to the farmer: "Make any single statement. If I determine it to be true, then I will kill your wife and let you go free. If I determine it to be false, then I will kill you and let your wife go free."

The farmer thinks a bit, and then he makes his statement. The bandit leader thinks about it for a moment, and then, laughing, he lets both of them go free. What did the farmer say?

Game on,

____________________________
"He who is certain he knows the ending of things when he is only beginning them is either extremely wise or extremely foolish; no matter which is true, he is certainly an unhappy man, for he has put a knife in the heart of wonder." -- Tad Williams

Schik
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5383
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"This statement is false" ?

____________________________
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals.
--Mahatma Gandhi

Oneiromancer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

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I'm going to rule that this answer is so confusing to the bandit that his head explodes and the other bandits kill the couple in the mayhem.

Actually, Schik told me that he doesn't have a riddle lined up, so let's see if someone can get something closer to what I had in mind, without being so metaphysical.

Game on,

____________________________
"He who is certain he knows the ending of things when he is only beginning them is either extremely wise or extremely foolish; no matter which is true, he is certainly an unhappy man, for he has put a knife in the heart of wonder." -- Tad Williams

Maurog
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File: cogs4.JPG (51.8 KB)
Downloaded 464 times.
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How about "You're gonna kill me and let my wife go free."

____________________________
Slay the living! Raise the dead!
Paint the sky in crimson red!

---

[Last edited by Maurog at 04-14-2009 11:50 PM]

Oneiromancer
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Yeah, that's what I had in mind. A bit simpler to comprehend...

Game on,

____________________________
"He who is certain he knows the ending of things when he is only beginning them is either extremely wise or extremely foolish; no matter which is true, he is certainly an unhappy man, for he has put a knife in the heart of wonder." -- Tad Williams

Maurog
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File: cogs3.JPG (58.4 KB)
Downloaded 462 times.
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Well, since I don't really have a riddle that will last for more than a minute, here is a mystery solving puzzle instead:

An old man got a letter one day. Upon opening and reading it, he went pale, grabbed his gun and shot himself to death with shaking hands.

What was the reason he committed suicide?

You can ask any questions to solve this mystery.
Oh yeah, to anticipate your first question, all the letter contained was a five word message reading "It was a wrong leg."

Now I'm off to sleep, see you guys tomorrow

____________________________
Slay the living! Raise the dead!
Paint the sky in crimson red!

---

[Last edited by Maurog at 04-14-2009 11:58 PM]

DiMono
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Wrong is a synonym for "not right" which is a synonym for "false." False leg suggests cheating. I think he was cought cheating and couldn't live with the consequences of his actions, and took his own life as an escape.

____________________________
Deploy the... I think it's a yellow button... it's usually flashing... it makes the engines go... WHOOSH!

Maurog
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1501
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DiMono wrote:
Wrong is a synonym for "not right" which is a synonym for "false." False leg suggests cheating. I think he was cought cheating and couldn't live with the consequences of his actions, and took his own life as an escape.

It's alot deeper than that, although part of this is correct in general. By the way, the old man wouldn't kill himself just because of guilty conscience.

If you aren't familiar with this kind of puzzle, you can ask questions like "How old was the man?" and "Did he always have a gun around?" and stuff like that until you get a good sense of what was going on.

____________________________
Slay the living! Raise the dead!
Paint the sky in crimson red!

Malarame
Level: Master Delver
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I've heard this one before. The answer is a bit tricky and not easy to guess without asking a bunch of questions. Maurog, I propose you ask another riddle, just to keep this game going without it getting frustrating.

____________________________
Matt O'Leary
Webb Institute
Class of 2007

"I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception."
-Groucho Marx

Maurog
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Oh, all right. It's not as if it was really a riddle.

Riddle me this:

The dark one falls but never breaks.
His brother breaks but never falls.

That's the best I can do in the riddle department.

____________________________
Slay the living! Raise the dead!
Paint the sky in crimson red!

---

[Last edited by Maurog at 12-19-2008 07:38 PM]