The Riddle Thread

[Bowwowmeow]

Answer the riddle, and then post one of your own. If you can't answer, post one anyway!


The Riddle of the Sphinx

In Greek mythology, the Sphinx sat outside of Thebes and asked this riddle of all travelers who passed by. If the traveler failed to solve the riddle, then the Sphinx killed him/her. And if the traveler answered the riddle correctly, then the Sphinx would destroy herself. The riddle: What goes on four legs in the morning, on two legs at noon, and on three legs in the evening?

[thevegantwins]

What goes on four legs in the morning, on two legs at noon, and on three legs in the evening?

A human (crawls as a baby, walks on 2-legs as an adult and walks with a cane as an old person)

:o Thanks, google


Riddle:

What's present until you speak its name then it is no longer?

(this one is courtesty of Life is Beautiful which I watched last night)

[Oracl]

Riddle:

What's present until you speak its name then it is no longer?

(this one is courtesty of Life is Beautiful which I watched last night)
My guess is "silence"? :shy:

And now I can't think of a riddle!! :dunce: :bhead: :o

[SinnerCal]

And now I can't think of a riddle!! :dunce: :bhead: :o
:rolleyes: :loser:

[Bowwowmeow]

When is a door not a door?
:rant:

[Tiggerwoos]

When its ajar!

What gets wetter the more it dries?

[Peas'nHominy]

What gets wetter the more it dries?
A towel!

I'm as small as an ant, as big as a whale. I'll approach like a breeze, but can come like a gale. By some I get hit, but all have shown fear. I'll dance to the music, though I can't hear. Of names I have many, of names I have one. I'm as slow as a snail, but from me you can't run. What am I?

[Fauxmage]

A towel!

I'm as small as an ant, as big as a whale. I'll approach like a breeze, but can come like a gale. By some I get hit, but all have shown fear. I'll dance to the music, though I can't hear. Of names I have many, of names I have one. I'm as slow as a snail, but from me you can't run. What am I?
I'm still thinking...:rubchin:

[Abrennan]

Is it your shadow

[Peas'nHominy]

Yes, a shadow! :)

[Abrennan]

whoopeeee, I don't know any riddles, Oh yes I do:

What's black and white and red all over

[Peas'nHominy]

I always heard it was a newspaper...does that count, though ("read" vs. "red"?)

[Fauxmage]

What goes up a chimney down, but not down a chimney up?

[Abrennan]

No it's not a newspaper its a Zebra with sunburn:laugh:

[Bowwowmeow]

Everyone but you gets to see it, even though it belongs to you.

[Oracl]

What goes up a chimney down, but not down a chimney up?
An umbrella? :rain:

[Oracl]

Everyone but you gets to see it, even though it belongs to you.
Your face? :bhead:

[Bowwowmeow]

An umbrella? :rain:
Yes. :agree:

Your face? :bhead:
No. :no:

[Fauxmage]

Where was Moses when the lights went out?

[Gliondrach]

In the dark?

[Gliondrach]

Everyone but you gets to see it, even though it belongs to you.

Your character/personality?

[Gliondrach]

What gets bigger the more you take away from it?

[Gliondrach]

What has needles but can't sew?

[Fauxmage]

What gets bigger the more you take away from it?
A hole.

What has needles but can't sew?
A pine tree.

[Gliondrach]

Both correct.

[Fauxmage]

What has an eye but cannot see?

[Gliondrach]

A hurricane? A needle?

[Fauxmage]

A storm, but hurricane is close enough!

[Gliondrach]

Which month has 28 days?

[seishimokusei]

all of them... lol

[Gliondrach]

Correct.

Strange, I didn't see in the New Posts section that this had had a new post.

Your turn.

And welcome, Seishimokusei.

[seishimokusei]

Thank you. :)

Japanese River Crossing Riddle (http://freeweb.siol.net/danej/riverIQGame.swf)


There are the Father, the Mother, two daughters, two sons, a policeman, and a criminal, who all need to cross a river.

the following rules apply:

* Only 2 persons on the raft at a time.
* The father cannot stay with any of the daughters, without their mother's presence.
* The mother cannot stay with any of the sons, without their father's presence.
* The thief (striped shirt) cannot stay with any family member, if the Policeman is not there.
* Only the Father, the Mother and the Policeman know how to operate the raft.

So how do they all get across?

[Gliondrach]

Is the thief any of the family members?

Is the policeman the father or a son?

How many sons and daughters?

Are there more than just the father, mother, son and daughter?

[Fauxmage]

The policeman brings the criminal over, then goes back.
The policeman brings a son over, then brings the criminal back.
Father and the other son go over. Father goes back.
Father and mother go over. Mother comes back.
The policeman and criminal go over. Father goes back.
Mother and father go over, mother comes back.
Mother goes over with one daughter, the policeman and criminal go back.
The Policeman brings the other daughter over, goes back.
The Policeman brings the criminal over.

[Gliondrach]

I was thinking of something like but wasn't sure how many sons and daughters there were. I see now there are only two daughters and two sons.

Well done!

[seishimokusei]

Very good. Sorry I left out the link before.

[Fauxmage]

I am as large as a castle, yet lighter than air. 100 men and their horses cannot move me. What am I?

[Gliondrach]

A cloud?

[Fauxmage]

No. :no:

[Gliondrach]

But it could be. :agree:

[Fauxmage]

It could be, and its what I thought first myself.
But its not. Its much more specific to the riddle. :whistle:

[Gliondrach]

:rubchin:

[Gliondrach]

A shadow?

[Bowwowmeow]

Yes! Your turn.

[Gliondrach]

Why is something you couldn't find always in the last place you look for it?

[Fauxmage]

Because you stop looking for it once you find it.

[Gliondrach]

Correct. :applause: Your turn.

[Gliondrach]

I said it's your turn!

[Fauxmage]

Okay, okay!

For some I go fast, for others I'm slow. To most people, I'm an obsession. Relying on me is a well practiced lesson.

What am I?

[Gliondrach]

Time?

[Bowwowmeow]

That was fast.

Your turn!

[Gliondrach]

Here's one that I think I've asked before:

There are two doors. One is the door to Heaven and the other is the door to Hell. The door to Heaven is guarded by an angel and the door to Hell is guarded by a devil. There is no way to tell these two beings apart as they look like ordinary humans.

The angel always tells the truth and the devil always tells lies. How do you find out which is the door to Heaven?

[vepurusg]

Knights and Knaves puzzle. If you were him/her, which door would you say was X.

...Although I can't say I like the theme of this one.


This one is much better:


http://xkcd.com/246/

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/labyrinth_puzzle.png


Here's one:


There are three omniscient entities, and you may ask three questions.

They will answer in yes or no, but in their own language ("da" and "ja"; you don't know what word is yes, and what word is no).

One always lies. One always tells the truth. One answers randomly yes or no (without considering the content of your question).

If you ask an unanswerable question, the liar and truth teller will say 'yes' and 'no' respectively.

You must determine in those three questions, without a doubt, which entity is the liar, which is the truth teller, and which is random.

What three questions do you ask, to whom do you pose them, and in what order?

[Gliondrach]

Do you know the answer to the other one - the angel and devil one?

I am thinking about yours but it is difficult. Especially without knowing which word is 'yes' and which is 'no'.

[Gliondrach]

Am I thinking along the right lines?

Ask the first, 'A', what the other two will say that 'da' means. If he is the liar, he might say B will say it's yes and C will say it's yes.

Because it actually means 'no'.


If he is the truth teller, he will say B will say it's no. C will say it's either yes or no.

[Gliondrach]

This is where I'm up to so far:

Ask the first, 'A', what the other two will say that 'da' means. If he is the liar, he might say B will say it's yes and C will say it's yes.

Because it actually means 'no'.


If he is the truth teller, he will say B will say it's yes. C will say it's either yes or no.

If he is the random one, he might say the same as the two above.

That is the first question. Next, ask the second one the same questions.

If he, B, says A will say it's yes. And C will say it's just one of them. You will know he's the liar.

Ask C the same questions. If he says A will say Yes and B will say No. Or vice versa - A will say No and B will say Yes. You can't be sure. But if he gives the same answer for each, he is the random. No, he could be the liar.
-----
I'm confusing myself now. I need a nice cuppa.

[vepurusg]

Do you know the answer to the other one - the angel and devil one?


Yes, I mentioned it in my post. You ask one what the other would say. The answer will be a lie (because the angel will truthfully tell you the lie the devil would say, and the devil would lie about the truth the angel would give you).


Am I thinking along the right lines?

Nope. You can't waste two questions on somebody who might be random (which would give you no information at all).


Ask the first, 'A', what the other two will say that 'da' means. If he is the liar, he might say B will say it's yes and C will say it's yes.


If he's the liar, if 'da' does mean yes, he would say truth would say it means no, but he might say random would say it means yes or say it means no, because random's answer is random (he will just tell you the opposite of the random answer, which is still random).

That doesn't reliably give you any information. You get one "da" and one "ja" response. And you still don't know if "da" means yes or no, or which one is telling the truth even if you know you asked the liar (which you might have asked the truth teller or the random one).

So... those two questions wouldn't tell you anything no matter which one you asked.


That is the first question. Next, ask the second one the same questions.

Can't, that was two questions. You only get three of them.

But even if you asked all three those same questions (with six questions), it wouldn't reliably tell you anything.

Remember, the questions are answered only yes or no, as "da" or "ja" (without knowing which one is which). And importantly, one is random.


I'm confusing myself now. I need a nice cuppa.

Hehe, that's what riddles are for.

[Gliondrach]

The 'unanswerable' bit confuses me.

I don't have time now as I must log off the internet thing but I am going to cogitate the possibility of asking questions that I know the answers to and then comparing the patterns of jas and das.

[vepurusg]

The 'unanswerable' bit confuses me.


Contradictions, like asking the liar "Will you answer this question with a yes?" (wherein the answer is inherently true, and so is unanswerable with a lie)

I don't have time now as I must log off the internet thing but I am going to cogitate the possibility of asking questions that I know the answers to and then comparing the patterns of jas and das.

That won't work.

If you ask it of the random one, you have wasted a question and learned nothing, and do not have enough questions remaining to determine conclusively what all three are.

Hint: Three questions is precisely enough- you can not waste any of them.

[Gliondrach]

That won't work.

I realised that as soon as I logged off.

I'm now at the point of asking each if the other two would ever (or always) say 'yes' to any question that merited a yes answer. But I haven't played it through in my mind. I will think about it later and hope no one else gets there first.

[Bowwowmeow]

How about asking all three if "ja" means "yes"?

[vepurusg]

How about asking all three if "ja" means "yes"?

If "ja" means yes, the truthful answer is "ja". If "ja" means no, the truthful answer is "ja".

The honest one will answer "ja", the liar will answer "da", but the random one may answer "da" or "ja" (randomly).

If only one says "ja", then you know that one is the truthful one- but that doesn't do anything to tell you which one is random or the liar.

If only one says "da", then you know that one is the liar- but again, that doesn't tell you anything about which of the remaining two is random, and which is truthful.

If you had one more question, you could ask the odd one out (either the honest one or the liar), which one was random out of the other two.

But, alas, only three questions.

[Gliondrach]

I need to sleep on this. I reached the point of asking each this question:

Would the other two say that you would always say that 'ja' is yes?

But this still results in a ja, a da, and a random answer. :updn:

[vepurusg]

Should I give you a hint?

There are three components to this riddle. Each of them are simple on their own.

Hints are below in grey (select to read)

Hint I. One is Knights and Knaves (like the riddle you posted).

Knights and Knaves has two solutions:

1. If you were him (the other guy) which door would you say is correct?

This is: True x False = False.

You know the answer will be false.

2. If I were to ask you if you your door was the correct one, what would you say?

If the one you ask is a Knight, this is:

True x True = True.

If the one you ask is a Knave, this is:

False x False = True.

Either way, you know the answer will be true.



The first solution to Knights and Knaves will not work here, because you don't know if "he", the other guy, will be random or not.

The second solution, however, does work. Appending "If I asked you" thus simplifies the problem.

From: True, False, and Random

To: True 1, True 2, and Random

You don't need to worry about getting a lie in response.



Hint II. You don't need to ever find out what 'da' and 'ja' really mean.

You can just say: Is the answer to X 'da'?

If the answer is NO:
If da means yes, the response will be ja (no, the answer is not yes)
If da means no, the response will be ja (yes, the answer is no)

If the answer is YES:
If da means yes, the response will be da (yes, the answer is yes)
If da means no, the response will be da (no, the answer is not no)

No matter what 'da' and 'ja' mean, if you ask if the answer is 'da', then 'da' indicates the answer is yes, and 'ja' no- and if you ask if the answer is 'ja', then 'ja' indicates the answer is yes, and 'da' no.

This eliminates the foreign language of 'da' and 'ja' from the problem.

[Gliondrach]

I still don't understand. I could ask each one: 'If I were to ask you if I am wearing a grey shirt, would your answer be "ja"?'

Supposing ja means yes, the truthful one would answer ja. The liar would also answer ja. His answer, if just asked a question about the colour of my shirt would be 'no' but as I am asking him what his answer would be, he would tell a lie about his lie and that would be 'yes'. Or ja. So I would know what each word meant but would still not know which was the liar.

I would be inclined to beat the answers out of them.

[vepurusg]

Supposing ja means yes

It doesn't matter if "ja" means yes or no. If the answer is yes, either the honest one or the liar would say "ja".

You should not waste questions asking about your shirt, or anything you know.

You should use the questions to ask them which is the liar, which is honest, and which is random.

e.g "If I were to ask you if you were the liar, would you say "ja"?"

The Liar will say "ja"
The honest one will say "da"
The random one may say "ja" or "da"

"Ja" indicates that the one you've asked is either the liar, or random.
"Da" indicated that the one you've asked is either honest or random.

What three questions can you ask to reliably ascertain which is honest, which is the liar, and which is random?

Hint III:

You have to figure out which one is certainly not random before you can trust the answer.

[vepurusg]

I would be inclined to beat the answers out of them.

I forgot to mention: They are all kittens.

[Gliondrach]

I forgot to mention: They are all kittens.

:D

[vepurusg]

It seems I should go ahead an answer this riddle and just ask another (slightly easier) one to keep things moving.

You ask the first one (we'll call it A):

"If I were to ask you if B were random, would you say da?"

If ja, then you know for certain that B is not random.

If da, then either B is random, or A is- you then know for certain that C is not random.

Depending on Which answer you get, and who is not random given that answer, you ask B or C respectively if A is random, and then whether B or C respectively happens to be the liar (following in the same form as the first question).



Next riddle:

What is perpetually accelerating towards its destination without ever getting any closer?

[Gliondrach]

Curses! I was just about to give that answer. :whistle:

The answer to the other one is either the universe or something else.

[vepurusg]

The answer to the other one is either the universe or something else.

Ahh... close enough.

Your turn to pose a riddle.

[Gliondrach]

A man (it's always a man) sends a letter in a box to someone. The box cannot be broken open and it is locked with a padlock that cannot be broken or picked (you can buy them on the internet from The Unpickable and Unbreakable Lock Company). There is only one key, which the sender keeps. How can the receiver open the box and read the letter?

[Gliondrach]

The recipient can buy their own lock.

[Gliondrach]

I've just thought of another one. As far as I know, I made it up. It's a joke one.

What is black and white and red all over?

[gabbles]

A newspaper. It's not a new one so it might not be the answer.

[Gliondrach]

No, it's not a newspaper. It's an embarrassed zebra.

[Bowwowmeow]

I always heard it was a sunburned zebra. Which makes no sense. But then neither does an embarrassed zebra. :P

You can see macaws blush though. It's very cute. :colors: