Who makes it, has no need of it.

Additional material

[ Editor: suggestions received in April 1996 for the unsolved riddle
  "I sought my first in starry skies ..." (answer "?" above).  The
  version quoted in these mails reads "'Tis terrible to lose one's
  sight" in the fifth line. ]

I'd guess that "my first" is RAM, but have no suggestion for second,
whole, or the first riddle.

-- Ed Rice <SDEWR@UCCVM.NYU.EDU>

The start may be Aries/Ram, or else Taurus/Bull; there's not much else
useful in that part of the sky.  Perseus, Cetus/Whale, nah.  Maybe the
star Mira?  In any case, I can't extend any of these into anything
useful.

-- Treesong <Ucalegon@aol.com>

[ Editor: riddles posted to rec.puzzles, or mailed to the archive,
1993-1998, each followed by the answers offered.  Where no answer was
given this is said.  Riddles already in this entry appear only when a
new answer was offered. ]

Ripped from my mother's womb,
Beaten and burned,
I become a blood-thirsty slayer
        What am I?

Iron ?
-- Michele Bergonzoni <bergonz@keeper.sublink.org>

could be answered "iron".  (Or any ore you care to mention; uranium
might be a more modern answer?  Or coal or oil, citing air pollution as
a blood-thirsty slayer?)  I think they're after "iron", though.
-- Jeff Elliott <jeelliot@hookup.net>


When I brought her home she was carrying many children.
The children were born over the span of many days.
The first child ate a small piece of her.
The twentieth child ate the rest of her.
-- James Paul Mork <mork@shell.portal.com>

My guess would be a book of matches.
-- Hemingway <doughm@rpi.edu>

Could she be a box of plastic trash bags?
-- Stephen Penrice <aq236@yfn.ysu.edu>

How about a dollar (in nickels)?
-- Cliff Strom <strom@alf.geg.mot.com>

Very good Stephen!  A true riddle master!
-- James Paul Mork (on the trash bags)


Sir Hilary charged at Agincourt;
  Sooth, 'twas an awful day!
And though in that old age of sport
The rufflers of the camp and court
  Had little time to pray.
'Tis said Sir Hilary muttered there
Two syllables by way of prayer:
My First to all the brave and proud
  Who see tomorrow's sun:
My Next, with her cold and quiet cloud,
To those who find their dewy shroud
  Before today's be done:
And both together to all blue eyes
That weep when a warrior nobly dies.

It doesn't quite fit, but is generally tempting: speedwell (an herb of
the figwort family).  I've read of "speedwell blue eyes" or "eyes as
blue as speedwells," and "Speed well" as a valediction along the lines
of "God speed {you}" would be appropriate for both the quick and the
dead.  But not broken into one syllable apiece.
-- Ed Rice ("100 Down")

This famous charade was compiled during the 19th century by Winthrop
[Editor: spelled "Winthorpe" in the original] Mackworth Praed, an
English author who is best remembered for his humorous verse. He tried
his hand at puzzle compiling, composing the following charade but
without ever revealing his intended solution.  [ Editor: the charade
as above. ]  Although it is generally accepted that the best answer is
"good night" the charade nevertheless became quite controversial
because none could really agree. In the hope that one day a more
feasible solution might be put forward, I included the charade in a
section of unsolved puzzles in one of my 1993 books, The Ultimate IQ
Book, co-authored with Marcel Feenstra and Chris Harding. This brought
a response from one of my good friends, Mitzi Christiansen Kuehl of
Bakersfield, USA who put forward the following suggestion:

`Might not the answer be "well done"? Prayer ("I pray our mission will
prove to have been) well done." To the survivors: "Well! Well!" As in
"Good to see you this morning," as well as, "You are well this
morning," "Done," as in "It's finished. I'm done."'
-- Philip Carter <philip@knowl.demon.co.uk>


As tall as a house,
as round as a cup,
and all the king's horses can't draw it up.
-- Mieke C. Citroen <citroen@hp750.fgg.eur.nl>

[ Editor: no answer was found in the collected postings. ]


Forward I'm heavy, backward I'm not.  What am I?
-- Todd Grimm

About 2,000 pounds. Good one.
-- Al <saf1575@ocvaxa.cc.oberlin.edu>

[ Editor: i.e. "ton", which reversed is "not". ]


Once white as snow,
then green as clover.
Then red as blood -
you know it well.

Sound like an apple, white blossoms, green unripe apples, red ripe
apples.
-- Scott Purdy <spurdy@pomona.claremont.edu>


My second is performed by my first,
and it is often thought that a thief by the marks of my whole
may be caught.

[ Editor: posted several times, e.g. by Karen E. Tuomi (who was told
the answer is not fingerprints or footprints), by richard d. fisher,
and by Patrick B Mcclory. ]

Why is the answer supposedly not fingerprints?  This is a rather old
riddle (at least 25 years, since I heard it about that long ago.)  In
fact, the answer IS fingerprints.  "My second (printing) is performed
by my first (fingers)"  And of course, thieves are caught by the marks
of their fingerprints.
-- blask@gpx01.d39.lilly.com

Fingerprint.
-- Seth Breidbart <sethb@panix.com>

Thanks for all those who responded, the answer turned out to be
'footsteps'.
-- Patrick B Mcclory <pm3u+@andrew.cmu.edu>


Two brothers we are.
Great burdens we bear
In which we are bitterly pressed.
The truth we do speak:
We are full all the day
And empty when we go to rest.

a pair of shoes (or maybe socks?)
-- Gareth Rees <gdr11@cl.cam.ac.uk>


It ate everything that came,
And everything that will,
But it'll never get its fill.

A graveyard
-- Courtney E Schumacher <v076l9fn@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu>


Words frozen in time on the finest trees.
Flowing in one direction but of many leaves.
Found in volumes of varied weight.
Sought only by those of educated trait.
What am I ?
-- James Spooner <jspooner@test.nla.gov.au>

An encyclopedia ?
-- Paul Leyderman <pleydrmn@math.ohio-state.edu>

A library....
-- Mike Cooper <michael.cooper@chrysalis.org>


Everyone adores my first,
Both day and night 'tis used,
My second is by all accursed
Both day and night abused,
My whole is never seen by day
And never used at night,
'Tis dear to friends when far away
And hateful when in sight.
-- Jered Floyd <jjfloyd@vela.acs.oakland.edu>

Could it be Nightshade, or a variety of.  First and second could refer
to bloomings.  The whole is seen when the flowers are in bloom.  Dear
when far away because it's a flower, hateful in sight because its
poisonous.  I know nothing about plants, so this could be way off.
-- David Lau <lau@elephant.cig.mot.com>

The "'Tis dear to friends when far away" riddle is an old chestnut.
Unfortunately I can't remember the answer, but I think it'll be in
most collections.
-- Scott Marley <hudu@well.sf.ca.us>

I believe this one was discussed in *Word Ways* a few years ago with no
satisfactory conclusion being reached.  It's familiar, so it's either
that or it was in one of the Bellamy riddle books.
-- Treesong <Ucalegon@aol.com>

Treesong published this in GotS about a year ago.  The only entry I
recall was mine:  vice-president.
-- TYGER531@aol.com


What gets longer as it becomes shorter?

memory might do: in one's dotage, one begins forgetting things (short
memory), but one can remember things farther back (long memory).
-- Roger Phillips <roger@quantime.co.uk>

The word "short"?
-- Scott Marley <hudu@well.sf.ca.us>

Doesn't the word 'short' become 'shorter' as it gets longer?  QED
-- David Michael Tuller <tulled@rpi.edu>

Probably not the answer, but a "longeron" (a fore-and-aft framing
member of an airplane fuselage, NI10) fits.
-- Dan Sachs <dansachs@panix.com>

I decided the answer was "short" (but both of the other two are quite
good).
-- Canon (who collected the answers above)


I have two bodies,
Though both joined as one;
The more I stand still,
The quicker I run.

I asked my wife this and she had a different answer from all the ones
I've seen here: Pantyhose...
-- Andrew Paik <paik@crl.com>

[ Editor: in a later posting richard d. fisher thanked Seth Breidbart
for the correct answer, "just hourglass", apparently to this riddle. ]


When I have four I have none
When I have two I have some
When I have none I have them all
-- John Isidoro <jisidoro@bu.edu>

How about missing limbs?
-- Phillip Fisher <phfisher@delphi.com>

Wow, another answer that works well.  Although this is not the answer
I know, this one is clever and functional.  When I have four limbs, I
have no missing limbs, when I have two limbs, I have some missing, and
when I have no limbs, all my limbs are missing.  Pretty good, but not
quite because you have to use "limbs" at the beginning of the
sentence, and "missing limbs" at the end..  My answer doesn't stretch
the riddle like that.
-- John Isidoro

My guess is curves in the numeral:  in 4 (all straight lines) you have
none of a circle, in 2, you have some of a circle (half to a quarter,
depending on how you draw it), and of course, with 0, you have all of
the circle.
-- Stitch <SWILSON@nauvax.nau.ucc.edu>

The letters N O N and E
-- Monika Weikel <Weikel@Fwva.Saic.Com>

[ Editor: Isidoro's own answer was not found in the collected
postings. ]


What is something, anything, you can build faster than it can be
destroyed?  The only rule is that it has to be something with physical
properties.
-- Thad Standley <tstandl@bgnet.bgsu.edu>

A waistline
-- TYGER531@aol.com

[ Editor: TYGER531's mail is headed only "Re: another riddle" and was
filed next to Standley's question; that it answers this riddle is an
inference. ]


Many moons have had my name
many people felt my pain
and of man I coat his veins
and in many eyes is where I play..
-- John Isidoro <jisidoro@bu.edu>

How about "blue"?
-- Pete Mitchell <pwm@mv.mv.com>


It's the beginning of everything;
The end of time and space.
The beginning of every ending;
The end of every race.

It's the fifth letter of the alphabet.
-- John Babina <babina@cs.sunysb.edu>


What is the one thing that all wise men, regardless of their religion
or politics, agree is between heaven and earth?

How 'bout the word 'and', wise guy ?
-- Brian Bryson <bbryson@sebastian.carleton.ca>


An old English riddle goes like this:

A man without eyes
Saw plums on a tree
He did not take plums
And he did not leave plums
How could this be?
-- Paul Sloane <PSloane@MathSoft.com>

Although without eyes
He was able to see
His one eye saw plums
And from the two plums
He took one from the tree
-- Wei-Hwa Huang <whuang@cco.caltech.edu>


I went to the woods and I got it,
and when I got it I didn't want it,
but the more I looked at it, the more I wanted it,
and yet I couldn't get it.
What is it?

A splinter.
-- Peter Chapman <p.chapman@info.curtin.edu.au>


Three puzzles posted as "Impossible puzzles!":

Puzzle 1 -    My first is the fourth madam asking a friend,
              My second an acre pea-green,
              My third is the last fossil kept to the end,
              My fourth is the second that weeds the terrine,
              My fifth is the third briar Raspberry red,
              My sixth is the second in line near the throne,
              My seventh the first aging Hamlet that wed,
              My eighth is the last in a crashing tritone,
              My last is the third scot to navigate north,

        So work out my riddle and bring me my Fourth!

Puzzle 2 -      Something I have,
                Outlasting the climb,
                Through lifes journey long,
                And not aged by time,
                A great christian Partner,
                Which many will say,
                passed ever onward, yet owned for always.

                                                A PLACE.

Puzzle 3 -      I am at the start of marriage, the only pair in the sea,
                I am at the beginning of the harvest, and at the end of
                the war, I am at the start of the man and the middle of
                the women in Justice, and I am the two tallest herdsman
                of prophecy.
-- Paul A Rood <paulr@cmacloed.demon.co.uk>

[ Editor: no answers were found in the collected postings. ]


What is neither fish or flesh,
Feathers nor bone,
But still has fingers,
and thumbs of its own ?
-- Emmanuel Marin <marin@ccr.jussieu.fr> (who had found only "statue")

Gloves sound right to me.  I was thinking that it might be a stringed
musical instrument, like a dulcimer.  You turn the thumbs (or pegs) to
tune it and it has finger-boards, which I've heard people called
fingers or fingerings.
-- Christine Gazak <Christine.Gazak@m.cc.utah.edu>


From the PC adventure game Arena:

More beautiful than the face of your God,
Yet more wicked than a demon's forked tongue,
Dead men eat it all the time,
Live men who eat it die slow.

The answer is "nothing."  Nothing is more beautiful than the face of
your God, nothing more wicked than a demon's forked tongue, dead men
eat nothing all the time, live men who eat nothing die slow.
-- Sherwin Cho <syc225@nwu.edu>


In Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", Alice is asked
the riddle, "Why is a raven like a writing desk?"
-- Robert Anthony Kielbicki <roberta@wumpus.cc.uow.edu.au>

>Isn't the point of the riddle to show that people can propose riddles
>that make no sense?
-- Jonathan Rynd <jrr7@cornell.edu>

Yes, but nevertheless people have come up with clever answers for it.
Martin Gardner lists a few in his "annotated Alice."  One of the
simpler answers is "Poe wrote on both of them."  My favorite one is
"Because the notes for which they are noted for are not noted to be
musical notes."
-- Wei-Hwa Huang <whuang@cco.caltech.edu>

Probably that was Carroll's idea.  The correct answer to the riddle,
of course, is "Because there is a 'b' in both and an 'n' in neither".
-- Alan Morgan <alanm@efi.com>


You eat something you neither plant nor plow.
It is the son of water, but if water touches it, it dies.
-- Langosta <silmondi@netaxs.com>

Salt.
-- Ken Arromdee <arromdee@jyusenkyou.cs.jhu.edu>

Or ice, provided you (like many others) occasionally eat ice and so
long as the water isn't at exactly 0 deg. C.
-- Paul Revere <bdt@acpub.duke.edu>


My first is eleventh, not number one,
Water explodes it like a shooter's gun.
My second's a poison that makes some things pure,
Gaseous in form above room temperature.
My whole is a treaty that peace made it worth,
You may have heard me described "of the earth."
-- Jonathan Haas <jhaas@Primenet.Com>

NaCl
-- Mark Shaw <mns1@rtc.sc.ti.com>


My first wears my second, my third might be
what my first would acquire if he went to the sea.
Put together my one, two, three
and the belle of New York is the girl for me.
-- Langosta <silmondi@netaxs.com>

A MAN wears a HAT, and a TAN he might get,
If he went out to sea and got soaking wet.
The borough MANHATTAN's the sum that you find...
Thanks for the riddle. You are too kind.
-- Jonathan Haas <jhaas@Primenet.Com>


It's odorless, tasteless, colorless and weightless.  If you put it in
a barrel, it makes the barrel weigh less.

I have received many responses and the answer is a "hole."
-- Rhonda Haber <haber@bmcwest.com>


I'm the place where rich ones have lain,
But add a night and I'm a hero's bane.
What am I?

The solution is: I'm a CRYPT!  Add a night to me, and I become
KRYPTONITE, Superman's bane.
-- Paul Novosad <pmnovosa@acs.ucalgary.ca>


If texas saw what ark-ken-saw what did tenn-a-see?

Idaho -- Alaska.
-- Ilana Stern <ilana@niwot.scd.ucar.edu>


What has a tongue but never talks,
Never moves but always walks?

A shoe.
-- Henery Boulley <hboulley@cedar.cic.net>


A Common Dozen: What/Who are they? What happened to my fourth?
-- Eddy Tanumihardja

She is the cruelest.
-- Brian Tung <brian@isi.edu>

[ Editor: the full text of this riddle was not in the collected
material; the answer alludes to T. S. Eliot's "April is the cruellest
month", April being the fourth of the twelve months. ]


Thirty white horses on a red hill
Now they stamp, now they champ
Now they stand still.

Teeth
-- John Price <pricej@nt.com>

[ Editor: from the Steeleye Span album "And then there were six", as
posted by Peter Watkins; Jeff Elliott had asked for the text of a
version beginning "Thirty-two horses on a red hill". ]


White bird featherless
Blew from paradise
Lit on the castle wall
Along came Lord Landless
Took it up handless
Rode away horseless
To the king's white hall.
-- Peter Watkins (from the same Steeleye Span album)

Hmmm . . . snow or something?  Don't know why.
-- John Price <pricej@nt.com>


What flares up
And does a lot of good [Editor: "god" in the original],
And when it dies,
Is just a piece of wood.
-- rfisher@TRENTU.CA

Is it a tree. I mean, it flares up in the spring and dies in the fall.
'Course it's not really dead, is it? Is it a torch? What a silly
riddle...
-- Frank Chapman <fchapman@ucs.indiana.edu>


What does no man want, yet no man wants to lose?
-- Peter Thompson

A bald head.
-- Andrew Kisliakov <gatrav@magna.com.au>


I ride high on a pillar of green,
and soil my visitors, but not to be mean.
Dismantling me portends love is nigh,
What kind of parasite am I?
-- Ralph Ray Craig <rrcraig@eos.ncsu.edu>

Good one.  I think the answer is "rose petals".  They ride high on a
green stem.  They soil visiting butterflies with pollen.  People in
love play "she loves me/she loves me not" by pulling petals.  And the
petals are "parasites" to the plant since they consume off the rest of
the plant.
-- Jim Hsu <jimhsu@athena.mit.edu>

I've seen this one before, and I believe the "official" correct answer
is a dandelion.
-- Marv Weisberg <mweisberg@bear.com>


From a local radio contest; it is an object:

I'm 4 squares in the wind, I'm known to all men.
Long is good, but short is better, I do my work in any weather.
Young boys and girls can use me, but just don't abuse me.
With new ideas I'm told, I'm still useful when I'm old.
Red is good, but black is better.  I look good in any color.
Although Uncle Sam tries to protect, sometimes I'm even used for sex.
Keep me fresh and keep me tight, I just love the dark of night.
One is all you need, when the laws of the land you heed.
4 score and 20 years or more, men have beaten a path to my door.
8x11 is not my size, but when needed to, I'll compromise.
In collecting friends from far and near, I have no favorite time of
year.
-- Scott Hall <sv.hall@applelink.apple.com>

Sounds like the telephone to me.
  [4 squares:] telephone booths are recognizable anywhere
  [Long/short:] short calls cost less?
  [Boys and girls:] teenagers seem to suffer from telephonitis
  [New ideas:] old phone lines work for modern modems, Internet
  [Red/black:] black is more recognizable??
  [Uncle Sam:] telephone sex
  [Fresh and tight:] ???
  [One is all you need:] in most countries, the phone service (at
    least locally) is a legal monopoly
  [4 score and 20:] telephones are over 100 years old
  [8x11:] referring to hand-held phones?  cellular phones?
  [Friends:] phone calls can be made anytime
-- Ed Enstrom <7161@mne.net>


If you guess who I am, you can guess where I am. I am always quite
cold, but never do mind it.  When I am looking for water, I always do
find it.  Friends say that I look mean and pale when I go for a swim in
my shining chainmail.  Who am I?
-- Sean <scnewlun@ix.netcom.com>

well, you are a fish, and you are the answer to the riddle on sunny-d,
right?
-- myles <myles@mail.comcat.com>


ch in the right,
ch in the left,
you are in the middle,
what is the riddle?
-- Bhide Chandrashekhar Pralhad <shekhar@cse.iitb.ernet.in>

"church"
-- Aalop Suresh Shah <aalop@bhishma.cse.iitb.ernet.in>


I once met a man
on Westminster Bridge.
He took off his hat and
drew off his glove and said,
"How do you do?"

What was his name?
-- Doug McKean <dmckean@paragon-networks.com>

Andrew
-- Robert Kelly <rkelly@rollanet.org>


There is something
in Missouri;
in Alabama it always
appears
It happens twice in
every moment,
but not once in 7 years.
It's always in timber,
but never in a tree;
It never goes to you,
but always comes to me.
-- harpo (Chris M.)

[ Editor: no answer was found in the collected postings. ]


What has roots that nobody sees,
Is taller than the trees,
Up, up it goes,
And yet never grows?

A mountain
-- Steve Storm <storm@nas.nasa.gov>


It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.
It lies behind stars and under hills,
And empty holes it fills.
It comes first and follows after,
Ends life, kills laughter.

Darkness
-- Steve Storm <storm@nas.nasa.gov>

Well, number 2 is from the Hobbit....  The answer is dark... the
dark... the dark...
-- Matt Sheppard <matt@mc.com>


My first is a creature whose breeding's unclear;
My second, a price that you pay.
My whole can be found in the river of Time,
And refers to events of today.
-- Roberto De Feo <rd3i+@andrew.cmu.edu>

Cur + rent = Current
-- Matt Stephans <mstephans@mail.utexas.edu>


Pronounced as one letter, and written with three,
Two letters there are, and two only in me,
I'm double, I'm single, I'm black, blue and gray,
I'm read from both ends, and the same either way.

eye
-- David Zechiel <dzechiel@speed.net>


From Beatrix Potter's "The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin":

  "Riddle me, riddle me, rot-tot-tote!
  A little wee man, in a red red coat!
  A staff in his hand, and a stone in his throat;
  If you'll tell me this riddle, I'll give you a groat."

  Now this riddle was as old as the hills; Mr. Brown paid no attention
  whatever to Nutkin.
-- Eric Baatz <eric.baatz@east.sun.com>

[ Editor: no answer was found in the collected material. ]


Two heads I have, and when my voice
Is heard afar, like thunder,
The lads and maids arrested stand,
And watch and wait with wonder.

Quite promptly I'm obeyed, and yet
'Tis only fair to say,
My master bangs me, right and left,
And him I must obey.
-- Mark Cummins <gwf@iafrica.com>

A drum.
-- Seth Breidbart <sethb@panix.com>


Luke had it before. Paul had it behind.
Matthew never had it at all.
All girls have it once. Boys cannot have it.
Old Mrs. Mulligan had it twice in succession.
Dr. Lowell had it before and behind, and
he had it twice as bad behind as before.

Hint:  The opposite of Christmas is *not* Chanukah.  It's not Noel.
In other words, "L".
-- Gary Scott Simon <garscosi@pipeline.com>


The root is at the top of this peculiar thing,
that grows in the winter and dies in the spring.
-- Melissa Roan <mroan@mail.utexas.edu>

Icicle
-- Chris Behrens <cbehrens@cyberhighway.net>


My head and tail both equal are,
My middle slender as a bee.
Whether I stand on head or heel
Is quite the same to you or me.
But if my head should be cut off,
The matter's true, though passing strange
Directly I to nothing change.
-- Mark Cummins <gwf@iafrica.com>

Sounds like a coin to me.
-- David Zechiel <dzechiel@speed.net>


Plume notion? Letters do look strange
No menu, pilot? That must change.
Put oil on men-and rearrange.

Intone "O plum!" in modern Greek.
Into one lump you form a peak
Until no poem spells what you seek.

answer:     _ _ _ _ _    _ _ _ _ _ _
-- McMullen <mac1@jaxnet.com>

Note that each of the lines begins with the same eleven letters; the
remaining portions suggest rearranging them to spell the name of a
Greek peak.  The answer is: Mount Pelion.  Home of the centaurs and
source of the wood for the Argo; once considered for use as a
structural element in a stairway to heaven
-- Fred W. Helenius <fredh@ix.netcom.com>


Four things there are, all of a height,
One of them crook'd, the rest upright.
Take three away, and you will find
Exactly ten remain behind.
But if you cut the four in twain,
You'll find one-half doth eight remain.
-- Lionheart

XIII
-- Norman Leigh <nfl@leigh.u-net.com>


I'll soothe you today, but torment you tomorrow;
and I will always be there in your grief and sorrow.

whoever has it, is angry;
whoever loses it, is angrier;
whoever wins it, has it no more.
-- pawel@interport.net

ALCOHOL
-- David Spero <mrrogers@igc.apc.org>

A lawsuit and alcohol
-- Matthew Daly <mwdaly@kodak.com>


A King tells one of his subjects the name of his new born son.  The
prince's name is within the count of 1..999.  What is the prince's
name?
-- Chris LeBlanc <cleblanc@doncaster.on.ca>

How about "Ace" or "Primo" (for 1) or "Deuce" or "Trey"?  -- Or
twen"Ty" or hund"Red" or hundre"D on"e?  Some people pronounce 18 as
"Etienne" (carrying on the theme of "Juan" for 1).
-- Charles H. Giffen <chg4k@virginia.edu>

"Noah" (No 'A').  Until 1000, all numbers can be spelled without using
the letter 'A'!
-- aylmer <stuartcf@ix.netcom.com>


If I am at all inclined
to feel out what is on your mind
You'll seem quite stiff, when I am tall.
And fluid when my stature's small.

Think to submit, as I stand hard?
You run down fast- I stand as guard.
I am unyielding. You boil in rage.
I block the view. You cloud the stage.

Though you may slowly wear away
My substance as we pass the days.
A man would rarely see me lie if he saw me stand,
he first would die.

What am I?  What are you?
-- Stefan Bondorf

A Mountain.  A river/waterfall.
-- Alan Brookland <alan@b29net.bt.co.ku>


Of the three names that I call myself, the one unnamed, up on a shelf.
Take all you, but leave out 'why', and put it at the end, beside.
Now what's up there? Add that you see but not with you, away from me.
Now take all that, and drop the 'ease'- cept at the end, because we're
pleased.
Now all that's left, is me, your friend, up on the shelf, trying to
get in.

What am I?

[ Editor: Henri Picciotto worked it line by line: ]
  me
  meou
  meousee
  mouse
-- Henri Picciotto <hot@SOE.Berkeley.Edu>


Often talked of, never seen,
Ever coming, never been,
Daily looked for, never here,
Still approaching, coming near.
Thousands for its visit wait
But alas for their fate,
Tho' they expect me to appear,
They will never find me here.
-- Mike Peoples (from a game)

My guess is: Tomorrow?
-- Wolf303 <rps@flash.net>

The Future
-- Dave Delisle <ddelisle@mn.uswest.net>


With silken hair,
and one blue eye,
I'm in the stars,
but not in the sky.
I have many homes,
but homeless am I.
When I'm around
you wish I'd leave
but if I go,
I know you will grieve.
-- schuler@luna.cas.usf.edu

A comet?
  silken hair - comet's tail
  one blue eye - ball of ice
  in the stars - visible at night
  but not in the sky - but not in the day
  many homes - travels the galaxy
  homeless - never stays anywhere
  wish I'd leave - comets are legendary harbingers of doom
  you will grieve - but today, people like to see them
-- Steve Coughlan <SCOUGHLA@KilCom1.UCIS.Dal.CA>


What is it that hangs high, is round as a hoop, and deep as a pail
and the more that you pull it, the more it cries out?
-- Cory Cubbage <ccubba1@triton.towson.edu>

A bell in a tower?
-- Nathaniel Silver <mathelp@worldnet.att.net>


Two charades made by Col. Fitzpatrick to which no solution is known:

In concert, song, or serenade,
My first requires my second's aid.
To those residing near the pole
I would not recommend my whole.

Charades of all things are the worst,
But yet my best have been my first.
Who with my second are concern'd
Will to despise my whole have learn'd.
-- Jan Merolant <jan.merolant@club.tip.nl>

There doesn't seem to be much information in these lines. Could you
post some more of Col. Fitzpatrick's charades? It would be very
helpful to see the style. For example, my best guess for the first is
"pitchfork"; not a very good fit, but I don't know the Col.'s standards
of precision.
-- Horse Head <Horse_Head@nym.alias.net>

Excellent fit, I'd say. Better than "dumb-waiter", all I could come up
with
-- coder64@my-dejanews.com

[ Editor: no answer to the second charade was found in the collected
postings. ]

[ Editor: joke riddles posted by Hinayana Bawagan <bawagan@umdnj.edu>
  as a "time out from hardcore puzzles", answered by Martin H. Booda
  <booda@lynx.navo.navy.mil>, May 1994. ]

How does a hunchback sleep?

With his eyes closed.

If a butcher is 6 feet tall and wears a size 10 apron, what does he
weigh?

Meat.

A family of 5 with no relatives in the world was stranded in an
island.  There was no food.  The father offered himself to be eaten and
he was food for a week.  The next week, the mother offered herself to
be eaten and she was food for the 2nd week.  The next week, the eldest,
a boy, offered himself to be eaten and he was food for the 3rd week.
The next week, the middle child, a girl offered herself to the youngest
boy to be eaten.  The youngest child and the last member of the family
had the sister as food for a week.  The next week, there was no more
food.  Question:  What do you call the youngest child?

An orphan.

What do John the Baptist and Winnie the Pooh have in common?

Their middle names.

Martin "Did they ever figure out where to bury the youngest child"
Booda

[ Editor: more riddles posted to rec.puzzles, 1994-1998, each followed
by the answers offered.  Riddles already in this entry appear only when
a new answer was offered. ]

A lonely wanderer, wounded with iron,
I am smitten with war-blades; I have seen many battles,
Much hazardous fighting, oft without hope
Of comfort or help in the carnage of war
Where I perish and fall in the fighting of men.
The leavings of hammers, the handwork of smiths,
Batter and bite me, hard-edged and sharp;
The brunt of battle I am doomed to endure.
In all the folk-stead no leech could find
With wort or simple to heal my wounds;
But day night with the deadly blows
The marks of the war-blades double and deepen.
-- chiman@futon.SFSU.EDU

That's not bizarre, that's easy: Armor.  They could also be looking
for a variant, like "shield" or "platemail" or "mail".
-- David DeLaney <dbd@martha.utcc.utk.edu> ("you can't heal it with
   herbs, you see")


A part of the world on which we stand
Most have held some in their hand
It eats away day & night
Is high or low, not always in sight
So strong none can stop it's flow
Nor even make it slow
What is it?
-- Gregory Carlill <gc038@un.seqeb.gov.au>

I say, LIGHT.
-- Jered Floyd <jjfloyd@vela.acs.oakland.edu>

> How do you figure?
>
>   o We don't stand on light.
>   o You can't hold light in your hand... only a light-producing object
>   o It's quite easy to slow light (by passing it through, say, glass)
>     or stop it (by blocking it or reflecting it).
-- Jonathan Haas

Well sorry guys, light isn't even close.  The correct answer is Time.
As far as the first line "on the world we stand" just refers to this
planet.  And yes, one can have time on his hands.  neat huh?
-- Philip Sherman <psherma1@cc.swarthmore.edu>


Two Bodies Have I,
Though Both Joined in One.
The More Still I Stand,
The Quicker I Run.
-- Vlad III <bmiddlet@wimsey.com> (from a computer game)

Egg-timer.
-- Tim Roberts <tim@giaeb.cc.monash.edu.au>

I think "Hourglass" is a better solution.  I know some egg-timers are
hourglasses, but some are spring-driven (while these often have two
joined halves, the last two lines of the riddle do not fit very well).
As for whether an hourglass runs faster when it stands still is
debatable.  But I can't think of anything else.
-- Torben AEgidius Mogensen <torbenm@diku.dk>


When I have one I have two.
When I have two I have one.
I'll give you a hint, it has nothing to do with pairs!!
-- John Isidoro <jisidoro@bu.edu>

Vowels?
-- Bill Zettler <bzettler@dnai.com>


An army all with hats,
That drink the life from the dead.
-- John Isidoro <jisidoro@bu.edu> (Riddle #6)

MUSHROOMS ????
-- Lisa Maccari <lisa@odino.arcetri.astro.it>


a white plain stares me down.
blue steaks evenly divide the terra.
a red line astray to the side.
craters 5 in all litter the western border.
the span of land awaits my footprints.
where am i ?
-- Michael A Chang <macst34+@pitt.edu>

A piece of looseleaf paper.
-- Rick Banghart <banghar4@studentb.msu.edu>


[ Editor: a set posted by Phil Sandler <fibby@MCS.COM> in February
1995: "These riddles were posted on some other group.  I think they
are from some computer game, and I think they involved some kind of
unscrambling of letters or something. ... I've indicated which ones
require a two-word answer."  Answers by Benjamin Rhinelander Thompson
<thompson@spot.Colorado.EDU> and Lisa Maccari
<lisa@sisifo.arcetri.astro.it> follow each riddle. ]

(two words)
The light one breaks but never falls.
His brother falls but never breaks.

Thompson: dawn, dusk

Swollag, the famous moredhel
craftsman, guarantees his work
until the end of time.

Thompson: An executioner?  "Swollag" suggests a hangman, and "moredhel"
could be a play on "mortal".

The chill of its death,
You may soon mourn.
But though it dies,
It cannot be born.

Thompson: Could be a lot of things.  Some kind of fire maybe?  Love?
Maccari: the day (???)

You see it about in field and town,
It cannot get up,
But will oft fall down.

Thompson: rain, snow
Maccari: The mist or fog (?) ... Of course it's a mis-quotation, I
meant rain !!!!

(two words)
They feel no pain,
No sorrow, no greed.
They have no anger,
No hatred, nor need.

Thompson: Could be anything.  Stones, the Dead...  ...(not the Beatles
though).

Be you ever so quick,
With vision keen,
By your eyes,
We are never seen.
Unless, perchance,
It should come to pass,
You see our reflection,
In a looking glass.

Thompson: Your eyes?
Maccari: Eyelids, or some other features of face

A precious gift, this,
Yet it has no end or beginning,
And in the middle, nothing.

Thompson: A ring.
Maccari: A ring

Buckets, barrels, baskets, cans;
What must you fill with empty hands?

Thompson: Gloves.

He gets short when he gets old.
He goes out then it gets cold.

Thompson: A candle.
Maccari: A cigar (?)

An untiring servant it is,
carrying loads across muddy earth.
But one thing that cannot be forced,
is a return to the place of its birth.

Thompson: A river.

It can pierce the best armor,
And make swords crumble with a rub.
Yet for all its power,
It can't harm a club.

Thompson: Rust (this works only after the bronze age and before the
invention of stainless steel).
Maccari: I can figure it has something to do with playing cards, but
no more....

With this one thing alone,
you will have defeated
even the strongest foe.

Thompson: Dunno.  Whatever it is, I guess I don't have it.

They go up white,
but come down yellow and white.

Thompson: Not sure.  Ears of corn?  No, it has to be one word.
Diplomas?  Unlikely.  Fireworks?  No.  A coward's briefs?  (Sorry!)

Brought to the table.
Cut and served.
Never eaten.

Thompson: I'm stumped.  The best I could come up with was ping-pong
balls.
Maccari: Same as before (I don't remember the English word for the set
of cards...)

Passed from father to son,
And shared between brothers.
Its importance is unquestioned,
Though it is used more by others.

Thompson: A name.
Maccari: the surname

The one who made it,
didn't want it.
The one who bought it,
didn't need it.
The one who used it,
never saw it.

Thompson: A coffin.  I've heard this one before, so it must be pretty
old.
Maccari: the coffin (OLD!!!!)

You hear it speak,
For it has a hard tongue.
But it cannot breathe,
For it has not a lung.

Thompson: A bell.

You seek it out,
When your hunger's ripe.
It sits on four legs,
And smokes a pipe.

Thompson: A stove?

It flies without wings,
Drops without fear,
But held in warm hands,
It will soon disappear.

Thompson: A snowflake.
Maccari: the snow

When it is stout,
People gladly tread.
When it is thin,
People walk in dread.

Thompson: Ice?  (This one shouldn't follow "snowflake" so closely)
Maccari: a bridge (?)

Look in my face,
I am somebody.
Look at my back,
I am nobody.

Thompson: A mirror.

A strange earthen house,
That brings nought but disdain.
And yet those who stay there,
Never do complain.

Thompson: Some kind of grave?

(two words)
Two brothers wanted to race a course,
To see which had the slowest horse.
Since neither wanted to spur his mare,
What must they do to make it fair?

Thompson: Trade mounts.

This odd thing seems to get wetter,
The more it dries.

Thompson: A towel.

You must keep this thing.
Its loss will affect your brothers,
For once yours is lost,
It will soon be lost by others.

Thompson: Tune?  Your temper?

Plow and hoe, reap and sow,
What soon does every farmer grow?

Thompson: Weary.

When people come for me to meet,
They come to me with heavy feet.
The one I hold,
When I get my chance,
Will turn and spin,
And start to dance.

Thompson: (Oh, this is a good one.)  The noose.

Like dogs shouting at the moon,
Or armor worn by the trees.
Like a sharply spoken command,
Or a tiny vessel upon the seas.

Thompson: (It's too bad the answer is so simple; the riddle itself is
beautiful!)  Bark.

[ Editor: Thompson then added three of his own: ]

All right, here's an easy one I posted quite a while ago:

The load-bearer, the warrior,
The frightened one, the brave,
The fleet-of-foot, the iron-shod,
The faithful one, the slave.

And one I just came up with now:

Swifter than the hawk it flies,
But never makes a sound.
Brighter than the robin
But never leaves the ground.
It falls and is not missed,
Falls and is not found.

And another, a little sillier:

We can do tricks, but that's not our first business,
We can make houses, but not so they'll last.
We travel in packs and rob the unwary.
We can be cut, but that won't always save you.
-- Benjamin Rhinelander Thompson <thompson@spot.Colorado.EDU>

[ Editor: no answers were given for the first two; the first is also
in logic/net.book.riddles.  For the third: ]

CARDS ??
-- Lisa Maccari <lisa@sisifo.arcetri.astro.it>


I went into the woods and I got it,
and when I got it I didn't want it,
but the more I looked at it, the more I wanted it,
and yet I couldn't get it.
What is it?
-- Peter Chapman <p.chapman@info.curtin.edu.au>

>A butterfly/cocoon.  Got the cocoon in the woods.  Didn't want it.  As
>I looked at it the butterfly emerged.  Then I wanted it, but couldn't
>get it because it was flying.
-- Howard Leathers <HowardL@arec.umd.edu>

Very good, but unfortunately not correct.  Your answer almost fits the
clue except for the first two lines.  Why did the person get it if the
person didn't want it?  In the solution, the person gets it and
doesn't want it.
-- Peter Chapman

[ Editor: the intended answer was not in the collected postings. ]


I know a word of letters three.  Add two, and fewer there will be.

... couldn't you also answer "ewe"?
-- Aaron Solomon <solboy@nwu.edu>

or "fee", for that matter.
-- Tom Maciukenas <tomm@dvorak.amd.com>


What is in seasons, seconds, centuries and minutes but not in decades,
years or days?
-- Richie Zaborowske <wzabo@online.dct.com>

The letter "N".  Why is it that nobody can figure these out?
-- Jonathan Haas <positron@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM>


Some say I direct,
Some say I kill,
I'm rude to do to others,
Yet without me there's no will.
What Am I?
-- Stephen Young <smyoung@worldnet.att.net>

A point?
-- Pete Johnson <petejohn@asu.uswest.net>


"What we catch we throw away, what we do not catch we keep"
-- Pierre Lecavalier <plecaval@hpb.hwc.ca>

I don't believe that the answer is in the FAQ, although it seems to be
just about the most posted riddle that is asked here.  There are
probably a lot of correct answers in theory, but I think that the one
that is generally accepted as "most correct" is "fleas".
-- Matthew Daly <mwdaly@kodak.com>

Lice.
-- Ilan Mayer


To a sandy grave,
from a deep blue start.
Human eyes shall meet me,
when my skin comes apart.
now ten dimes form my body,
and five doves form my heart.
-- John Isidoro <jisidoro@bu.edu>

Pretty.  My guess is that it's a sand dollar.
-- Matthew Daly <mwdaly@pobox.com>


What can be lifted,
   but takes no strength to do so,
Can be rent,
   and only takes a word,
Can be felt,
   but never touched,
And lost,
   when you know where it is?
-- Necromaster

I think the answer that is desired is "spirits," as in feelings or
mood.
-- Ralph Dubisch <rdubisch@hotmail.com>


The Timid hide from it
Wise Men debate it
Warriors take it
Priests embrace it
Evil Men don't know the worth of it
What is it?
-- Necromaster

Truth or Life?
-- Carl G. <cginnow@mindspring.com>