# Bride of Three Minute Mysteries **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 29, 2000, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bride-of-three-minute-mysteries/15335 "2000-03-29T19:59:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Flypsyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@Flypsyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flypsyde)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bride-of-three-minute-mysteries/15335/41 "2000-03-29T20:41:00Z")
Well, it was a _unique_ stamp, SR. I guess that makes some sense. ---
**Author:** ![Inky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7feea3/32.png) [@Inky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky_1)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bride-of-three-minute-mysteries/15335/42 "2000-03-29T20:42:00Z")
Was a body cavity search administered? ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bride-of-three-minute-mysteries/15335/43 "2000-03-29T20:44:00Z")
OK, something’s amiss here. The stamp wasn’t hidden **outside** while room was being searched, and it wasn’t **in** the room while it was being searched. So the stamp was outside the room, but wasn’t **hidden**? * * * New and Improved Enright3 ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bride-of-three-minute-mysteries/15335/44 "2000-03-29T20:44:00Z")
Wow, all of 39 minutes for the mystery to be solved. Pretty cool, and I know I was entertained answering the questions. I have another. Would you like me to enter it? Swimming Riddles, whatdaya mean “no fair”? You only asked if he ate the stamp. Not if he burned it up in the fire place or just destroyed it in general. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Realhoops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8dc957/32.png) [@Realhoops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Realhoops)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bride-of-three-minute-mysteries/15335/45 "2000-03-29T20:48:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Enright3: > \*\*OK, something’s amiss here. > The stamp wasn’t hidden **outside** while room was being searched, and it wasn’t **in** the room while it was being searched. > > So the stamp was outside the room, but wasn’t **hidden**? > > \*\* I think the answer was supposed to be that the stamp was destroyed… so in a way it was neither outside the room nor hidden inside the room… sort of a fine line, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bride-of-three-minute-mysteries/15335/46 "2000-03-29T21:20:00Z")
Can I call foul on this one? Among other things, wouldn’t he technically have been arrested for selling a _counterfeit_ stamp? If I can’t call foul, I at least want to whine and bitch and moan a little bit. Thank you, I feel better now. Good Job Finagle. * * * New and Improved Enright3 ---
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bride-of-three-minute-mysteries/15335/47 "2000-03-29T21:34:00Z")
Wow- I had thought that Finagle was joking. I agree with Enright3- I feel so…unfulfilled. ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bride-of-three-minute-mysteries/15335/48 "2000-03-29T21:51:00Z")
I kind of liked this one. In (unofficial) answer to Enright’s question, I think the deal is, the counterfeit is _so good_, only we, the audience, know it’s counterfeit. After all, it is unique, so only a few people are going to be really familiar with it. The original may have a fuzzy memory, or just not have seen the evidence in the arrest. Everybody else is mystified. Here’s one I made up, not a traditional mystery as such, but I like it. Other people are mostly annoyed by it, so proceed with caution: Three people are above a sandy area strewn with coal. They are increasingly excited. Why are they excited? Where are they? ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bride-of-three-minute-mysteries/15335/49 "2000-03-29T22:12:00Z")
Dagnabbit, I meant to say maybe the original OWNER has a fuzzy memory. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bride-of-three-minute-mysteries/15335/50 "2000-03-29T22:27:00Z")
Are the pieces of coal bigger than a fist? bigger than a marble? bigger than a pinhead? Are the three people playing a game of some sort? Are they betting on anything? Do they stand to make a profit? Does the coal belong to them? Are any other people involved? Does it matter where the coal came from? Are snowmen or Christmas stockings involved? Is the sandy area man-made? Is it a beach? a playing field? an arena? * * * “I can’t think why fancy religions should have such a ghastly effect on one’s grammar.” – Dorothy L. Sayers ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bride-of-three-minute-mysteries/15335/51 "2000-03-29T22:40:00Z")
The three people just fell down the shaft of an abandoned coal mine and are about to hit the sandy, coal-strewn floor of the shaft, 100 feet below. They are increasingly excited, but won’t be for long. How’s that for morbid. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bride-of-three-minute-mysteries/15335/52 "2000-03-29T22:42:00Z")
Are they fire-walking? ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bride-of-three-minute-mysteries/15335/53 "2000-03-29T23:11:00Z")
Answers for Fretful Porpentine: Are the pieces of coal bigger than a fist? I think so. bigger than a marble? bigger than a pinhead? Yes. Are the three people playing a game of some sort? Are they betting on anything? Do they stand to make a profit? Does the coal belong to them? No. Are any other people involved? Not directly. No one else is present. Does it matter where the coal came from? Yes. Are snowmen or Christmas stockings involved? No. Is the sandy area man-made? Is it a beach? a playing field? an arena? None of the above. Good questions. ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bride-of-three-minute-mysteries/15335/54 "2000-03-29T23:15:00Z")
cher and Drain Bead: No, but I like your guesses. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bride-of-three-minute-mysteries/15335/55 "2000-03-29T23:16:00Z")
phouka, boooooooo! ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bride-of-three-minute-mysteries/15335/56 "2000-03-29T23:21:00Z")
By the way, Drain Bead’s guess made me wonder if I made it clear … they are above the sandy area, but they aren’t touching it. * * * Am I reading Hippocrates right? He’s not just a big box for storing large semi-aquatic mammals, is he? ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2000, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bride-of-three-minute-mysteries/15335/57 "2000-03-30T00:13:00Z")
Was the coal spilled from something? Would you expect to find coal in this habitat? Is the number of people significant in any way? Are they excited because of the coal? ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2000, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bride-of-three-minute-mysteries/15335/58 "2000-03-30T01:03:00Z")
Is the sandy area terrestial? ---
**Author:** ![Narile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@Narile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Narile)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2000, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bride-of-three-minute-mysteries/15335/59 "2000-03-30T02:21:00Z")
The lumps of coal haven’t been in Camrons ass for a week, have they? ( **Ferris Bueller’s Day Off** ref for the out of touch. 😉 ) ## The coal isn’t post-processed into diamonds in other words? \>\>Being Chaotic Evil means never having to say your sorry…unless the other guy is bigger than you.\<\< —The dragon observes ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2000, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bride-of-three-minute-mysteries/15335/60 "2000-03-30T09:25:00Z")
Are they about to land on the moon? * * * “His eyes are as green as a fresh-pickled toad, His hair is as dark as a blackboard, I wish he was mine, he’s really divine, The hero who conquered the Dark Lord.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bride-of-three-minute-mysteries/15335.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bride-of-three-minute-mysteries/15335.md?page=4)