I just sat here for minutes trying to think laterally about the current puzzle and I can’t even come up with a question or guess.
You and me both squire.
Is this an ASCII version of something?
Is a tube or tunnel involved?
Does the ? part mean something else besides a question?
Is this an ear canal?
I’ll point out that when one poster suggested 16 semicolons, they had to explain their answer, which means it may not have been clearly wrong right away.
A smoking gun? A cigarette?
What is eight divided by eight?
We need some feedback from @Peter_Morris
Eight dots above, eight dots below.
Above-Below Above -Below Above-Below Above -Below
Above-Below Above -Below Above-Below Above -Below
'bove-'elow 'bove-'elow 'bove-'elow 'bove-'elow
'bove-'elow 'bove-'elow 'bove-'elow 'bove-'elow
Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo
This suggests the answer is NOT a sentence or a collection of words, it’s a set of punctuation marks or symbols, which you will then explain why it’s the right answer with words.
No right answers so far. I don’t know how to give a hint without completely giving it away.
Think about what : could mean as a symbol. That’s the best I can do.
Feel free to ask friends, family, etc if they have any idea.
Is it Braille? Two dots over each other is the letter B. In Morse code it wouldn’t be anything.
Nope.
Is to (as in ratios.) That is, or possibly therefore (as a punctuation mark.) In neither case does a set of eight of them suggest to me anything in particular. Eight on its side is infinity; but I don’t see how that helps, either.
This question is to seven other questions as . . .
How long does this series go on?
What is the next term in this series? – in which case, the answer is :
If we turn it sideways like a text emoji, its a guy with 16 eyes sticking out their tongue : )
Here is the wikipeida page on colons, none of them seem particularly helpful.
I haven’t worked it out completely but based on this maybe it translates to
“To be or not to be that is the question”
Does it have anything to do with music or musical notation?
nope.
This is a possibility. Think about this, where does it lead you.
Okay, I think it’s time to end this.
If I said a:α::z:? you’d know the answer, right?
: means “is to”
:: means “as”
::::::::? means :: is to : as : is to ?
Answer .
: Colon is to : colon as : colon, : that is : colon : therefore : colon is to :colon ?
I tried handing it over to my sleeping brain overnight; but that’s still the only place that it leads me to this morning. And that doesn’t make a great deal of sense.
– OK, I was typing that as you were typing your answer. And I didn’t know that : : means “as”. But given that info: that’s a good one.