# New Riddles/ Brain Teasers Needed! **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 31, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-riddles-brain-teasers-needed/729546 "2015-08-31T21:31:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-riddles-brain-teasers-needed/729546/121 "2015-09-16T18:39:04Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It’s really annoying to me that nobody’s gotten mine, as it makes me feel like it’s a bad puzzle. Does someone want to volunteer to be spoiled, so I can PM them and they can critique whether it’s fair? Don’the give the answer yet. I have half of Appalachian State University working on it! ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-riddles-brain-teasers-needed/729546/122 "2015-09-16T20:14:11Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It’s really annoying to me that nobody’s gotten mine, as it makes me feel like it’s a bad puzzle. Does someone want to volunteer to be spoiled, so I can PM them and they can critique whether it’s fair? I volunteer to give an assessment. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-riddles-brain-teasers-needed/729546/123 "2015-09-16T20:33:00Z")
Are grasshoppers involved? Edit: my preferred way of solving hard puzzles is to be able to ask leading questions and get straight answers. I know not everyone works that way, though. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-riddles-brain-teasers-needed/729546/124 "2015-09-16T20:42:06Z")
Latin roots that may be helpful: Yellow=flavus, croceus, luteus, crocinus Strange=hospes, barbaricus, alienus, exter, rarus, novus, monstrosus, insolitus, inusitus, prodigialis Wooden=ligneus, duratus, silvestris, arborius, caudecus Dry=siccum, torreo, coco, duro, asso, aridus, ardens, passus, ligneus (!) Swordlike (I had to do “bladed”)=laminarum, duarum Does any of this get us closer? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-riddles-brain-teasers-needed/729546/125 "2015-09-17T01:41:30Z")
OK, I’ve spoiled **glee**. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-riddles-brain-teasers-needed/729546/126 "2015-09-17T01:59:42Z")
My sister may have found, shall we say, An EXCELLENT answer! ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-riddles-brain-teasers-needed/729546/127 "2015-09-17T02:05:22Z")
BUT she always was good with crosswords! Has she got it,\*\* Chronos\*\*? ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-riddles-brain-teasers-needed/729546/128 "2015-09-17T02:20:42Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It’s either dry, yellow, wooden, or strange. What is it? [spoiler] It’s the complete set of ancient Greek prefixes that start with “X” xantho, xena, xero, (xiph), xylon[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-riddles-brain-teasers-needed/729546/129 "2015-09-17T02:28:52Z")
And by the way, a challenging and very fair riddle. For a while there I thought we might have to wait for \*\*Cecil \*\* to give us an answer. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-riddles-brain-teasers-needed/729546/130 "2015-09-17T02:50:18Z")
Whew, finally! EDIT: So, is **Isamu** **Biotop** ’s sister? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-riddles-brain-teasers-needed/729546/131 "2015-09-17T02:53:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Whew, finally! > > EDIT: So, is **Isamu** **Biotop** ’s sister? Would be a shock to me! ---
**Author:** ![newme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e0b2c6/32.png) [@newme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newme)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-riddles-brain-teasers-needed/729546/132 "2015-09-17T03:41:50Z")
What will we end up with if we go with Trump’s plan to sculpt a pointy row of Prickly-ash along the desert border with Mexico in order to keep those pesky furriners out? Xiphoid \*Xanthoxylum \*along a xenophobic xeriscape. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-riddles-brain-teasers-needed/729546/133 "2015-09-17T08:19:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Whew, finally! > > EDIT: So, is **Isamu** **Biotop** ’s sister? Not currently – but there’s still time for me to get a sex-change and marry into the family! Thanks for the riddle **Chronos**! It was good and satisfying. I tried to guess it yesterday but failed, and this mornig I had an hour or so to kill so I was determined to get it figured out today. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-riddles-brain-teasers-needed/729546/134 "2015-09-17T09:58:37Z")
Here’s what I did. 1. I started with the obvious, i.e., looking for groups/sets of things that consisted of each one of those sub-types, i.e. dry, yellow, wooden or strange. I looked at subatomic particles, fungus, plants, art movements, historic periods, etc. Nothing fit, but when I had time I was still looking for the answer in this same way until **Chronos** gave the further clue by putting them in alphabetic order. That was a pretty strong clue that it was language based, so then I moved to… 2. the idea that it wasn’t a set of “things” that are named after, or display qualities, of those first clues (dry, yellow, wooden or strange), but a set of things that _are_ those first clues but in another language. I found a set that almost worked in Japanese, so I thought maybe it was Chinese (which I don’t know). And then **Chronos** gave the further clue of their being one more element to the set - “sword-like”. That’s when I… 3. Saw the pattern of things that come from ancient languages that English borrowed from. **Left Hand of Dorkness** missed it by a hair by looking at Latin, but it was Greek. Sorry Lefty! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-riddles-brain-teasers-needed/729546/135 "2015-09-17T12:22:55Z")
I didn’t get anywhere near the answer, but when I saw the solution I could see how to get there, so definitely a fair riddle IMHO. I was 99% certain **Chronos** wouldn’t have trolled us like **mittu** (certainly not intentionally) and I was glad to see I was right! ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-riddles-brain-teasers-needed/729546/136 "2015-09-17T13:16:47Z")
I spent a good bit of time 2 days ago thinking about the _xiphoid process_ - that little hanging down bit at the bottom of the sternum. I knew “xiph” was from the Greek for “sword” but I couldn’t get any further than that. If I’d only mentioned it here, I’m sure **Chronos** would have said something. I’m not very bright. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-riddles-brain-teasers-needed/729546/137 "2015-09-17T13:52:26Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > 1. Saw the pattern of things that come from ancient languages that English borrowed from. **Left Hand of Dorkness** missed it by a hair by looking at Latin, but it was Greek. Sorry Lefty! 😛 SO CLOSE!!! :mad::mad::mad: ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-riddles-brain-teasers-needed/729546/138 "2015-09-17T14:04:58Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Not sure if you “mined” this from some other source - the math puzzle with the number 6… > > 0 0 0 = 6 > 1 1 1 = 6 > 2 2 2 = 6 > 3 3 3 = 6 > 4 4 4 = 6 > 5 5 5 = 6 > 6+6-6 = 6 (example) > 7 7 7 = 6 > 8 8 8 = 6 > 9 9 9 = 6 > > You can use any math function between the numbers, and it has to equal 6. I see in some of the proposed solutions that people are using math functions **on** the numbers, rather than just **between** the numbers. What I mean is f(a) is a function that operates just on a. a\*b is an operation that operates on both, and is what I’d think of as a function ‘between’ the numbers. If you can use “any math function” _on_ the numbers as well as _between_, a one-size-fits-all solution is a cinch: Let f be the constant function f(x) = 2 for all x. f(x) + f(x) + f(x) = 6 for any x. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-riddles-brain-teasers-needed/729546/139 "2015-09-17T15:09:41Z")
Please simplify this polynomial: (x-a) \* (x-b) \* (x-c) \* … \* (x-z) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-riddles-brain-teasers-needed/729546/140 "2015-09-17T15:35:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Please simplify this polynomial: > > ``` > (x-a) * (x-b) * (x-c) * ... * (x-z) > > ``` In a word, nope. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-riddles-brain-teasers-needed/729546.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-riddles-brain-teasers-needed/729546.md?page=8)