# Origin of this phrase? "Riddle wrapped in an enigma..." **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 24, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-this-phrase-riddle-wrapped-in-an-enigma/530302 "2010-02-24T20:16:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-this-phrase-riddle-wrapped-in-an-enigma/530302/1 "2010-02-24T20:16:44Z")
I see the phrase “Riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a puzzle” often and have always wondered what it’s from. I first heard it in an episode of Newsradio when Jimmy James said something like this but finished the phrase by saying he was covered in “Secret sauce.” Anybody know? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-this-phrase-riddle-wrapped-in-an-enigma/530302/2 "2010-02-24T20:20:18Z")
Winston Churchill first used it in a 1939 radio broadcast to describe Russia. _“I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma: but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interests.”_ ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-this-phrase-riddle-wrapped-in-an-enigma/530302/3 "2010-02-24T20:21:11Z")
Winston Churchill speaking on Russia. If he derived it from any earlier phrase, I haven’t heard it: > [@](#): > > The World War II years > > ``` > * I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma: but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest. > o BBC broadcast (“The Russian Enigma”), London, October 1, 1939 (partial text). > > ``` > **[Winston Churchill - Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill)** ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-this-phrase-riddle-wrapped-in-an-enigma/530302/4 "2010-02-24T20:26:13Z")
Wow, that was fast. Thanks!!! ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-this-phrase-riddle-wrapped-in-an-enigma/530302/5 "2010-02-25T01:01:32Z")
> [@HelloNinja](#): > > I see the phrase “Riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a puzzle” And sometimes it’s in a vest. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-this-phrase-riddle-wrapped-in-an-enigma/530302/6 "2010-02-25T01:17:58Z")
BTW, the _Newsradio_ / Jimmy James quote is, “I am cipher. A cipher…wrapped in an enigma … smothered in secret sauce.” Great show, great quote. ---
**Author:** ![Shark\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-this-phrase-riddle-wrapped-in-an-enigma/530302/7 "2010-02-25T03:49:10Z")
More recently, Joe Pesci’s character (David Ferrie) says it in the movie _JFK_. ---
**Author:** ![wedgehed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8edcca/32.png) [@wedgehed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wedgehed)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-this-phrase-riddle-wrapped-in-an-enigma/530302/8 "2010-02-25T09:20:43Z")
A variation I’ve heard goes… He is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, poured in a douchebag. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-this-phrase-riddle-wrapped-in-an-enigma/530302/9 "2010-02-25T09:26:51Z")
… wrapped in a soft flour tortilla. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-this-phrase-riddle-wrapped-in-an-enigma/530302/10 "2010-02-25T14:55:26Z")
…with a side of two mockeries and a sham.