# Petals around the Roses (a puzzle) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 14, 2004, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petals-around-the-roses-a-puzzle/250386 "2004-06-14T23:23:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petals-around-the-roses-a-puzzle/250386/1 "2004-06-14T23:23:41Z")
[http://personal.baker.edu/web2/cdavis09/roses.html](http://personal.baker.edu/web2/cdavis09/roses.html) It took me about 30 minutes, with a few hints from a friend. I’m embarrassed. Embarass me further by doing it in 30 seconds, I challenge you. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petals-around-the-roses-a-puzzle/250386/2 "2004-06-14T23:26:48Z")
Sorry…I got it on my second try. So it took me like 2 minutes? ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petals-around-the-roses-a-puzzle/250386/3 "2004-06-14T23:28:13Z")
I don’t get it, which aparently means I’m too smart. Yeah, right. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petals-around-the-roses-a-puzzle/250386/4 "2004-06-14T23:28:41Z")
I should add, that I somehow guessed right on my third try, but for the life of me, I don’t know why! ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petals-around-the-roses-a-puzzle/250386/5 "2004-06-14T23:34:13Z")
Got it first go. Oh, OK, I’ll 'fess up. It was only last week that I was reading an old puzzle book that had this in and which explained how it works. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petals-around-the-roses-a-puzzle/250386/6 "2004-06-14T23:40:59Z")
> [@Coldfire](#): > > I should add, that I somehow guessed right on my third try, but for the life of me, I don’t know why! That’s pretty much how it happened for me as well. I didn’t try to reason it out…I just sorta guessed and was right. ---
**Author:** ![TheRealStrawberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@TheRealStrawberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheRealStrawberry)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petals-around-the-roses-a-puzzle/250386/7 "2004-06-14T23:41:36Z")
When I was first introduced to this puzzle it was called Penguins on an Iceburg. Took me a while to figure out, with my dad looking over my shoulder and giggling the whole time; he wasn’t helping any… ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petals-around-the-roses-a-puzzle/250386/8 "2004-06-15T00:07:23Z")
Looked for 10 or 15 mins, turned to Google. OK, so I “get” it… but god it’s a lame puzzle. A good puzzle should have some kind of “Ah- **ha!** ” moment when you figure it out. This has a “Feh” moment, at best. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petals-around-the-roses-a-puzzle/250386/9 "2004-06-15T00:09:44Z")
I have no idea and I absolutely f\*\*\*ing HATE puzzles like this; at a bizarre picnic party recently, I got roped into a game very much like this one, but it involved passing around a wooden spoon, doing some gesture with it and passing it on, while saying something or other; deeply and genuinely humiliating to be the last person to ‘get’ that the spoon and the gesture and the phrase have nothing much to do with the game at all, and then only after being the butt of much laughter. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petals-around-the-roses-a-puzzle/250386/10 "2004-06-15T00:17:49Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I have no idea and I absolutely f\*\*\*ing HATE puzzles like this; at a bizarre picnic party recently, I got roped into a game very much like this one, but it involved passing around a wooden spoon, doing some gesture with it and passing it on, while saying something or other; deeply and genuinely humiliating to be the last person to ‘get’ that the spoon and the gesture and the phrase have nothing much to do with the game at all, and then only after being the butt of much laughter. Were they passing the spoon ‘crossed’ or ‘uncrossed’, by any chance? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petals-around-the-roses-a-puzzle/250386/11 "2004-06-15T00:26:33Z")
Oh, for fuck’s sake. Real funny. :rolleyes: 😉 ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petals-around-the-roses-a-puzzle/250386/12 "2004-06-15T00:35:39Z")
I came across this years ago and couldn’t figure it for the life of me. But a friend reintroduced it to me a while back, calling it “Polar Bears around the Fishing Hole” and I got it pretty quickly. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petals-around-the-roses-a-puzzle/250386/13 "2004-06-15T00:36:05Z")
It took less than a dozen trials, I think – a minute or less? Remember, though, I **am** a trained professional… twicks, puzzle editor ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petals-around-the-roses-a-puzzle/250386/14 "2004-06-15T02:37:28Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I have no idea and I absolutely f\*\*\*ing HATE puzzles like this; at a bizarre picnic party recently, I got roped into a game very much like this one, but it involved passing around a wooden spoon, doing some gesture with it and passing it on, while saying something or other; deeply and genuinely humiliating to be the last person to ‘get’ that the spoon and the gesture and the phrase have nothing much to do with the game at all, and then only after being the butt of much laughter. This was probably a variant of “The Cup Game” – at least that’s the name we used when I played. You take the cup, then go “I can play the cup game; can I play the cup game?” and the players who already know the secret tell you… yes you did play the cup game or no, you didn’t. And you have to figure out how to play the cup game. Turns out that the rule is that if the person says “OK” before they say the little thing, they are indeed playing. Otherwise, they’re not. Normally people would say, “OK, here we go,” then put the cup on their head, set it down, put it behind their back, etc. to be misleading. And of course, those trying to figure out the rule often say “OK… I have no idea what I’m doing, but here goes…” Hours of fun. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petals-around-the-roses-a-puzzle/250386/15 "2004-06-15T04:48:47Z")
It took me about a dozen tries, probably 15 minutes or so. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petals-around-the-roses-a-puzzle/250386/16 "2004-06-15T11:40:01Z")
Took about a minute 🙂 , incuding reading the instructions 😃 . First go was just a guess, it would be much harder if you weren’t shown the correct answer. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petals-around-the-roses-a-puzzle/250386/17 "2004-06-15T12:43:23Z")
First guess, right answer with the wrong logic, read part of the background and got it. Don’t feel bad, I can see how it would be hard to figure out. If there was nothing written there, it would have taken longer for me as well. ---
**Author:** ![foxymoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d26b3c/32.png) [@foxymoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foxymoron)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petals-around-the-roses-a-puzzle/250386/18 "2004-06-15T12:58:38Z")
I got it right off the bat. Before I started, though, I read the background info, and when I saw it was played with dice I understood the object of the game. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petals-around-the-roses-a-puzzle/250386/19 "2004-06-15T13:03:39Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Were they passing the spoon ‘crossed’ or ‘uncrossed’, by any chance? 😃 Something like that; I can’t really remember any details before the violence started. ---
**Author:** ![nocturnal\_tick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@nocturnal\_tick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nocturnal_tick)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petals-around-the-roses-a-puzzle/250386/20 "2004-06-15T13:35:34Z")
Not to rain on everyone’s parade, but this has come up before. But it came with this incredibly long story involving Bill Gates. Took me half an hour. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petals-around-the-roses-a-puzzle/250386.md?page=2)