# riddle me this **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 28, 2001, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/59850 "2001-03-28T17:06:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Carnal\_knowledge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@Carnal\_knowledge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnal_knowledge)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2001, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/59850/1 "2001-03-28T17:06:58Z")
I don’t have a cite on the stat, so ignore it if you like. This is probably too easy for the Teeming Millions, but… When asked this riddle, 80% of kindergarten kids got the answer, compared to 17% of Stanford University seniors. What is greater than God, More evil than the devil, The poor have it, The rich need it, And if you eat it, you’ll die? Please throw out your fave riddles too, I’m always looking for new ones. Is this in the right place, or should it have gone in MPSIMS? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2001, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/59850/2 "2001-03-28T18:11:36Z")
nothing. here’s an oldie, but a goodie… what common english word contains all the vowels (including ‘y’) in order (non-consecutively, of course) from left to right. Each vowel appears only once? And… what’s the shortest English word that contains the letters “a,b,c,d,e,f”? ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2001, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/59850/3 "2001-03-28T18:47:10Z")
“what common english word contains all the vowels (including ‘y’) in order (non-consecutively, of course) from left to right. Each vowel appears only once?” Well, “abstemiously” fills the bill, but I don’t know how common it is. It means sparingly or modestly. ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2001, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/59850/4 "2001-03-28T18:57:22Z")
Consecutively I can’t be serious ---
**Author:** ![lurkernomore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@lurkernomore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurkernomore)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2001, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/59850/5 "2001-03-28T18:57:54Z")
“facetiously” also works, but I haven’t used it in conversation lately, either. ---
**Author:** ![smaft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@smaft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smaft)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2001, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/59850/6 "2001-03-28T19:03:44Z")
facetiously befaced, if yer fond a highfalutin’ words… ---
**Author:** ![Baraqiyal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@Baraqiyal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baraqiyal)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/59850/7 "2001-03-29T00:29:32Z")
What word has three sets of double letters? ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/59850/8 "2001-03-29T00:38:24Z")
Bookkeeper ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/59850/9 "2001-03-29T00:39:03Z")
Bookkeeper. I got that one from encyclopedia brown. What we caught we threw away, what we didn’t catch, we kept. What is the riddle talking about? ---
**Author:** ![Jenericho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Jenericho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenericho)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/59850/10 "2001-03-29T00:57:08Z")
Fleas. Webster’s second has “subbookkeeper”, unhyphenated. Webster’s third doesn’t. ☹ Incidentally, I did a search on Google to check whether it was a real word or not… and the last page it found (it only found sixteen) seems _very_ weird… What answer should _not_ be given to this question? ---
**Author:** ![Verrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/46a35a/32.png) [@Verrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Verrain)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/59850/11 "2001-03-29T01:06:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Speaker for the Dead \* > \*\*Bookkeeper. I got that one from encyclopedia brown. > > What we caught we threw away, what we didn’t catch, we kept. > > What is the riddle talking about? \*\* Lice on the body. Ick. I have no sword, I have no spear Yet rule a horde that many many fear. My soliders fight with wicked sting; I rule with might, yet am no king. What am I? ---
**Author:** ![Baraqiyal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@Baraqiyal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baraqiyal)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/59850/12 "2001-03-29T01:23:09Z")
My guess is a queen bee. The more you take the more you leave behind. What am I talking about? ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/59850/13 "2001-03-29T01:26:56Z")
The answer to Verrain’s riddle is A Queen Bee. Since I don’t have one right off the top of my head, someone else gets my turn 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rasa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rasa/32/3578_2.png) [@Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rasa)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/59850/14 "2001-03-29T01:27:01Z")
A queen bee! This thing devours all birds, beasts, trees, flowers Gnaws iron, bites steel, Grinds hard stones to meal, Slays kings, ruins towns, And beats high mountains down. -JRR Tolkien ---
**Author:** ![Verrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/46a35a/32.png) [@Verrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Verrain)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/59850/15 "2001-03-29T01:52:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rasa \* > \*\*A queen bee! > This thing devours all birds, beasts, trees, flowers > Gnaws iron, bites steel, > Grinds hard stones to meal, > Slays kings, ruins towns, > And beats high mountains down. > -JRR Tolkien \*\* Time of course. And Baraqiyal, is it dirt from a hole? Complete the sequence: O,T,T,F,F,S,S,E… It is something you all know well. ---
**Author:** ![Totoro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Totoro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Totoro)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/59850/16 "2001-03-29T01:58:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Baraqiyal \* > \*\*The more you take the more you leave behind. What am I talking about? \*\* A hole. What’s at the end of everything? ---
**Author:** ![Mercutio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Mercutio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mercutio)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/59850/17 "2001-03-29T02:05:12Z")
To answer Tot’s riddle, it’s the letter “g” On my way to St. Ives I met a man with 7 wives Each wife had 7 sacks Each sack had 7 cats Each cat had 7 kittens Kittens, Cats, Sacks, Wives How many were going to St. Ives? ---
**Author:** ![Verrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/46a35a/32.png) [@Verrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Verrain)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/59850/18 "2001-03-29T02:26:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mercutio \* > \*\*To answer Tot’s riddle, it’s the letter “g” > > On my way to St. Ives > I met a man with 7 wives > Each wife had 7 sacks > Each sack had 7 cats > Each cat had 7 kittens > > Kittens, Cats, Sacks, Wives > How many were going to St. Ives? \*\* One. YOu were going to St Ives. THey all were going the other way. I have a riddle above but here is another. You break it even to name it. ---
**Author:** ![Baraqiyal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@Baraqiyal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baraqiyal)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/59850/19 "2001-03-29T02:53:11Z")
> [@](#): > > **is it dirt from a hole?** No, not a hole or dirt from a hole but good guess. I’ll give it a few more hours before I post the answer. ---
**Author:** ![LindyHopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@LindyHopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LindyHopper)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/59850/20 "2001-03-29T03:04:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Verrain \* > \*\* > > Complete the sequence: O,T,T,F,F,S,S,E… > > It is something you all know well. \*\* This one is the first letters of the numbers starting with: One, Two, Three, etc. > [@](#): > > You break it even to name it. Silence, of course. Still puzzling over **Baraqiyal** ’s last one… Hmmm…all the ones I can think of are from _The Hobbit_ too, **Rasa**. Or the Riddle of the Sphinx. Call me a sucker for the classics. Or unimaginative, I suppose. Maybe I’ll think of one later. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/59850.md?page=2)