# The most unsolved riddle ever, Need help!!!!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unsolved-riddle-ever-need-help/131603
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 10, 2002, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unsolved-riddle-ever-need-help/131603 "2002-10-10T00:31:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@MTNGIRL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTNGIRL)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unsolved-riddle-ever-need-help/131603/1 "2002-10-10T00:31:31Z")
The man who invented it doesn’t want it. The man who has it doesn’t need it. The man who needs it doesn’t know it. What is it?
If any of you guys can figure this one out that would be a miracle, and a big help:)
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### Author:  [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unsolved-riddle-ever-need-help/131603/2 "2002-10-10T00:32:13Z")
A coffin.
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### Author:  [@Church\_Key\_Kid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Church_Key_Kid)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unsolved-riddle-ever-need-help/131603/3 "2002-10-10T00:34:20Z")
A coffin. Next question.
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### Author:  [@Church\_Key\_Kid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Church_Key_Kid)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unsolved-riddle-ever-need-help/131603/4 "2002-10-10T00:38:59Z")
Dammit 🙂
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### Author:  [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unsolved-riddle-ever-need-help/131603/5 "2002-10-10T00:58:56Z")
“The most unsolved riddle ever”? I don’t think so. That’s a pretty run-of-the-mill oldie.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unsolved-riddle-ever-need-help/131603/6 "2002-10-10T03:05:48Z")
The most unsolved riddle involves naming three words. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unsolved-riddle-ever-need-help/131603/7 "2002-10-10T08:08:09Z")
I thought the most unsolved riddle (why does that not sound just right?) was: “What have I got in my pocket?” If Gollum had had an inkling of what was in his pocket we might have seen a verrrrry different turnout for the War of the Ring. 😉
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### Author:  [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unsolved-riddle-ever-need-help/131603/8 "2002-10-10T08:17:28Z")
Lint? 😛
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### Author:  [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unsolved-riddle-ever-need-help/131603/9 "2002-10-10T08:22:45Z")
It doesn’t sound right because it doesn’t make sense. A problem is either solved or unsolved, there cannot be such a thing as a ‘most unsolved’ problem or riddle.
Wasn’t there an unanswered riddle in Alice, the Mad Hatter’s, I think: ‘Why is a raven like a writing desk?’, or some such thing.
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### Author:  [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unsolved-riddle-ever-need-help/131603/10 "2002-10-10T09:11:20Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Horseflesh \*
> \*\*I thought the most unsolved riddle (why does that not sound just right?) was: “What have I got in my pocket?” If Gollum had had an inkling of what was in his pocket we might have seen a verrrrry different turnout for the War of the Ring. 😉 \*\*
Of course, the first time he said it, it wasn’t a riddle. Gollum took it like that and we know how it went from there.
If Bilbo utilized his inner monlogue for that question, instead saying it out loud, well…
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unsolved-riddle-ever-need-help/131603/11 "2002-10-10T09:40:11Z")
Shouldn’t that have been ‘mostest unsolvdest’?
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### Author:  [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unsolved-riddle-ever-need-help/131603/12 "2002-10-10T10:29:56Z")
How about this one:
1
11
21
1211
111221
312211
13112221
What’s the next row of numbers?
(I found this impossible, but kicked myself when I looked at the answer, which I’ll post next, when I’ve worked out how to do the hidden thing.)
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### Author:  [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unsolved-riddle-ever-need-help/131603/13 "2002-10-10T10:35:43Z")
Answer to above:
SPOILER
The next row is
1113213211
Starting with the second line, every line describes the line before it. In writing, it is:
One One
Two Ones
One Two One One
etc.
etc.
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### Author:  [@peepthis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peepthis)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unsolved-riddle-ever-need-help/131603/14 "2002-10-10T11:28:11Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by aldiboronti \*
> \*\*It doesn’t sound right because it doesn’t make sense. A problem is either solved or unsolved, there cannot be such a thing as a ‘most unsolved’ problem or riddle.
> Wasn’t there an unanswered riddle in Alice, the Mad Hatter’s, I think: ‘Why is a raven like a writing desk?’, or some such thing. \*\*
Nothing is unanswerable to Cecil, who explored the “Why is a raven like a writing desk?” riddle in [this column](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_266.html). The short answer: there is no answer.
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### Author:  [@Sebhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sebhal)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unsolved-riddle-ever-need-help/131603/15 "2002-10-10T12:17:24Z")
Will someone tell me how to ‘do the hidden thing’?
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### Author:  [@Sebhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sebhal)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unsolved-riddle-ever-need-help/131603/16 "2002-10-10T12:26:50Z")
Will someone tell me how to ‘do the hidden thing’?
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### Author:  [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unsolved-riddle-ever-need-help/131603/17 "2002-10-10T15:33:38Z")
{spoiler}
Hidden thing
{/spoiler}
Replace the curly brackets with sqaure barckets to create a spoiler box.
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### Author:  [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unsolved-riddle-ever-need-help/131603/18 "2002-10-10T15:45:36Z")
**Nerrie** ,
If you see something in a post and you want to know how it was done, you can click on the quote button. Then you can see what the code was in the reply box.
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### Author:  [@aahala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aahala)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unsolved-riddle-ever-need-help/131603/19 "2002-10-10T15:48:23Z")
I’ve grappled with this personal conundrum for many years.
Why are there more horses’ asses than horses? All my logic tells me there should be a one-to-one correspondence, but my experience tells me differently.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unsolved-riddle-ever-need-help/131603/20 "2002-10-10T16:03:52Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Nothing is unanswerable to Cecil, who explored the “Why is a raven like a writing desk?” riddle in [this column](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_266.html). The short answer: there is no answer.
Actually, “there is no answer” is incorrect. While in the book there is no answer, and while Carroll himself said that there was no answer (until he was pestered enough to make one up), Cecil provides four answers, and others provide more.
In my opinion any answer is acceptable to a riddle as long as it meets the criteria of the riddle. If the querist dismisses the answer as unacceptable, even if it meets the criteria of his question, then the riddle is poorly designed.
So “Because Poe wrote on both” is acceptable, and is my favourite of the answers.
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