# Why is a Raven Like a Writing Desk? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [June 17, 2009, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-raven-like-a-writing-desk/500017 "2009-06-17T01:50:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tanuki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@Tanuki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanuki)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2009, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-raven-like-a-writing-desk/500017/1 "2009-06-17T01:50:49Z")
Apropos of [Why is a raven like a writing desk? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1173/why-is-a-raven-like-a-writing-desk), I had always assumed the answer to be obvious (and the joke to be that they did not say the answer in the book, leaving it up to the reader to solve), and not realized people did not know of a good answer. And “Poe wrote on both”? Let’s be honest, it’s close, but not the least bit humorous. When I first read the book (in grade school, no less), a few moments’ thought brought me: Why is a raven like a writing desk? Because they both drive writers mad! I suppose I was wrong, in that there was no answer, but man…why did nobody at least come up with such an obvious one as that over the years? ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-raven-like-a-writing-desk/500017/2 "2009-06-17T03:03:16Z")
I’m afraid i’ve heard that one before. There’s a good few many possible answers out there, so pretty much all the decent ones are taken. ---
**Author:** ![Tanuki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@Tanuki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanuki)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2009, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-raven-like-a-writing-desk/500017/3 "2009-06-17T03:41:15Z")
Ah, well, that’s what I was wondering. After reading the article, and then Googling about some, I never saw it, which I thought odd, it being (to me, anyway) so obvious. The closest I saw was that many seem to consider “Poe wrote on both” to be as near a correct answer as they can fathom, and even Cecil failed to mention it. It seemed rather like discovering nobody in the world knew that 3 and 2 make 5, if you catch my meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Powers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-raven-like-a-writing-desk/500017/4 "2009-06-17T15:00:26Z")
> [@Tanuki](#): > > And “Poe wrote on both”? Let’s be honest, it’s close, but not the least bit humorous. Traditionally, a riddle need not be humorous, simply clever. Powers &8^] ---
**Author:** ![Tanuki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@Tanuki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanuki)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2009, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-raven-like-a-writing-desk/500017/5 "2009-06-17T20:28:09Z")
Indeed, but then, this is Lewis Carroll’s _Alice in Wonderland_. A more humorous work one would surely be pressed to find. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-raven-like-a-writing-desk/500017/6 "2009-06-18T13:13:30Z")
“They both produce very flat notes.” “Neither is an elephant.” Other answers I’ve heard advanced. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-raven-like-a-writing-desk/500017/7 "2009-06-18T16:09:58Z")
For the same reason that a cook’s brain-pan is like an overwound clock, of course!