A riddle/puzzle for you all on this Martin Luther King Day

b0mbrman

Lifer
Jun 1, 2001
29,470
1
81
I thought this was pretty cool:

I am 11 letters long
my 1234 is an insect
345 is a food
my 5678 is a heavenly body
if u combine my 1358
you?ll get my 789-10
my 9-10-11 is your best friend
what am i?
 

Logix

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2001
3,627
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0
Errr... I'd guess that 9-10-11 is d-o-g.

5-6-7-8 could be s-t-a-r or m-o-o-n...

:confused:
 

b0mbrman

Lifer
Jun 1, 2001
29,470
1
81


<< Errr... I'd guess that 9-10-11 is d-o-g.

5-6-7-8 could be s-t-a-r or m-o-o-n...

:confused:
>>



and 1-2-3-4 could be moth...this is hard
 

Rallispec

Lifer
Jul 26, 2001
12,375
10
81


<< I can't think of any 3-letter foods...ham maybe? >>


and dont forget that the first 2 lettlers have to be the same as the last two letters of the insect
 

b0mbrman

Lifer
Jun 1, 2001
29,470
1
81


<<

<< I can't think of any 3-letter foods...ham maybe? >>


and dont forget that the first 2 lettlers have to be the same as the last two letters of the insect
>>



Definitely...I think the best place to start would be the heavenly body since there's far less of those than there are insect types or foods...
 

Rallispec

Lifer
Jul 26, 2001
12,375
10
81
if u combine my 1358
you?ll get my 789-10

do you think that means that

1 = 7
3 = 8
5 = 9
8 = 10
(therfor 10 would = 3 )
 

Logix

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2001
3,627
0
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Other than "star" and "moon" what other four-letter heavenly bodies are there?

Also, these clues could be misleading. They could be like crossword puzzle clues. "Best friend" might be "pal". "Heavenly body" could refer to something truly heavenly, like angels or something.

Still... :confused:
 

b0mbrman

Lifer
Jun 1, 2001
29,470
1
81


<< Other than "star" and "moon" what other four-letter heavenly bodies are there?
Also, these clues could be misleading. They could be like crossword puzzle clues. "Best friend" might be "pal". "Heavenly body" could refer to something truly heavenly, like angels or something.
Still... :confused:
>>



Bleck...that's also true.

Insects: Moth, grub, bugs, ants
Foods: Ham, Pie
Heavenly bodies: Star, Moon, Mars
Best friends: Pal, Bud, Guy, Man, Dog, God
 

b0mbrman

Lifer
Jun 1, 2001
29,470
1
81


<< Where did you get this riddle, b0mbrman, and are you sure it even has a satisfying solution? It's not usually a very good idea to post a riddle to which you don't know the answer. It could turn out to be one of those infuriating "word that ends in -GRY" type things that will piss everybody off. >>



That was one of my first thoughts actually...My dad sent me this through email and he doesn't know the answer either. My apologies if it does end up being one of those riddles :(.
 

Rallispec

Lifer
Jul 26, 2001
12,375
10
81
set lets see if i have this right

we need an 11 word
the first 4 letters spell the name of an insect
the last 2 letters of the insect name are the first two of a 3 letter food
then there is a heavenly body which begins with the last letter of the food
the last 3 are your best freind

and if u combine my 1358
you?ll get my 789-10
means possibly that those letters are letters that are uesd twice

that sound right??? so lets get this figured out
 

isasir

Diamond Member
Aug 8, 2000
8,609
0
0
Just a heads up - a quick Deja search revealed that no one seems to have an answer, some people going so far to write scripts to help them automate potential solutions. So, I wouldn't rack my brain TOO much on this.

Edit: Here's a link to ppl. trying to solve it w/o success. link
 

Rallispec

Lifer
Jul 26, 2001
12,375
10
81
okay, just copied the entire list of 11 words into microsoft word-- then did the find feature using wildcards with every combination of potention answers

??pie??????
moth???????
????moon???

etc.... until i couldnt think of anymore--- and didnt come up with a single solution-- i'm out of ideas. i dont think their is an answer
 

b0mbrman

Lifer
Jun 1, 2001
29,470
1
81


<< Just a heads up - a quick Deja search revealed that no one seems to have an answer, some people going so far to write scripts to help them automate potential solutions. So, I wouldn't rack my brain TOO much on this.
Edit: Here's a link to ppl. trying to solve it w/o success. link
>>



Yikes, this is from that link:

(Improbable spoiler follows.)

> I am eleven letters long , my 1234 is an insect, my 345 is food,
> my 5678 is a heavenly body, my 91011 is your best friend . If you
> get my 1358 you'll get my 78910. What am I ?

My solution is
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
I K C E R S A T G O D

These letters don't seem to form a phrase but the problem didn't
say they had to. An anagram of these letters is TRICK DOSAGE,
and this provides a vital clue;
one trick isn't enough; we must up the dosage to two:
IKCERSATGOD + TRICK
After adding in an extra TRICK (= RCT+I+K) I can solve all six clues:

``my 1234 is an insect''
1234 = IKCE + RCT = CRICKET

``my 345 is food''
345 = CER + I = RICE

``my 5678 is a heavenly body''
5678 = RSAT = STAR

``my 91011 is your best friend''
91011 = GOD = DOG

``If you get my 1358''
1358 = ICRT + K = TRICK

``you'll get my 78910''
78910 = ATGO = GOAT

Yes, I agree this is unsatisfactory, but I'll bet most of the words are
right. (TICK is another likely possibility for Insect.) ``Your best friend''
is almost certainly DOG. (PAL would *not* be clued with ``best.'')
And, although word fits can arise by chance, STAR, and GOAT are *very*
good fits making coincidence less likely.

Maybe, a fellow rec.puzzle'r can improve this with a better TRICK.

 

b0mbrman

Lifer
Jun 1, 2001
29,470
1
81
Hmmm...I believe this is one of those riddles with no solution. I suppose I should leave it at that