Here's a riddle I came up with a month or so ago:

I'm not in your service, though serve you I will
after tipping my hat and drinking my fill.
But never forget me, and come when I call,
or risk losing service, and house, home, and
all!

Welcome, Dr. Whom!

I am lousy with riddles, so I will leave that to someone like Hic or Hab.

Interestingly, I thought you had misspelled "orthopedist" or some other medical "ortho" word (though of course it didn't fit!). However, I do find that "orthoepist" is a specialist in the study of pronunciation. Interesting!

Got it! and let me respond in kind.

Foudroyant! First-rate! A potation for you!
I'm in awe of your cleverness, good Dr. Who,
And I trust you'll not anger or think it averse
That I've left here for others two clues in this verse.

quote:

And I trust you'll not anger or think it averse

Well, I want to know the answer!

Variations on a theme: they also serve who...


Lessee now...the polite Irish policeman who drops in, has a drink and then gives you a subpoena...

...the bartender issuing Last Call... (Is that Eastpondia-specific?)

...the cannibal-chef...

...the tennis-player who made a large bet...

Sending you a PM, Doctor Whom.

The answer is:

A teakettle.

Sub-obvious clue: "not in your service". A tea service includes cups, saucers, creamer, etc., and the teapot, but not the kettle.

The riddlist, young doctor Whom,
For riddled tea kettles makes room
She's serving her tease
So sip if you please
With sugar? One lump or twom?

<taking a bow> thank you, Jerry! Even though I am neither female nor young. ;-)

-- Dr. Whom, Consulting Linguist, Grammarian,
Orthoepist, and Philological Busybody
a.k.a. Mark A. Mandel
[This text prepared with Dragon NaturallySpeaking.]

Jerry, nice limerick! And I also enjoyed the riddles, both Dr. Whom's and Hic's.

If I recall, we had a riddle thread at some point, didn't we?

Ah, time to reveal the two clues I'd left.

Each appears in my first line. The word potation (which was linked to its definition) is a cue that we're thinking of something you drink. And as to the other clue, I'll retype that line and highlight the key letters. Note what they spell.

Foudroyant! First-rate! A potation for you!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . t e a p o t

Evidently I'm uncultured. I had no idea what a tea service was, much less that the kettle was not in it. Maybe I just don't drink enough tea.

Do they take tea in the afternoon in Illinois, Seanahan? It was a custom that symbolised british rule of a third of the globe, over a century ago. It died in the dardinells in 1915. now it’s the almost parochial tradition of an increasingly small number of traditional observers, confined mainly to the british isle. its power as a symbol of ‘nobbery’ (‘nob’ (noble), the natural enemy of the (well-to-do working class) ‘snob’) still attracts followers, especially those for whom the weight of history seems tangible within the moment. also called nerds. just kidding. it’s squares, to be fair.

anyway, when i take tea in the afternoon, i don’t use a service. i do it in the true working class tradition of irish breakfast tea in a mug. but sometimes when i shut my eyes and just taste the tea, i feel like royalty and become overwhelmed by the need to colonise already inhabited countries.



very well done, dr whom. i take it you are not above a little flattering, even though your intellectual power is obviously, well, obvious. if i may ask, did the quiz unfold to you like a pattern of obvious self-reference, or did you work like a dog for it? my ego hopes it was the latter, but my soul would prefer the former. or did your left hand write it while your right hand was sketching a still-life? hmmm... if i didn’t know better i’d think that i was jealous.

beans

People seem to have enjoyed that one. So much, in fact, that I have written another:

What is closest to you I will carry away,
Even though, as I do, of my own self I pay.
And when I am gone and buried at sea
You will look for another exactly like me.

quote:

What is closest to you I will carry away,
Even though, as I do, of my own self I pay.
And when I am gone and buried at sea
You will look for another exactly like me.

Not-quite-random thoughts:

A bar of soap will fit lines 1, 2, and 4.
-- dirt is close to your skin
-- the bar is used up as it cleans
-- when it's gone you get another one

but it doesn't seem to have any relevance to being "buried at sea"

where does the effluent from your city end up, haberdasher? ours goes out to sea...

i reckon you're on to it.

also works for drinking beer whilst in a boat.

“What is closest to you I will carry away, (sobriety)
Even though, as I do, of my own self I pay. (am consumed)
And when I am gone and buried at sea (nature calls)
You will look for another exactly like me.” (in the icebox)

...like a charm.

beans

back at you, dr whom...

never far from sight nor mind
yet rarely heard or viewed
a stranger following from behind
sees more of me than you!

anyone?

beans

You did say "back at you," yes?

I would guess "the back of the head": "never far from sight [eyes] or mind [brain]".

a nice one!

Dr. Whom

quote:

Originally posted by beans:

also works for drinking beer whilst in a boat.

“What is closest to you I will carry away, (sobriety)

beans

Mmm. I like your solution, but I don't see how sobriety is "closest to you" nearly as well as the dirt on your skin.

I never tried writing a riddle before so I'm not sure how well this one works. Let's give it a go and see.


Perhaps you named me, perhaps not.
It still sounds as if you forgot,
And cannot recall
What's behind the white wall,
Though my words ought to tell you a lot.

As I say, I'm not sure it works but we'll see.

quote:

Originally posted by beans: also works for drinking beer whilst in a boat.

Q: Why is American beer like making love in a small boat?
A (paintable): Because they're both f**king close to water.

Sorry about the diversion. We now return you to your regularly-scheduled programming.

well, close... it's head-hair.

as soap removes dirt by disovling skin, it literally takes you with it!

still thinking, bob...

beans

tentatively...

a blank page, bob?

beans

nope but you're thinking in good abstract terms

that which names itself?

beans

I feel sure that if you just keep on trying you'll get it eventually.