Blaine's a pain

[stroppygoblin]

I recently re-read Wastelands and got inspired to write a new riddle...

I will donate $10 to the HF if someone solves it in less than 7 days from now!

I came from the sea,
Although my predecessors came from the trees.
When I was young, I was huge,
As I gained strength, I lost weight,
Now I am 1000's of times stronger, but you can barely see me.

What am I?

[Jon]

Ozone Layer?

Just spit balling here.

("Spit Balling"... sounds like the title to a really bad porn.)

[stroppygoblin]

Nope :nope:

[Jon]

Things that come from the sea: Bromide, O2, N, C0

Lots of Bromide...I am stuck on elements and compounds. I must reset my brain. (Jim Beam.)

[Jean]

yes, bears first were thinking chemistry too, but it didn't appear very interesting, while I am sure the answer must be extremely so

[Jon]

This riddle has occupied my mind for sometime now. I am stumped but intrigued.

I love riddles like this.

[Merlin1958]

I recently re-read Wastelands and got inspired to write a new riddle...

I will donate $10 to the HF if someone solves it in less than 7 days from now!

I came from the sea,
Although my predecessors came from the trees.
When I was young, I was huge,
As I gained strength, I lost weight,
Now I am 1000's of times stronger, but you can barely see me.

What am I?

I went for over $50 for freaking "LOL's"!!! Just donate the $10 bucks you cheap Brit!!! LOL LOL J/K Riddles indeed!!! LOL

[stroppygoblin]

Ah c'mon Bill, you know I'm good for the 10 bucks - gotta get the folks interested though right?

What's that you say? Extend it another week and you'll match me? How kind? :evil:

'cheap Brit my ass! :)

[stroppygoblin]

Oh and folks, I think this riddle would be liked by Blaine. It fits his definition of 'fair' once you know the answer it is self evident.

[ladysai]

It may be fair, but that makes it no less puzzling! I wish I had the riddling skill of Blaine, since Id love to know the answer....
but, Im completely befuddled.

[stroppygoblin]

It may be fair, but that makes it no less puzzling! I wish I had the riddling skill of Blaine, since Id love to know the answer....
but, Im completely befuddled.


Roland shook his head. “Your answer is wrong. A good riddle is sometimes a puzzle in words, like Jake’s about the river, but sometimes it’s more like a magician’s trick, making you look in one direction while it’s going somewhere else.”
...
“Is it a strawberry?” Susannah asked, then answered her own question. “Of course it is. It’s like the fire-riddle. There’s a metaphor hidden inside it. Once you understand the metaphor, you can solve the riddle.”
...
“If you change ‘gets’ to ‘grows,’ ” Susannah went on, “it’s easy. First white, then red. Plumper it grows, the better the old woman likes it.” She looked pleased with herself.

[mattgreenbean]

Sea Monkey?

[stroppygoblin]

Sea Monkey?

that would be a No.

[Merlin1958]

Ah c'mon Bill, you know I'm good for the 10 bucks - gotta get the folks interested though right?

What's that you say? Extend it another week and you'll match me? How kind? :evil:

'cheap Brit my ass! :)

Deal!!!

[Jean]

is "1000's of times" a more or less exact number, or just "a huge lot"?

[stroppygoblin]

is "1000's of times" a more or less exact number, or just "a huge lot"?

More or less, it's difficult to be exact as other factors are involved. It is in this order of magnitude however.

[Joe315]

Care to give us another clue? Please?:confused:

[stroppygoblin]

Care to give us another clue? Please?:confused:

WHY SURE LITTLE TRAIL HAND... I COULD GIVE YOU A CLUE. I COULD MAKE IT REALLY EASY AND GIVE YOU THE ANSWER... BUT THIS IS A RIDDLE AND THIS IS FAIRDAY AND THE GOOSE IS NOT WON THAT EASILY!


shushhh.. don't get him angry, he's quite mad you know... i can try and help a little.

the first and second lines are distractions, they are correct but will make you look east instead of west. the second line is interesting however as it uses the word 'predecessors' and not 'ancestors'. i think thats important.

as for the rest, look to Susannah's ideas on the strawberry. try and replace the main adjectives with alternatives and see if that makes you think about it in a different way.

[Jean]

is it connected with sound, and the ways to reproduce it?

[stroppygoblin]

bears are lost in the woods and need to find their way back to the path.

Note to other players, please share thoughts like bears - the fun for me is knowing where this takes your minds....

That's a NO. - Just to be clear:)

[Br!an]

I just noticed this. First thoughts...

Chemistry > Carbon > natural gas

[stroppygoblin]

interesting as Br!an's stomach issues are, this is not the answer. :)

I wondered when you would drop in and join in - :clap:

[Iwritecode]

When I was young, I was huge,
As I gained strength, I lost weight,
Now I am 1000's of times stronger, but you can barely see me.

These three lines make me think of something that started out very hot, possibly in a liquid form, then as it cooled it shrank and became more solid (stronger).

Possible a metal of some sort or even an entire planet?

[stroppygoblin]

When I was young, I was huge,
As I gained strength, I lost weight,
Now I am 1000's of times stronger, but you can barely see me.

These three lines make me think of something that started out very hot, possibly in a liquid form, then as it cooled it shrank and became more solid (stronger).

Possible a metal of some sort or even an entire planet?

Interesting train of thought. Not even close, but interesting nonetheless :)

[Br!an]

Possible a metal of some sort or even an entire planet?


"..., but you can barely see me"

[Iwritecode]

Possible a metal of some sort or even an entire planet?


"..., but you can barely see me"

It’s relative. It depends on how far away the thing is and whether we are talking about seeing it with the naked eye or with the use of some sort of equipment like a microscope or a telescope.

Although Goblin has already said that I’m way off…

[stroppygoblin]

i'm comparing like with like. When young, viewed at the same distance as now with the naked eye.

This is to clarify the previous post. I have deliberately used the same 'young' and 'now' as per the original riddle. In actual fact 'now' would probably require a microscope to see properly

[ladysai]

plankton?

[stroppygoblin]

plankton?

Nope.

[ladysai]

pffffftt!

I thought I had made the tree/sea connection...

:orely:

[stroppygoblin]

pffffftt!

I thought I had made the tree/sea connection...

:orely:

People seem very focused on that - see little blaine's comment. This riddle will not be solved on the 1st 2 lines alone.

[Jon]

I keep thinking a timey-wimey thing.

Maybe more thoughts later.

[stroppygoblin]

Ok here are some additional clues...


Cort could not have solved this riddle
Susannah may have solved it, but wouldn't believe it.
Jake probably could have solved it
Eddie has the best chance of knowing the answer

Oh and the answer was mentioned recently in a completely unrelated thread by another member - just a coincidence!!

[Jean]

in any way related to storing/processing information?

[Br!an]

in any way related to storing/processing information?

I was thinking the same thing. Silicon. Sand is mostly silicon which comes from the sea. We used to record information on paper which comes from trees. Erosion makes the grains smaller. Technology makes the chips smaller and 1000s of times more powerful.

[Jean]

: nods :

I was thinking chips too

[Br!an]

: nods :

I was thinking chips too

If we're right then you are the winner.

[Jean]

No, in the unlikely case it is right, we'll share the goose. I totally forgot about silicon, and the very word "chip" slipped bears' mind

[stroppygoblin]

Ah so should I award this to bears who made a generalization or to Br!an who is pretty close.???

I award you each a goose (no need to share). :clap:

[stroppygoblin]

The actual answer was intended to be a CPU, but Silicon chip is acceptable.

Here is the riddle again with the explanations:

I came from the sea,
Br!an was right, A large part of the worlds silicon is formed in the earths crust and is deposited as sand on our beaches. Although the silicon used in chips is man made, this was an acceptable link to the word (IMHO)

Although my predecessors came from the trees.
Interesting guess on Paper from Br!an. in my mind I was thinking the predecessor to a CPU was a 'counting machine' the earliest form of which would be an abacus which were made of wood.

When I was young, I was huge,
The earliest CPU's were entire Computers that filled rooms. And as a 'double' used Glass valve tubes which were made of sand! (I came from the sea...)

As I gained strength, I lost weight,
Replace 'strength' with 'power' and 'lost weight' with 'reduced size' and it makes sense

Now I am 1000's of times stronger, but you can barely see me.
Again, replacing 'stronger' with 'powerful' gives the answer and modern cpu chips are now so small you need a microscope to see them

What am I?
I'm a CPU!

[stroppygoblin]

And the other clues (for completeness) in case it wasn't obvious

Cort could not have solved this riddle
I doubt if Cort had ever seen or heard of Computers
Susannah may have solved it, but wouldn't believe it.
Susannah came from the 60's and would not have imagined the strides made in Computer technology
Jake probably could have solved it
Jake came from the 70's and would have witnessed the start of circuit miniaturization
Eddie has the best chance of knowing the answer
Eddie came from the 80's and would have been familiar with modern computer technology and the increase in power and reduction in size.

Oh and the answer was mentioned recently in a completely unrelated thread by another member - just a coincidence!!
Citizen of Lud mentioned in the Occupation thread that he worked for a company that made tools to create microprocessors!

An additional clue that no-one would have noticed... The title was "Blaine's a pain' - Blaine is of course one big bank of CPU's :evil:

[Br!an]

:rock:

[Jean]

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/mishemplushem/Facilitation/bear4bis.gif (http://s91.photobucket.com/user/mishemplushem/media/Facilitation/bear4bis.gif.html)http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/mishemplushem/Facilitation/bear4bis.gif (http://s91.photobucket.com/user/mishemplushem/media/Facilitation/bear4bis.gif.html)http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/mishemplushem/Facilitation/bear4bis.gif (http://s91.photobucket.com/user/mishemplushem/media/Facilitation/bear4bis.gif.html)

[ladysai]

Well done, bears and Brian!!!

[Jean]

well done goblins!!!

[ladysai]

well done goblins!!!
Yes!
Goblins pose excellent riddles!!!

[Jon]

: nods :

I was thinking chips too


I was eating chips.


A well done riddle. I love it!

I also love it when many participate in the answer.