Can you solve this riddle?

[milkanannan]

Can you give us a very direct hint or just tack the answer in a spoiler?

I know the answer to his riddle just in case Creamy never comes back to this thread again.

Just spoiler it if you don’t mind. I’m never going to guess it.

[Stupot]

@Re: Mandle’s riddle. I think I’ve got it.

Spoiler

Glen is hiding behind you.

[close]

[Mandle]

@Re: Mandle’s riddle. I think I’ve got it.

Spoiler

Glen is hiding behind you.

[close]

BINGO!!!

[mkennedy]

@Re: Mandle’s riddle. I think I’ve got it.

Spoiler

Glen is hiding behind you.

[close]

BINGO!!!

That's simpler than my idea of Glen was out the window hanging on the windowsill by his fingers.

[Creamy]

Were they tears of joy?

No.

Creamy, I really would like to know the answer to your riddle. Can you give us a very direct hint or just tack the answer in a spoiler?

It's more complicated than what's been suggested so far. Hint:

Spoiler

Something to do with a past experience.

[close]

Glen was hiding in a room. In the room there are: A closet, a curtained window, and a bed. You checked the closet. No Glen. You checked behind the curtains. No Glen. You checked under the bed. No Glen. Where was Glen hiding?

@Re: Mandle’s riddle. I think I’ve got it.

     

Spoiler

Glen is hiding behind you.

[close]

BINGO!!!

Really? That's a little underwhelming. I had imagined that Glen wasn't human, which makes it easier for him to hide. For instance, a cat could be hiding on top of the closet or in the bed.

[milkanannan]

Creamy, I really would like to know the answer to your riddle. Can you give us a very direct hint or just tack the answer in a spoiler?

It's more complicated than what's been suggested so far. Hint:

Spoiler

Something to do with a past experience.

[close]

[/quote]

I Googled it, but I'm not sure this is the right answer. Is this the version you are telling?

Spoiler

The seagull tastes nothing like a 'seagull' that this person ate before...right?

[close]

[Creamy]

I Googled it, but I'm not sure this is the right answer. Is this the version you are telling?

Spoiler

The seagull tastes nothing like a 'seagull' that this person ate before...right?

[close]

Yes. The story's kinda gross.

[Mandle]

Really? That's a little underwhelming. I had imagined that Glen wasn't human, which makes it easier for him to hide. For instance, a cat could be hiding on top of the closet or in the bed.

I thought it was kinda neat. Many people might only visualize the room from a 3rd person perspective of seeing someone searching for Glen and not think about the negative space behind that person that they cannot see. And I feel the "[NAME] was actually an animal" has been done so many times that it's usually a quick default guess by many solvers.

[Stupot]

If my guess had ben wrong my next guess was going to be:

Under the dumpster.

(For any Walking Dead fans here)

[milkanannan]

I Googled it, but I'm not sure this is the right answer. Is this the version you are telling?

Spoiler

The seagull tastes nothing like a 'seagull' that this person ate before...right?

[close]

Yes. The story's kinda gross.

It’s alright, but the problem with those riddles is that they can’t really be solved just based on the riddle. It requires A LOT of investigation through probing the riddler. I think a good riddle should stand up to those Agatha Christie rules (ie you can’t hide anything from the reader; they should be given enough to figure the mystery out,  etc).

The seagull riddle reminds me of another one I heard in a similar vein (if anyone wants to try it):

A young girl opens a door in her house and this changes everything she knows forever. What was the door?

(People might have heard that one before. Otherwise, I don’t think it is possible to guess what the door is without lots of investigation.)

[heltenjon]

It’s alright, but the problem with those riddles is that they can’t really be solved just based on the riddle. It requires A LOT of investigation through probing the riddler. I think a good riddle should stand up to those Agatha Christie rules (ie you can’t hide anything from the reader; they should be given enough to figure the mystery out,  etc).

Nah, this is another kind of riddle, requiring lots of yes/no questions.

The seagull riddle reminds me of another one I heard in a similar vein (if anyone wants to try it):

A young girl opens a door in her house and this changes everything she knows forever. What was the door?

(People might have heard that one before. Otherwise, I don’t think it is possible to guess what the door is without lots of investigation.)

Again, this type of riddle will find its audience better if you post in the Black Stories thread, which is dedicated to this kind of riddle. But I'll be delighted to have a go.

Is the door a normal, physical door? (Not some "door of the heart"-thing.)
Have she ever seen that door opened before?
Does the door lead out of the house?
Does she live there alone?
Has she never been outside?

[Mandle]

I'm guessing the door was a wall-safe and she found out she was adopted from the documents inside (haven't heard this one before just in case I'm right).

[milkanannan]

That’s the problem with these types of ‘riddles’ is that there’s so much room within which to make an answer fit. Your answer would work, Mandle. Or could be she opens a door and it’s a surprise party held to announce a family’s adoption of her. (Insert a hundred other examples...)

Here’s the answer to the original version I heard:

Spoiler

Her parents kept her locked in the basement from the day she was born. She somehow manages to open the basement door for the first time.

[close]

Lol how could anyone figure that out? It’s more aptly labelled a lateral thinking problem than a riddle.

[JackPutter]

I've heard the door riddle before, but it had a much longer setup which narrowed down the possibilities. If I recall correctly, it went something like this...

A curious girl is brought up being told, "Never open the cellar door." She asks what's behind the door, and always gets the same response. "Never open the cellar door." For years, she wonders what's on the other side. Eventually she can't stand it anymore and she opens the cellar door.

She gasps at what she sees, and immediately runs out of the house. She runs over to a neighbour who happens to be mowing their lawn, and she explains the situation. The neighbour immediately calls the police.

The police arrive and they search the cellar from top to bottom. They find no drugs, no weapons, no bodies or body parts, the cellar is completely empty. Yet the police arrest the parents as soon as the parents arrive home. Why?

I personally prefer these kinds of setups, since you don't need to ask lots and lots of clarifying questions. When I'm just reading a riddle, I also like the "Agatha Christie" style where all the clues to solve it are in the riddle from the start, but in person there can be a lot of fun found in the style of riddle where you bounce questions back and forth. Different styles suit different situations, I think!

[milkanannan]

@Jack I like your version way better!  (My personal preference. I agree the other style can also be fun in certain contexts, but I mostly just prefer having complete details and mulling the problem over in my mind.)

[milkanannan]

I think I might have told this one before, but have a go if you haven’t heard it:

There is a dead man slumped in a phone booth. Blood everywhere. There are two identical holes through opposite sides of the phone booth. The phone receiver is dangling by its wire and a fishing rod is leaning against the outside of the phone booth. The man was not hit by a projectile entering/exiting the phone booth.

How did the man die?

[Mandle]

My first instinct is that the phone box fell into the water from a dock and the man drowned inside it. But that doesn't fit all the clues.

[milkanannan]

That’s creative, but no.

The riddle I heard is limited to the above description, and it indeed gives you all the clues you need to get the answer. However, I might just add that the fishing trip was a success. Prior to his death, the man did indeed catch a rather large fish.

[Mandle]

Did a bear attack him, trying to get at the fish he had and making holes in the glass with its attacks?

[milkanannan]

Haha I think I like that answer better, but no!