Need a ridiculously difficult riddle

Reservoir Angel

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Hello there.

The first chapter of my novel is set in a night club, with the main act on stage being some twisted game where people come up on stage and get asked a riddle. If they can answer it, then they win money. If they don't answer or get it wrong, they get shot.

Brutal, yes. But hey, it's a lawless town this club is operating in.

Problem is, when it comes to riddles I am far and away not very good. So I seek help: does anyone here know any incredibly hard to figure out riddles? I only need one, but I need to know the answer too so that I won't accidentally write the correct answer but still have it being wrong.

Also, it would help if the riddle didn't specifically name anything from our world, because this novel is set in a old-timey steampunk world that doesn't have a lot of the stuff we have.

Thanks in advance :D
 
Drachen Jager

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An old one that I gave once before to a similar question.

What we caught we threw away;
what we didn't catch, we kept.


I always liked this one.

A man without eyes saw plums on a tree.
He neither took plums, nor left plums, now how can that be?


Here's another good one.

There is one that has a head without an eye,
And there's one that has an eye without a head.
You may find the answer if you try;
And when all is said,
Half the answer hangs upon a thread.


I'll answer them in a few days. :evil
 
Chris P

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Drachen Jager said:
An old one that I gave once before to a similar question.

What we caught we threw away;
what we didn't catch, we kept.


I always liked this one.

A man without eyes saw plums on a tree.
He neither took plums, nor left plums, now how can that be?


Here's another good one.

There is one that has a head without an eye,
And there's one that has an eye without a head.
You may find the answer if you try;
And when all is said,
Half the answer hangs upon a thread.


I'll answer them in a few days. :evil
Click to expand...

I figured out your last one, Drachen! At least half of it and I think I know the first half. I don't have a clue on the first two.

This one's pretty common, so you might already know it:

He who makes it doesn't want it.
He who buys it doesn't use it.
He who uses it never sees it.
What is it?
 
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Chris P

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Or:

A man leaves his house and walks directly south for half a mile.
He turns 90 degrees to his right and walks directly west for half a mile.
He turns 90 degrees to his right again and walks one half mile to his house.
Where does he live if this is possible?
 
D.M.Drake

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What English word retains the same pronunciation, even after you take away four of its five letters?
(I love this one)

I have a hard one, but it's actually a Mensa level question and not so much a riddle as a complex knowledge question.

A family of five, a Mother and Father are both in excellent health. Their three children are in their teens, strong, competitive and on the swim team. The family takes their boat out to sea and drop anchor to go for a swim. They all die. Can you figure out how?
You try to answer by asking as few questions as you can. I am a science geek so I got it pretty quickly.
Good luck! :p
 
mirandashell

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What English word retains the same pronunciation, even after you take away four of its five letters?
(I love this one)
Click to expand...

Aitch. Or Haitch. (I'm not getting involved in that argument.........LOL!)
 
mirandashell

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A family of five, a Mother and Father are both in excellent health. Their three children are in their teens, strong, competitive and on the swim team. The family takes their boat out to sea and drop anchor to go for a swim. They all die. Can you figure out how?
You try to answer by asking as few questions as you can. I am a science geek so I got it pretty quickly.
Good luck! :p
Click to expand...

The boat explodes and eventually they drown?

Or.... the boat explodes, the dad gets hit on the head by shrapnel and they all get eaten by sharks.
 
Chris P

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D.M.Drake said:
A family of five, a Mother and Father are both in excellent health. Their three children are in their teens, strong, competitive and on the swim team. The family takes their boat out to sea and drop anchor to go for a swim. They all die. Can you figure out how?
Click to expand...

Leviathan eats them. Mensa-shmensa ;)
 
Chris P

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That or it takes about 70 years for the last kid to die.
 
Chris P

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What's the longest word in the English language with no proper vowels (a, e, i, o, u)?

Oooh, nice one with the q.
 
Drachen Jager

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There are lots of possible answers to the family one Drake. I don't feel there's enough information there. Are they expert at boating too? Perhaps their anchor never touched bottom and the boat floated away. Are they in an arctic region? Pretty stupid, but they could freeze to death. The currents might have been too strong for them to make it back to the boat. Of course there's always sharks and such.
 
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