(For anyone else who read this and thought "RYs [= wise]" sounded like a dodgy answer to the riddle, it's that they both have one eye and "RYs [= are wise]". )
"Here's a cryptic, poetic, rhyming description of some random thing I saw once, which is equally applicable to dozens of other possible sights I didn't happen to see. Can you guess which one I'm thinking of without having remotely enough information todo so?"
This is a "riddle" in the same sense as "I'm thinking of a random integer between one and seven-trillion. What is it?"
That reminds me of a riddle one of my colleagues told me when I worked in fast food. It was something about being small and stealing stuff from a garbage can. It wasn't a racoon, a skunk, or a badger... it was a cat.
(Glossing over some uncertainty in the details for flow.)
I always thought Samson's riddle was supposed to be bullshit though, which is why no one could solve it without cheating and the whole thing helped start a war. The sphinx's riddle is supposed to be very clever, and thus clever Oedipus solves it, which is what's so annoying.
Helsinki General Hospital has wings (like the Children's wing) and Finns (it's in Finland)... but heels? Is this a reference to the soap opera General Hospital?
I guess Helsinki General Hospital doesn't exist, the closest match seems to be Helsinki University Central Hospital. So this looks like a reference to the soap.
I've heard that in the case of Hephaestos, it's because the Bronze Age Greeks used arsenic to improve the mechanical properties of their bronze. This meant that Helladic smiths tended to end up with chronic neurological disorders.
> From mother + fucker, attested since 1956, but implied in mother in 1928. The injury comes from the implication of somebody sleeping with his own mother, but was probably not used literally until later.
I assumed he'd stumbled upon it, thought it would be a much better answer to the traditional riddle, and came up with the story specifically in order to use it as a punchline.
I believe your conclusion completely, but I find the idea of stumbling upon these results, converting the number of stops to the number of legs, having that word "legs" pop in your head, noting that the results are in fact distributed by time-of-day, and finally making the legs and time-of-day connection to that riddle, to be much less probable than the idea of coming up with the riddle first and working backwards to find such a search page.
Helsinki has Finns, the hospital heals, but I can't figure out how the general ties in with wings? Please don't tell me it's because the general "wins"...
As someone else said, hospitals usually have wings in the architectural sense. "General" is just part of the name of the hospital, a common naming convention for hospitals is "[placename] General Hospital" to indicate that it's the central hospital for an area.
So if the Sphinx worked on this riddle for five thousand years, should we conclude the human civilization was essentially directed by her - including invention of flight, the internet, the economy, etc. - as a setup for this riddle?
From the Sphinx's answer, it appears that she doesn't count only one specific answer correct, but will accept anything that fits, and is even pleased to get an original response.
Plus the evolution of English as a language. I bet this doesn't work in all languages (any Greek speakers want to weigh in on whether a modern Oedipus could use this answer?)
Sphinx: "What has four legs in the morning, two legs in the daytime, and three legs in the evening?"
Oedipus: "Probably one of those new Pokemon... There's like 600 of them, I'd be surprised if one of the DOESN'T change its number of legs whilst evolving"
Sphinx: "Fair enough man. I can't reasonably expect you to remember all their names. You may pass"
Alas, no. There are a fair number of four-legged to two-legged evolutions, but a surprising shortage of three-legged Pokémon; the only ones I believe could be genuinely said to walk on three legs are Boldore, Dewpider, and Grapploct, none of which sits in a suitable evolution chain.
The closest fit IMO would be Slowpoke, Slowbro, and Mega Slowbro. Slowpoke is unambiguously quadrupedal; Slowbro, unambiguously bipedal. Mega Slowbro is the stretch: it has two visible limbs, but instead of using them balances on the tip of its tail. Its walk cycle (programmed into but not used in Sun & Moon) shows it hopping on its tail, presumably held up by its psychic power—but it might be able, if awkwardly, to walk on three 'legs' using both tail and paws.
I think the Slakoth one from that link works. The last evolution doesn't literally have three legs, but neither does a man with a cane and it's at least as good an answer as that.
Also, Final Fantasy Unlimited, of all places (an otherwise terrible series) invents a creature that has the appropriate number of legs. https://wiki2.org/en/Final_Fantasy:_Unlimited?s=%5BACX%5D-FFU-16 (which is not actually a Wikipedia article despite the site's claim).
Geebus that was hilarious. Though I don't get the Nelson one (but I'm not a native English speaker).
Nelson had one eye and was a successful admiral ("won [at] sea"), while "cigar" has 1 "i" and 1 "c".
"one eye and RYs" - didn't get that one
Odin has one 'i' and is wise.
Thanks! Forgive me being slow, but what about Mary (I'm assuming this is about the nursery rhyme)?
maRY quite contraRY — two “RY” strings in the name
Odin has one eye and (is) wise
"Mary Mary Quite Contrary" has one "i" and (many) "ry"s
Ah, this makes much more sense - I thought the Odin meaning of RYs was "rise", because he rose from the dead.
It fits multiple ways, I guess. I'm sure Odin sees them all. TINACBNIEAC.
Oh, MaRY?
Get outta here
(For anyone else who read this and thought "RYs [= wise]" sounded like a dodgy answer to the riddle, it's that they both have one eye and "RYs [= are wise]". )
Odin also has one eye. He gave up the other one to gain wisdom and magical knowledge.
I skimmed the pun title and misread it as actually saying "ritalin" and was confused by the contents for a good 10 seconds.
I was hoping it was a psychiatric post. Ah, well. This will do.
That last sentence took me a minute...
Elementary school me was so disappointed to learn the "answer" to that stupid fucking "riddle"
Better that than the "honey in the lion" garbage.
"Here's a cryptic, poetic, rhyming description of some random thing I saw once, which is equally applicable to dozens of other possible sights I didn't happen to see. Can you guess which one I'm thinking of without having remotely enough information todo so?"
This is a "riddle" in the same sense as "I'm thinking of a random integer between one and seven-trillion. What is it?"
That reminds me of a riddle one of my colleagues told me when I worked in fast food. It was something about being small and stealing stuff from a garbage can. It wasn't a racoon, a skunk, or a badger... it was a cat.
(Glossing over some uncertainty in the details for flow.)
Q: What's grey, has four legs, hunts in packs, howls at the moon, and is full of cement?
A: A wolf. (I just put the cement in to make it hard.)
LMAO
I always thought Samson's riddle was supposed to be bullshit though, which is why no one could solve it without cheating and the whole thing helped start a war. The sphinx's riddle is supposed to be very clever, and thus clever Oedipus solves it, which is what's so annoying.
"What have I got in my pocket?"
Bilbo cheated; that's not a proper riddle.
Can't blame him, in context, but ...
This is addressed in the text - Gollum could have refused it but having accepted it was binding especially as he got mutliple guesses.
(Also it was a mistake!)
Helsinki General Hospital has wings (like the Children's wing) and Finns (it's in Finland)... but heels? Is this a reference to the soap opera General Hospital?
I guess Helsinki General Hospital doesn't exist, the closest match seems to be Helsinki University Central Hospital. So this looks like a reference to the soap.
Hospitals do generally heal
Could also refer to the villains on the show - a heel is a "dishonorable or unscrupulous person"
Man, Scott, I'm glad you weren't eaten by the Sphinx. Also, this explains the entire 405 experience.
the odin one genuinely made me laugh out loud. goddammit. at least we know its the real scott and not an impostor
He's the true Scottsman!
> Oidipous, literally "swollen-foot," from oidan "to swell" (from PIE *oid-; see edema) + pous (genitive podos) "foot," from PIE root *ped- "foot."
I've heard that in the case of Hephaestos, it's because the Bronze Age Greeks used arsenic to improve the mechanical properties of their bronze. This meant that Helladic smiths tended to end up with chronic neurological disorders.
> From mother + fucker, attested since 1956, but implied in mother in 1928. The injury comes from the implication of somebody sleeping with his own mother, but was probably not used literally until later.
In the story I heard he was tied by the foot when he was left out to die as an infant.
The feet were intentionally crippled.
This may be the best thing I've ever read.
Have you read Unsong yet?
"A gardening class during apartheid"
"Spring recess in Springfield, MO would have also been acceptable."
I wonder if the "legs" riddle came about as a result of exceptional observational powers, or of very skillful searching and filtering.
I assumed he'd stumbled upon it, thought it would be a much better answer to the traditional riddle, and came up with the story specifically in order to use it as a punchline.
I believe your conclusion completely, but I find the idea of stumbling upon these results, converting the number of stops to the number of legs, having that word "legs" pop in your head, noting that the results are in fact distributed by time-of-day, and finally making the legs and time-of-day connection to that riddle, to be much less probable than the idea of coming up with the riddle first and working backwards to find such a search page.
Gollum eat your heart out 🧐 other airline price comparison sites are available...
"Lame motherfucker" was a nice touch.
I just got that reference now 🤦♀️ (please excuse me, I'm sleep-deprived for the past three nights)
oh DAMN. I read this like four times and didn't catch it.
Helsinki has Finns, the hospital heals, but I can't figure out how the general ties in with wings? Please don't tell me it's because the general "wins"...
There are various wings of a hospital, referring to sections or branches of the structure.
As someone else said, hospitals usually have wings in the architectural sense. "General" is just part of the name of the hospital, a common naming convention for hospitals is "[placename] General Hospital" to indicate that it's the central hospital for an area.
This doesn't appear in the index, even for paying subscribers. The most recent article is still Metaculus Monday.
Funny, at the bottom of the e-mail it says "This post is public, so feel free to share it."
The Nelson one as a history meme https://www.reddit.com/r/HistoryMemes/comments/lbdeca/
So if the Sphinx worked on this riddle for five thousand years, should we conclude the human civilization was essentially directed by her - including invention of flight, the internet, the economy, etc. - as a setup for this riddle?
From the Sphinx's answer, it appears that she doesn't count only one specific answer correct, but will accept anything that fits, and is even pleased to get an original response.
As she should
Well, she wasn't too happy with the lame m-f's answer, so obviously some answers are better than others.
Plus the evolution of English as a language. I bet this doesn't work in all languages (any Greek speakers want to weigh in on whether a modern Oedipus could use this answer?)
Sphinx: "What has four legs in the morning, two legs in the daytime, and three legs in the evening?"
Oedipus: "Probably one of those new Pokemon... There's like 600 of them, I'd be surprised if one of the DOESN'T change its number of legs whilst evolving"
Sphinx: "Fair enough man. I can't reasonably expect you to remember all their names. You may pass"
There's a Stackexchange question on this! Four years ago the answer was "not really", not sure if there's been one added since that would qualify: https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/262500/is-there-a-pokemon-evolution-line-that-fits-the-sphinxs-riddle
Alas, no. There are a fair number of four-legged to two-legged evolutions, but a surprising shortage of three-legged Pokémon; the only ones I believe could be genuinely said to walk on three legs are Boldore, Dewpider, and Grapploct, none of which sits in a suitable evolution chain.
The closest fit IMO would be Slowpoke, Slowbro, and Mega Slowbro. Slowpoke is unambiguously quadrupedal; Slowbro, unambiguously bipedal. Mega Slowbro is the stretch: it has two visible limbs, but instead of using them balances on the tip of its tail. Its walk cycle (programmed into but not used in Sun & Moon) shows it hopping on its tail, presumably held up by its psychic power—but it might be able, if awkwardly, to walk on three 'legs' using both tail and paws.
Also from that thread is that Rhyperior (evolving from Rhyhorn and Rhydon) sometimes balances on his tail, possibly making it a "third leg".
I think the Slakoth one from that link works. The last evolution doesn't literally have three legs, but neither does a man with a cane and it's at least as good an answer as that.
Also, Final Fantasy Unlimited, of all places (an otherwise terrible series) invents a creature that has the appropriate number of legs. https://wiki2.org/en/Final_Fantasy:_Unlimited?s=%5BACX%5D-FFU-16 (which is not actually a Wikipedia article despite the site's claim).
"Mary Mary" is probably redundantly duplicated? Also, I guess this is "The Secret Garden" reference.
RYs => Are wise
"Mary Mary quite contrary" is the first line (and possibly title?) of a nursery rhyme, the duplication is intentional to fit the meter.
Thanks! I have only seen the phrase in "The Secret Garden", where the duplication was dropped. Never knew it was far older.
I've never read or seen The Secret Garden and didn't know they used it there.
Also, I totally missed the joke in the last line, even though I *have* read Oedipus Rex.
A gardening class during apartheid! I laughed aloud
I didn't know until now that Lord Nelson only had one (good) eye, just that he was unable to apply a full nelson due to having only one arm.
Eggs Nelson - two sunny-side eggs intended, with one yolk broken by accident.
Lol awesome
This is majestic. Thank you.