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stewart38
13th-June-2007, 04:37 PM
I turn polar bears white
and I will make you cry.
I make guys have to pee
and girls comb their hair.
I make celebrities look stupid
and normal people look like celebrities.
I turn pancakes brown
and make your champagne bubble.
If you sqeeze me, I'll pop.
If you look at me, you'll pop.

Can you guess the riddle?

97% of Harvard graduates can not figure this riddle out, but 84% of kindergarten students were able to figure this out in 6 minutes or less. Can you guess the correct answer? Just post in the comments, I'll reveal the answer in a couple days. Good luck. :what:


One wrong answer (ie polar bears are not white due to pressure)

---------------------------------

The answer to this..is pressure!!!

Polar bears are white because the pressure at the poles is low, so they have to be able to absorb heat.

Pressure makes you cry if it’s too much.

Pressure in your bladder makes you have to pee.

Peer pressure makes girls comb their hair.

Celebrities usually crack under pressure.

Many normal people will shine under pressure.

Pancakes turn brown thanks to pressure generated by the heat.

Champagne will bubble until the pressure of the carbonation has disappeared.

If you squeeze something under pressure, BAM, there it goes.

If you are “looking” at pressure, you’re in it. for example-> in an airplane your ears pop under pressure!
--------------------------------------------

under par
13th-June-2007, 04:45 PM
Stewart..... you spoiled the effect by posting the answer with the riddle Doh!:rofl:

stewart38
13th-June-2007, 04:48 PM
Stewart..... you spoiled the effect by posting the answer with the riddle Doh!:rofl:

No thats a wrong answer :wink:

Dreadful Scathe
13th-June-2007, 04:59 PM
No thats a wrong answer :wink:
yes you said that but underpar didnt read it ;) doh!

..erm..im on 4 minutes so far......erm.......umm

Dreadful Scathe
13th-June-2007, 05:00 PM
yes you said that but underpar didnt read it ;) doh!

..erm..im on 4 minutes so far......erm.......umm
is the answer "what riddle?"

Ghost
13th-June-2007, 07:34 PM
is the answer "what riddle?"

In order of thoughts

Snow
Fear
Funerals
Why do girl's comb their hair anyway?
Lemons
Bubbles
Lemonade
Onions
Why do girl's comb their hair anyway?
Sugar
Song lyrics
God
Mummy and Daddy
Faires
Frogs
Balloons
Why do girl's comb their hair anyway?
Time
Chloe
Why do girl's comb their hair anyway?
Oh I don't know

Oh wait - kids would probably admit they didn't know, but Harvard Grads probably wouldn't :devil:

So my answer is "I don't know what the answer is" and I am going to do something else fun while the grown-ups go slowly mad wondering about it :clap: :na:

SilverFox
13th-June-2007, 08:06 PM
I turn polar bears white
and I will make you cry.
I make guys have to pee
and girls comb their hair.
I make celebrities look stupid
and normal people look like celebrities.
I turn pancakes brown
and make your champagne bubble.
If you sqeeze me, I'll pop.
If you look at me, you'll pop.

Can you guess the riddle? How about 'No'? :confused:

Little Monkey
13th-June-2007, 09:33 PM
How about 'No'? :confused:

Exactly what I was going to guess. :yeah:

NO

NZ Monkey
13th-June-2007, 09:45 PM
I turn polar bears white
and I will make you cry.
I make guys have to pee
and girls comb their hair.
I make celebrities look stupid
and normal people look like celebrities.
I turn pancakes brown
and make your champagne bubble.
If you sqeeze me, I'll pop.
If you look at me, you'll pop.

Can you guess the riddle? I don't need to guess the riddle, you've already told me. It's the worlds hardest riddle.

although any answer to the riddle may be a long time coming....

bigdjiver
14th-June-2007, 01:50 AM
I turn polar bears white
and I will make you cry.
I make guys have to pee
and girls comb their hair.
I make celebrities look stupid
and normal people look like celebrities.
I turn pancakes brown
and make your champagne bubble.
If you sqeeze me, I'll pop.
If you look at me, you'll pop.

Can you guess the riddle?

97% of Harvard graduates can not figure this riddle out, but 84% of kindergarten students were able to figure this out in 6 minutes or less. Can you guess the correct answer? Just post in the comments, I'll reveal the answer in a couple days. Good luck. :what:

My guess is that none of the Kindergarten kids could solve this. I hope some of the Harvard graduates did. I suspect even the author got it wrong.

The answer is imagination. The author could imagine all of these facts and fictions, and so could the readers.

"No" cannot be the right answer, because that would make "no" the wrong answer.

Its a tricky universe.

Dreadful Scathe
14th-June-2007, 08:14 AM
"No" cannot be the right answer, because that would make "no" the wrong answer.


A very good point. But then a simple 'yes' could be the right answer as the question is "can you answer the riddle?'. The words before that are not necessarily relevant to the question asked. In fact "imagination" does not fit the question perfectly, as normally riddles end in "what am I" and this one, i think, is simply misdirection.

Does that mean I win :)

Lee Bartholomew
14th-June-2007, 08:33 AM
Have come across this before and know the answer but wont spoilt it for everyone :wink:

Dreadful Scathe
14th-June-2007, 09:00 AM
Have come across this before and know the answer but wont spoilt it for everyone :wink:
we know the answer - its "yes" , and i win a prize :)

Lee Bartholomew
14th-June-2007, 09:02 AM
we know the answer - its "yes" , and i win a prize :)


The answer is not 'yes' if you want to know it. PM me. :wink:

P.S. as much as it should be the answer, it's not Chuck Norris.

Dreadful Scathe
14th-June-2007, 09:24 AM
The answer is not 'yes' if you want to know it. PM me. :wink:

P.S. as much as it should be the answer, it's not Chuck Norris.
oh yes it is - its the only one that fits.....come on msn and tell me then :)

Lee Bartholomew
14th-June-2007, 09:33 AM
Oh Should add with this, there is an official answer and a non official answer.

The part where it says about the children getting it is part of the non official answer and was added after this riddle was first published in a magazine.

The non official answer has already been correctly guessed as 'No'

Now you just need to find the official answer.

Dreadful Scathe
14th-June-2007, 09:39 AM
Oh Should add with this, there is an official answer and a non official answer.

The part where it says about the children getting it is part of the non official answer and was added after this riddle was first published in a magazine.

The non official answer has already been correctly guessed as 'No'

Now you just need to find the official answer.
well as bigdjiver said, the answer cannot be NO. The answer you sent me by PM doesn't fit either though. So I still contend the only correct answer is YES. :)

Lee Bartholomew
14th-June-2007, 09:42 AM
well as bigdjiver said, the answer cannot be NO. The answer you sent me by PM doesn't fit either though. So I still contend the only correct answer is YES. :)

'No' is the unofficial answer.

Just as a hint, polar bears are born Yellow. :wink: What line are you strugging to fit with the answer I gave you? Give me the line and I will try to remember where it fitted. Think I have the whole answer (which is about 10 times longer than the riddle itself) as an email somewhere.

Dreadful Scathe
14th-June-2007, 09:50 AM
'No' is the unofficial answer.

And wrong, so its no wonder its unofficial ;)



Just as a hint, polar bears are born Yellow. :wink: What line are you struggling to fit with the answer I gave you? Give me the line and I will try to remember where it fitted.

All of them. The answer you gave is not the cause of any of the lines that i can see.

Lee Bartholomew
14th-June-2007, 12:22 PM
And wrong, so its no wonder its unofficial ;)



All of them. The answer you gave is not the cause of any of the lines that i can see.

Get my PM? Make any more sense? No? Me neither, but thats the official answer.

Ghost
14th-June-2007, 12:27 PM
Get my PM? Make any more sense? No? Me neither, but thats the official answer.
I just pmed Woodface because a page worth of thought out answer is waaaaaaaaaaay to big an investment for me. Turns out the answer is in my post (http://www.cerocscotland.com/forum/382091-post6.html) anyway :na:

Lee Bartholomew
14th-June-2007, 12:34 PM
I just pmed Woodface because a page worth of thought out answer is waaaaaaaaaaay to big an investment for me. Turns out the answer is in my post (http://www.cerocscotland.com/forum/382091-post6.html) anyway :na:

Half the disctionary was in your post. :na:

There is a big long answer to it which explains it all. will PM you that.

Spiky Steve
14th-June-2007, 01:02 PM
How about Crayons?

stewart38
14th-June-2007, 02:08 PM
Its interesting how some forumites are in the nursery school stage others are closer to the Harvard stage :grin:

Lee Bartholomew
14th-June-2007, 02:14 PM
Its interesting how some forumites are in the nursery school stage others are closer to the Harvard stage :grin:

Do you have the answer yourself?

Ghost
14th-June-2007, 02:15 PM
Half the disctionary was in your post. :na:
I figured thinking like a 6 year old was the way to go. And six year olds will usually answer riddles like
"Clouds? Penicls? Fire? Elastic Bands?" etc :D

T'was the Sphinx who had more of a "one answer only" kinda deal :sick:


There is a big long answer to it which explains it all. will PM you that.
Thanks

Came up with a different grown-up answer though.

"Concepts"

There's a zen riddle "If a tree falls in the forest and there's no-one there to here it, does it make a big crashing sound?"

The answer is "No".

"A big crashing sound" is a human concept, so if there's no humans it can't happen.


I turn polar bears white
White is a concept - how do you know that what I see as white is what you see? I may see colours differently, but agree on the same name?

and I will make you cry.
Lots of concepts make people cry; "My dancing sucks" for example :tears:

I make guys have to pee
Again - concepts ideas - people talking excessively about running water, fountains etc

and girls comb their hair.
The concept that this will make the cute guy notice them :awe:

I make celebrities look stupid
and normal people look like celebrities.
What is "cool" or "stupid" varies considerably - concepts
"Each generation scoffs at the fashions of hte last, while eagerly embracing the new fashions of their generation". (Emerson or Twain, I think)

I turn pancakes brown
same as polar bears

and make your champagne bubble.
Bubbles are a wonderful concept :clap:

If you sqeeze me, I'll pop.
Scientist go around squeezing concepts all the time and make them pop. Happens a fair bit here too. :whistle:

If you look at me, you'll pop.
Look at advanced calculus concepts :sick: Or the relgious threads. Or try and work out why women do anything :devil: *ducks*

Lee Bartholomew
14th-June-2007, 02:17 PM
{too much time on his hands stuff}


*Roy Walker voice*

"It's good, but it's not quite right"

Double Trouble
14th-June-2007, 02:49 PM
*Roy Walker voice*

"It's good, but it's not quite right"

:rofl: :rofl: Roy Walker:rofl: :rofl:


Say what you see, say what you see. PMSL.......!

stewart38
14th-June-2007, 04:28 PM
My guess is that none of the Kindergarten kids could solve this. I hope some of the Harvard graduates did. I suspect even the author got it wrong.

The answer is imagination. The author could imagine all of these facts and fictions, and so could the readers.

"No" cannot be the right answer, because that would make "no" the wrong answer.

Its a tricky universe.


Interesting how people think including myself


People can Google this riddle and the generally response is no I cant answer the riddle (i.e. the kinder gardens kids) Silver fox, Little Monkey etc

Some of the Harvard school Ghost etc fall in the other camp inc me ,

Try to make it all fit but some bits don’t

Some other people think its Roy Walker but with medication they seem to grow out of it :whistle:


:rofl: :rofl: Roy Walker:rofl: :rofl:


Say what you see, say what you see. PMSL.......!


I’m not aware of any actual answer that fits the riddle (I may not have Google enough)

There maybe a answer

If I ask the question

Why ?

What would the response be ?

Lee Bartholomew
14th-June-2007, 08:41 PM
Do you want the actual response to the answer?

Shall I post it?

Ghost
15th-June-2007, 01:47 AM
Interesting how people think including myself

Some of the Harvard school Ghost etc fall in the other camp inc me ,

Try to make it all fit but some bits don’t

I have a fondness for riddles, but ultimately I prefer the solution to the Gordian Knot :whistle:


I’m not aware of any actual answer that fits the riddle (I may not have Google enough)

There maybe a answer
Woodface's answer (in full verse form) makes sense and is certainly a reasonable answer compared with other riddles I've seen. I dismissed it originally because I didn't think a 6 year old would get it.



If I ask the question

Why ?

What would the response be ?

Why not?


Because!

Dreadful Scathe
15th-June-2007, 08:44 AM
I have a fondness for riddles, but ultimately I prefer the solution to the Gordian Knot :whistle:

Indeed :) I think the "YES" answer I gave fits better than any nonsense anyone else has come up with, so Im going to claim my prize and conquer persia :)

Lee Bartholomew
15th-June-2007, 08:47 AM
You have to ignore the bit about the Harvard stuff and the "can you answer this riddle" as thats not part of the origional riddle when it was first published.

Shall I post the answer?

Dreadful Scathe
15th-June-2007, 09:06 AM
I dont care - cost the answer is "yes" - see above reference to Gordian Knot ;)

stewart38
15th-June-2007, 03:36 PM
You have to ignore the bit about the Harvard stuff and the "can you answer this riddle" as thats not part of the origional riddle when it was first published.

Shall I post the answer?

yes post the bloody thing its my thread :wink:

Ghost
15th-June-2007, 04:27 PM
yes post the bloody thing its my thread :wink:

:rofl:
Alternatively post it in a thread called
"Answer to the Hardest Riddle" and see how many views it gets :devil:

Incidentally given that DS does now know what the answer is, his answer of "Yes" is indeed correct :respect: