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        riddles >> medium >> THE GRAVEYARD RIDDLE
        
(Message started by: william wu on Aug 9^th, 2002, 3:44pm)

Title: THE GRAVEYARD RIDDLE
Post by william wu on Aug 9^th, 2002, 3:44pm

A riddle I received via e-mail from a Lewis Jones. Not sure yet if I want to post it on the main site since it's kinda weird. We'll see how it plays out on the bulletin board.

THE GRAVEYARD RIDDLE

One day, George got an unsigned letter telling him to go to his local graveyard at midnight. Usually he paid no attention to such things, but this time he decided to go out of curiosity.

It was a deathly still night, lit only by a thin crescent moon. He made his way to his family¹s ancestral crypt and stood in front of it.

For a few minutes nothing happened, and he was about to leave. But just then, he heard scraping footsteps. He yelled out, but no one answered.

The next morning, the caretaker found him dead in front of the crypt with a hideous grin on his face.

Did George vote for Eisenhower in the American presidential elections?

Title: Re: THE GRAVEYARD RIDDLE
Post by jeremiahsmith on Aug 11^th, 2002, 4:14pm

Okay, well...that's just surreal.

The first impression would be "No, George didn't vote for Eisenhower because George was dead, and dead people can't vote." Then again, there's no mention that he voted AFTER he died...perhaps he voted, then he died.

Hmmm... how to even figure this out? Well, Eisenhower ran against Adlai Stevenson in 1952 and 1956. Would that help at all...?

Title: Re: THE GRAVEYARD RIDDLE
Post by william wu on Aug 11^th, 2002, 7:13pm

Eisenhower's election being in 1956 is an important part of solving the puzzle. The other thing you need to figure out is where geographically George is located. Apparently you can do this by analyzing the first two sentences of the riddle -- the third and fourth sentences describing the attack are not relevant. Take particular note of the moon's description, and the time.

Title: Re: THE GRAVEYARD RIDDLE
Post by jeremiahsmith on Aug 11^th, 2002, 8:59pm

Well, hmmm...thin crescent moon...I'm not going to have to break out an almanac, and see what parts of 1956 had crescent moons, am I?

Title: Re: THE GRAVEYARD RIDDLE
Post by S. Owen on Aug 12^th, 2002, 1:03pm

Hoo boy... can we really deduce anything from this?

OK, so I say he either died before or after the election. If he died before, then he definitely did not vote for Eisenhower, or any else for that matter.

If he died after, then I say we'd be hard-pressed to deduce anyting about what he did or didn't do on election day from this.

Local graveyard... lit only by a crescent moon... deathly still... are we supposed to deduce that he is in a rural town? Did Eisenhower carry an overwhelming portion of the vote outside major cities?

Throw us a bone?

Title: Re: THE GRAVEYARD RIDDLE
Post by william wu on Aug 12^th, 2002, 1:13pm

Bone: A thin crescent moon is almost a new moon, and that is always close to the sun. But at midnight the sun is at the other side of the earth. And yet, George observed a thin crescent moon at midnight.

Title: Re: THE GRAVEYARD RIDDLE
Post by Jonathan_the_Red on Aug 12^th, 2002, 1:46pm

That's a pretty generous "bone"... almost a spoiler.

Highlight below to see answer:

The only place in America where a crescent moon can be seen near midnight would be Alaska, which did not become a state until 1959, after Eisenhower's election.

Title: Re: THE GRAVEYARD RIDDLE
Post by jeremiahsmith on Aug 12^th, 2002, 10:29pm

Wow. That's definitely main-page worthy, I think, even if it is a little creepy.

Although, if condom riddles can make it, dead-guy riddles should be allowed.

Title: Re: THE GRAVEYARD RIDDLE
Post by Chronos on Aug 15^th, 2002, 1:25pm

So... George's family is from the then-territory of Alaska. He went to college in Oregon, and while there, gained Oregon residency in time to vote for Ike. Once Alaska becomes a state, he moves back to his old hometown. Just because his family's ancestral crypt is in the local graveyard, doesn't mean that he's stayed there his entire life.

Title: Re: THE GRAVEYARD RIDDLE
Post by Chronos on Aug 17^th, 2002, 2:23pm

Another objection which occurred to me last night: The night wasn't lit only by the crescent moon. If the crescent moon is still up, then the sun can't be too far below the hoirizon, and you'll have a significant amount of twilight.

I do like this riddle, though, and I would like to see it salvaged somehow.

Title: Re: THE GRAVEYARD RIDDLE
Post by Lewis Jones on Aug 25^th, 2002, 4:12am

So I offer an alternative, which also gives me the chance to tighten up the storyline so as to involve fewer extraneous elements:

——————

George’s friends always thought of him as a homebody – he had lived in the same house all his life. But in his imagination he had developed an obsession with the customs and histories of faraway places - in particular, Japan.

Perhaps that is why one midnight, in a fit of depression when his business collapsed and his wife left him, he took down the ceremonial Japanese sword from his living room wall, and went out into the dark and lonely streets.

It was a deathly still night, lit only by a thin crescent moon. He made his way to his family’s ancestral crypt and sat cross-legged in front of it. He then raised the sword high, and made the thrust that ended his life.

Did George vote for Eisenhower in the American presidential elections?

Title: Re: THE GRAVEYARD RIDDLE
Post by Martin S Taylor on Nov 12^th, 2002, 12:27pm

Couple of points:

1. A 'thin crescent' moon isn't necessarily a new moon; it could be a very old moon. But this doesn't affect the puzzle - you can't see a thin crescent at midnight in any of the 48 states.

2. If you're going to assume that George is a US citizen, then say so in the puzzle. I don't like the inference that George must live in Alaska. He might live *anywhere* in the world reasonably far north or south. Again, this doesn't affect the puzzle (if G. is Canadian he still couldn't vote for Eisenhower) but it's inelegant, in my view.