The worlds first riddle!

Calling all friends of the earth and naturists…

Have you discovered the ancient art of Japanese Kintsugi, a powerful metaphor for life where nothing is ever truly broken.

The story of Kintsugi is said to have begun in the 15th century when Japanese military commander Ashikaga Yoshimasa broke one of his beloved Chinese tea bowls and, disappointed with the shoddy repair job it was treated to, urged Japanese craftsmen to come up with a more pleasing method of repair.

In the 500 year old art of Kintsugi, which translates more or less as ‘joining with gold’, broken pottery is repaired with a seam of lacquer and precious metal. Trust the Japanese to encapsulate the wisdom of the ages into a single object. Theirs is a culture with an enviable talent for clarity of both thought and communication, and with an admirable attitude to what really matters in life.

The subsequent Kintsugi approach of emphasising rather than hiding damage illustrates a key difference between eastern and western philosophy. Kintsugi beautifies the breakage and treats it as an important part of the object’s history, and the broken pot not as something to discard, but as something more precious than it was before.

This idea of celebrating the broken pot is an extension of the idea of wabi-sabi which, in contrast to western values of perfection and symmetry, is an eastern philosophy of living that finds beauty in the damaged or imperfect.

Or as Confucius said: It wasn’t the cough that carried him off – it was the coffin they carried him off in.


A wit once said the answer was ‘spunk’ – I think it is an 8 Track or a caterpillar’s footprint.



I say: The answer I give is yes, but what I mean is no.

What was the question?

So, in other words: you're damaged goods?

Tonight we're going to party like it's 1999

1729 is the taxi cab number 1^3 + 12^3 = 9^3 + 10 ^ 3

Oh C-J, what a delight, how is the cutest gal in Cali?

I may have been induced to agree with your riposte had it not been for the fact that Turkish schoolchildren will no longer be taught about evolution.

Alpaslan Durmus, the head of curriculum for the ministry of education, said that Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution was “controversial” and would be removed from school programmes by 2019.

They join Saudi Arabia, where the deeply religious curriculum forbids the teaching of evolution.

The Quran, like the Bible, teaches that Adam and Eve were the first humans.

The Darwin Myth: The Life and Lies of Charles Darwin is an intelligent design book written by Benjamin Wiker and was published by Regnery Publishing in 2009.

Claim: Darwin set out to create a Godless version of evolution and turn science into atheism.

Fact: In 1879 John Fordyce wrote to Darwin asking him if theism and evolution were compatible and Darwin replied that they were. He also wrote…

“In my most extreme fluctuations I have never been an Atheist in the sense of denying the existence of God. I think that generally (and more and more as I grow older), but not always, that an Agnostic would be the more correct description of my state of mind."[1]

1. "The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, including an autobiographical chapter." Edited by his son, Francis Darwin. In three volumes. London: John Murray, 1888, p. 304



Apologizes deer Eke four misplacing yore challenges even though they were two good four me. We are all here at A2K to help others… What the hell the others are here for I don’t know.


At a recent A2K recruitment day, four fruits (an apple, a banana, an orange, and a pear) have been placed in four closed boxes (one fruit per box).

Applicants must guess which fruit is in which box.

123 members participated in the contest.
When the boxes are opened, it turns out that 43 people have guessed none of the fruits correctly, 39 people have guessed one fruit correctly, and 31 people have guessed two fruits correctly.

How many people have guessed three fruits correctly, and how many people have guessed four fruits correctly?


Iffin y’all know how many beans make five, you might wanna try:

Express 100 with 1s. (But don’t use more than a bakers dozen).
Express 100 three ways only using 5s.

You can use brackets, parentheses and the signs +,-,X, / and the Sign of the Times by Harry Styles.

Yes, it's hard to put Turkey and evolution in one sentence, isn't it - especially when we see the current course Erdogan has taken. Will we be next? Not a riddle I want solved anytime soon!

All is well in Cali, glad to live here instead of Georgia, North or South Carolina ....
Judging from your post - witty as ever - I am assuming you're doing well and I hope you stay well.

Guten Morgen C-J. Wie geht’s? Delighted to receive your news out here in the boondocks, or as we say, wo sich Fuchs und Hase gute Nacht sagen. You are right it won’t be solved soon, but, alles hat ein Ende, nur die Wurst hat zwei.

I’ma nul acht funfzehn und das kannst du deiner Oma erzählen, as we are about the same age. But Ich bekomme so einen Hals, wenn ich das höre!


I can feel my blood levels escalating to vertiginous levels with venerable vengeance, should I again be accosted by reference to the monkey ‘climbing’ down!

Those of an adroit mind will already know that:

To climb… Climb, ascend, mount, scale imply a moving upward. To climb is to make one's way upward, often with effort: to climb a mountain. Ascend, in its literal meaning (“to go up”), is general, but it now usually suggests a gradual or stately movement, with or without effort, often to a considerable degree of altitude: to ascend the heights; to ascend the Himalayas. Mount may be interchangeable with ascend, but also suggests climbing on top of or astride of: to mount a platform, a horse. Scale, a more literary word, implies difficult or hazardous climbing up or over something: to scale a summit.

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers

So if your friggin’ monkey wants to come back down – he must DECEND!






For the sake of clarity and to comply with the courts direction, my Attorney implores me to make clear that the BIF I was referring to is not to be construed as ‘Big In Front’ – or Heavens to Murgatroyd:

The Benevolence International Foundation. (BIF) was a purported non-profit charitable trust based in Saudi Arabia. It was a front for al-Qaeda. It was banned by the United Nations Security Council Committee 1267 and the US Department of the Treasury in November 2002.

And I’ma sorry to disappoint y’all by sayin’ it doesn’t refer to BIF Naked, a gorgeous Canadian singer called Beth. Congratulations on the 150th anniversary of your confederation, but unbelievably you only achieved full independence from the UK in 1982, when the British parliament handed the power to amend the Canadian constitution to Canada.

I am in fact referring to banded iron formation, which are bands of iron oxide (mostly haematite) interspersed with chert (silica). They were laid down on ocean floors more than two billion years ago. They record a key chemical transition in Earth's history when oxygen started to become abundant.

This is the prelude to complex life. We're oxygen breathers. An organism needs an energy source and the burning of carbon in the presence of oxygen is largely where we get our energy from. It still took two billion years from this rock to get to multicellular organisms, but that's another story and will have to wait until we get .5million A2K members.


In the meantime… what is something that someone buys for you – but they use it and you do not?

BTW the answer is not Viagra*

* Sildenafil, sold as the brand name Viagra among others, is a medication used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary arterial hypertension. Its effectiveness for treating sexual dysfunction in women has not been demonstrated.

"In the meantime… what is something that someone buys for you – but they use it and you do not?"

A gravestone

Unless the purchaser is my husband....then it might be a beer.

Dear Stormy, had I known y’all had come to visit I would have washed my socks even though there is seven weeks to go before the years end. I hope you and your family are doing fabulously well and life in your cabin in the woods still makes you smile. Best wishes.


Is this even legal in Mississippi???


When Al Coholic met Yuri Nater eighteen years ago down in the state of Mississippi, which by the way was named after the Mississippi River whose name comes from the Ojibwa (Chippewa) Indian word ‘misi-ziibi’ meaning great river or gathering of waters, Al was three times older than Yuri and today he is just twice as old!!!

Republicans say it is a miracle. I say how old was Yuri when they met?


Dear Seymour Butz, may I reiterate once again that I have no idea who Peaky Blinders is and I care even less (unless he owes me money) so my suggestion is that you contact someone from Grande-Bretagne as I don’t got no picture on my TV as they say I need a hairreal.

However, a word of WARNING for it was on this day in 1002: King Æthelred orders the St Brice’s Day Massacre of all Danes living in England.

Did you know the bison from Buffalo, who are frightened by other bison from Buffalo, also frighten the bison from Buffalo?

The next sentence is false. The next sentence is true. Both previous sentences were false – True or false?

A = 3Y
A + 18 = 2 ( Y + 18)


Proving conclusively that the passing of the years is a constant.

Plainly, there's no bull in observing that buffalo have never frightened bison in Buffalo.

Good morning world, it’s a brand new day…

Joy unreserved at the sight of Eekname who combines intelligence with wit and humor. I would also like to dispel the rumor doing the rounds of the A2K Halls of Fame, in that at no time did I say you were the elephant in the room – what I said was, you were the element; fairy nuff.


The answer as all GOP voters will know is always the same as the number of years that have passed before the elder becomes twice the age of the other.

So as Al was three times as old as Yuri 18 years ago – Yuri was 18 and Al 54.


What do you mean – where was I yesterday!

Well, I ran into my ex in town yesterday… then I backed up and ran into him again - just to prove the first time was no accident.
He said he didn’t think women should be allowed to have kids after 16. What a jerk, what woman would want as many kids as that?


Hickory Dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock:

How many minutes is it until six o’clock if fifty minutes ago it was four times as many minutes past three o’clock?

Hello Tryagain. Long time no... anything really. Anywho, Mark says that your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering. Dunno if that answers anything for you but it's a lovely sentiment dontcha think?

Oh Adrian, I haven’t been this happy since collecting my winnings at the World Series of Poker – on the other hand, I was pretty happy to get odds of 25/1 against Trump winning the Presidential race. So you could say my faith in the gullible restored my faith in private jet travel and freed me from queues at the check in.

Man, you have been so missed – not a day goes by that I don’t wonder what happened to what’s his name. I do hope time has treated you kindly and you are in good health and spirits. You do remind me of the periodical cicadas in that every Quattuordecennial you appear and do you remember your first words to me when I asked:

What do Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton all have in common?

“Tryagain are you taking the piss or what?”

“Dunno if that answers anything for you but it's a lovely sentiment dontcha think?”

I think the duffel coat looks incongruous with that little black dress worn underneath.

Do give my regards to Mark and I will see if the dear reader can help you:

Adrian and Mark were preparing to have a water balloon fight. "No Fair" cried Adrian, "You have 3 times as many as I do!"

Mark said "Fine!" and gave Adrian 10 more balloons. "Still not fair!" argued Adrian, "You still have twice as many as I do."

How many more balloons must Mark give Adrian for them to have the same number?

Hah. When you showed up I remember thinking "who is this wierdo?". I am yet to answer that particular riddle, but I am glad you are still here. Last I was here you were talking about the day A2K got to 25000 members. Now you are talking about 20 times that. Wow. Anywhy, I have answered your riddle, twice in fact, not that I am keeping score.

Good lord! An Adrian sighting.

Hoping all is well in Adrian land.

Ha! The smoking bunny is still here too! Happy days. Adrian land has changed quite a lot dlowan. Quite a bloody lot. From black to white, or from white to black, depending on whether you are looking at the forest or the trees.

The time of this post.



Three mice ran up the clock.

The clock struck one and the other two thanked cheeses, which was a timely reminder of the reason for the season.

Seriously, did you know that Minnie Riperton had a coloratura soprano vocal range that, and I kid you knot, spanned five octaves. She had the ability to sing in the whistle register, which is the highest register of the human voice, lying above the modal and falsetto register.


Mark must give Adrian another 20 water balloons, giving them each 60. Adrian started with 30 water balloons and Mark with 90.


What's the time Mr Wolf?

Twenty-six minutes.



What is one half of one third of one third of 990?


Santa had a heard of 900 reindeer. Some have red and white stripes, some are all red and some are all white. If one third are red and half the remainder are white, what percentage are red and white?

ALASKA is to 474324 as 744342 is to?


HAPPY HOLIDAY’S to one and all. Be happy and stay safe.

Good afternoon and greetings from Omicron Persei Ate. I return to watch Single Female Lawyer on TV, and two learn yew summit – ‘Oolu’ is the Hindi word for an owl. Seriously, one day you will thank me for sharing that and the fact that the Chauvet Caves in Southern France have the oldest known depiction of an owl in the world, estimated to be 36,000 years old.

I only mention the fact because on a recent visit to A2K towers I had occasion to say, “Chevette, have a quick shufty through the vizzying-hole and see if any moderators are coming while I stuff these towels in my portmanteau.” Visée meaning 'look' derived from Old French. However it could equally apply to any convenient aperture through which to take cognisance.

Even though I have never been asked about my experiences in Beaverlick, KY, I would like to reassure any nervous traveller that ewe should welcome the fact that there is a rat on the plane – Ram Air Turbine, is a small wind turbine which generates enough electricity to power the most critical equipment should all engines fail.

BTW in case you are wondering: The reverse-thrust which slows the plane while landing will not work without engines and don’t even think of using the washroom – unless you are a snollygoster.

So finally we get to the riddle, which is; there is a full commercial airplane involved in a collision with an alien craft (French) over Area 51 and unfortunately every single person dies. (Including the aliens).
How many survivors were there?


No wait! I now remember what I came here for – If you like me (or even if you don’t) but suffer from Uhtceare and were worrying about how you were going to use up all of the courgettes - you may wish to ponder this instead:




You want to fly all the way around the world without stopping. The only problem is that the plane can carry just enough fuel to make it halfway around the Earth.

So you build a total of three planes, one for you to fly and two more for your assistants John and Jane. You equip these planes with some pretty incredible and futuristic features to help you along the way. For one, they can instantaneously transfer any amount of fuel to each other. One plane can even pass fuel to the other two simultaneously. Secondly, the aircraft can turn on a dime, literally reversing direction instantaneously, flying at the exact same velocity as soon as they about-face.

Now for the numbers: Each plane can carry 180 gallons of fuel. You plan to fly all the way around the world along the equator, where your plane can fly at the blistering speed of 1º of longitude per minute, meaning it'll take 360 minutes to make the whole 360-degree journey. (This is a speed of about Mach 5.4, for those who are curious). The three aircraft burn 1 gallon of fuel per 1º longitude traveled.


One more thing: There is only one airport along the equator route that you plan to take. You must start at this airport and finish there. John and Jane can return to the airport to refuel, filling their tanks to the full 180 gallons. The one airport is the only place that anyone can land.

As you can see, with 180 gallons of fuel, one of the planes by itself would only make it 180º around the world, half of the required 360º. Fortunately, the planes have their nifty instantaneous refueling and about-facing features, and you have John and Jane to help you make the trip.

How do you fly all the way around the world without stopping or turning around, and without any of the three pilots running out of fuel and crashing?


You might wanna draw out a circle representing the world and mark 90º, 180º, 270º and 360º. Imagine you are looking at the south pole and the equator runs along the circumference of the circle. It might help to make a table to keep track of all three planes' fuel levels as well. Where do the refuelings need to occur for you to make it all the way around in one continuous trip?

Note: If a plane hits 0 gallons of fuel, and at that exact moment another plane is there to refuel it, the plane does not crash. The fuel transfers instantaneously.

Hey Are you back?

Fraternal greetings Whim, I do hope you and yours are in good health and enjoying life under Republican domination.

In answer to your question I would have replied, indubitably; however as that word is five syllables long and my teeth are in a bowl on the nightstand, suffice it to say that there are considerable quantifiable benefits to reintroducing slavery.

However due to past Socio-economic status (otherwise known as SES) which refers to an individual's level of income, wealth, education and prestige, I suggest a rebranding, makeover and name change would be in order.

Regretfully, being stranded on the Yucatan peninsula after the discovery of what may well be the biggest flooded cave on the planet, containing some 248 cenotes and over 216 miles long that was filled with bones and artefacts around 10,000 years ago when the water levels rose over 100 meters at the end of the last ice age, which some say was caused by failure to tax man made emissions - It will be some time before I’m back in the saddle.

However I can confirm that as things stand at the moment, elections for the House of Representatives will be fought on maps drawn after the 2010 census which, (if I’m right – and I once thought I was wrong; but I was wrong about that) will give the Republicans between 23 and 25 seats more than they are entitled to based on their share of the vote.

You can gain a greater insight into the nefarious activities of ‘gerrymandering’ by reading the exploits of Elbridge Gerry.

Whim, dif-tor heh smusma.


Hey! Ain’t that what horses eat?

Aerosmith - Back In The Saddle (Live From Another Dimension in Boston!) https://youtu.be/ZFTBIyz6VCs




BTW Aerosmith wants apples from Appleland sent to the Bananaville district of Boston. You are tasked with transporting 3,000 apples from Appleland to Bananaville, a distance of 1,000 miles. You have a truck that holds 1,000 apples.

However, there is an apple toll on the road to Bananaville, ( controlled by the Republicans) and you must pay 1 apple per mile you drive. There is no toll when you are headed in the opposite direction, toward Appleland. (Which needless to say is managed by the Democrats, run for the community and toll free)

What is the largest number of apples you can transport to Bananaville?

Sure, you can leave apples on the side of the road and return to pick them up later.