What are you thoughts on this Lewis Caroll riddle?

Why is a Raven like a Writing Desk? Because they both have quills.

The answer is that it does not have an answer at all. It was just a joke as written by Carrol. The Mad Hatter was indeed mad and made up the riddle. That is why Alice could not answer it.

Folks, over time, have tried to answer with their own thoughts :-)

Wolf_ODonnell, wrote, "I was just wondering, about your thoughts on this Lewis Caroll riddle: "Why is a raven like a writing desk?

Apart from this riddle, there are at least two other references that can be linked to E.A.Poe.

Caroll's riddle about, "WHERE DOES THE DAY BEGIN?" Midnight etc.
The first words in Poe's ?'The Raven'. "Once upon a midnight dreary"

Another is the challenge to change RAVEN to MISER. Changing one letter at a time in as few moves as possible.


Intrepid writes, "The answer is that it does not have an answer at all."

This may well be right. However, as the other references to Poe's work have answers, I think it is reasonable to assume there is indeed a solution.

"Folks, over time, have tried to answer with their own thoughts"

For the first time in print, I put forward two possible solutions to the riddle.

Poe's poem the Raven carries the line, "Nameless here for evermore"

(We could be looking at, "for here nameless evermore' what is that name?)

Take out the ?'here for' and seek a anagram for ?'nameless evermore'

i) Lenore serves me am.

"For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore-"

This answer both incorporates the heroine of the poem and the contention, does midnight start at the end of PM or the start of AM.

ii) Try a hidden grim.

In this case a ?'Grim' refers to a ?'Grimalkin' (Old spiteful woman) Which links to the Raven to Miser answer. The way E.A. was seen by Caroll

You have not been charged for this insight.