The Hatter asks Alice this riddle but never gives her the answer. Okay. 2. It’s a joke! 230 views. 2 secs. With a partner come up with at least one plausible response to this riddle. Sure, we make up for it in money and groupies, but still, if in some book (e.g., one of mine) you come across a line that really clanks, be assured: It was funny before. Oooooh. Because a raven makes no sense, and so does a writing desk. ", one of two things will happen: the child will either be completely confused (in this case they are already consumed in the adult world) or the child will come up with, what to you might be a very ridiculous answer, but nonetheless an answer which will make sense in every way to them (in this case they are what we all used to be: innocent and … Because you can baffle the billions with both. What mushrooms are safe to eat? Have you any idea why a raven is like a writing desk? Relevance. THE RAVEN flaps its wings, and the lid of the writing-desk flaps, up and down. Thoughts both confusing and enlightening. Midnight. Sages and scholars have gone mad trying to figure out what deep and complex thing he was trying to express with that statement, and it wasn't until 2000 that someone pointed out that "nevar" was "raven" spelled backwards. “I think you might do something better with the time,” she said, “than wasting it in asking riddles that have no answers.”. The Riddler is still in custody at Arkham Asylum, so Gordon heads there to question the criminal. Also, where did this riddle originate? - Heartless, Marissa Meyer Dear Paige, I just finished Heartless, by Marissa Meyer. Why is a Raven Like a Writing Desk? Malapropism is pretty harmless, but when wrong use of words amounts to a lie it can be fatal. But if you ask a little kid, "Why is a raven like a writing desk? Alice sighed wearily. "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" Or is the hilarious part that there really isn't an answer? A STAFF REPORT FROM THE STRAIGHT DOPE SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD. Here are the Ryjyllians under the d20 OGL: Rage: Ryjyllians can enter a combat rage, gaining great strength, and durability, but losing self-control and caution. Because they both stand on legs. Ian Gowans, Tervuren, Belgium. Got your answer now? Perhaps, like me, you have a mathematical background that ends somewhere around high school or your first year of university. In fact, Lewis Carroll was so plagued for an answer to his riddle that he eventually satisfied his fans with: “because it can produce a few notes, tho they are very flat and it is nevar put with the wrong end first”.Ursula Nixon, Bodalla, NSW, Australia, • If you look up this riddle on the internet you will find that it is a riddle without an answer. By Karen Green Friday August 7, 2009 09:00:00 am Our columnists are independent writers who choose subjects and write without editorial input from comiXology. To many this might seem like a ridiculous question, but those who have seen the movie Alice in Wonderland will appreciate and understand what I mean. 3. The April 2017 edition of Bandersnatch, the Newsletter of the Lewis Carroll Society [Issue 172, ISSN 0306-8404, Apr 2017], published the following solution, proposed by puzzle expert Rick Hosburn: "Why is a Raven like a Writing-desk?" At this point most of us are thinking: Ho-ho, that Lewis Carroll, is he hilarious or what? And neither does the Mad Hatter (who poses the question). newsletter. That’s why we employ diplomats. between the two systems. It's midday and far too early, I'll be noticed if I leave now but the need for what I had planned to do for so long overpowered my need for no interruptions. Big joke! And ravens don't come with their quills full of ink. Why is a raven like a writing desk? What is the origin of the song “There’s a place in France/Where the naked ladies dance?” Are bay leaves poisonous? Why is a raven like a writing desk? But the real answer, to which the careers of Poe and Carroll bear ample testimony, is that you can baffle the billions with both. (Pause.) Lewis Carroll himself got bugged about this so much that he was moved to write the following in the preface to the 1896 edition of his book: Enquiries have been so often addressed to me, as to whether any answer to the Hatter’s Riddle can be imagined, that I may as well put on record here what seems to me to be a fairly appropriate answer, viz: ‘Because it can produce a few notes, tho they are very flat; and it is never put with the wrong end in front!’ This, however, is merely an afterthought; the Riddle, as originally invented, had no answer at all. The answer is that there isn’t any answer! Anonymous. In Lewis Caroll’s novel, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the question “Why is a raven like a writing desk?” first appears. Watch the video for Why Is a Raven Like a Writing Desk from The Acacia Strain's ...and Life is Very Long for free, and see the artwork, lyrics and similar artists. Aldous Huxley, 1928), Because it slopes with a flap. The best of The Straight Dope, delivered to your inbox. The riddle of ‘why is a raven like a writing desk?’ has perplexed and aroused the curiosity of so many readers. (Puzzle maven Sam Loyd, 1914), Because there is a B in both and an N in neither. But inevitably you get a few losers who say: Well, OK, but I still want to know why a raven is like a writing desk. Us are thinking: Ho-ho, that Lewis Carroll ’ s infamous “ Why is a bureau with quill! No sense, and so does a writing desk? ’ has perplexed and aroused curiosity! Make between two seemingly unrelated objects slightest idea, ” said the Hatter 's Tea?! Did “ nuts ” and “ bananas ” come to be described as “ ”. 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