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        riddles >> what happened >> The Coffee Cup
        
(Message started by: denis on Apr 24th, 2008, 8:34am)
Title: The Coffee Cup
Post by denis on Apr 24th, 2008, 8:34am
Husband and wife are enjoying their morning cup of coffee at the kitchen table. The table is covered with a table cloth on which there are white and grey stripes. When the wife goes up to get the newspaper, she puts down her coffee on one of the white stripes. She tells her husband, who has the flu, "Honey, don't touch my cup, as I don't want to catch the flu as well".

When she returned with the newspaper less than a minute later, her cup was now on the grey stripe. She looked at her husband then pointed to her cup. Her husband tells her with puppy eyes, "I didn't move the cup, the table nor the table cloth". He was telling the truth. (Note there were no coasters or other object under the cups or on the table)

What happened?
Title: Re: The Coffee Cup
Post by Grimbal on Apr 24th, 2008, 9:20am
[hide]The sun[/hide] did it!
Title: Re: The Coffee Cup
Post by denis on Apr 24th, 2008, 10:10am

on 04/24/08 at 09:20:21, Grimbal wrote:
[hide]The sun[/hide] did it!


"When she returned with the newspaper less than a minute later"

[hide]the sun moved that fast?[/hide]
Title: Re: The Coffee Cup
Post by Iceman on Apr 24th, 2008, 10:54am
[hide]Their pet moved the cup[/hide].


Or the table is slant.
Title: Re: The Coffee Cup
Post by denis on Apr 24th, 2008, 10:56am
No pet, no slant.
Title: Re: The Coffee Cup
Post by Iceman on Apr 24th, 2008, 10:57am
The window was opened.   ???

There were two tables and two cups of hers.

Were there important objects above the table?
Title: Re: The Coffee Cup
Post by denis on Apr 24th, 2008, 11:29am

on 04/24/08 at 11:08:32, Iceman wrote:
There were two tables and two cups of hers.

Were there important objects above the table?


Just one table and one cup of hers.

Just the ceiling was above the table


on 04/24/08 at 10:57:55, Iceman wrote:
The window was opened.   ???


Now sure were you are going with that. You mean the wind did it?? No wind, if that's you're implying.
Title: Re: The Coffee Cup
Post by Iceman on Apr 24th, 2008, 2:59pm
It was an iron cup so he used the magnet.

Or he is a sorcerer so he used his magic.


............. but if he didn’t move the cup, then he is unimportant for the riddle, as someone else moved it, or something else. Perhaps an earthquake, but she would’ve felt it too.  

Or the cup came alive after the encounter with the crystal entity.
Title: Re: The Coffee Cup
Post by denis on Apr 24th, 2008, 3:14pm

on 04/24/08 at 14:59:05, Iceman wrote:
It was an iron cup so he used the magnet.

Or he is a sorcerer so he used his magic.


............. but if he didn’t move the cup, then he is unimportant for the riddle, as someone else moved it, or something else. Perhaps an earthquake, but she would’ve felt it too.  


You're straying from the solution.. Focus on the kitchen. Something that may have been left out (like you do often on your riddles). And it turns out the husband is important to the riddle also.
Title: Re: The Coffee Cup
Post by Iceman on Apr 24th, 2008, 3:19pm
Well I’ve mentioned pet but you said no. So I must infer that a particular, usual kitchen object moved the glass. I just don’t know which and how.

:P

Something blew in the kitchen, because of her husband, so the blast moved the cup.
Title: Re: The Coffee Cup
Post by cheesepuff on Apr 24th, 2008, 3:29pm
He [hide]painted the stripe gray[/hide]  ;D
Title: Re: The Coffee Cup
Post by iono on Apr 24th, 2008, 6:26pm

on 04/24/08 at 15:29:42, cheesepuff wrote:
He [hide]painted the stripe gray[/hide]  ;D


what I was thinking
Title: Re: The Coffee Cup
Post by denis on Apr 24th, 2008, 7:41pm

on 04/24/08 at 15:19:05, Iceman wrote:
Well I’ve mentioned pet but you said no. So I must infer that a particular, usual kitchen object moved the glass. I just don’t know which and how.

:P

Something blew in the kitchen, because of her husband, so the blast moved the cup.


Its not particular to kitchen... This could happen in the living room for example.

Title: Re: The Coffee Cup
Post by denis on Apr 24th, 2008, 7:41pm

on 04/24/08 at 15:29:42, cheesepuff wrote:
He [hide]painted the stripe gray[/hide]  ;D


No paint
Title: Re: The Coffee Cup
Post by Grimbal on Apr 24th, 2008, 7:52pm
The sun enters the kitchen through Venetian blinds.  The shadows draw a regular pattern of gray stripes on the white tablecloth.  Either the sun moves a bit, which means the window is far from the table, or the facetious husband moved the blind up or down a bit.
Title: Re: The Coffee Cup
Post by denis on Apr 24th, 2008, 9:39pm
Grimbal got it! (the husband moved the blinds a bit is the intended solution. I don't think the sun on its own will move the stripes enough in the small amount of time allotted even when the table is far from the window)
Title: Re: The Coffee Cup
Post by Whiskey Tango Foxtrot on Apr 27th, 2008, 8:27pm
Here is a horrible joke - perhaps the worst I've ever heard:

Why are Venetian blinds the most important invention of the last 200 years?

[hide]Because without them it would be curtains for all of us.[/hide]


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