Dear Watson #2
Riddles are little poems or phrases that pose a question that needs answering. Riddles frequently rhyme, but this is not a requirement.
If you like solving puzzles, periodically,
Then this may suit your particular body chemistry.
One is partly controversial but makes hard teeth with just a trace,
Two is notoriously poisonous and sometimes seen with old lace.
Three made the Hindenburg rise and fall disastrously from the sky,
Four is most essential, without Thyroxin you would surely die.
Five is up in the air and to life it is very dear.
Six is like your favourite pub, a lot to do with atmosphere.
Put us all together and we wield economic power,
A magazine? ; a dress ? ; a trend? ; I change by the hour.
What am I?
HintThe full quote in the title is from Sherlock Holmes: "Elementary my dear Watson."
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Answer
One : Fluorine in Fluoride prevents tooth decay.(F)
Two: Arsenic is poisonous (1944 Cary Grant movie "Arsenic and Old Lace" (As)
Three: Airship Hindenburg was filled with Hydrogen (H).
Four: Iodine is required by the thyroid gland for production of thyroxin. (I)
Five: oxygen required by most living organisms (O).
Six: Nitrogen makes up 80% of our atmosphere. (N)
F As H I O N
Fashion dictates spending patterns.
A Fashion Magazine.
A Fashion(able) dress.
Fashion is a trend.
I am "FASHION".
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Comments
OldChinaHand  
Jun 01, 2006
| Good One. It's true Hydrogen allowed the Hindenberg to rise but it was the fire that burned and released the Hydrogen that caused the great airship to fall disastrously from the sky. |
BadBunnee02   
Jun 01, 2006
| Wheeeeeeee .... finally got it. I was about to say (to myself) Fashion TREND until I saw the "trend" hint. Then went with "Fashion". Nice job !!!! |
GebbieRose   
Jun 05, 2006
| VG!  |
blagh 
Jun 08, 2006
| So what was the fire using for fuel if it wasn't Hydrogen? |
scallio   
Jul 06, 2006
| I don't know the periodic chart codes so find these nearly impossible.
I had FL for flouride, knew H (hydrogen), O (oxygen) and N, (nitrogen).
Next time...
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utnative 
Jul 06, 2006
| i guess i should have paid more attention to my science teacher he said that sometime in live we would need to know the periotic table. good teaser maybe i should go back to school, but i'd get expelled the first day for talking back to the teachers.  |
Nellem   
Jul 06, 2006
| My poor chemistry knowledge knobbled me again  |
Webb 
Jul 06, 2006
| Very Good!  |
Badger   
Jul 06, 2006
| Great teaser. Had to flashback to HS chemistry class with Mr. Gosbee (a long time ago) because I don't carry the periodic table in my wallet. Had FlAsHION on the first cut. Fl must be Fluorine (a gas). Very fun and well written. Thanks! |
bradon182001   
Jul 06, 2006
| Good teaser.I didn't get it, but it was fun trying.  |
coachpisco 
Jul 06, 2006
| Instructions would have been better had you said that we were to use the INITIALS of the elements and not the words themselves.  |
shawneeo   
Jul 06, 2006
| That was OK, I didnt get them all, waaaa!!! I don't think it was clear that it was the periodic table symbol or abbreviation that was used for the answer, instead of just the first letter in each name. Aside from that its well done, specially for science geeks! Thanks!  |
locutus13ds  
Jul 06, 2006
| I didn't get the answer, but did get some of the elements. Not a science major.  |
kcheer2493  
Jul 06, 2006
| Cute. Not my favorite kind of teaser, but good anyway
This is kiond of irrelevant, but how do you get more points?  |
eyenowhour  
Jul 06, 2006
| Clever teaser. I really liked it. |
lushchick82   
Jul 06, 2006
| This was a wonderful teaser. I learned someting new and had fun while learning it.  |
Neek   
Jul 06, 2006
| I liked this one even though I didn't get it. Good job. |
iteachkids   
Jul 06, 2006
| UCH, my brain hurts!!! |
Pizzazz2u   
Jul 06, 2006
| OMG! When you spell it out for ALL of us, How can you NOT get the answer? A very imaginative and ingenius teaser. Keep up the dynamic work!  |
blivia 
Jul 06, 2006
|  |
vlerma   
Jul 06, 2006
| Thanks for coming right back with another Watson teaser Jimbo. This one I got. Don't know why this was easy when I so completely lost the first one. Great job.  |
speedqueenkmw   
Jul 06, 2006
| This was only my second try at a teaser so didn't really know what I was looking for but i did get most of the answers just didn't put it all together. Next time. Good job. |
cox_94   
Jul 06, 2006
| I'm not quite familar with the the formulas and abbreviations so I did not understand this teaser... But it was very well written!  |
c_rae   
Jul 06, 2006
| I came close to getting it, but not quite close enough!
This is a great teaser!  |
kittyloverhan22   
Jul 06, 2006
| Dang that was a good one! |
RRAMMOHAN   
Jul 06, 2006
| Worked backwards from the last 3 lines and could guess' fashion'. A bit of recall from science school days (though I couldnt remember all the symbols), and the answer was confirmed! Lucky guesswork, I thought!!! A very good teaser. Took me quite some time, but the effort was worth it. Well composed rhyming clues too. Thanks for making us think.  |
Bastet  
Jul 06, 2006
| It was easy once I got the abbreviation for fluorine correct. (I had an "l" that didn't belong). Oh, yeah, and remembering that arsenic is As, not Ar (which is argon). 
I liked this. |
Trishgal   
Jul 06, 2006
| Very Good  |
lmurray   
Jul 07, 2006
| BU CUO! HEN RONGYI (NOT BAD, VERY EASY)  |
teasermaster  
Jan 03, 2007
| I got it, but not using elements, i used the last line which gave it away
Nice teaser!  |
Psychic_Master   
Jul 06, 2009
| Haha love the style in this teaser.
I agree that the last line sort of gave it away though.  |
crazy10man   
Jul 06, 2009
| Very clever |
doehead   
Jul 06, 2009
| Well written ,but I agree the last line gave it away. .But it was way over SHANNMO'S head.  |
patiencewithaP   
Jul 06, 2009
| Got the different elements and figured out fashion by the last line...but didn't think how to put the two together. Good teaser!  |
tahomac   
Jul 06, 2009
| I got all the elements but i could'nt get fashion |
shannmo    
Jul 06, 2009
| is that all you got doehead? Ithought this was supposed to be a war.
167 yeah right. |
UptheHill  
Jul 06, 2009
| Very nice, for someone who thinks these up!!!  |
2thGirl   
Jul 06, 2009
| I totally got the element answers right but I had no idea what the last part was! I didn't realize I was supposed to string the first letters together to come up with another word...  |
tova_l   
Jul 08, 2009
| Great teaser...please post more!  |
iapyx  
Jul 14, 2009
| very cool teaser, post some more! |
HABS2933   
Jul 06, 2012
| Wow, had to dig waaaay back in my memory bank to access the high school chemistry that I learned more years ago than I'd care to admit. Was able to recall enough to be able to solve the puzzle. A great puzzle as usual |
Babe 
Jul 06, 2012
| Although I knew all the elements, I have to agree with coachpisco. Should have said to use the abbrieviations to find the answer. |
pegmckpt
Jul 06, 2012
| Very nice--a little bit of science trivia and a little bit of lateral thinking to come up with the final answer.
Shame when people complain that you didn't spoon feed them the answer with a "better" hint or instruction.
after all, isn't that the point of these exercises--to stretch our minds a bit? |
iggy39   
Jul 06, 2012
| Very clever I got the answers but not the fashion, I forgot about it. Duh  |
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