Larry Curly and Moh
Mystery teasers are little stories where you need to figure out what happened based on the given clues.
Four men met in a bar, and they soon found that all four of them had been to the Amazon Jungle. After a few more beers, they also realized that they had all been captured at least once, by fierce natives who ruled amazing fortresses. They soon got around to talking about their experiences, and their escapes. The first man said, "Well, I was once caught by natives who ruled a diamond palace. They caught me and took me to their king. He decreed that I was to die in one month. They threw me into a cell. Thank God that they didn't take my equipment. I had stolen a quartz file from one of the natives. I filed away the bars (it had curtains so they couldn't see) and escaped mere hours before I was to die."
The second man said, "I was also captured, but they took me to a simple copper structure. I did not have any such luxury of a month to escape, instead, a single day. Luckily they did not count on my desperation, and I was able to claw my way out of there using only my fingernails and pure adrenaline."
The third man said, "I was taken to the most amazing fortress of all. It was made out of black topaz. I was also the smartest of all of you," he bragged, "for I had brought with me a steel file. I was out in a jiff, and I was able to steal some of the topaz as well," he said as he showed everyone a piece of topaz hanging from a string around his neck.
The fourth man had been looking amused at the first and second men's stories, but as the third man finished he threw up his head and laughed. The other three men were looking slightly peeved, and asked him what he found so funny. He declared that they were all liars, and he could prove it.
How could he prove it, and when did each of the three men lie?
HintThe title is a fine hint.
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Answer
The first man couldn't have filed away the bars, because if it actually was a diamond palace as he said, quartz wouldn't even leave a scratch.
The second man was closest of all, but still lying. Fingernails are very close to, but not as hard as, copper, so he couldn't get out, no matter how desperate he was.
The third man had lied most of all. First of all there is no such thing as natural black topaz (it was probably obsidian). Also he made the same mistake as all the others, for a steel file is not as hard as topaz, and would not do anything to the topaz.
In the Mohs scale of mineral hardness:
2.5- Fingernail
3- Copper
6.5- Steel File
7- Quartz
8- Topaz
10- Diamond
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Comments
kcheer2493  
Jul 22, 2006
| that was well thought out and creative. Great work I liked it
I'm the first comment! |
packerfan
Jul 22, 2006
| I think that you have way too much time on your hands !! |
medster99 
Jul 22, 2006
| I meant to have this be the first comment. But anyway.
The teaser is dedicated to my 9th grade Earth and Space Honors teacher, Mr. D |
puppygirl1213   
Jul 22, 2006
| this is cool but, shouldn't this be in science? |
medster99 
Jul 22, 2006
| Its fits in both. In this teaser, you need to find out why the guy laughed, based off the given clues. |
Punk_Rocker   
Jul 22, 2006
| We just learned that in science at the end of the year, so I got it.
Very well thought out, I liked it. |
GebbieRose   
Jul 22, 2006
| Mr. D would be proud of you.  |
monkeygrl99   
Jul 23, 2006
| Yeah! |
grungy49   
Jul 23, 2006
| Nice! That was well thought out. I knew that there was no such thing as natural black topaz and I know that diamond is the strongest mineral but I didn't get the copper one. That was a good teaser  |
loopydoopy_52  
Jul 27, 2006
| That was a great teaser
But I didn't get it  |
AZTTT  
Jul 31, 2006
| Nicely done! Today, I learned about Moh's  |
rkaaland   
Aug 01, 2006
| I really enjoyed this one, what is the Moh's scale of hardness for Teeth though?  |
Club33   
Aug 01, 2006
| The whole Moh thing threw mw off... I had the right answer (except for there not being natural black topaz) but thought that couldn't be it because I didn't see where Moh fit in...
Good teaser, I enjoyed it!! |
Write2Right   
Aug 05, 2006
| Very easy but very fun, keep them coming! |
nikle   
Aug 08, 2006
| very good teaser!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
vbguy101   
Aug 16, 2006
| So THAT"S what you meant by "look at the title"! |
didida   
Aug 17, 2006
| I didn't get it oh well. Great teaser! |
JazzyJas   
Aug 22, 2006
| very clever. good job! |
Infrared  
Sep 27, 2006
| I got the first and last, but I had always heard that copper was really soft, so I didn't think that was it.
Good teaser! |
babygrl329  
Oct 07, 2006
| nice one |
luisVGA  
Nov 03, 2006
| llllloooooooonnnnng and boring!srry |
NicoletheElf 
Nov 10, 2006
| I thought that this was very interesting. Nice job!  |
celtic_knot 
Nov 20, 2006
| That was great! |
poison_ivy  
Nov 24, 2006
| That was fun, especially since I got it as soon as the first guy said quartz file. XD |
QTkate  
Jan 10, 2007
| ahhhh....well iono that was real hard for my lil brain 2 handle lol but 4 real how did u come up wit dat pplz im beggin u GET A LIFE |
choptlivva   
Jan 16, 2007
| I recognized that the methods of escape were phony because of the hardness factor, but I didn't know the specifics! Good job!
QTkate, your comment is pathetic. I suggest that you go back to school and learn to write a sentence before attempting a comment on a site that requires one to use his/her BRAIN. |
adiddie48   
Jan 18, 2007
| Wow that was really kool. I never would have guessed the outcome |
d-babes 
Jan 18, 2007
| I ACTUALLY GOT ONE YOURS ADDS 5 TO MY LIST OF RIDDLES IVE GOTTEN YAY SOOOOOOOOOOOO HAPPY |
swiftfox  
Jan 28, 2007
| That was fun. It was hard, too (although I'm not sure whether I intend the pun or not. ^_^ ). |
McBobby1212  
Mar 02, 2007
| wow, it was clever and smart. probley one of my favorties! |
Madelulabelle   
Mar 12, 2007
| Yay! I got it! And I haven't gotten that far in science yet!  |
TheClaus  
Apr 01, 2007
| yeah i got it. we r just now learning about this stuff in science class. |
Hummingbird1   
May 19, 2007
| nice job  |
fairydust   
Aug 02, 2007
| when i looked at the title, all i thought was that you spelled 'Mo' wrong! that was a cool and scientific teaser! |
(user deleted)
Aug 24, 2007
| That was fun, but I knew they were lying from the point where I read the guy getting out of a diamond palace with quartz |
friesaregood   
Nov 18, 2007
| Oi. It has been like 3 years since I learned that. Lol, still fun, though. |
rt1819   
Nov 19, 2007
| Really fun and creative! This was a great teaser...but what about the fact all four men were drunk?  |
medster99 
Nov 23, 2007
| haha, i suppose that that would play a major part! |
Starbuck   
Apr 14, 2008
| I didn't even think about the hardness, I haven't taken a science class in ages. I just thought it was the "black" topaz.  |
sourdough
Jul 09, 2008
| This soitanlee is a fine puzzle. Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk! 
$D  |
MegRen 
Apr 20, 2009
| Way cute. I didn't quite get the answer, but I was on the right track. Good job!! |
precious1026   
Apr 10, 2010
| Good Teaser.  |
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