Brain Teasers
Mystery Wheel
A wheel with ten holes,
No lugs to see;
Numbers with letters,
Mostly with three.
Spin me, spin me,
Again and again;
Though I always return,
You can still reach a friend.
What is being described?
No lugs to see;
Numbers with letters,
Mostly with three.
Spin me, spin me,
Again and again;
Though I always return,
You can still reach a friend.
What is being described?
Answer
A rotary telephone.The dial on a rotary telephone has 10 holes. If this were a wheel on a car, you would fit the holes over the lugs on the hub. Each hole is for a number, 1 through 0. Letters are assigned to most of the numbers. Most of the numbers have three letters assigned. As you dial each number of a telephone number, the dial returns counterclockwise. After completing the dialing, you could reach your friend (or anybody else).
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Comments
I like this one. Very easy, but a good one.
Although I do have a couple of nitpicks on this one.
The answer, being the "narrator" of the riddle, is the dial on a rotary phone, not the entire rotary phone.
The last two lines are of the form "Though ____, ____." The two blanks should contain things that seem to be opposing, at least a little bit, yet are both true. Am I missing something, or do the two clauses have absolutely no conflict, nor appearance thereof, whatsoever?
The answer, being the "narrator" of the riddle, is the dial on a rotary phone, not the entire rotary phone.
The last two lines are of the form "Though ____, ____." The two blanks should contain things that seem to be opposing, at least a little bit, yet are both true. Am I missing something, or do the two clauses have absolutely no conflict, nor appearance thereof, whatsoever?
I thought this was very clever!
Oh, I thought it was a yo-yo. I guess that's why I was confused about the "hole" part.
eighsse, the apparent contradiction in the last two lines is that the connection is eventually completed even though the dial keeps returning after each step (suggesting an incomplete transaction).
When I can guess the answer as quickly as I did, then you know the teaser is a very easy one. Don't know why anyone could miss it.
Like the phone at grandma's house. I wonder how many "youngsters" will pick up on this one.
jaycr, I was thinking the same thing. You have to be "of an certain age" to be able to get this riddle. We had a few rotary hones when I was a kid so I am familiar with them, but doubt many under 35 would have a clue what one was.
My parents have an old phone with the crank and separate ear and mouth pieces that was converted into a rotary dial phone, as far as I know it still works
My parents have an old phone with the crank and separate ear and mouth pieces that was converted into a rotary dial phone, as far as I know it still works
Oh, now that was just plain fun!
If you don't know this one within 5 seconds, you are very young.
I agree with Cutebug. There are probably a lot of young people that have never seen a rotary phone. I still have one, but it will work for either rotary or touch tone.
Cute, but very easy.
@spikethru4: That makes sense. I still don't consider, in general, a disk's returning to a default position as something that will probably seclude me from my friends. But I get it. Acceptable, but less than ideal.
@HABS2933: Completely agree with this sentiment, but I think you may be a few years off. I'm 24, and I am very aware of rotary phones. Not that I necessarily represent typical 24-year-olds, but if you took a survey of all ages, to find the age at which exactly 50% are aware of rotary phones, I would be shocked if it's greater than 25. I would put the over/under at 19. But I could always be the one who is way off!
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