Brain Teasers
Group of Seven
Riddle
Riddles are little poems or phrases that pose a question that needs answering. Riddles frequently rhyme, but this is not a requirement.Riddle
My namesake's the fiery one
Earth's light source since it had begun
And I am the Earth's satellite
I'm much more visible at night
I'm the red planet, very cold
Supporting life in days of old?
My namesake comes from Mercury
Our midway point is reached with me
A massive gas giant am I
My moons did Galileo spy
Venus stands for love and beauty
With her approach you'll soon be free!
Anticipation our last brings
Beautifully adorned with his rings
What are we?
Earth's light source since it had begun
And I am the Earth's satellite
I'm much more visible at night
I'm the red planet, very cold
Supporting life in days of old?
My namesake comes from Mercury
Our midway point is reached with me
A massive gas giant am I
My moons did Galileo spy
Venus stands for love and beauty
With her approach you'll soon be free!
Anticipation our last brings
Beautifully adorned with his rings
What are we?
Hint
We are not the Solar System.Answer
the days of the weekThe answer is based on the etymologies (word origins) of the names of the days of the week as follows:
1. Sunday - day of the sun, Old English Sunnand[ae]g, from a West Germanic loan-translation of Latin dies solis "day of the sun".
2. Monday - day of the moon, Old English monand[ae]g, from a Common Germanic loan-translation of Late Latin Lun[ae] dies.
3. Tuesday - day of Mars, Old English Tiwesd[ae]g, from Proto-Germanic Tiwaz "god of the sky", differentiated specifically as Tiu, ancient Germanic god of war. The day name is a translation of Latin dies Martis "day of Mars", from the Roman god of war.
4. Wednesday - day of Mercury, Old English Wodnesd[ae]g "Woden's day", a Germanic loan-translation of Latin dies Mercurii "day of Mercury".
5. Thursday - day of Jupiter, Old English [Th]urresd[ae]g, perhaps a contraction of [Th]unresd[ae]g, literally "Thor's day", from a Proto-Germanic loan-translation of Latin Jovis dies "day of Jupiter", identified with the Germanic Thor.
6. Friday - day of Venus, Old English friged[ae]g "Frigga's day", Germanic goddess of married love, a West Germanic translation of Latin dies Veneris, "day of (the planet) Venus".
7. Saturday - Saturn's day, Old English S[ae]terd[ae]g, S[ae]ternesd[ae]g, a partial loan-translation of Latin Saturni dies "Saturn's day".
Note:
Each occurrence of "[ae]" above represents a grapheme called Ash which looks like the letters "a" and "e" merged together, and which, as a letter of the Old English Latin alphabet, was called "ash tree".
Each occurrence of "[Th]" above (see Thursday) represents the letter Thorn which looks sort of like a trumpet pointing up or down, and which is a letter in the Old English alphabet.
Given the above, each stanza of the poem represents its corresponding day of the week as follows:
1st stanza - Sunday: The fiery one is the sun.
2nd stanza - Monday: The Earth's (natural) satellite is the moon.
3rd stanza - Tuesday: Mars is commonly referred to as "the red planet". Currently, scientific evidence is being sought for any previous (or current) life that may have (or does) exist(ed) on Mars.
4th stanza - Wednesday: If Sunday is considered to be the first day of the week, then the midpoint of the week falls on Wednesday. Some refer to it as "Hump day" (because the "hump" is the halfway point of the week). The French word for Wednesday is "Mercredi" - notice the similarity in spelling between "Mercury" and "Mercredi".
5th stanza - Thursday: Jupiter is known as a "gas giant" (because of its gaseous composition). Galileo Galilei discovered Jupiter's four large moons in 1610.
6th stanza - Friday: From Venus - the goddess of beauty and love in ancient Roman mythology. Also, the end of the work week is typically on Friday, thus making people "free" to enjoy the weekend upon completion of their work this day.
7th stanza - Saturday: This is the last member of the "Group of Seven". Many anticipate the arrival of the weekend, which begins on Saturday. The rings are the rings of Saturn.
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Comments
Very cool and well researched, I like it
AHHHH
A riddle inside a riddle... ...inside a riddle!!!
Riddleception
A riddle inside a riddle... ...inside a riddle!!!
Riddleception
I really enjoyed this one so I'll be giving it a full star and average difficulty,because the first two parts and also number 7 kind of gave it away... Good job anyway
I really enjoyed this one so I'll be giving it a full star and average difficulty,because the first two parts and also number 7 kind of gave it away... Good job anyway
I never would have guessed this.
Ohh, now i get it. i didn't get it at first though
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