h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Twelve modern American riddles I just came across. I don’t have the answers, but they should be obvious, and I’ve spotted some of the easier ones.

Over to you…


1. “Scandal: Montana” this word might suggest, but foul-mouthed invective describes me the best

2. Cat abuse? dog abuse? my name might suggest, but fleet-footed canine describes me the best

3. A diamond? a fake! my name might suggest, but symbol of Ireland describes me the best

4. “Unconscious unconscious” my name seems to say, but it’s clear I am neither cloudy or gray

5. “This little piggy” my name might suggest, but unproven story describes me the best

6. Instructions for Brutus my name might suggest, but Jewish philosopher tags me the best

7. “Girl with bikini!” my name might suggest, but Biblical reading describes me the best

8. “Reagan campaign slogan” I might suggest, but in nuclear orbit I’m never at rest

9. “Anticipate speeches” this word might suggest, but televised ballplayers show these are best

10. “Query relations” my name might suggest, but post-midnight carriage describes me the best

11. “Country of beavers” my name might suggest, but consignment to Sheol describes me the best

12. “What golfers do first” my name might suggest, but a spot for sitting describes me the best


Icy

Number 3 is Shamrock.

Number 12 is Settee.

I'll try to get to more of them later, since I'm supposed to be working...

But:
1. Billingsgate?

11. Damnation

They all look good

2. Whippet?

<BB<

Yes, I had that too.

7 might be missal [Miss Sal]
It's a Biblical reading, and it could be a comely young woman

8 is electron

[elect Ron]

4 might be blue sky.

5 is Bigfoot

6 is Maemonides

10 is pumpkin

I agree for 6, 8 and 10.

For 7, why would Miss Sal indicate a bikini? The nearest I've come so far is Rachel (for Raquel), but I know that's wrong.

And for 4, I can't link 'blue sky' to the "unconscious unconscious" clue.

5. Bigfoot is interesting, but you'd normally play "this little piggy" on a small foot, not a big one. It's better than anything I've come up with, though.

4 is complicated. I refer you to this link:

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/07/no-doubt-many-of-us-have-all-experienced-a-situation-where-after-long-hours-of-trying-to-solve-a-cer.html

It concerns using the unconscious mind to solve problems.

There is also this link

https://books.google.com/books?id=OtEsCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT25&lpg=PT25&dq=%22blue+sky%22+unconscious&source=bl&ots=rTavVopeZ4&sig=jp6G2aYKBJpszygsz_UBDbgZ21w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiYnpnN_uDKAhVIZCYKHfC6D0MQ6AEIHzAB#v=onepage&q=%22blue%20sky%22%20unconscious&f=false

which doesn't allow cutting and pasting, so I have to manually type out the conenction:

"you need meditation which is the method to clear clean the mind conditioning the ego, the the unconscious, in meditation you get center into your inner being and simultaneous into your witness consciousness... and live only a pure witnessing like a blue sky without clouds."

I'm sticking with Bigfoot. A big foot can still have a little toe.

9 might be forecast. A golfer would say "Fore" before he cast the golf ball. One might also make a forecast about what a speech might be about.

Ah, blue sky thinking. Yes, I see where you're coming from, but it doesn't fit the 'single word puns' that are the other answers, so I'm still not convinced.

Incidentally, Paulh, you might be interested in this from the same source. It’s one of the earliest known American riddles, from Samuel Danforth’s ‘An Almanack for the Year of Our Lord 1647’, published in Cambridge, Massachusetts:

The wooden Birds are now in sight,
Whose voices roare, whose wings are white,
Whose mawes are fill’d with hose and shooes,
With wine, cloth, sugar, salt and newes,
When they have eas’d their stomacks here
They cry, farewell until next yeare.