A puzzle for old time's sake
Back in the day, I/we used to do quite a lot of these around here. In the modern internet world, it's harder and harder to post a puzzle that someone can't just search-engine through... so this is an original. As usual, the caveat applies: I think this is challenging but get-able, but I may well be misjudging its difficulty, in either direction.
As many of you know, I am something of a birdwatcher. A while back, we put up a new thistle seed feeder outside our house. As birds started to discover it, we (in keeping with our household) gave nicknames to the birds we started to see. The Puzzle: What nickname did we give to the second, larger, bird that became a regular at our new feeder? No, I don't intend to answer questions or anything... in theory, you have enough to noodle this one out. |
Norm
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Good guess.
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Lenny?
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Cartman
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Daddy
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Big Bird
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Big Norm
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Wait can I change my answer to 2/3?
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If not Norm, then Tiny
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Peewee
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Moose
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Quote:
I can't top that. Good guess. |
heybrad
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Nothing wrong with these guesses, but nothing in the right neck of the woods yet. I'll offer this... the correct answer would not be reachable just out of thin air, but only by taking and using some of the information that I have given you in the setup, and using it along with some degree of common sense.
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Tex
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According to the interwebs, thistle seed seems to attract finches.
So, I still got nothin', but maybe that's a clue. |
Bully
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Atticus
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Good one, Mike.
I'll guess Jem along those lines. |
Number Two or Will Riker
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Clark
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Sidd?
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Two-can
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Junior
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Dean Houston
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W.C. Fields (from My Little Chickadee)
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Big Blue
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Chicken Little
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Quote:
Okay, Mike made leap #2 in the chain. And this is the closest answer so far, at least in spirit. Wrong answer, but you have 2/3 of the logical steps on the way to the right answer. |
Boo?
Scout? |
Quote:
:+1: |
Operation Shutdown?
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Lennie Small
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Because of the household hint, it probably is something -issy or such, or a link to the color of the bird, or even a hint of the tweeting dialect of the bird. And there's another hint on the size of the bird. Usually the first birds to appear are the more assertive ones.
I'm not too familiar with the 'birdopedia' of Maryland, but something like "big bird" or something else from Sesame Street? "Oscar", maybe? |
Quote:
Okay, I will elaborate. Clue #1 was to figure out that the bird is a finch... check Clue #2 was to figure out that the first finch we start seeing is going to get nicknamed Atticus... check Clue #3 gets you home. |
Spartacus?
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Quote:
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David Spade
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Gregory Peck
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Quote:
That's actually better than what we came up with. Ours is more childish, and based on a clue embedded in the puzzle above. |
Scout, then?
Edit: Sorry, didn't see that as a guess above. What about Rufus? |
Howard Beale
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Childish and in the puzzle..
Fatticus? |
Jenny
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Quote:
Winnar. |
Luigi
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Jim Crow?
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The second finch started showing up a day or two after the first one, who we predictably has started calling Atticus. He was noticeably larger, looked sort of puffed-up (might have been feathers as much as anything) but in short order he was styled "Fatticus." *shurg*
All told, nice work, I think. I underestimated the number of more legitimate highbrow directions to go with the nicknames, but I don't think the clues were really untoward to get you there. |
All I know is that I want to start a bird sanctuary with every bird taking a name from this thread.
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