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Masked men

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ElChino

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Dec 27, 2009, 6:25:49 PM12/27/09
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I thought this little riddle would jog your mind a bit:

A man ran from home, took a left turn, ran for a short
while, then took another left turn, ran another distance, then turned
left and ran home. There were two men wearing masks waiting for
him. Who were these masked men do you think?

I'll post the single-word answer tomorrow if not someone beats
me to it.

Virgil

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Dec 27, 2009, 7:43:57 PM12/27/09
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In article <4b37ecfe$1...@news.broadpark.no>, "ElChino" <e...@users.cnn.cn>
wrote:

The ref and the catcher.

Sebastian Tombs

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Dec 27, 2009, 8:49:11 PM12/27/09
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In article <Virgil-754031....@bignews.usenetmonster.com>,
Virgil <Vir...@home.esc> wrote:

Eskimos.

ElChino

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Dec 28, 2009, 3:37:09 AM12/28/09
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"Virgil" <Vir...@home.esc> wrote:

>> I thought this little riddle would jog your mind a bit:
>>
>> A man ran from home, took a left turn, ran for a short
>> while, then took another left turn, ran another distance, then turned
>> left and ran home. There were two men wearing masks waiting for
>> him. Who were these masked men do you think?
>>
>> I'll post the single-word answer tomorrow if not someone beats
>> me to it.
>
> The ref and the catcher.

If you mean the catcher and the umpire, you're correct. I was referring
to baseball.

Publisher

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Dec 28, 2009, 10:04:30 AM12/28/09
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"ElChino" <e...@users.cnn.cn> wrote in message
news:4b386e37$1...@news.broadpark.no...

How do you know they WEREN'T Eskimos? **

**This response posted on USENET so that representatives from very rich but
dead relatives in Nigeria, or terminally-ill lottery winners in the UK may
easily contact me... I can SO use the money :)))))


ElChino

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Dec 28, 2009, 10:33:01 AM12/28/09
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"Publisher" <st...@jcm.com> wrote:

> How do you know they WEREN'T Eskimos? **

They could very well be, but then playing on e.g. Yankee stadium.
Greenland is not suited for baseball I think. But the eskimos do use
some kinds of baseball bat to club the seals....

Sebastian Tombs

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Dec 28, 2009, 11:33:31 AM12/28/09
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In article <4b38cfae$1...@news.broadpark.no>, "ElChino" <e...@users.cnn.cn>
wrote:

What I referred to was...

There are two places on this planet where you can head in a straight
line for a distance, torn left and head this way for a while, and turn
left and eventually wind up where you started.

The North Pole and the South Pole.

As there are no humans indigenous to the South Pole, that leaves the
North Pole as the location, with the Eskimos being the players....

ElChino

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Dec 28, 2009, 11:39:14 AM12/28/09
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"Sebastian Tombs" <Sim...@canada.com> wrote:

> What I referred to was...
>
> There are two places on this planet where you can head in a straight
> line for a distance, torn left and head this way for a while, and turn
> left and eventually wind up where you started.
>
> The North Pole and the South Pole.

Read the riddle again:

A man ran from home, took a left turn, ran for a short
while, then took another left turn, ran another distance, then turned
left and ran home. There were two men wearing masks waiting for
him. Who were these masked men do you think?

The runner did 3 left turns. On the north pole an eskimo would only
do 2 left-turns to get home.

Josh Holland

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Dec 28, 2009, 12:09:28 PM12/28/09
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On 2009-12-28, Sebastian Tombs <Sim...@canada.com> wrote:
> What I referred to was...
>
> There are two places on this planet where you can head in a straight
> line for a distance, torn left and head this way for a while, and turn
> left and eventually wind up where you started.
>
> The North Pole and the South Pole.

Rubbish. The riddle said nothing about the *angle* the runner turned
through. What you said is true about right angles, but not (in this
case) 60 degree ones.

See also the other followup re misreading the riddle.


--
Josh "dutchie" Holland <j...@joshh.co.uk>
http://joshh.co.uk
http://twitter.com/jshholland
http://identi.ca/jshholland

Sebastian Tombs

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Dec 28, 2009, 12:40:50 PM12/28/09
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In article <slrnhjhpi...@polaris.joshh.co.uk>,
Josh Holland <j...@joshh.co.uk> wrote:

> On 2009-12-28, Sebastian Tombs <Sim...@canada.com> wrote:
> > What I referred to was...
> >
> > There are two places on this planet where you can head in a straight
> > line for a distance, torn left and head this way for a while, and turn
> > left and eventually wind up where you started.
> >
> > The North Pole and the South Pole.
>
> Rubbish. The riddle said nothing about the *angle* the runner turned
> through. What you said is true about right angles, but not (in this
> case) 60 degree ones.
>
> See also the other followup re misreading the riddle.

Rubbish back at you. It is just as correct to assume 90 degrees as it
is to assume 60 degrees - what with no angle given. And where do you
get 60 degrees, anyhow? A rectangle or square has 360 degrees and with
the 4 sides that works out to 90 degrees each. A baseball diamond is
nothing but a square resting on a corner rather than a side.

I admit missing the number of turns - I'll blame that on the flu I am
currently enjoying - but the rest of my logic is faultless. :-)

Get nice day.

Josh Holland

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Dec 28, 2009, 1:59:02 PM12/28/09
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I simply meant that as the angle was unspecified, it was perfectly
possible for it to be 60 degrees, which would allow you to get back to
where you started in two turns.

What I wanted to say (though I could have phrased it better and less
inflammatorily) was that you couldn't infer that it was a pole since the
angle wasn't given.

Actually, thinking about it now, I'm not sure that being at the pole
would make any difference to the number of 90-degree turns it would take
to return back to your starting position. Ignoring the slight flattening
of the Earth due to its spin, the curvature is the same everywhere.
I have heard such a problem, but I think then the riddle is phrased in
terms of points of the compass rather than actual directions. I'm not
100% sure I'm right though.

Robert Macy

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Dec 28, 2009, 2:52:12 PM12/28/09
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catcher and umpire are TWO words

Patrick FitzGerald

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Dec 28, 2009, 7:47:20 PM12/28/09
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On Mon, 28 Dec 2009 09:37:09 +0100, "ElChino" <e...@users.cnn.cn> wrote:


>
>If you mean the catcher and the umpire, you're correct. I was referring
>to baseball.


The catcher in the rye


Patrick

candymanal

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Dec 28, 2009, 10:28:09 PM12/28/09
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I caught her, but what's a rye?
I've heard it called many things before, but never a rye.
i.e. Catch her in the rye.

Publisher

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Dec 29, 2009, 9:40:21 AM12/29/09
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"ElChino" <e...@users.cnn.cn> wrote in message
news:4b38cfae$1...@news.broadpark.no...

No- You're thinking of Eskimo golf.


dick blisters

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Jan 6, 2010, 7:31:10 AM1/6/10
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"candymanal" <candy...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:16d602bb-2b8d-45ed...@d20g2000yqh.googlegroups.com...

It's sort of like rolling in the clover.... only different.


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