The riddle I tell people is long;
They seem to listen well.
For if it's not listened to by them,
They'll see the things I tell.
This might be one expert jest,
Yet friendly to viewers it is;
In this zippy type of poem
The word I wish for is ...
Although the title of the problem isn't the answer, I believe it was meant to be a hint and that the final solution to this problem lies in examining the disappearance of key letters in the alphabet. This is corroborated by the riddle in that when you hear it spoken aloud (lines 2-3), you can't easily visualize that it contains all but five letters of the alphabet. You can, however, "see the things" (line 4) he tells when you see it clearly in written form. Furthermore, QUACK is the only word that you can form from those remaining letters making it a unique solution.
The real clincher for me is how out of place the words "expert" and "zippy" seem to be. If e.g.'s stab is correct, the most probable reason these arbitrary adjectives were chosen is to rid 'x' and 'z' off the list.
Although the sign language alternative was brilliant in its own right, I don't think it's the answer to this riddle. Sorry Penny, I have to go with e.g. on this one. I think the solution is QUACK.
Edited on March 29, 2004, 9:42 am
I'm with e.g. on this one:
