A U-Solve-It Enigma
I've never posted a U-Solve-it mystery before but find it presently unavoidable. It was perpetrated yesterday by wife, Norma, and photogenic accomplice, Darwin Doorbooger. It consists of 3 photos taken with her cell phone which --1st clue-- has no setting for selective focusing. And yet...
...there is Darwin in crystal clarity with soft-focus geraniums beyond.
I spent well over 30 years in high school (as student and gardener, what did you think? Oh how could you?) and am very well educated, yet I could only guess she'd coaxed Darwin indoors and onto a window overlooking...no, we have no geraniums blooming window height (second clue).
Another photo:
These are not products of trick-photography --notice my fingers never leave my hands. Here is the closing photo and a final clue from the master of deductive reasoning, Sherlock Holmes:
"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth"--Arthur Conan Doyle.
Hope you have as much fun with this puzzle as I did. Theories, comments, questions and opinions welcome!
Theo Thunderbutt and I used our enigma solving powers and came to the following conclusion, friend Geo: The geranium background looks suspiciously like a canvas … sooo we think it's safe to say that Darwin Doorbooger is lounging on a work of art … Love, cat.
ReplyDeleteExcellent conclusion, dear Cat (and Theo), in the right direction!
DeleteCertainly, there is an impression of weave in the photos, as with canvas. But I wonder whether the background is a print on material, like curtains for example?
ReplyDeleteYes Tom, there is just a suggestion of warp and weft under Darwin. It is a shower curtain. Very perceptive.
DeleteHmmm, I'm guessing that a garden-loving fella like you just might have a welcome mat featuring flowers. And seeing's as how it's a welcome mat, ol' Darwin felt perfectly welcome to relax there for a spell.
ReplyDeleteDear Susan, Norma hung the shower curtain out overnight and found Darwin had made a bed where it folded under the clothesline. Your take is quite close.
DeleteIs Dear Darwin haning on a screen????
ReplyDeleteDelores, that's exactly what I thought when Norma sent me the photos, so I asked her. She just quietly said "no" and let me keep guessing. She finally had to tell me the next day.
DeleteElementary my dear. There is a nice flower arrangement sitting on a lovely table near the window. Darwin saw it and decided to take a closer look. He affixed himself to the window. Norma spied him peeking through the glass. She ran outside to snap the pictures.
ReplyDeleteThat's a plausible solution that never occurred to me, Emma. I like it!
DeleteAhhhh! An anti-mosquito screen, OSC?
ReplyDeleteTom, Darwin often hangs onto window screens to pounce upon houseflies --when you're only 1/2 inch long gravity is nearly meaningless.
DeleteI'll go with the screen idea. Great photo. I love geraniums.
ReplyDeleteThank You, Susan, from both of us. The geraniums are printed on the shower curtain. We've owned it for years but I was still stumped.
DeleteI was going to guess, one of Norma's skirts or blouses.
ReplyDeleteGood guess, Mevely! Only the scale of the fabric is under-estimated. However, I do like the idea of geranium -print clothing.
DeleteI enlarged the first picture and thought I saw a screen texture and figured Darwin is outside on a screen and is looking in at a picture. Then I enlarged the other two and the texture looked like a rug I have. If it was a rug, though, you would have recognized it right away and not questioned it. Hmmm, maybe, Darwin is on a glass table and is looking down to a picture underneath. Naw, that’s not it. I give up. That is all the brain cells I can use today. At my age, I have to ration them carefully.
ReplyDeleteWe do have a glass-topped table in the yard, Arleen, and I went out and checked for geraniums under it. Found none. By that time I was beyond rationing my neurons.
DeleteHah! I'm going with a flowery picnic tablecloth as background :)
ReplyDeleteWhy is it that so many tiny things are cute, but the larger sizes of them somehow are not??
Very close, Jenny! As to tiny things: Darwin is definitely cute as a button and is sometimes mistaken for one.
DeleteHah, Geo! I came late to your post, so I had the benefit of reading the answers! I was thinking fabric myself, but I was clueless as to how Norma enticed Darwin onto it. I especially like the middle image because it has such a feeling of depth ~ Like Darwin is falling into the geranium leaves like a gliding squirrel coming in for a landing in a tree! Norma's photos always put a smile on my face! Take care, my friend!
ReplyDeleteDear Louise, thank you. I've relayed your compliment to Norma (will do same to Darwin when he turns up again). Darwin doesn't need any enticement other than bite-sized bugs and a folded tarp or (in this case) shower curtain to snuggle in at night --you may have noticed Darwin is a nudist. We wouldn't want him to freeze his microscopic butt off!
DeleteThe photos are amazing, but I couldn't solve the riddle...
ReplyDeleteI couldn't solve it either, Ana, until Norma told me how she did it.
DeleteI have no better guess to offer than what has been suggested, unless he is on a mirror or glass that is reflecting the beautiful print. Whatever the solution to this riddle, I am fascinated by the feeling or perception of "depth" between Darwin and the Geraniums. Nice visuals!
ReplyDeleteRelayed your generous comment to Norma, Tom. Thank You. Coincidentally, I just now got out of the shower where I saw I had a little company. Transported him outdoors by the cup-and-card method to pursue a more rewarding life.
Deletethere is real magic at play here.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, the magic of good minds --electrochemical concerts of neurons-- unbaffling a world. They're well-represented here. I welcome yours.
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