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Thursday, August 15, 2019

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!

28 comments:

  1. 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.

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    1. Excellent conclusion, dear Cat (and Theo), in the right direction!

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  2. Certainly, 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?

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    1. Yes Tom, there is just a suggestion of warp and weft under Darwin. It is a shower curtain. Very perceptive.

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  3. Hmmm, 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.

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    1. Dear 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.

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    1. Delores, 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.

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  5. Elementary 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.

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    1. That's a plausible solution that never occurred to me, Emma. I like it!

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  6. Ahhhh! An anti-mosquito screen, OSC?

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    1. Tom, Darwin often hangs onto window screens to pounce upon houseflies --when you're only 1/2 inch long gravity is nearly meaningless.

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  7. I'll go with the screen idea. Great photo. I love geraniums.

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    1. Thank 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.

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  8. I was going to guess, one of Norma's skirts or blouses.

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    1. Good guess, Mevely! Only the scale of the fabric is under-estimated. However, I do like the idea of geranium -print clothing.

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  9. I 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.

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    1. We 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.

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  10. Hah! I'm going with a flowery picnic tablecloth as background :)

    Why is it that so many tiny things are cute, but the larger sizes of them somehow are not??

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    1. Very close, Jenny! As to tiny things: Darwin is definitely cute as a button and is sometimes mistaken for one.

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  11. Hah, 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!

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    1. Dear 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!

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  12. The photos are amazing, but I couldn't solve the riddle...

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    1. I couldn't solve it either, Ana, until Norma told me how she did it.

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  13. I 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!

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    1. Relayed 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.

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  14. Replies
    1. Indeed, the magic of good minds --electrochemical concerts of neurons-- unbaffling a world. They're well-represented here. I welcome yours.

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