Defused

If you haven't read yesterday's post, read now or forfeit the fun of deciphering a first-timer's attempt at writing riddles.

Riddle 1

The order of the wires: yellow, green, blue, orange

The riddle: "My primary focus is avoiding compliments."

Answer: yellow

This riddle centers around the color wheel and there are two (similar) thought processes to arrive at the correct solution.

First, the word "primary" is meant to suggest one of the three traditional subtractive primary colors (yellow, red, blue).  The phrase "avoiding compliments" is meant to suggest that the complimentary color that pairs with the color of interest is not present.  Only two primary colors exist here: yellow and blue.  Orange is blue's compliment, so the yellow wire is the correct wire.

The solution can also be found without realizing that the correct wire is a primary color.  Blue and orange are a complimentary color pair.  "Avoiding compliments" suggests that the wire we're looking for is not physically near the blue or orange wires.  The green wire is sitting next to the blue wire, so the yellow wire is the only possible answer.

Riddle 2

The order of the wires: blue, yellow, purple, red

The riddle: "I live in a well-known circle with all of my best primary and secondary friends.  Including myself, our circle numbers six.  Today, my neighbors are absent, and I seem to be the only one receiving any compliments."

Answer: yellow

The first two sentences suggest a color wheel consisting of only the primary and secondary colors.  Starting from yellow and traveling clockwise, this wheel would include the following colors: yellow, orange, red, purple, blue, green.  "... my neighbors are absent" suggests that the two colors that sandwich the color we're looking for as they exist on the color wheel are NOT present.  "... I seem to be the only one receiving any compliments." suggests that the color that forms a complimentary pair with the color we're looking for IS present.  With the six possible colors written out, it's easy to see that orange and green (yellow's neighbors) are absent while purple (yellow's compliment) is present.  Thus, the yellow wire is the correct wire.

Cheers,

Danny