this post was submitted on 16 Oct 2025
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Riddles

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Answer these riddles and the esophagus will let you pass.

Riddles for 'Lemmy'winks.

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The microwave is on, defrosting a chicken dinner. From the bedroom, his wife shouts out, “Hi sweetie, could you have a look at the microwave and tell me how much time there’s left?” He immediately runs out and calls 911, informing them that his wife’s in danger. Why??

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[–] TheLeadenSea@sh.itjust.works 10 points 4 months ago

This isn't a riddle, this is an ambiguous short story with many possible explanations. Riddles are supposed to hint to a single, correct answer. Also, they're generally not in the form of stories, although rarely they can be.

[–] vladmech@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Time was set to 911 and not started is my guess.

[–] StarvingMartist@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)
[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Your riddle states the microwave is on, defrosting a chicken dinner, meaning it's actively running. All modern microwaves count down from the entered cook time. This design is reinforced by the woman asking how much time is left on it. The riddle is poorly worded.

It would have made more sense if she turned out to be deathly allergic to chicken.

[–] TootSweet@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

Yeah, if "the microwave was on and defrosting" had been left out, that would have been less misleading.

[–] procrastitron@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

The best guess I can think of but it doesn’t feel right

The fact that he ran out before calling 911 makes me think the danger is a gas leak, but I’m not sure how the microwave would figure into it.

[–] vatlark@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

Maybe...

Tap for spoilerThey don't own a microwave. She was suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning so she was calling the oven, which was leaking gas, a microwave.

[–] cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Nobody has ever solved this directly and it's likely OP did not post this looking for someone to provide the answer for them to confirm/deny (which explains why they haven't commented on the four comments that have been up for hours) but rather are looking for the answer themselves and are hoping more clever people will know it, even though their google searches have turned up nothing.

[–] StarvingMartist@sh.itjust.works 3 points 4 months ago

What a snarky reply

[–] phonics@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I suppose he misread something on the microwave display. But i dont use a microwave enough to know what it could say.

Perhaps they are vegetarians.