Eclectic Views

    
neither simple nor obvious
  

    
In the riddle that begins "As I was going to Saint Ives" the correct
response is that insufficient information is provided to allow a
definitive answer.

Why?
  

    
Because the statement that the speaker met someone is unclear as to
whether they were going in the same or different directions?

Also, did that other person have all his wives and their belongings with
him, or was he traveling light?
  

    
And should we include the sacks in the count, as the line which pops back
out of the recursive spiral seems to indicate?
  

    
Also, I was going to observe that one is more likely to learn such detail
about the affairs of a fellow traveller if they were travelling in the
same direction, or else at a rest stop, in which case they might be
travelling either direction.  Even at a walking pace, the most one might
be expected to learn while passing this company going the other direction
is that there are seven heavily laden women accompanying a man, each of
them carrying a number of sacks, from which an uneartly noise issued, the
source of which might or might not be a large number of closely packed
cats and kittens.
  

    
Of course even if they were going the same direction at that time, their
destinations could still be different.
  

    
Quite so.  But, as must be quite clear to all by now, the smug answer "one"
is simply wrong.
  

    
Okay, I hate to be lame, but here I go.

Can you please post the whole riddle, since my addled middle aged
brain has forgotten how it goes.  Thank you in advance for your
assistance in caring for the weak of mind.
  

    
(So glad you asked! I was wondering too.)
  

    
Here's the version I recall.  Google searching on phrases may turn up
others:


As I was going to St. Ives
I met a man with seven wives.
Each wife had seven sacks.
Each sack had seven cats.
Each cat  had seven kits.
Kittens, cats, sacks, and wives,
How many were going to St. Ives? 


The "standard" answer is One, on the assumption that the word "met" 
implies the other person and his entourage is going the opposite 
direction, away from St. Ives.
  

    
Ha..I haven´t thought about that one in years, but I do associate that
with a specific age in my life..like around 5th grade when we were
beginning to learn math story problems, which I loved.  Therefore, I
remember trying to cleverly work out the math in this conundrum,
thinking it was just like the stuff my sadistic teachers at school were
making us do in class.  I think it was also one of the first times I
realized how easily we fall into assumptions when we don´t read things
carefully--We *assume* the important part is the section with the
numbers--because we were all drilled in those kinds of problems as
kids--but the answer actually hangs on one little word "as".
  

    
This Wikipedia article...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_I_Was_Going_to_St_Ives

lists three only slightly different variations.  The above arguments 
apply to all three.

> The "standard" answer is One, on the assumption that the word "met" 
> implies the other person and his entourage is going the opposite 
> direction, away from St. Ives.

Not the only example of standard answers which are nevertheless wrong.

In the interest of being seasonal, does anyone have a favorite Grinch 
riddle?
  

    
Jeez, I don't think I've ever even heard of a Grinch riddle.  But then
again, I come from a broken home and feel that's the cause of all my
social problems.
  

    
The story of Grinch, it turns around questions,
ranging from riddles to scurrilous suggestions.

An easy example of moderate cunning:
"Is your subzero chillerbrator running?"

While this set the stage for a scene quite overflowing with spice:
"Martha, have you ever kissed a man who lost his tonsils twice?"

This question first hinted of what was to be:
"If the Grinch was so bad, then why did he save me?"

Such a perplexed lass, was young Cindy Lou, to have such words to say:
"Where are you Christmas?  Why can't I find you?  Why have you gone away?"

The Grinch did frequently pose himself questions,
most were quizzical, but some self-deceptions.

When his plan to steal Christmas had clearly failed,
he gazed down on the town from his perch and railed:

"How could it be so?
"It came without ribbons.
"It came without tags.
"It came without packages, boxes, or bags."

As if deeply warmed by the dawning new day,
he cried, and he cried, and he had this to say:

"What's happening to me?
"I'm all toasty inside, and I'm leaking."

But before he'd a chance to think the thing through,
twas once again time to save young Cindy Lou.

And so in the end the Grinch became social,
the life of the party, humble yet boastful.
  

    
Four men sat down to play,
They played all night `till break of day.
They played for gold and not for fun
With separate scores for everyone,
When they came to square accounts,
They all had made quite fair amounts.
Can you the paradox explain,
In no one lost, how could all gain?

(courtesy of Mindtrap)
  

    <hidden>
  

    
By G-d I think he's got it?
  

    
Yes!! Chalk one up for Bubbles. 
  

    
"all had made quite fair amounts"

might cast some doubt on that answer!
  

    
They were *union* musicians.