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Listen, friends, and now you may hear

Of one magician most peculiar,

No cards, no hats, just an object of choice,

They select, and now heed their prominent voice:

"Comrades, allies, throughout all the land!

"Should I now demonstrate my sleight of hand?"

With a wave of the wrist, an action not bold,

They make their humble item worth tenfold.

Now, myself baffled, I riddle you this:

How did they do it? What is amiss?

Clarification 9.4.2019:

There have been many creative answers submitted on the basis of the riddle stating 'tenfold' precisely. The riddle was intended so that 'tenfold' wasn't important to the solution could easily be replaced with 'sixfold', 'eightfold', etc.

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  • $\begingroup$ A comment: this riddle was intended to have a very specific answer, but I erred. $\endgroup$
    – Cloudy7
    Sep 5, 2019 at 22:30

13 Answers 13

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As a new member my answer is shameless.

The magician provided their autograph from being famous.

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  • $\begingroup$ This was the intended answer, yes! The magician I spoke of was intended to be a figurative one, but I think I didn’t get that point across. $\endgroup$
    – Cloudy7
    Sep 5, 2019 at 3:58
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Although my answer is probably worst
in order of posting it is the first.

Behold, I hold up a letter V
give an eighth of a turn and you will see
Now I am holding what looks like an L
from 5 to 50, Roman numerals do swell.

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  • $\begingroup$ Wow. I didn't even think that "worth" could have been interpreted in this way, and "tenfold" was intended to be a vague general number. But yes, this is a perfectly valid answer, although it's different from mine! (Also, great rhyming and creativity!) $\endgroup$
    – Cloudy7
    Sep 5, 2019 at 3:33
  • $\begingroup$ But that's not L, it's ∠ $\endgroup$
    – BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft
    Sep 5, 2019 at 8:45
  • $\begingroup$ @BlueRaja-DannyPflughoeft - it's the V that you should redraw (the angles depend on font) $\endgroup$
    – amI
    Sep 6, 2019 at 1:26
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My answer is:

He wrote a zero at the end of a number

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  • $\begingroup$ I like this answer, particularly if there was a dollar sign in close vicinity. $\endgroup$
    – Bass
    Sep 4, 2019 at 15:05
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    $\begingroup$ If this is the case, I think the item is a (rot13) purpx $\endgroup$
    – Usernome
    Sep 4, 2019 at 21:00
  • $\begingroup$ I never thought of something so physical as your answer, but I suppose it definitely works! As stated above, "tenfold" was intended to be vaguely general, and "ninefold" would have worked just as well. $\endgroup$
    – Cloudy7
    Sep 5, 2019 at 3:53
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"Step behind the curtain",
they exclaimed in proud voice,
"The secret to my magic is...

The Axiom of Choice.

For

a sphere can be copied,
arbitrarily,
with the simple construction,
of Banach-Tarski"

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  • $\begingroup$ Nice technical interpretation! Although you'd need to do that process several times, and successfully completing the task would certainly be quite bold, as no one has done it before. $\endgroup$
    – Cloudy7
    Sep 5, 2019 at 4:03
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The item could be:

A scratch-and-win lottery ticket!
It cost 1 X (dollar, pound, euro) but after scratching and winning it was worth 10 X.

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  • $\begingroup$ I also didn't mention this, which is a problem on my part, but you can assume the magician can reliably do the action every single time. $\endgroup$
    – Cloudy7
    Sep 5, 2019 at 4:08
  • $\begingroup$ Bit of sleight of hand on your part there then! ;) $\endgroup$
    – Paul Evans
    Sep 5, 2019 at 13:35
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all magicians are con men at heart

At first all he does is show off his 10 dollar gun,
then with a flick of his wrist, he turns it and take 10 dollars from everyone

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  • $\begingroup$ Hilarious! Although that's not exactly what I was aiming for. $\endgroup$
    – Cloudy7
    Sep 5, 2019 at 4:06
  • $\begingroup$ ahh well, it was worth a shot $\endgroup$
    – Hatman
    Sep 5, 2019 at 21:34
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The object was:

A finger. And with the simple wave of his wrist he revealed the other 9. Emphasizing the "hand" in "sleight of hand".

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  • $\begingroup$ Nice! Although, as I have said above, the phrase "tenfold" was meant to be vague. $\endgroup$
    – Cloudy7
    Sep 5, 2019 at 4:11
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Is the magician

an auctioneer?
In an auction, an object is chosen and displayed,
immediately the bids start and the item's worth increases

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    $\begingroup$ Could you add some clarification to your answer? I wonder how the clues translate to your answer. $\endgroup$
    – P1storius
    Sep 4, 2019 at 9:07
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The magician likely:

Changed a bill into one ten-times more valuable.
An effect that comes to mind would be "PROPHET" by Tom Isaacson,
which can "transform" multiple bills at once utilizing a flick of the wrist.

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  • $\begingroup$ A physical magic trick was an angle I hadn't thought of. I should have said explicitly that my magician was figurative. $\endgroup$
    – Cloudy7
    Sep 5, 2019 at 4:10
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It could be a

compressed spring /an elastic material

Which, when

released in a controlled manner, can become ~10 folds of its original size( though worth is the same!)

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  • $\begingroup$ 'Worth' is definitely a defining word here, rather than size. A great attempt, though! $\endgroup$
    – Cloudy7
    Sep 5, 2019 at 4:07
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Similar to ralphmerridew, but instead of his answer, I think he might've:

Erased a comma from a price tag attached to an item. Or from a price, written on a chalkboard. So that, eg, £10,0 became £100

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  • $\begingroup$ A good answer! As I said in response to ralphmerridew, the phrase "tenfold" could be replaced with "ninefold". $\endgroup$
    – Cloudy7
    Sep 5, 2019 at 4:13
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No cards, no hats, just an object of choice

a piece of hot copper

With a wave of the wrist, an action not bold,
They make their humble item worth tenfold.

the now hammered coin is worth tenfold the copper it consists of

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    $\begingroup$ Interesting! However, it's not the answer I was looking for -- I was looking for something less bold than even that. $\endgroup$
    – Cloudy7
    Sep 5, 2019 at 16:29
  • $\begingroup$ @Cloudy7 I know, you had already accepted an answer by the time I posted this. $\endgroup$
    – user3819867
    Sep 6, 2019 at 7:36
  • $\begingroup$ Actually, a copper coin is worth less then the material that goes into making it. $\endgroup$
    – Bojan Hrnkas
    Sep 6, 2019 at 8:59
  • $\begingroup$ @BojanHrnkas The general idea of fiat currency is that the nominal value is significantly higher than the material costs. Though the current GBP penny has lower face value, the statement should stand for most of fiat currencies and memorial coins. $\endgroup$
    – user3819867
    Sep 6, 2019 at 12:56
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He's a banker. Fractional Reserve banking.

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    $\begingroup$ Hello. Can you please add clarification as to what you mean and how it applies to multiplying the value of something? Thank you! $\endgroup$
    – Cloudy7
    Sep 5, 2019 at 4:32
  • $\begingroup$ Just look it up...there are graphs. $\endgroup$
    – DarJack
    Sep 5, 2019 at 4:40

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