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A partner in crime, though I wear a disguise.
I hide in plain sight. Averting all eyes.

You can't run and gun, if you want to stop me.
To succeed on that front, you need just turn and flee.

A doctor creates me, a goose fills her nest,
But just give me time and I will manifest.

Any who make me, end up the same...
The question, of course, though, is: what is my name?

Hint 1

A cryptic clue given on almost every line.
Don't be so literal and you will do fine.

Hint 2

Ok then folks, if it's really that hard...
With the goose and the doc, there's also a bard.

Hint 3 (it's already been solved, but I wanted to add this one because it amuses me, and it may help others who want to try solving it themselves)

Hide in plain sight? I'm right here in this hint!
This time, however, I'm garnished with mint.

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  • $\begingroup$ cool and weird :) do we get some hints later? $\endgroup$
    – zlobi.wan.kenobi
    Commented Mar 17, 2015 at 9:54
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    $\begingroup$ @zlobi.wan.kenobi - yeah I'll probably add a hint every 24 hours until someone gets it. Be interesting to see how long it takes... I think it's quite difficult, but it's hard to gauge when you're the one writing it. :) $\endgroup$
    – Alconja
    Commented Mar 17, 2015 at 10:34
  • $\begingroup$ Oh, there is a second hint. More cryptic even than the first one.. ;) So, this all means that the most confusing part of the riddle - the doc and the goose are actually very important clues? $\endgroup$
    – zlobi.wan.kenobi
    Commented Mar 18, 2015 at 13:59

10 Answers 10

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I think it's

A Rhyme


A partner in crime, though I wear a disguise.
I hide in plain sight. Averting all eyes.

'rime' in 'crime', the disguise being a different spelling. Hiding in plain sight as the answer is in the question.


You can't run and gun, if you want to stop me.
To succeed on that front, you need just turn and flee.

run rhymes with gun, so to run and gun is to continue the rhyme rather than stop it.
'Turn' and 'flee' don't rhyme, thereby ending the rhyme, although I might be grasping at straws with that one


A doctor creates me, a goose fills her nest,

Dr Seuss and Mother Goose, both associated with children's rhymes, not sure if it's intentional but Seuss and Goose also make a half-rhyme.


But just give me time and I will manifest.

You can find a rhyme for almost anything if you think about it long enough... maybe?


Any who make me, end up the same...

Anyone who makes up a rhyme ends up as a poet??


Hint 1

Every line of the riddle is part of a rhyme


Hint 2

A bard (any bard, although the clue might be alluding specifically to William Shakespeare) would generally write songs and poems which rhyme.

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  • $\begingroup$ We have a winner! Well done. :) $\endgroup$
    – Alconja
    Commented Mar 18, 2015 at 21:34
  • $\begingroup$ warning: spoilers below $\endgroup$
    – Alconja
    Commented Mar 18, 2015 at 21:35
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    $\begingroup$ Too fill in a few of the missed clues: "Averting all eyes" - there's no "i"s in rhyme. You were right with "run and gun" vs "turn and flee", it's just about those two pairs of words. Right again with Dr/goose, but specifically, Dr Seuss "creates" because he makes a lot of rhymes up, and Mother Goose "fills her nest", because she more gathers together existing nursery rhymes into collections. "Give me time" -> "rhyme + time" manifests a new rhyme. "Any who make me" -> words that construct rhymes "end up the same" in the sense that they end in the same sound. $\endgroup$
    – Alconja
    Commented Mar 18, 2015 at 21:45
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    $\begingroup$ @Alconja Wow! Brilliant riddle. $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Commented Mar 18, 2015 at 22:14
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    $\begingroup$ hard riddle, but good one $\endgroup$
    – zlobi.wan.kenobi
    Commented Mar 18, 2015 at 22:32
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Could it be

a SHADOW?

A partner in crime, though I wear a disguise.

Your shadow looks much like you, except disguised by being single-coloured and two-dimensional.

I hide in plain sight. Averting all eyes.

A shadow is right there in plain sight, but you can't really see much of it because it's by definition a light-free zone.

You can't run and gun, if you want to stop me.
To succeed on that front, you need just turn and flee.

This is what made me think of "shadow" as the solution. Your shadow follows you everywhere; you can't shoot it or run away from it.

A doctor creates me, a goose fills her nest,

Doctors and geese both cast shadows. (OK, maybe this line doesn't quite fit.)

But just give me time and I will manifest.

Anything will cast a shadow (provided there's some light around): it will always manifest.

Any who make me, end up the same...

Shadows are pretty featureless, identical to each other except in shape and size.

The question, of course, though, is: what is my name?

This line doesn't give any extra clues.

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  • $\begingroup$ great riddle isn't it? $\endgroup$
    – d'alar'cop
    Commented Mar 17, 2015 at 10:22
  • $\begingroup$ Not bad, but no. As you note, words like doctor and goose are very much deliberate. $\endgroup$
    – Alconja
    Commented Mar 17, 2015 at 10:23
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    $\begingroup$ @d'alar'cop Indeed! Also check out the mind-blowing latest from BmyGuest. $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Commented Mar 17, 2015 at 10:36
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I'm thinking of a:

Brood parasite lizard egg, just like the Bolivian Tree Lizard in the Simpson series.

A partner in crime, though I wear a disguise.
I hide in plain sight. Averting all eyes.

A partner of the crime of eating the bird's eggs (parent's partner), but in disguise as its an egg itself.

You can't run and gun, if you want to stop me.
To succeed on that front, you need just turn and flee.

When the egg hatches the bird can't do anything but flee, since its eggs have been eated by the lizard. Also, trying to stop the hatched lizards, other than being useless can lead to the birds death.

A doctor creates me, a goose fills her nest,
But just give me time and I will manifest.

The doctor really baffles me, no idea. The goose is obvious. Just give enough time to the egg to hatch and the lizard will manifest.

Any who make me, end up the same...

Who makes the egg will also make the eggs, continuing the cycle.

The question, of course, though, is: what is my name?

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You could be

an unborn baby/embryo

A partner in crime, though I wear a disguise. I hide in plain sight. Averting all eyes.

Always with the mother, but also hidden inside of her.

You can't run and gun, if you want to stop me. To succeed on that front, you need just turn and flee.

If you don't have sex, you don't have a baby.

A doctor creates me, a goose fills her nest, But just give me time and I will manifest.

Doctors deliver babies, geese fill their nests with eggs, and in time eggs become living beings.

Any who make me, end up the same...

"End up the same" could be as a parent or just the act of giving birth.

The question, of course, though, is: what is my name?

When a baby is born, we name it.

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It sounds like it might be

cover

A partner in crime, though I wear a disguise.

The partner is covering you.

I hide in plain sight. Averting all eyes.

A cover is in plain sight, it still averts the eyes.

You can't run and gun, if you want to stop me.

You won't find a cover by running and gunning.

To succeed on that front, you need just turn and flee.

If you turn and flee you break your cover.

A doctor creates me,

A cover letter.

a goose fills her nest,

Covering it with saplings and down.

But just give me time and I will manifest.

You'll eventually notice a cover if you look long enough at it.

Any who make me, end up the same...

You make a cover to end up covered.

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Sounds like the answer is:

Justice

A partner in crime, though I wear a disguise.
I hide in plain sight. Averting all eyes.

Justice and Crime coexists. The Statue of Justice wearing a blindfold

You can't run and gun, if you want to stop me.
To succeed on that front, you need just turn and flee.

Read justice as Just-ice, above describe some properties of ice.

A doctor creates me, a goose fills her nest,
But just give me time and I will manifest.

goose often nest on the statute? and an artist with PHD created the statue? Justice will be shown eventually?

Any who make me, end up the same...
The question, of course, though, is: what is my name?

Whose create Justice end up in Justice?

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It sounds to me like

a lie

because:

A partner in crime, though I wear a disguise.
I hide in plain sight. Averting all eyes.

the lie is hidden and a "partner in crime". In "plain sight" might mean that it is told, yet nobody knows it is a lie.

You can't run and gun, if you want to stop me.
To succeed on that front, you need just turn and flee.

stopping a lie from spreading is difficult

A doctor creates me, a goose fills her nest,
But just give me time and I will manifest.

doctors lie sometime. Maybe this line is only example of lies. Although I really have no idea what is the role of the goose. This clue just does not fit in any of my hypotheses.. "I will manifest" might mean that the lie will be recognized as such at some point in time.

Any who make me, end up the same...
The question, of course, though, is: what is my name?

the liars end up the same.. maybe in jail or just tagged as liars.

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I know this has long been answered, but I wanted to add this anyway...

A shot/vaccination

A partner in crime, though I wear a disguise.

Vaccines are full of viruses, which can kill people or at least cause much harm, but they are disguised in a benign form. Could also be a reference to science haters who think shots cause autism. :P

I hide in plain sight. Averting all eyes.

Again, people see shots and don't think about how dangerous they could be might be.

You can't run and gun, if you want to stop me. To succeed on that front, you need just turn and flee.

Shooting a shot (ha) is pointless; just run out of the office.

A doctor creates me, a goose fills her nest, But just give me time and I will manifest.

Doctors create shots, which are often incubated in eggs. Give it time, and the vaccine will develop.

Any who make me, end up the same...

All shot-makers are cold-hearted demons who don't care about the pain inflicted and just like poking people usually microbiologists, virologists, etc. - scientists of that particular field.

The problem with this is that it doesn't match the hints whatsoever...

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I think the answer is

Odor/gas

Wears a disguise might refer to

its ability to mask other smells

Avert all eyes probably refers to

how most gases are invisible to the naked eye

Can't run and gun/turn and flee could mean

moving away from the smell/gas is the only way to find relief from it

Doctors create me might refer to

chemists creating gases in a lab, etc.

The geese part might mean

that their nests smell bad

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A

baby

... while it was storks and docs that usually bring home babies... for some reason, when I saw a doctor and a bird in the same sentence, the image of the stork with a baby got stuck in my brain. and what's more in plain sight than a baby bump?

ah... the answer has already been given I see...

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    $\begingroup$ Since Keith has already given the same answer (complete with spoilertags too!), maybe you should delete this one? $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Commented Mar 18, 2015 at 12:16

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