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A place of work, and not of play,
You know that's what the vermin say.
Is it this or that, the question sly,
But in the end you'll question why?
A miracle you want to find,
And get yourself out of a bind.
So while you're here, follow a hunch,
It may just happen before lunch.

Hint 1:

The riddle is in two parts. The last half is comprised of clues related to the word, and the first half is wordplay to give you the word.

Hint 2:

What is another name for work?

Hint 3:

In research, where might you find a miracle?

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  • $\begingroup$ I'm coming up with so many different ideas for this... How literally should "vermin" be taken? $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Commented Mar 19, 2015 at 0:09
  • $\begingroup$ Literal, but only in a way. Vague enough? $\endgroup$
    – Aggie Kidd
    Commented Mar 19, 2015 at 2:25
  • $\begingroup$ I think is a swamp :D $\endgroup$
    – Tobiel
    Commented Mar 19, 2015 at 21:48

7 Answers 7

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Is it

laboratory?

A place of work, and not of play,

You go to laboratory to research, and work is "labor"

You know that's what the vermin say.

(With Aggie's answer:) a rat in labo'rat'ory

Is it this or that, the question sly,
But in the end you'll question why?

A sly question that the answer ends in Y (why)

A miracle you want to find,
And get yourself out of a bind.

Through researching in laboratory, you might found miracle!

So while you're here, follow a hunch,
It may just happen before lunch.

lunch and library both start with "L" but I might fail explaining this line.

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  • $\begingroup$ Getting close! You are correct on one of the clues. $\endgroup$
    – Aggie Kidd
    Commented Mar 20, 2015 at 15:22
  • $\begingroup$ @AggieKidd Ohhh I think I got it! I will update my answer $\endgroup$
    – Alex
    Commented Mar 20, 2015 at 15:23
  • $\begingroup$ Very nice. Look closer at the answer though for the clue on the second line. Think of a type of vermin. $\endgroup$
    – Aggie Kidd
    Commented Mar 20, 2015 at 15:29
  • $\begingroup$ Did some googling and found that Vermin is a problem on lab animals? $\endgroup$
    – Alex
    Commented Mar 20, 2015 at 15:33
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ You do, you got the answer! Just some of the clues weren't so great. $\endgroup$
    – Aggie Kidd
    Commented Mar 20, 2015 at 15:39
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Could it be

Death and/or Grave?

A place of work, and not of play, You know that's what the vermin say.

Body underground is worm food

Is it this or that, the question sly, But in the end you'll question why?

Why did they have to die!

A miracle you want to find, And get yourself out of a bind.

Miracle to get out of death

So while you're here, follow a hunch, It may just happen before lunch.

You can die any time.

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  • $\begingroup$ +1 Very nice thoughts. Not what I was going for, but it does fit fairly well. There is a bit of wordplay in this though, so don't take all of the lines as direct clues. $\endgroup$
    – Aggie Kidd
    Commented Mar 18, 2015 at 15:28
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Fun!

At first, I was leaning towards:

procrastination.

A place of work, and not of play,

You know that's what the vermin say.

Procrastination is a boss's worst nightmare. I'm hearing both the voice of the boss & of the employee in these lines.

Is it this or that, the question sly,

But in the end you'll question why?

I'm not procrastinating (Really...) or, am I? Why do I know I'll regret this.

A miracle you want to find,

And get yourself out of a bind.

Randomly searching the internet can sometimes yield great insights.

So while you're here, follow a hunch,

It may just happen before lunch.

Or, searching StackExchange :) If you're lucky, you'll be ready for a break at lunchtime.

But, my final answer is :

equivocation

A place of work, and not of play,

Refers to the "vocation" in equivocation

You know that's what the vermin say.

Is it this or that, the question sly,

These lines had me thinking of Hamlet. Chief equivocator

A miracle you want to find

And get yourself out of a bind.

Those equivocating are seeking an answer to a question, fundamentally

So while you're here, follow a hunch,

It may just happen before lunch.

Just pick something already!

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  • $\begingroup$ I like it. Not what I was looking for, but I really like it. $\endgroup$
    – Aggie Kidd
    Commented Mar 20, 2015 at 13:41
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You are a

gold prospector, so you look for precious metals.

Indeed, you can find vermin on the soil, you want to find a miracle (gold is rare) and it may happen just before lunch, as the sun makes the gold shine at noon.

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  • $\begingroup$ Nice thoughts. Again, not what I was going for. I would say vermin don't find mines as a workplace, but maybe I'd be wrong on that. $\endgroup$
    – Aggie Kidd
    Commented Mar 18, 2015 at 15:31
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Maybe the word is

EARLY?

A place of work, and not of play,

You should start work early and not mess around ...

You know that's what the vermin say.

... or maybe the OP doesn't like people who say that? Perhaps, like me, he's a late worker ;-)

Is it this or that, the question sly,
But in the end you'll question why?

"Why" sounds like Y, and the word EARLY ends in a Y. The previous line could be some kind of wordplay to give EARL.

A miracle you want to find,
And get yourself out of a bind.

Not sure about these lines.

So while you're here, follow a hunch,

That's what I've been doing with this riddle!

It may just happen before lunch.

Before lunch is early.

Well, the first and last lines fit. I'm not so confident about the rest.

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  • $\begingroup$ So, some nice thoughts, but not what I'm looking for. (As a separate note, the OP is a he). $\endgroup$
    – Aggie Kidd
    Commented Mar 19, 2015 at 2:27
  • $\begingroup$ @AggieKidd Apologies for the gender error! I assumed it was "Aggie" as in the woman's name :-) $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Commented Mar 19, 2015 at 13:52
  • $\begingroup$ No worries. Aggie is a reference to a school mascot. Go Aggies! $\endgroup$
    – Aggie Kidd
    Commented Mar 19, 2015 at 13:53
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Tricky, it might be

maze

A place of work, and not of play,
You know that's what the vermin say.

Mazes are usually found in the form of games, lab rats might see this differently.

Is it this or that, the question sly,
But in the end you'll question why?

Left way or right way? In the end it doesn't tend to matter for common mazes as long as you stick to one choice.

A miracle you want to find,

A reward at the center of the maze.

And get yourself out of a bind.

Escape the maze.

So while you're here, follow a hunch,
It may just happen before lunch.

For the lab rat, follow your nose to find the cheese.

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  • $\begingroup$ Nice answer. Not what I was thinking of, but fits pretty well. Check Hint 1 for a clue as to half of the puzzle. $\endgroup$
    – Aggie Kidd
    Commented Mar 19, 2015 at 13:46
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I think the answer based on the 3rd hint (What is another name for work?) is :

Task

I am not able to relate it to each line.
But one of the lines : But in the end you'll question why?

Task -> ask (question???)

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1
  • $\begingroup$ Good thought, but not quite. Check the hints again. $\endgroup$
    – Aggie Kidd
    Commented Mar 20, 2015 at 13:41

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