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I spoke to Rock, Paper, and Scissors recently and asked them how they deal with their respective nemeses.

Rock said: If I spend enough time around scissors, they’ll have a hard time moving eventually.

Paper said: I never met a rock too hard for me to dig into and break through.

Scissors said: I eat paper pretty quickly; frankly I prefer to savor something less processed.

Who are Rock, Paper, and Scissors?

(The answer is not "Rock, Paper, and Scissors" in any order =P)

Adding a hint because I think this is throwing people off:

Did you notice that sometimes Rock, Paper, and Scissors are capitalized and sometimes they're not?

One more hint:

The answers to this riddle have a rock-paper-scissor type relationship, in the same direction as their Rock-Paper-Scissor aliases.

Last hint, because some of you are really close, but need to take your answer a step further:

Some of you have approximately the right elements, but your answer should be a well-known trio of entities, each of which embodies one of those elements. You might say each of these entities has a certain "type" ;)

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  • $\begingroup$ Oh wow. nice one. I'm having trouble (like the answer below at the moment) In finding 3 objects that work in all ways with the riddle. (I think w/e the 'Rock' is has to cause w/e 'Scissors' is to eventually have a hard time moving and not actual scissors, while as well being not too hard for whatever 'Paper' is to dig into it and break through rather than an actual rock. $\endgroup$
    – Spacemonkey
    Commented May 27, 2015 at 20:42
  • $\begingroup$ Come to think about it. Water fits all three. Water rust scissors, the ocean erodes the rock, and paper in water doesn't last as long as wood in water. $\endgroup$
    – Eli
    Commented May 28, 2015 at 6:39
  • $\begingroup$ Surely Rock has to be water and Scissors has to be fire. The clues fit so well! $\endgroup$
    – starsplusplus
    Commented May 28, 2015 at 12:02

8 Answers 8

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I think I might have a breakthrough .. could I possibly have cracked it??? (like a big old tree cracks rock!)

Rock said: If I spend enough time around scissors, they’ll have a hard time moving eventually

Water (causes scissors to rust, esp if salty or full of minerals (eg iron)) ..(as per above posters)

Scissors said: I eat paper pretty quickly; frankly I prefer to savor something less processed

Fire (burns paper quickly & wood (incl still-growing trees) more slowly) ..(as per above posters)

Paper said: I never met a rock too hard for me to dig into and break through

Tree (it's roots "dig into and break through" any rock)

And the Rock, Paper, Scissors relationship is

Water quenches Fire .. Fire burns Tree .. Tree consumes Water

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  • $\begingroup$ This was my instant first thought... Back to the good ol' Pokemon days. Oh, nostalgia.... $\endgroup$
    – Xynariz
    Commented May 28, 2015 at 20:22
  • $\begingroup$ This is so close!! The comment from @Xynariz is the key! $\endgroup$
    – VictorHenry
    Commented Jul 24, 2015 at 21:40
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People have already used these same solutions for Rock and Scissors, but here's a new answer for Paper...

Rock said: If I spend enough time around scissors, they’ll have a hard time moving eventually.

Water, which will cause the scissors to rust.

Paper said: I never met a rock too hard for me to dig into and break through.

Ice, which splits rocks by expanding when it freezes.

Scissors said: I eat paper pretty quickly; frankly I prefer to savor something less processed.

Fire, which will burn paper quickly and wood slowly.

And for the Rock, Paper, Scissors relationship...

Water quenches fire. Fire melts ice. Ice freezes water.

What do you think?

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    $\begingroup$ This seems to me like the correct answer $\endgroup$
    – Lyrion
    Commented May 28, 2015 at 8:39
  • $\begingroup$ I'm pretty sure the answer he's looking for is Fire, Water, Grass, in case you still want the up-check. :) $\endgroup$
    – Bailey M
    Commented Jul 28, 2015 at 19:20
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Rock is air (oxygen, specifically) because of rust.

Paper is water (erosion)

Scissors are fire, which burns paper. Unprocessed wood burns longer.

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  • $\begingroup$ I'll be honest, I don't understand this puzzle. Throwing stuff out there. $\endgroup$
    – Deacon
    Commented May 27, 2015 at 19:59
  • $\begingroup$ I really dont think this is it. As OP mentioned, air is not supposed to make scissors hard to move, but fire. (Which makes no sense, that would have the opposite effect) etc... $\endgroup$
    – Spacemonkey
    Commented May 27, 2015 at 20:47
  • $\begingroup$ Close, but not quite. $\endgroup$
    – VictorHenry
    Commented May 27, 2015 at 21:27
  • $\begingroup$ you could do wind instead of water as well. $\endgroup$
    – n00b
    Commented May 27, 2015 at 21:30
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Here's my take

Rock is water (rust makes scissors hard to move)

Paper is earth (earthquake can shatter rocks)

Scissors is fire (fire burns paper faster than wood)

Fire scotches the earth, earth swallows water, water put out fire. 


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Somewhat random guess here:
Rock is

Water => If scissors are in water for long, they'll rust and have a hard time moving

Paper is

A Jackhammer??? => Breaks through rocks if it spends enough time on them

Scissors are

Termites => They eat paper quickly, but more often eat 'less processed' wood.

Not certain about it, but I'll try :)

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  • $\begingroup$ That means your first sentence should really say "If termites are in water for long..." $\endgroup$
    – pacoverflow
    Commented May 27, 2015 at 19:45
  • $\begingroup$ I wasn't sure if the alter egos carried over into their respective statements, so I treated it as if they didn't. $\endgroup$
    – Spencerkatty
    Commented May 27, 2015 at 19:47
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Earth wind and fire (often associated together because of the popular American band).
Fire burns paper
Wind can mold/shape/break rocks over time
Earth produces oxygen which can rust scissors

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My answer is

Water, Wood, Fire

Because they have to beat the real rock paper scissor as well as their figurative counter part which I'll keep in square brackets

[Rock] said: If I spend enough time around scissors, they’ll have a hard time moving eventually.

Water - the scissors will rust if left in water. Also [Rock] = Water loses to [Paper] = Wood.

[Paper] said: I never met a rock too hard for me to dig into and break through.

Wood - some tree roots can dig through stone. [Paper] = Wood loses to [Scissors] = Fire

[Scissors] said: I eat paper pretty quickly; frankly I prefer to savor something less processed.

Fire - fire eats through wood pretty quickly indeed. [Scissors] = Fire lose to [Rock] = Water.

It all fits rather well I think.

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I'm pretty sure this refers to a cycle of

Pokemon that have advantage to each other's types in a cyclical fashion, but I'm not sure which exactly it refers to. Water/Fire/Grass would be the first that jumps to mind, so this could refer to Squirtle, Charizard, Venusaur, but I can't make a convincing argument that it's not any other set of starters.

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