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Read the lines and find the answer. Follow each one through to the end, but maybe not entirely.

My first is a dye, most commonly used.
My second is twentieth, in a cup.
My third is gloomy, shrouded in cloud.

My fourth periodically gets to a half century.
My fifth often stands for unity.

Crack them all, and put them together.
To find the answer, that perhaps I have left hither.

HINT 1:

The title has been altered, and that should provide a major clue. (Apologies for not making this the title in the first place, when I crafted this last night. My mind certainly works better in the morning. :-P)

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  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Does the blank line between your third and your fourth relevant? $\endgroup$
    – TroyAndAbed
    Jul 23, 2015 at 19:47
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    $\begingroup$ I'm guessing the 3rd might be O? $\endgroup$
    – warspyking
    Jul 23, 2015 at 19:57
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    $\begingroup$ The twentieth letter in the alphabet is T, which is in a cup (tea) $\endgroup$
    – Doge
    Jul 23, 2015 at 20:02
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    $\begingroup$ I think the first letter is "s". Sulfur dyes are the most commonly used dyes according to a quick google search. And Sulfur is "S" on the periodic table. $\endgroup$
    – default
    Jul 23, 2015 at 20:24
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    $\begingroup$ Fourth is L - Roman numeral for 50? $\endgroup$
    – Cain
    Jul 23, 2015 at 20:30

4 Answers 4

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My first is a dye, most commonly used.

The dye most of us use every day would be ink.

My second is twentieth, in a cup.

As per Doge's comment, T is the twentieth letter and sounds like tea in a cup.

My third is gloomy, shrouded in cloud.

Clouds and gloom are both often described as gray.

My fourth periodically gets to a half century.

As per mmking's comment, the 50th element in the periodic table is tin.

My fifth often stands for unity.

As per karhell's answer, one is the usual symbol used for unity.

Crack them all, and put them together. To find the answer, that perhaps I have left hither.

To "crack them", look to the first line: "Follow each one through to the end, but maybe not entirely." If we remove the last letter of each answer and string them together, we get the answer: integration.

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  • $\begingroup$ Perfect answer. Good job! $\endgroup$
    – CodeNewbie
    Jul 27, 2015 at 5:47
  • $\begingroup$ So was the empty line between the third and fourth unintentional? $\endgroup$
    – Roland
    Jul 27, 2015 at 19:11
  • $\begingroup$ @Roland, the first three lines have no rhymes, but the next four rhyme in pairs. That was the significance of the empty line. $\endgroup$
    – CodeNewbie
    Jul 28, 2015 at 2:52
  • $\begingroup$ Well done! That ink left me completely dry. Have a +1. And a scone. $\endgroup$
    – karhell
    Jul 28, 2015 at 12:46
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My first is a dye, most commonly used.

According to @pauld in the comments, that would be sulphur

My second is twentieth, in a cup.

The twentieth letter is T, which in a cup could be tea

My third is gloomy, shrouded in cloud.

Gloomy, shrouded in cloud, and not in any way celestial (see comment by @CodeNewbie)... I have nothing for now.

My fourth periodically gets to a half century.

The fiftieth element on the periodical table is tin

My fifth often stands for unity.

Unity means being as one

Crack them all, and put them together. To find the answer, that perhaps I have left hither.

This is where I'm unsure of things.
Assuming the space between 3 and 4 is intentional, we're looking for two words, composed of the first letters of each clue.
Cutting up Sulphur, Tea, and Moon, we can get to either Steam or Stem.
Cutting up Tin and One, we can end up with either Ton or Tone.
At this point, I'm fairly sure I've missed something, since none of the combinations seem to make sense.
Steam ton sounds a bit like a unit of energy, and stem tone turns up a paper on linguistics...
Since "moon" has been invalidated, this is obviously wrong.

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  • $\begingroup$ Great attempt, and you've got 3/5. Apologies if I've misled you with my response to pacoverlow when I said not quite. It's not related celestially or to a comet in any way. $\endgroup$
    – CodeNewbie
    Jul 24, 2015 at 10:40
  • $\begingroup$ No problem. I guess I read too much into it :) $\endgroup$
    – karhell
    Jul 24, 2015 at 11:01
  • $\begingroup$ STO__ ${}{}{}{}$ $\endgroup$
    – warspyking
    Jul 24, 2015 at 14:09
  • $\begingroup$ @karhell. Just to be absolutely clear, moon is the wrong interpretation. $\endgroup$
    – CodeNewbie
    Jul 24, 2015 at 17:59
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The attempt:

Lotus (or louts)
L from 5th -> roman numeral for 50 (or a half century)
O from @warspyking O for 3rd seems like a good guess, both because the round moon is shrouded in cloud, and "O" is literally in the middle of "cloud" – Cain 42 mins ago
T from The twentieth letter in the alphabet is T, which is in a cup (tea) – Doge 1 hour ago
U from The mathematical symbol for union, ∪
S from I think the first letter is "s". Sulfur dyes are the most commonly used dyes according to a quick google search. And Sulfur is "S" on the periodic table. – pauld 1 hour ago

The previous thought answers:

STOLEN Stolid, or STOLE

reasons:

I'm guessing the 3rd might be O? – warspyking 28 mins ago
The twentieth letter in the alphabet is T, which is in a cup (tea) – Doge 23 mins ago
I think the first letter is "s". Sulfur dyes are the most commonly used dyes according to a quick google search. And Sulfur is "S" on the periodic table
and finally L or 50 in roman numerals.
which leaves us with stol_ then EN which is for en masse, which is as a group or unified. then Orderified: Stolen.

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  • $\begingroup$ There is the instruction to "Crack them all, and put them together." Maybe they need to be anagrammed into something else? $\endgroup$
    – GentlePurpleRain
    Jul 23, 2015 at 21:00
  • $\begingroup$ Indeed, I pondered that lightly, probably better than any of my 3 answers so far so so still considering. $\endgroup$
    – Going hamateur
    Jul 23, 2015 at 21:01
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    $\begingroup$ STOL + EN MASSE anagrams to all kinds of interesting things (Nameless Sot!), but nothing that jumps out at me... $\endgroup$
    – GentlePurpleRain
    Jul 23, 2015 at 21:05
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    $\begingroup$ Probably not Jet fuel cant melt steel beams... probably... $\endgroup$
    – Going hamateur
    Jul 23, 2015 at 21:22
  • $\begingroup$ Have a new answer! (that I think is correct maybe other than anagram madness...) $\endgroup$
    – Going hamateur
    Jul 23, 2015 at 21:24
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CodeNewbie said that three of the following are correct: 1, sulfur; 2, tea; 4, tin; 5, one. Using this progress, I make a stab at the riddle's construction...

The lines represent syllables, not letters.
1-3 are a three-syllable word, and 4-5 are a two-syllable word
So we ditch sulfur for now, and keep the three single-syllable words.
To replace 1, I suggest "red" (historically the most common dye, probably not "plum")
For 3, I'm thinking along the lines of "smog", but I don't see how that fits well for making part of a word.

Now just MadGab them and ta-da!!!

Readysmawg Tinwaun, the mythological elvish riddler! Perhaps what was "left hither" was one of his very own riddles from long, long ago! Bravo, sir!

Now for some reason, his name doesn't turn up any results, so I sent a request to UrbanDictionary... should be approved any day now...

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