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To me, you are but a cafe
Buffet; souffle; filet; parfait
I'll be the hunter, you be the prey
Slice me in twain, and leave my tail.

Lower, lower, lower yet
submerged in water, never wet
Pick me and you will not regret
The leaders stay, the rest all bail.

Treat me as you have my kin
Pin me down, and see my sins
All spill asunder from within
My heart bleeds, though my shell prevails.

Rooted deep within the ground
A being of myth and tales unbound
The net's been cast, and I've been found
In full I stand, behind no veil.

Take them all to find my name
A right mess made, and you're to blame
Then take the rejects, cast in shame
Spin them around and they'll do the same.

The first four stanzas describe my pieces, and the fifth describes my companion and I in whole. The question is, who are we?

Bonus points to whomever is able to point out the cheeky hints I've left in each of the first four stanzas.

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    $\begingroup$ For some reason, I'm thinking of fruit. Maybe because of all the talk of hearts bleeding but shells prevail. $\endgroup$
    – Moose
    Commented Aug 17, 2015 at 23:45
  • $\begingroup$ Is "net" the cheeky hint in the fourth stanza? $\endgroup$
    – Alconja
    Commented Aug 18, 2015 at 0:57

1 Answer 1

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I believe the solution is:

The two words predicament and rotate

Taking each stanza, one at a time:

To me, you are but a cafe / Buffet; souffle; filet; parfait / I'll be the hunter, you be the prey / Slice me in twain, and leave my tail.

Gives us predator (since it hunts and eats its prey), which we slice in half, keeping pred and discarding ator.

Lower, lower, lower yet / submerged in water, never wet / Pick me and you will not regret / The leaders stay, the rest all bail.

Gives ice (since we "lower" the temperature to make icecubes/bergs which sit in water but are solid not liquid, and you can use "pick" on ice), of which we keep the leaders, ic, and discard e.

Treat me as you have my kin / Pin me down, and see my sins / All spill asunder from within / My heart bleeds, though my shell prevails.

Gives us ATM (not sure about the first line, but you use a PIN to withdraw money, which is the root of all evil), of which we keep the outer "shell" of letters, am, and leave behind the "heart", t.

Rooted deep within the ground / A being of myth and tales unbound / The net's been cast, and I've been found / In full I stand, behind no veil.

Gives Ent (mythical tree creatures), which we keep the entirety of.

Take them all to find my name / A right mess made, and you're to blame

Putting together all the parts we kept, gives us predicament (which is a "right mess made").

Then take the rejects, cast in shame / Spin them around and they'll do the same.

Taking all the bits we discarded, "ator", "e" & "t", we "spin them around", to get rotate (which also means spin around).

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  • $\begingroup$ This answer is on point. :) Do you have the cheeky hint in the fourth stanza? (Hint: you do.) $\endgroup$
    – Bailey M
    Commented Aug 18, 2015 at 13:17
  • $\begingroup$ "Pin me down" probably also refers to entering a PIN on an ATM. $\endgroup$
    – GentlePurpleRain
    Commented Aug 18, 2015 at 15:04
  • $\begingroup$ Oof, the kerning on ATM is painful. :( $\endgroup$
    – Bailey M
    Commented Aug 18, 2015 at 19:56
  • $\begingroup$ @BaileyM - So if "net" => "ent" is the cheeky hint in stanza four, what are the other ones? I guess "Treat Me As" => "TMA" => "ATM" could be three... (and yes, that kerning is horrific) $\endgroup$
    – Alconja
    Commented Aug 19, 2015 at 0:12
  • $\begingroup$ @GentlePurpleRain - that was my intention when I capitalised PIN, perhaps wasn't clear (was typing on mobile at the time). $\endgroup$
    – Alconja
    Commented Aug 19, 2015 at 0:13

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