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Together I am four and five. Apart, am I four or five? Often I am written one or one. Confused, I may be payments for a bard, antique hearing-aids, the price of gas, brightly-burning fat, a damned man's ogle, guidelines for heroism, a tempting meal, a whimsical shine, a predictor of problems, a prenatal jape, or I may tamper with explosives. What kind of question is this? Programs and pop-quizzes frequently ask.

Hints:

"four and five" refers to the number of vowels and consonants in the answer. "four or five" refers to the number of letters in each of the two words. The "confused" clues all refer to anagrams of the main answer.

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  • $\begingroup$ What kind of question is this? Answer: multiple choice. $\endgroup$
    – Lawrence
    Oct 3, 2015 at 6:40
  • $\begingroup$ @Lawrence - No, but your thinking is in the right place... $\endgroup$
    – Darrel Hoffman
    Oct 3, 2015 at 13:37

3 Answers 3

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What kind of question is this?

True/False

Together I am four and five.

As per the hint, "True/False" has four vowels and five consonants.

Apart, am I four or five?

As per the hint, true has four letters and false has five.

Often I am written one or one.

Often written as "T or F".

Confused, I may be payments for a bard,

lute fares

antique hearing-aids,

ear flutes

the price of gas,

fuel rates

brightly-burning fat,

suet flare

a damned man's ogle,

faust leer

guidelines for heroism,

feat rules

a tempting meal,

feast lure

a whimsical shine,

fae luster

a predictor of problems,

fault seer

a prenatal jape,

fetal ruse

or I may tamper with explosives.

alter fuse

Also, it might be a land contract:

turf lease

or a judge of respectful gestures:

salute ref

or that burning sensation you get in your ears when woodwinds play a very fast glissando:

flute sear

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  • $\begingroup$ +1 because you beat me to it. I got some missing answers, so that's why I've undeleted mine. I'm missing one, though. I can re-delete mine once yours is complete. $\endgroup$
    – Mythi
    Oct 5, 2015 at 17:53
  • $\begingroup$ Yes, still missing a few, but +1 for adding another to the list. $\endgroup$
    – Darrel Hoffman
    Oct 5, 2015 at 17:55
  • $\begingroup$ @Mythi I have a few missing too (more than you), so I haven't necessarily beat you to it. But from what I have seen around here, posting partial answers for questions like these is acceptable. Is it not? $\endgroup$
    – Dylan Cristy
    Oct 5, 2015 at 17:56
  • $\begingroup$ I've seen partials done before. Not sure how to handle our situation, but I feel like removing mine later out of courtesy and sense of tidiness. Let's finish first. $\endgroup$
    – Mythi
    Oct 5, 2015 at 18:00
  • $\begingroup$ Not sure which to accept since there was a bit of back and forth with partial answers, though this one was first by a small margin. Fix the "one or one" clue (per @histocrat's comment in the other answer) and I'll award this one. $\endgroup$
    – Darrel Hoffman
    Oct 6, 2015 at 13:14
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The question is

true/false

Together I am four and five. Apart, am I four or five?

Darrel H provided this in his hint. Together, the answer is composed of four vowels and five consonants. Separately and respectively, they are four and five letters.

Often I am written one or one.

As a boolean data type, true can equal "1". Some further explanation I'm not sure about...

Confused, I may be payments for a bard

lute fares

antique hearing-aids

ear flutes

the price of gas

fuel rates

brightly-burning fat

suet flare

a damned man's ogle

Faust leer

guidelines for heroism

feat rules

a tempting meal

feast lure

a whimsical shine

fae luster

a predictor of problems

fault seer

a prenatal jape

fetal ruse

or I may tamper with explosives

alter fuse

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  • $\begingroup$ Main answer is correct. Almost there - only 2 clues missing... $\endgroup$
    – Darrel Hoffman
    Oct 5, 2015 at 17:54
  • $\begingroup$ @DarrelHoffman I know one is the "whimsical shine". Which is the other clue, please? $\endgroup$
    – Mythi
    Oct 5, 2015 at 18:02
  • $\begingroup$ Your "one or one" answer is not quite what I was thinking. I suppose that answer still works from a programmer's perspective... $\endgroup$
    – Darrel Hoffman
    Oct 5, 2015 at 18:20
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    $\begingroup$ My guess is you were going for "T or F" for that one. $\endgroup$
    – histocrat
    Oct 5, 2015 at 18:23
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    $\begingroup$ Also, suggested an edit for "whimsical shine" (snr yhfgre). $\endgroup$
    – histocrat
    Oct 5, 2015 at 18:27
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This question is...

Convergent

Meaning...

There are very few possible answers. In this case, there is only one (convergent)

This also means that...

The only part in your question that was relevant was the end. The rest were merely red herrings.

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  • $\begingroup$ Sorry, nope. Every part of the question (including the title) is a clue. $\endgroup$
    – Darrel Hoffman
    Oct 3, 2015 at 13:36
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    $\begingroup$ @Darrel Can't blame me for trying :) $\endgroup$
    – warspyking
    Oct 3, 2015 at 22:09

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