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Now with many
Now with having lovers
Now with first swing
Now with some covers

The words above constitute a riddle whose answer is a single English word. Find the word and explain the title.

Hint:

Each of the four lines is a separate clue. It is also Socratic confusion

Hint:

I added the wordplay tag because there is a pun involved.

Final hint:

It's strange but I thought revealing that this is an acrostic would make it too easy. Well, as hexomino figured out from the first hint, an acrostic is what it is. Go with that. Acrost it. The other clues will follow more easily unless I have again misjudged.

I will post a solution tomorrow. You have been warned. :)

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4 Answers 4

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I think the answer is

Cast

Now with many

Multicast, denoting a set of data sent across a computer network to many users at the same time.

Now with having lovers

Opencast, denoting a method of mining and open corresponds to a non-monogamous relationship status

Now with first swing

Forecast, denoting a prediction or estimate. 'Fore' is the call accompanying a golfer's swing.

Now with some covers

Overcast, denoting cloud covering a large part of the sky. 'Over' is also some of the word 'covers'.

Fifth clue

We can also read each clue without the 'now' to spell out a set of answers

Many = C (100 in Roman numerals)
Having lovers = Adulterous
First swing = S (first letter of swing)
Some covers = Tucked in

These answers form an acrostic with the first letter of each answer combining to spell out the word CAST

Hint

'Socratic' is an anagram of acrostic (hence the confusion) which is the method used to spell out the answer in the last part.

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    $\begingroup$ I wish I could give you something more than just an up vote. Your reasoning is close and you aced the hint. I'm not sure the creators of opencast would appreciate being equated with adultery but that's your affair. $\endgroup$
    – Hugh Meyers
    Feb 29, 2016 at 13:06
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    $\begingroup$ And I couldn't let this pass without mentioning that the third clue does refer to a sport, but not golf. $\endgroup$
    – Hugh Meyers
    Feb 29, 2016 at 23:21
  • $\begingroup$ Ah yes, I did think when writing it down that it didn't resonate fully. I'll keep thinking. $\endgroup$
    – hexomino
    Feb 29, 2016 at 23:25
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In hindsight I should have lead off with the acrostic designation. I completely misjudged the difficulty of this riddle. Let me show you how I thought the reasoning was going to go.

Now with many

Hmm. It goes with "many" lots of synonyms there.

Now with having lovers

Cheating? Infidelities? Liaisons? Affairs? Unfaithful?
A forest of possibilities again. But not as big.

Now with first swing

Here is where I hoped the reader could get his feet on the ground.
People seemed to get that this was sports-related. The sport where the first swing is a big deal is tennis. Or any racquet sport really. What I was going for was "serve" or "service". I omitted the article to tip it towards "service".

Now with some covers

Some? What type of covers?

At this point I figured someone would put it together. Forgive me. Some of the answers here seemed superhuman to this newcomer. But I stuck in an acrostic because it appealed to my warped sense of humor. To solve the acrostic

Take the first letter of each line

But... But... That doesn't...

N N N N = 4N = foreign
Hence
Foreign Legion
Foreign Affairs
Foreign Service
Foreign Films

My comments often contain hints. Aced and let for tennis. Affair... Well, my heart was in the right place. Happy puzzling.

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  • $\begingroup$ I'm shaking my fist at you, Hugh Meyers. $\endgroup$
    – question_asker
    Mar 3, 2016 at 17:17
  • $\begingroup$ But in all seriousness, this was a good one. Glad you posted the answer, because, though you are under no obligation to do so, my own selfish curiosity was starting to get to me. I kept trying to come up with words that included the letters N-O-W and also involved those concepts, to no avail. $\endgroup$
    – question_asker
    Mar 3, 2016 at 17:19
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    $\begingroup$ That's very clever. I think it would have taken me quite a long time to get it. $\endgroup$
    – hexomino
    Mar 3, 2016 at 17:53
  • $\begingroup$ but you said that the answer was right on this page... :/ $\endgroup$
    – manshu
    Mar 4, 2016 at 10:55
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    $\begingroup$ I meant the acrostic part. People were coming up with words that they could use to make an acrostic. I was trying to say that the letters for the acrostic were all on the page. And the acrostic was really all you strictly needed to solve the puzzle. $\endgroup$
    – Hugh Meyers
    Mar 4, 2016 at 11:12
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This is not a correct answer(my achievement)...confirmed by OP

I think it is

Mark Lowe

Now with many

He previously played for the Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Cleveland Indians, and Toronto Blue Jays.

Now with having lovers

It is the pun on his last name I think as stated in hint 2.

Now with first swing

It tells us that he is related to baseball

Now with some covers

He is a relief pitcher. So we can say that he cover pitching for his team. (But I think it still needs better explanation)

Hint 1

As already stated in the hint 3 that it's acrostic. So MANY HAVING FIRST COVERS... It gives us MARC, pronounced as MARK (as much as I know).

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  • $\begingroup$ This is a neat interpretation! $\endgroup$
    – question_asker
    Mar 2, 2016 at 13:57
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    $\begingroup$ When you see the solution, it may fill you with rage. The answer you seek is right on this page. $\endgroup$
    – Hugh Meyers
    Mar 2, 2016 at 18:37
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    $\begingroup$ The sports reference is not baseball. $\endgroup$
    – Hugh Meyers
    Mar 2, 2016 at 19:28
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Now with many

A synonym for "many" is COPIOUS

Now with having lovers

Somebody who had a lover is LADY CHATTERLEY

Now with first swing

U is shaped like a swing. Yes u is.

Now with some covers

Part of a cover is the ENVELOPE.

So that fifth clue?

It's the acrosticized version of all the answers.

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    $\begingroup$ "Now with" does indeed have significance. $\endgroup$
    – Hugh Meyers
    Mar 2, 2016 at 18:33
  • $\begingroup$ @HughMeyers Well, I tried anyway. $\endgroup$
    – question_asker
    Mar 2, 2016 at 18:33
  • $\begingroup$ You raised an important point. $\endgroup$
    – Hugh Meyers
    Mar 2, 2016 at 19:22
  • $\begingroup$ @hugh now that I've changed my answer, I definitely don't know how it fits $\endgroup$
    – question_asker
    Mar 2, 2016 at 19:23

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