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I'm a place to land, but not be constrained.

I'm always there to cheer you on, but then I can't eat.

I'm one who uses a modem, but then can't even list files.

I can hold volumes, but I keep away from ladies' fingers.

When all else fails I decide, but only when the night air is silent.


And if you see me from behind, you'll know I'm fit to be a king.

What's this all about?

Hint

Each line should be solved independently, and the answers to each line are related. The title tells you how to solve each line except the last one, which involves a different type of wordplay.

Hint =

I'm a Japanese religion, but don't care about the initial SE site's initials.

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  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Possible clue: Okra is sometimes referred to as "ladies fingers" $\endgroup$
    – Areeb
    Jul 26, 2016 at 1:57
  • $\begingroup$ @John That was just obscure enough to possibly make sense but possibly not make sense. $\endgroup$
    – Dan Russell
    Jul 26, 2016 at 18:33
  • $\begingroup$ @DanRussell, Yeah, I realize that. Let me keep looking at it. $\endgroup$
    – John
    Jul 26, 2016 at 18:37

3 Answers 3

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I'm thirsty. What's the difference?

You can find a type of beer by subtracting the second half of the sentence from the first.

I'm a place to land, but not be constrained.

"place to land" -> helipad
"constrained" -> held
HELIPAD - HELD = IPA

I'm always there to cheer you on, but then I can't eat.

"cheer you on" -> supporter
"eat" -> sup (synonym of 'eat')
SUPPORTER - SUP = PORTER

I'm one who uses a modem, but then can't even list files.

"one who uses a modem" -> dialer (think dial-up modem)
"list files" -> dir (Windows shell command to list files)
DIALER - DIR = ALE

I can hold volumes, but I keep away from ladies' fingers.

"hold volumes" -> bookrack (volumes = books)
"ladies' fingers" -> okra (nickname; thanks to @Areeb)
BOOKRACK - OKRA = BOCK

When all else fails I decide, but only when the night air is silent.

"when all else fails, I decide" -> shootout (final 'decider' of tied soccer/hockey games)
"night air is silent" -> hoo (sound of an owl; a night without a 'hoo' is silent)
SHOOTOUT - HOO = STOUT

And if you see me from behind, you'll know I'm fit to be a king.

Different scheme for this one:
REGAL backwards = LAGER

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  • $\begingroup$ 2nd hint: SHINTO-SO=HINT. $\endgroup$
    – Ankoganit
    Jul 27, 2016 at 4:54
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Nicely done. I'd buy you one if I could! $\endgroup$
    – Dan Russell
    Jul 27, 2016 at 13:20
  • $\begingroup$ second line - but then I can't eat = SUP..could someone explain? $\endgroup$
    – Alex
    Jul 27, 2016 at 15:15
  • $\begingroup$ I'm adding clarifications in the solution; "sup" is a synonym of "eat" $\endgroup$
    – kayzeroshort
    Jul 27, 2016 at 15:37
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I've got something. It fits with half of the riddle, but I'm missing three lines...

You're a

Mouth

I'm a place to land, but not be constrained.

Food lands there, but does not stay there forever because it is swallowed right after.

I'm always there to cheer you on, but then I can't eat.

To cheer on someone you need to speak and you can't eat while speaking

I'm one who uses a modem, but then can't even list files.

??

I can hold volumes, but I keep away from ladies' fingers.

There's a bit of space (volume) inside the mouth. When you kiss a lady's hand your mouth shouldn't touch her fingers.

When all else fails I decide, but only when the night air is silent.

??

And if you see me from behind, you'll know I'm fit to be a king.

??

I'll think about this for a little longer, but it's quite late and I need to sleep.

EDIT:

For some reason a part of me thinks that it may have something to do with chess... Talking about eating, files (columns of a chessboard), king and maybe queen (aria (= air) of the night queen from Mozart's Magic Flute)

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  • $\begingroup$ Good effort, but not what I'm after. Needs a bit more wordplay with the clues. $\endgroup$
    – Dan Russell
    Jul 26, 2016 at 1:17
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I'm a place to land, but not be constrained.

A landing* page.

I'm always there to cheer you on, but then I can't eat.

I'm one who uses a modem, but then can't even list files.

A fax* page.

I can hold volumes, but I keep away from ladies' fingers.

A page file*.

When all else fails I decide, but only when the night air is silent.

And if you see me from behind, you'll know I'm fit to be a king.

Something to do with a king's* page(page boy)?

What's this all about?

Pages is my guess right now, but it's reaching.

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3
  • $\begingroup$ Good effort, but you'll need to actually modify some of the clued words to find the solution. $\endgroup$
    – Dan Russell
    Jul 26, 2016 at 3:11
  • $\begingroup$ Sorry, but what do you mean by "clued words"? $\endgroup$
    – evJeff7
    Jul 26, 2016 at 4:07
  • $\begingroup$ night air = knight heir? just a thought $\endgroup$
    – as4s4hetic
    Jul 26, 2016 at 10:00

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