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Fairly easy one

I am ready to fight with the duke.
If you stop me, Of course I will lose.
But if you celebrate your victory,
I will definitely win,
and
it will be your loss.

What am I?

Normally I have two opponents, but in rare cases I have to fight four of them.

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    $\begingroup$ Are you sure there can't be more than one correct answers to this (easy one)? $\endgroup$
    – ABcDexter
    Aug 17, 2016 at 12:21
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    $\begingroup$ Poison ! If you stop the Duke to drink it you will win, but if you celebrate you stopped it you'll drink it on the celebration! (I wanted to post this as a comment since it is a joke - I hope you got it xD) $\endgroup$
    – Miquel Coll
    Aug 17, 2016 at 12:40
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    $\begingroup$ @ABcDexter I wonder! people here give mind-blowing answers, which I didn't even think of. But I think what I had in my mind suits perfectly. $\endgroup$
    – smriti
    Aug 18, 2016 at 4:09
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    $\begingroup$ Why the down-votes? Is this too vague? $\endgroup$
    – smriti
    Aug 18, 2016 at 9:51
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    $\begingroup$ @smriti, wouldn't be good 'ol trusty 'Rock', would it? $\endgroup$
    – John
    Aug 22, 2016 at 20:23

6 Answers 6

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Is it

The rock of paper/rock/scissors?

I am ready to fight with the duke.

Use of hand or duke to form the 'rock'

If you stop me, Of course I will lose.

Scissor beats paper beats rock beats scissor

But if you celebrate your victory, I will definitely win, and it will be your loss.

With some assistance: if it's scissors, also V for victory gesture, you'll lose against rock.

What am I?

The rock from paper rock scissors

Normally I have two opponents, but in rare cases I have to fight four of them.

Rock fights Scissor & Paper. If two people are playing against you, that's two sets of them.

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  • $\begingroup$ Hey, wait-a-sec... if the "duke" is not just a hand but a fist, that is the second possibility in the game you picked... it will beat a "victory" sign, which resembles the third option, and will lose to the first option, not described (but flattened, lets say). I think you need the second, not the third option in your second-to-last line - that is, the Y from XYZ. And your answer to the last hint works for me. $\endgroup$
    – Megha
    Sep 3, 2016 at 9:55
  • $\begingroup$ Riddle talks about only one thing!(PS: you almost got it, the 'one' you mentioned in comments is right) $\endgroup$
    – smriti
    Sep 3, 2016 at 13:02
  • $\begingroup$ @smriti, I gave it another try. $\endgroup$
    – John
    Sep 3, 2016 at 15:41
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    $\begingroup$ @John - That is mostly what I meant, so yay! Though I still think the resemblance between the victory sign and (the definitely losing) option three is relevant. $\endgroup$
    – Megha
    Sep 4, 2016 at 8:47
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    $\begingroup$ @smriti - I thought so, thanks for letting me know :) It seemed like it wouldn't be fair play to post a nearly-identical answer when John's was within nudging distance, and I wouldn't have gotten it if he hadn't mentioned the game. Probably I was being over-cryptic, too, but I kept thinking we're supposed to use spoiler tags for potential answers, and they don't work in comments (which is probably a clue they aren't needed in comments, ah well). $\endgroup$
    – Megha
    Sep 6, 2016 at 4:41
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Is it

A thumb war

I'm ready to fight with the duke

As @GentlePurpleRain said a duke can be a hand and a thumb war is fought with the hands

If you stop me of course i will lose

The objective is to stop the thumb from moving

But if you celebrate victory i will surely win and it will be your loss

If you unclench your hands you are forfeiting

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  • $\begingroup$ you are close... +1, but not an answer $\endgroup$
    – smriti
    Aug 19, 2016 at 3:56
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I am:

The Rock from Rock-Paper-Scissors.

I am ready to fight with the duke.

As others mentioned, put up your dukes means to use your fists. The fist is Rock.

If you stop me, Of course I will lose.

If a hand is flattened and raised as if to mean "stop", this looks like Paper which beats Rock.

But if you celebrate your victory, I will definitely win, and it will be your loss.

As @Megha said, If the first 2 fingers are raised in the V-for-victory sign, this looks like Scissors, and Rock beats Scissors.

Normally I have two opponents, but in rare cases I have to fight four of them.

As @john said, normally Rock is competing against Scissors & Paper (when there's one other person), but if there are 2 other people then there are two sets of Scissors & Paper. (The riddle doesn't mention the possibility of other Rocks!)

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    $\begingroup$ the extra two opponents might be 'lizard' and 'spock' $\endgroup$
    – Sconibulus
    Sep 3, 2016 at 13:39
  • $\begingroup$ You are right, but I think I will go ahead and accept @Johns answer $\endgroup$
    – smriti
    Sep 6, 2016 at 4:15
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This refers to a

Boxing match.

I am ready to fight with the duke.

"Duke" is slang for a fist, as in, "Put up your dukes!".

If you stop me, Of course I will lose.

If you block the punch, the puncher will lose.

But if you celebrate your victory, I will definitely win, and it will be your loss.

Boxers often celebrate by raising both arms in the air. Doing this during a boxing match would leave you completely vulnerable to an attack, and your opponent will surely win.

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  • $\begingroup$ Nice one! +1, but not what I had in mind. You got couple of references right though. $\endgroup$
    – smriti
    Aug 18, 2016 at 4:07
  • $\begingroup$ I had the same idea as you for the answer, but a different interpretation of "if you celebrate your victory, I will definitely win": the umpire often raises the winner's hand. $\endgroup$
    – paolo
    Aug 18, 2016 at 17:01
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Could it be:

The duke himself, or rather his own self-loathing and issues?

If reader commands fighter to stop:

The duke loses the battle, as the advice the reader gives him in this scenario is to stop fighting himself and bottle up all his emotions, only leading to more problems in the future?

If reader celebrates victory:

The duke's issues win, causing the actual Duke to commit suicide because of his issues. This is the reader's loss, as driving someone to commit suicide is a crime.

Number of opponents explanation:

Normally, there are 2 opponents against our evil suicide-causing warrior. Since this warrior resembles the super-ego (the "Straighten up!" part of your psyche), these two opponents could be the duke's id and ego, seeing as these other parts of the psyche would be all like "OH SWEET JESUS DON'T COMMIT SUICIDE." But the super-ego of a depressed duke would surely win.

Continuing on:

But what about the uncommonly-four-opponents scenario? Well, this could be alluding to an outsider trying to help the duke. That's one additional to the ones previously mentioned, and presumably the Duke's feelings/trust in his helpful friends could be the final opponent mentioned, seeing as these would all be combating the upset super-ego.

Thoughts?

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Could it be a

punching bag?

I am ready to fight with the duke.

as other answers mention, put up your dukes is a way of talking about fists.

If you stop me, Of course I will lose.

Hit the bag, stop it swinging, control its motion, and you've won - beaten the bag into submission.

But if you celebrate your victory, I will definitely win, and it will be your loss.

Raise your arms in victory, or fail to stop the last swing, and it can swing forward and strike you even if you've declared victory. It will keep swinging until it slows or something stops it, so sayeth momentum.

What am I?

a punching bag

Normally I have two opponents, but in rare cases I have to fight four of them.

Possibly referring to hitting the bag with two fists, and then rarely kicks as well (two feet)? Or some method of sharing a punching bag between two people - I am imagining one on each side, so the bag swings back and forth between them. This would not be common, so therefore, rare.

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  • $\begingroup$ I think the 2-4 thing is spot on I would imagine, but I don't think the win-lose stuff is correct, seems a very big stretch $\endgroup$
    – Avik Mohan
    Aug 22, 2016 at 19:16
  • $\begingroup$ @AvikMohan - You could be right. I thought it might fit, and really I can't think of any other way to loose to such - also, the image of that possible loss made me smile - but it is the best answer I came up with, even if it isn't right. $\endgroup$
    – Megha
    Aug 22, 2016 at 19:27
  • $\begingroup$ Not the answer, sorry, but you got couple of references correct $\endgroup$
    – smriti
    Aug 23, 2016 at 4:19
  • $\begingroup$ @smriti - Thanks for letting me know. I am interested in seeing the answer when someone does post it, though, it is a neat riddle. $\endgroup$
    – Megha
    Aug 23, 2016 at 16:35

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