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First clue:

I'm no laughing matter.
But something there is that doesn't love my brother,
so you dug deep to create me.

Second clue:

I'm food.
I'm popular in Morocco.
But I'm even bigger in Israel.

Third clue:

I'm a special kind of armament,
which will help you propel an arm,
better than just your arm.

The question:

What capital city am I?

First hint:

The three clues are independent riddles; each has a different (and topically unrelated) answer, which is different from the answer to the question.

Second hint (for the third clue):

This is a Nahuatl-derived word.

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  • $\begingroup$ Just to make sure, is the second line of the first clue exactly meant as written? It seems lime you perhaps meant to switch 'is' and 'there' $\endgroup$
    – Avik Mohan
    Commented Sep 7, 2016 at 19:09
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    $\begingroup$ The word order is correct. Or, rather, faithful. $\endgroup$
    – Sneftel
    Commented Sep 7, 2016 at 19:13
  • $\begingroup$ Pretty good puzzle. I never did get clue 1, can you elaborate? $\endgroup$
    – John
    Commented Sep 8, 2016 at 17:50
  • $\begingroup$ @John You got the gist of line 2; it also describes why the thing exists, kind of. Line 1 is a play on words from the name (and quite accurate, if you walked into one), and line 3 describes how the thing is made. $\endgroup$
    – Sneftel
    Commented Sep 8, 2016 at 18:03
  • $\begingroup$ Ah ha! Hadn't heard of a ha-ha. Nice. $\endgroup$
    – John
    Commented Sep 8, 2016 at 18:07

2 Answers 2

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The answer to the third clue, given the hint, must surely be

atlatl

(which I thought was the only Nahuatl word I knew, until I actually started looking for others; but none of the others I found seems to have the right sort of meaning).

And since (per John's answer) it seems that the answer to the second is probably

couscous

and, aha!, the first one must be

haha.

So perhaps the capital city we're looking for is

Pago Pago.

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  • $\begingroup$ ** Good Stuff! ** $\endgroup$
    – John
    Commented Sep 8, 2016 at 0:05
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    $\begingroup$ I actually have a tab open in the same browser window as this clue with your suggested city (based on suspicion from answer 2 and the way the puzzle was framed), but couldn't figure out either the first or last clue to confirm. Just FYI, Israeli couscous is actually physically bigger than other types. ;) $\endgroup$
    – Dan Russell
    Commented Sep 8, 2016 at 2:19
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    $\begingroup$ How did you get from the clues to the conclusion of "Pago Pago"? Can you elaborate on that? $\endgroup$
    – Kirex
    Commented Sep 8, 2016 at 5:33
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    $\begingroup$ @Kirex, if clue 1 was 'haha', and clue 2 is 'couscous', and clue 3 is 'atlatl', then you're looking for a city that is a repeated name. So, Pago Pago fits. Note that the OP mentioned that the clues were 'topically' unrelated. So, their repeating pattern was how they were related. $\endgroup$
    – John
    Commented Sep 8, 2016 at 17:53
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Oy, vey! Is it:

Back to Jerusalem?

I'm no laughing matter.
But something there is that doesn't love my brother,
so you dug deep to create me.

Possibly a progression of Wailing [Wall] > Frost's Mending Wall > [Mending] Well.

Second clue:

I'm food.
I'm popular in Morocco.
But I'm even bigger in Israel.

Couscous, or ptitim made from semolina.

Third clue:

I'm a special kind of armament,
which will help you propel an arm,
better than just your arm.

Most to least likely: sling, sling-shot, bow (as in arrow), and finally RPG :) As in David and Goliath, fought in the Valley of Elah, modern Israel?

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  • $\begingroup$ You've got the second clue correct, and you are of course on the right track with the first one (but this is a closer 'brother'). I'm rephrasing the third clue. $\endgroup$
    – Sneftel
    Commented Sep 7, 2016 at 20:40
  • $\begingroup$ @Sneftel, Ah. I think I now have the third, just trying to put it together. $\endgroup$
    – John
    Commented Sep 7, 2016 at 20:47
  • $\begingroup$ With just two clues, you should be able to see the commonality. $\endgroup$
    – Sneftel
    Commented Sep 7, 2016 at 20:50
  • $\begingroup$ @Sneftel, I'm pretty sure I still don't have it, but I'm going to update my answer. $\endgroup$
    – John
    Commented Sep 7, 2016 at 20:58
  • $\begingroup$ Not there yet. You're on the right track with the third one. But there's no theme to this puzzle. $\endgroup$
    – Sneftel
    Commented Sep 7, 2016 at 21:21

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