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I met a strange lady yesterday. She started talking to me and said the weirdest thing:

"I have been boiling cats to get cows. Six cats for a cow, you know? But nothing happened."

I was wondering what she expected at all, but remained silent. She continued with the non-sense:

"Then, my alligator's cousin, who is just three, found grain before my Poisonous Snake. 5 grain seeds, to be exact."

She was definitely crazy.

"Triethanolamine is too long, just give me a hot drink. Or three."

What was she talking about at all??
Her ramblings continued:

"Chilli maize resembles seed from a flowering vine. I have 11 of them. And did you know that sea snails produce echoless swirls? Usually in groups of six and five. Karma never ignores villains, effective, sharp. I have 6 kids, you know? The last is a confused mineral and is 4."

Thankfully, I took another path and we separated afterwards.

But could her ramblings actually be meaningful? Or are they connected at all?

Hint:

Heroic wells are confused homes of sea snails.

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    $\begingroup$ Can we just say 'no'? :P $\endgroup$
    – Beastly Gerbil
    Sep 18, 2016 at 9:56
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    $\begingroup$ @BeastlyGerbil, you can, but then you wouldn't know the answer. :) $\endgroup$
    – Maria Ivanova
    Sep 18, 2016 at 10:14
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    $\begingroup$ Are there any clues possible regarding the snails? (Or should I learn to be patient and realise that anything to do with snails will be very slow to arrive?) $\endgroup$
    – YowE3K
    Sep 23, 2016 at 2:32
  • $\begingroup$ @YowE3K, I posted a hint - in fact this is how the sea snails one could have been in the first place. $\endgroup$
    – Maria Ivanova
    Sep 23, 2016 at 6:57

1 Answer 1

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This is a partial answer, because I haven't got an answer to all ramblings.

The ramblings are ...

... cryptic clues. The sentences come in pairs: The first one is the clue, the second one has a number and indicates the word length.

(The clues are not standard cryptic crossword clues, though. The OP, Maria, has developed her own style of cryptic clues, which is looser than regular cryptics. See here or here for examples of this style.)

I have been boiling cats to get cows. Six cats for a cow, you know? But nothing happened.

CATTLE - Cows. Sounds like kettle (boiling) and starts with CAT.

Then, my alligator's cousin, who is just three, found grain before my Poisonous Snake. 5 grain seeds, to be exact.

CROPS - Grain. CRO from crocodile who is just three and P S, initials of Poisonous Snake. (Thanks, YowE3K.)

Triethanolamine is too long, just give me a hot drink. Or three.

TEA - A hot drink. TEA is an abbreviation of Triethanolamine. (Thanks, Ankoganit!)

Chilli maize resembles seed from a flowering vine. I have 11 of them.

PEPPERCORNS - The seed of a vine. Pepper (chilli) and corn (maize); I made it plural so that it is eleven letters long

And did you know that sea snails produce echoless swirls? Usually in groups of six and five.

COWRIE SHELLS - sea snails. An anagramm of ECHOLESS SWIRLS (which gives Cowries shells) and of HEROIC WELLS as per the extra hint.

Karma never ignores villains, effective, sharp. I have 6 kids, you know?

KNIVES - something sharp. Take the first letters of all words. (Thanks, Ankoganit!)

The last is a confused mineral and is 4.

SALT - A mineral substance. An anagram of LAST.

What links these items is that ...

... they all were used as kind of payment or as replacement for or as an early form of money.

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    $\begingroup$ I fear that the second to last might be "knives" (take the first letters; sharp=def?). $\endgroup$
    – Ankoganit
    Sep 18, 2016 at 12:14
  • $\begingroup$ @Ankoganit you are correct. $\endgroup$
    – Maria Ivanova
    Sep 18, 2016 at 12:16
  • $\begingroup$ @MOehm, the alligator one is not interpreted correctly. The triethanolamine one has more to its logic. The others are correct and your assumption that there is more to the puzzle after you solve them all is also correct. :) $\endgroup$
    – Maria Ivanova
    Sep 18, 2016 at 12:18
  • $\begingroup$ Aha, "TEA" is an abbreviation for Triethanolamine... $\endgroup$
    – Ankoganit
    Sep 18, 2016 at 12:22
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    $\begingroup$ @shree.pat18: Good try, but based on the recently added hint I think that the solution is COWRIE SHELLS. $\endgroup$
    – M Oehm
    Sep 23, 2016 at 7:03

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