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Very often, you'll have me

When you have me, you get multiple of me

After getting me, you must make me

And then all but one of me will disappear

Who or what am I?

Hint #1:

The first me and the many of me that you get share the same name, but we aren't quite the same.

Hint #2:

The one of me to stay will be one of the multiple you get, as referred to in line 2.

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7 Answers 7

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Are you a:

Choice?

Very often, you'll have me

You'll have choices from time to time.

When you have me, you get multiple of me

When you've a choice, it means you've multiple choices,

After getting me, you must make me

you must make a choice

And then all but one of me will disappear

Yup.

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  • 1
    $\begingroup$ You've got it exactly! I was afraid that I didn't give enough information, but I'm glad to see that it came across. I thought of it after I saw a question on the math stack exchange noting the semantics behind a choice (when you have to pick between different options), and choices (the options from which you choose). $\endgroup$
    – Kevin Long
    Oct 6, 2016 at 20:11
  • $\begingroup$ Some how the 'one of the multiple' in hint #2 gave me the idea. Great riddle! $\endgroup$
    – Alex
    Oct 6, 2016 at 21:17
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Are you...

Ikea furniture


Very often, you'll have me

It's a popular store. People often get things there.

When you have me, you get multiple of me

Everything comes in multiple pieces.

After getting me, you must make me

You must assemble the pieces.

And then all but one of me will disappear

This refers to that one piece left over when you're done that makes you question the safety of your new bunk bed.

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  • $\begingroup$ This is really clever answer! Unfortunately, it's not the one I was looking for. I'll add a hint to differentiate this answer from the desired one. $\endgroup$
    – Kevin Long
    Oct 6, 2016 at 18:18
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    $\begingroup$ :P I know it's wrong, but I had to do it. $\endgroup$ Oct 6, 2016 at 18:20
  • $\begingroup$ Lego should also suffice :P $\endgroup$
    – ABcDexter
    Oct 7, 2016 at 5:54
  • $\begingroup$ What a totally excellent answer. +1 Pure genius. $\endgroup$
    – Baldrick
    Oct 7, 2016 at 11:25
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I am

a thought or idea

Very often, you'll have me

ideas pop into your head all day long

When you have me, you get multiple of me

One idea leads to another and another

After getting me, you must make me

All of the ideas will coalesce into one idea

And then all but one of me will disappear

Anything that doesn't fit with the coalesced idea is dropped

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  • $\begingroup$ Nice try, but not the desired one. $\endgroup$
    – Kevin Long
    Oct 6, 2016 at 19:50
  • $\begingroup$ @Kevin Long looks good to me. I know it's not correct, but I think it shows an issue with your question that it's too broad. $\endgroup$ Oct 6, 2016 at 22:11
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I know the correct answer has already been posted, but I like this answer anyway:

Are you

a cookie?

Very often, you'll have me

I don't know about you, but I probably have more cookies than I need.

When you have me, you get multiple of me

Cookies typically come in batches or packages of 12.

After getting me, you must make me

You need to bake the dough before you have cookies.

And then all but one of me will dissapear

That last cookie always sits around on the plate for far too long.

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Are you

a spermatozoon?

Very often, you'll have me

if you find your partner sufficiently attractive and he is male

When you have me, you get multiple of me

about a hundred million

After getting me, you must make me

true before the modern era of contraception

And then all but one of me will disappear

after nine months

Apologies

trust I haven't pushed the bounds of good taste but it's just biology, folks

(I had actually edited this afterward to make a clarification for expected pedantry in which I suggested the term 'spermatazoon' be thought of in the context of "DNA contribution" and the term "make me" as in "make a recipe", which is fundamentally what DNA is. The edit was pending review.)

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  • $\begingroup$ Clever, though the "you must make me" part refers to the same "me", not making something out of "me". $\endgroup$
    – Kevin Long
    Oct 7, 2016 at 15:46
1
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are you

data

Very often, you'll have me

lots of things generate data

When you have me, you get multiple of me

data is always plural

After getting me, you must make me

You use data to create other data, such as an average or std deviation or whatever statistic you need

And then all but one of me will disappear

Now that you have an average or some other statistic, it encompasses all the other data and you don't need it anymore

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  • $\begingroup$ Good answer, but not the one I'm looking for. I'll throw in another hint to differentiate. $\endgroup$
    – Kevin Long
    Oct 6, 2016 at 19:50
  • $\begingroup$ @Kevin Long The question should be solveable without the hints. If I need the hints to solve it then I think it's not a good question. $\endgroup$ Oct 6, 2016 at 22:12
  • $\begingroup$ data are* always plural. Sorry, had to do it! $\endgroup$ Oct 6, 2016 at 22:43
  • $\begingroup$ i meant the word 'data' is always plural $\endgroup$
    – MMAdams
    Oct 6, 2016 at 22:49
1
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Are you

Number 1

Very often, you'll have me

You have a lot of "one" things.

When you have me, you get multiple of me

1 is multiple of 1

After getting me, you must make me

After getting one, you must make one

And then all but one of me will disappear

"one"

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1
  • $\begingroup$ Afraid not- the multiple part is clever, but I don't really see how the third hint plays into that explanation. $\endgroup$
    – Kevin Long
    Oct 6, 2016 at 22:29

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