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  • My story starts at my small kiosk.
  • But I was a fool and now all is lost, what I gained in return is a downpour on my head. A burden on my soul.
  • I found a plan to fool them all, now I can force them into submission.
  • I Forgot about Owen, all I need is you, the presence that darkens my day.
  • This is not tea, it was erbium, you became double my size, what does that make me?
  • You have no eyes and see you may not, lost are your hopes, yet this is what you were looking for.

Start at the top, follow the cryptic indications and unveil the new word hidden behind each lines.

HINT 1 :

The first line has no indications, just a simple clue to find the start up word. Although coincidental, that first word can be found by fusing 2 words within the first sentence.

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  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Well I figured out the first two clues! So that's something, right? $\endgroup$
    – Bailey M
    Jan 19, 2017 at 2:29
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    $\begingroup$ @BaileyM Don't give up, I'm sure you can pull it off! Feel free to post a partial answer too if you want help from other puzzlers. $\endgroup$
    – stack reader
    Jan 19, 2017 at 3:05
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    $\begingroup$ I'm not ready to give in just yet. I've been staring at this third clue for an hour or so now. A plot to fool them all... Force them into submission... Hmm... $\endgroup$
    – Bailey M
    Jan 19, 2017 at 3:07
  • $\begingroup$ I got the first two clues nearly immediately, but I'm stuck on the third, too. I've got some vague ideas, but they haven't led me anywhere useful. $\endgroup$
    – M Oehm
    Jan 19, 2017 at 6:34
  • $\begingroup$ @MOehm I wonder what "A plot to fool them all" is... how can gaining such a thing results in forcing people into submission... hmmm.... $\endgroup$
    – stack reader
    Jan 19, 2017 at 8:51

1 Answer 1

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My story starts at my small kiosk.

STALL

But I was a fool and now all is lost, what I gained in return is a downpour on my head. A burden on my soul.

STALL -> ST -> STRAIN

I found a plan to fool them all, now I can force them into submission.

STRAIN -> CONSTRAIN

I Forgot about Owen, all I need is you, the presence that darkens my day.

CONSTRAIN -> CSTRAIN -> CUSTRAIN but that isn't a word. But perhaps (see the [anagram] tag) we can turn this into CURTAINS.

This is not tea, it was erbium, you became double my size, what does that make me?

CURTAINS -> CURERAINS-> CWRERAINS. Anagram again to make SCRAWNIER (which you are if I am double your size).

You have no eyes and see you may not, lost are your hopes, yet this is what you were looking for.

SCRAWNIER -> SAWNER (removing EYE, SEE, and ARE). And this is an anagram of ANSWER, which is indeed what we were looking for.

Thanks to M Oehm who noticed that I slipped up by

replacing the U of CURTAINS rather than, as I meant to, the T

after which various minor changes were needed. Anyone inclined to upvote this should find one of M Oehm's answers and upvote that too :-).

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  • $\begingroup$ Aha, con-strain. I tried to add ruse and got "restrain us", which didn't seem right. Shouldn't the Er replace the T in "curtains"? When you do that and then replace the u with the letter double its size (w), you can get "scrawnier". Then, losing eye, see and are, you can get at the "answer" you've already guessed. $\endgroup$
    – M Oehm
    Jan 19, 2017 at 20:15
  • $\begingroup$ Oh, heck, you're right. That was a slip-up, and as you say once it's fixed everything goes through as it ought. $\endgroup$
    – Gareth McCaughan ♦
    Jan 19, 2017 at 20:55
  • $\begingroup$ Good job! I hope it was not too hard to be enjoyable. I tried really hard to make this one, tried to make it quite challenging. Surprised I only got 160 views in 2 days though. Maybe people are getting sick of riddles or my title was not catchy enough haha... either way, thanks for participating! $\endgroup$
    – stack reader
    Jan 19, 2017 at 23:12

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