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There is a young kid from MA,
Who drafted a puzzle today.
It isn't that tough,
If you've got the stuff,
To answer before others can say.

So are you the one to solve it?
Can you muster your thoughts for this bit?
Really give it a try,
And do not be shy,
Go rack that brain and don't quit!

Just one more thing before I go,
You're part of the family, don't you know?
It's just such a shame,
But what's in a name,
When lonely is the status quo?

I now need to go, but trust us,
To not answer this question's no justice.
Although a bit cheesy,
The riddle's quite easy.
The answer I seek is ________.

Please explain how you came to your conclusion.

HINT:

What style of poem is this and why is it [the style] famous?

CLUE TWO:

The answer here is not sophistry, but perhaps you should study history; Location is key to answering me, and solving my little mystery.

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    $\begingroup$ Is Anser in the title a typo? $\endgroup$
    – Techidiot
    Commented Jan 22, 2017 at 4:23
  • $\begingroup$ Yes. Had a major migraine while trying to post.. too late, too little water, and too much screen time. $\endgroup$
    – mkinson
    Commented Jan 22, 2017 at 11:19
  • $\begingroup$ There are a number of hints in the poem, but as I said in comments below, Wikipedia is your friend on this one if you know what to look for. $\endgroup$
    – mkinson
    Commented Jan 30, 2017 at 18:59
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    $\begingroup$ Can we get another clue? $\endgroup$
    – Philip Holly
    Commented Feb 6, 2017 at 14:03
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    $\begingroup$ Clue two is given above. $\endgroup$
    – mkinson
    Commented Feb 6, 2017 at 15:28

10 Answers 10

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OK, I'll take a crack at it. My answer is:

Robustus

Explanation:

As other answers have noted, the poem in the question is comprised of limericks, and one of the more famous limericks is about a man from Nantucket. Well, if we go to the history of Nantucket on Wikipedia, we see that it depended on whaling once, specifically on the "scrag whale" which "was almost certainly" the gray whale; this fact was featured in Moby Dick, where both Ahab and Starbuck were from Nantucket. The gray whale's latin name is Eschrichtius Robustus.

How it relates to the clues:

Nantucket is in Massachusetts, and as for the 3rd verse about being the sole name in a family, Wikipedia gives us this: "The gray whale [Rubustus] is the sole living species in the genus Eschrichtius, which in turn is the sole living genus in the family Eschrichtiidae." Also, it fits the last line in both rhyme and metre. EDIT: Oh, I almost missed this! I just noticed this second that the 2nd verse's acrostic is SCRAG, as in 'scrag whale'!

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    $\begingroup$ Congratulation! And excellent work! $\endgroup$
    – mkinson
    Commented Feb 7, 2017 at 22:09
  • $\begingroup$ @mkinson Thanks. So every verse contained a clue, plus the style as a whole. Nice. :) $\endgroup$
    – Walt
    Commented Feb 7, 2017 at 23:04
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nonsense

Explaination:

Thanks to your hint, I looked up poems and found that yours is a limerick, which is confirmed by the first line referencing "A man from nantucket". Cheese, lonely, draft, family, all seem to point to Edward Lear who Wikipedia says made limericks popular. He wrote nonsense poetry. nonsense barely rhymes but I couldn't find anything else about him that does.

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  • $\begingroup$ If I could give you +2 I would! You've added a useful clue. $\endgroup$
    – mkinson
    Commented Feb 3, 2017 at 15:35
  • $\begingroup$ I'm stumped. Can we get another clue? $\endgroup$
    – Philip Holly
    Commented Feb 4, 2017 at 16:40
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The answer you seek is ________.

TONIGHT

Explanation

When lonely is the status quo?

Answer

Tonight as per the song lyrics The other part of the riddle seems just flavour text. Also this is the only question which is answerable and is in puzzle form. :)

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    $\begingroup$ There actually is an answer that fits the format, however it is not at first apparent. The clues to finding out what it is are hidden throughout the poem itself. $\endgroup$
    – mkinson
    Commented Jan 22, 2017 at 11:20
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    $\begingroup$ I think the answer needs to (mostly) rhyme with "trust us" and "justice". $\endgroup$
    – MikeQ
    Commented Jan 22, 2017 at 19:03
  • $\begingroup$ That is correct. You could check a rhyming website, but I still expect an explanation as to how you know that's the answer. $\endgroup$
    – mkinson
    Commented Jan 23, 2017 at 11:14
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Augustus

Explanation:

Was the first word I could think of that rhymed with trust us. "But what's in a name": Augustus is a name. "There is a young kid from MA": According to Wikipedia, his burial site is the Mausoleum of Augustus.

More just a guess than a well-throught through analysis...

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Ablegorabalus

Explanation:

"Boy from MA" is similar to the line "Man from Nantucket" which is part of a famous Limerick.
Edward Lear supposedly popularized Limericks. Lear was from a big family (part of the family).
Ablegorabalus is one part of one of his pseudonyms ("what's in a name"), one that sort of rhymes with Justice/"trust us" depending on how you pronounce it. EDIT: I forgot to write that Lear was diagnosed with Melancholia and had trouble finding a romantic partner which would explain "When lonely is the status quo"

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My answer:

Psittacus augustus, the latin name of a bird illustrated by Edward Lear.

My reasoning:

Thanks to Eliot_The_Curious and pholly who keyed in on Edward Lear. The poem is a limerick which, as has been mentioned by the previous posters, is what Lear is best known for. However, he was actually quite an accomplished artist and illustrator and this oil painting was one of his works. The title of this illustration happens to fit the rhyme scheme perfectly.

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This seems unlikely to be right, but it's been over a week since there was any progress. Could the missing words be

"just us", so that the answer we seek is US?

Evidence:

Fits the rhyme scheme (provided you don't mind two instances of "us" in that last stanza). Kinda fits the stanza about being part of the family and not being lonely.

Counter-evidence:

No obvious connection with stanzas 1 and 2 (though I have to say I have a lot of trouble finding anything in them to get a hold of anyway). Hmm, I suppose US is a substring of MUSTER from stanza 2, but that seems pretty tenuous.

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  • $\begingroup$ Interesting interpretation. I actually find the first two stanza's to be the most significant in the poem. I'm going to add a hint above to hopefully get people on the right track. $\endgroup$
    – mkinson
    Commented Feb 3, 2017 at 12:03
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I'm thinking it might be:

Chorus

Because this style is a

limerick (already given above but putting in hint form)

Whose etymology is said to be:

"From the late 19th century: said to be from the chorus “Will you come up to Limerick?,” sung between improvised verses at a gathering." Which refers to Limerick, Ireland - [location and history hint].

But there's also reference to Edward Lear in the Online Etymology site that says both:

Often (after OED's Murray) attributed to a party game in which each guest in turn made up a nonsense verse and all sang a refrain with the line "Will you come up to Limerick?" but he reported this in 1898 and earlier evidence is wanting. Or perhaps from Learic, from Edward Lear (1812-1888) English humorist who popularized the form. Earliest examples are in French, which further complicates the quest for the origin. OED's first record of the word is in a letter of Aubrey Beardsley.

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(Former) Answer

Thomas (for Thomas Mayhew)

New Answer

Grampus

Explanation

The rhyme is written as a Limerick, which are known culturally as bawdy poems about a gifted man from Nantucket, the place seeming to be important. In the Edgar Allen Poe novel, "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket", Pym sails on a whaling vessel from Nantucket called the "Grampus". This is also a genus of dolphin (genus being part of the family), where there is only one species, Risso's dolphin (satisfying the lonely part). I wouldn't consider this answer to be either cheesy or easy though, so I likely don't have it yet!

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  • $\begingroup$ [New answer] Well, isn't a prominent character's name a better rhyme there...? $\endgroup$
    – Walt
    Commented Feb 7, 2017 at 20:55
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Answer

Solus

Reason

When lonely is the status quo? and fits pattern of poem

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