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This is the fourth of the series,
are you becoming tired now?
One of my long-time friends carries
what you can put to use somehow.

Not in every occasion though,
in fact right now he isn't here...
But if you wait for some time though,
he might decide to visit here.

He's very short for your standards,
and right now he is only two.
Just two small parts, really small parts,
they're quick to make, and little too.

Usually you cannot see him,
unless you look into the past
of those ones who utilize him
or make their current state the past.

I can't tell you're confused or not,
but tell you the question I can.
Whether you have found it or not,
can you tell me, who is my friend?

Hint 1:

Now he's here.

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6 Answers 6

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Could it be

The spoiler tag ">!"

because:

This is the fourth of the series, are you becoming tired now? One of my long-time friends carries what you can put to use somehow.

You can put one to use in your answer, or if you're getting tired, reading someone else's "spoilered" answer

Not in every occasion though, in fact right now he isn't here... But if you wait for some time though, he might decide to visit here.

There is not yet a spoiler tag in the riddle, but when the hint arrives there is

He's very short for your standards, and right now he is only two. Just two small parts, really small parts, they're quick to make, and little too.

The spoiler tag is only two character long ">!"

Usually you cannot see him, unless you look into the past of those ones who utilize him or make their current state the past.

You cannot see the tag unless you go into edit history

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I think the answer is

Rhyme

This is the fourth of the series,
are you becoming tired now?
One of my long-time friends carries
what you can put to use somehow.

Rhyme can be put to use in poetry, music or even riddle construction

Not in every occasion though,
in fact right now he isn't here...

There is no rhyme yet in this verse.

But if you wait for some time though,
he might decide to visit here.

Now the rhymes have been completed, 'here' with 'here' and 'though' with 'though'

He's very short for your standards,
and right now he is only two.
Just two small parts, really small parts,
they're quick to make, and little too.

Rhymes often only consist of a single syllable and are not too difficult to construct, in general.
In this riddle, lines are rhymed in pairs but it is possible to have more lines rhyme.

Usually you cannot see him,
unless you look into the past
of those ones who utilize him
or make their current state the past.

The execution of a rhyme depends not only on the current line but also the previous ones.

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2
  • $\begingroup$ Still moderately far away $\endgroup$
    – user351579
    Feb 4, 2018 at 22:25
  • $\begingroup$ Yeah I was thinking rhyme also, you took it. +1 for the idea $\endgroup$
    – JSCoder says Reinstate Monica
    Feb 5, 2018 at 23:49
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The answer might be...

Some type of puzzle

Just a guess based on the "if you wait for some time, he might visit here" [Puzzling.SE]. Still need to find a category of this that comes with only two parts. If this is on the right track, I will post my reasoning.

Guess I was wrong...

While I'm here, I'll post some meta-reasoning that could help in the solution to the puzzle.

  1. I checked the other parts of the series, but what I found most important was that all of the puzzles (at least up to this one) related to math and science in some way (in the 2nd it was only tangentially, however). "Make their current state the past" or "the past of the ones that utilize him" may refer to...

    history or historians

  2. The author specifically indicated that my solution was closer than another solution that was posted (now removed) that suggested a physical object. The 'rhyme' post was, like mine, an...

    idea

  3. Another problem is that...

    while all the verses rhyme, the third verse is dissonant

    This means that...

    the information in the third verse is important

The information that I believe is true, based on this information.

The object is closer to an idea than a physical object. The information will relate to some aspect of math or science, and certainly history. The information in the third verse will definitely be important to the answer (the author couldn't fit it to a rhyme), and of course the object, an idea, will be able to influence your physiological self (tiredness).

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3
  • $\begingroup$ Still moderately far away $\endgroup$
    – user351579
    Feb 4, 2018 at 2:24
  • $\begingroup$ @user_194421 moderately as in closer than the other answer? $\endgroup$
    – JSCoder says Reinstate Monica
    Feb 4, 2018 at 17:18
  • $\begingroup$ yes, it's closer $\endgroup$
    – user351579
    Feb 4, 2018 at 22:24
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My second try, based on the comments below:

Morse code

This is the fourth of the series,
are you becoming tired now?
One of my long-time friends carries
what you can put to use somehow.

"Long-time" contains a dash, part of Morse code

Not in every occasion though,
in fact right now he isn't here...

Three dots but no dashes here

But if you wait for some time though,
he might decide to visit here.

Dash indicates a pause in a sentence

He's very short for your standards,
and right now he is only two.
Just two small parts, really small parts,
they're quick to make, and little too.

Two parts of Morse code: dots and dashes

Usually you cannot see him,
unless you look into the past
of those ones who utilize him
or make their current state the past.

Morse code is not used in recent times.

I can't tell you're confused or not,
but tell you the question I can.
Whether you have found it or not,
can you tell me, who is my friend?

My first try which was wrong:

I think the answer is:

Comma

This is the fourth of the series,
are you becoming tired now?
One of my long-time friends carries
what you can put to use somehow.

Long-time friend = comrade, contains the letters of comma

Not in every occasion though,
in fact right now he isn't here...

Notice this line doesn't end in a comma

But if you wait for some time though,
he might decide to visit here.

Commas indicate a pause in a sentence

He's very short for your standards,
and right now he is only two.
Just two small parts, really small parts,
they're quick to make, and little too.

The round dot and the tail

Usually you cannot see him,
unless you look into the past
of those ones who utilize him
or make their current state the past.

Usually commas are not at the end of a sentence, so you have to look back for it. I think "those who utilize him" means "sentences" and "those who make their current state the past" means "periods".

I can't tell you're confused or not,
but tell you the question I can.
Whether you have found it or not,
can you tell me, who is my friend?

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5
  • $\begingroup$ Not too far away... $\endgroup$
    – user351579
    Feb 7, 2018 at 10:06
  • $\begingroup$ @user_194421 I have considered question mark or other punctuation marks as the answer as well but I couldn't fit the clues. So I went with my best guess as Comma. $\endgroup$
    – JS1
    Feb 7, 2018 at 10:09
  • $\begingroup$ Think again, there are two parts. $\endgroup$
    – user351579
    Feb 7, 2018 at 10:11
  • $\begingroup$ @user_194421 Am I getting closer? $\endgroup$
    – JS1
    Feb 7, 2018 at 19:04
  • $\begingroup$ Not too much... $\endgroup$
    – user351579
    Feb 7, 2018 at 22:30
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Are you a

Hint? (Specifically, a hint on this site, hidden using spoiler formatting?)

This is the fourth of the series,
are you becoming tired now?
One of my long-time friends carries
what you can put to use somehow.

A hint can easily be put to use in the solving of a puzzle on Puzzling.SE.

Not in every occasion though,
in fact right now he isn't here...
But if you wait for some time though,
he might decide to visit here.

Not every puzzle here on Puzzling.SE has a hint, and this puzzle specifically does not currently have a hint. However, after a while puzzle creators (including even OP) might decide to add one.

He's very short for your standards,
and right now he is only two.
Just two small parts, really small parts,
they're quick to make, and little too.

Compared to the standard hint, this hint (the nonexistent one) is indeed short. And the two "really small parts... quick to make" likely refer to the >! symbols themselves.

Usually you cannot see him,
unless you look into the past
of those ones who utilize him
or make their current state the past.

Not quite sure how this ties in, as it's quite easy to see a hint by clicking/hovering over the spoiler tag. However, perhaps this is a reference to how posts on Puzzling.SE have an edit history, so you can "look into their past?"

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2
  • $\begingroup$ Almost correct. $\endgroup$
    – user351579
    Feb 8, 2018 at 9:38
  • $\begingroup$ I have put a hint. $\endgroup$
    – user351579
    Feb 8, 2018 at 11:30
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Is your friend?

A colon ":"

One of my long-time friends carries
what you can put to use somehow.
Not in every occasion though,
in fact right now he isn't here...(Hint now he is here)

There was no ":" in the question. You used a colon to write the hint with "Hint:" .

But if you wait for some time though,
he might decide to visit here.

Waiting for a "Hint:"

He's very short for your standards,
and right now he is only two.
Just two small parts, really small parts,
they're quick to make, and little too.

Two little dots make a ":" Dots are quite easy to make.

Usually you cannot see him,
unless you look into the past
of those ones who utilize him
or make their current state the past.

Usually colons are not at the end of a sentence, so you have to look back for it. You use them in sentences and you could erase them (backspace). (Greatly inspired on JS1's answer)

I can't tell you're confused or not,
but tell you the question I can.
Whether you have found it or not,
can you tell me, who is my friend?

Your friend is a colon ":"

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1
  • $\begingroup$ It's incorrect. $\endgroup$
    – user351579
    Feb 8, 2018 at 11:00

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