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Once each month I slept with you,
But unfortunately I'm a young woman.
I'll give it to you square: I'm rich!
Halfway to perfect in an attack.

My sister makes much less sense:
Her misfortune was to be created.
Twice I told her, I really did,
But her perfection has now dimmed.

Who is the helpful speaker?

HINT 1:

We're found in vans, in bags, on bikes - we're found in books, in maps, online

HINT 2:

the answer itself isn't just a letter, but letters (as indicated by the previous hint) are involved in the cluing somehow.

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    $\begingroup$ PS: despite the surface reading, there's nothing actually rude or risque here. I hope you'll like how well everything fits to the actual answer :-) Have fun! $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Mar 11, 2018 at 17:32
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    $\begingroup$ The second and and fourth line of each verse struck me in their similarities: unfortunately / misfortune for the 2nd, and perfect / perfection in the 4th. Am I into something or is it an odd coincidence? $\endgroup$
    – Keelhaul
    Mar 12, 2018 at 16:16
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    $\begingroup$ @Keelhaul - Rand al'Thor's idea of a hint is to give another riddle :-) $\endgroup$
    – Phylyp
    Mar 15, 2018 at 13:22
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    $\begingroup$ @Doomenik - in the linked riddle, Rand al'Thor has commented that "The answer to this riddle will be a hint for Who are these two sisters?" $\endgroup$
    – Phylyp
    Mar 15, 2018 at 13:29
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    $\begingroup$ Which he answered in the answerers comment that “letters” was correct. $\endgroup$
    – tyobrien
    Mar 15, 2018 at 15:14

14 Answers 14

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Answer for the first sister

(with edits thanks to Rand al'Thor hints in the comments):

I can't shake off the sense that each line gives a letter and a word beginning with that letter.
And thanks to the hints in the comments, that the first sister is Aid (hence the helpful speaker!)

Once each month I slept with you,

Once each month = twelve times, that could hint to the 12th letter of the alphabet : L. With "slept with you" this would give Laid.

But unfortunately I'm a young woman.

My initial idea was that unfortunately translates into misfortune/miss Fortune (or Lady Luck!). But following my current idea misfortune may hint the number 13 (for bad luck), corresponding to the letter M. And the word for young woman would be, not Miss, but Maid.

I'll give it to you square: I'm rich!

Or is it: "I'll give it to U square", as in "double U": W. "I'm rich" then is Wealth.
But no! It must end in "aid", so I'll go for Paid, P being the 16th letter (a perfect square).

Halfway to perfect in an attack.

Halfway to "perfect" there is an F. An attack is a Fight.
Or... still going with "aid": a Raid. R because 18 is a semi-perfect number and also half a perfect square (36) as noted by @Statman.

And for the second:

My sister makes much less sense:

All I could find, with a bit of help from @Rubio, is Ade. At first I though "it doesn't make any sense", and then, well... I guess that's the point.

Her misfortune was to be created.

Still keeping the M, created may give Made.

Twice I told her, I really did,

Twice hints for B, that could give Bade (an obscure word I was not aware of, thanks @Rubio)

But her perfection has now dimmed.

It could be Fade because, as @M Oehm pointed, 6 (for F) is a perfect number.

Thank you for all the hints!

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  • $\begingroup$ Very very close! This is exactly the right method of solution, and you've got several of the right letters and even some of the right words. Keep going - you're nearly there! $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Mar 23, 2018 at 9:27
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    $\begingroup$ Bigger hint: look at the bolded words you've got as possibilities for each line. Which of them look similar enough to each other that they could be part of a single set? $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Mar 23, 2018 at 16:00
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    $\begingroup$ rot13(Fvfgre jub znxrf yrff frafr vf NQR, naq gur guerr pyhrf ner: Zvfsbeghar [Z] perngrq: ZNQR. Gjvpr V gbyq ure: 2=O, ONQR. Cresrpgvba [S] qvzzrq: SNQR.) $\endgroup$
    – Rubio ♦
    Mar 23, 2018 at 16:30
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    $\begingroup$ Ah, rot13(Naq fvk (S) vf n cresrpg ahzore). Well done. I thought I was onto something when I found out that the second line could be rewritten "Alas, I'm a lass". The letter would then have been the extra S. Then I wasted too much time trying to find similar patterns. $\endgroup$
    – M Oehm
    Mar 23, 2018 at 17:53
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    $\begingroup$ Not quite. Is halfway to perfect referring to the fact that rot13(Rvtugrra vf unys bs guvegl fvk, n cresrpg fdhner)? $\endgroup$
    – Statman
    Mar 24, 2018 at 10:55
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What about:

The letter X is speaking and the sister is the letter V. The answer to the linked clue is letters.

Once each month I slept with you,

The 15th of every month in ancient Rome were called the ides. Today is the ides of March, made famous by Shakespeare. Of course, Roman numerals for 15 is XV. In every month, X and V are together on the ides.

But unfortunately I'm a young woman.

Women have two X chromosomes.

I'll give it to you square: I'm rich!

Not sure. Perhaps something related to finding buried treasure using the maxim that "X marks the spot". Or related to X often being used as a symbol for multiplication, and squaring a number means multiplying it by itself.

Halfway to perfect in an attack.

Also not sure. Something about X being used often to mark a target. Or related to tic-tac-toe.

My sister makes much less sense:

I got nothing.

Her misfortune was to be created.

No idea here, either.

Twice I told her, I really did,

Perhaps related to V + V = X or how a W is two Vs put together.

But her perfection has now dimmed.

In ancient Latin, the letter V was used for two sounds, the "W" sound and the "U" sound. They didn't have a modern "V" sound. Now, "V" is used (in English, at least) only for the "V" sound and two other letters have been create. It's thin but the best I can come up with.

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  • $\begingroup$ If you take the greek letter Chi (which is written as an X), then you get hint's for lines 3 and 4 of the first part. There's the Chi-squared test in statistics, to test whether a hypothesis is true (I'm rich). Then there is the Chinese Chi, the "energy force", which is halfway to perfect in an attack. $\endgroup$
    – user28935
    Mar 15, 2018 at 16:33
  • $\begingroup$ I feel like I'm not using the hint correctly. Or maybe only partly correctly. $\endgroup$
    – Todd Wilcox
    Mar 15, 2018 at 16:52
  • $\begingroup$ I'm pretty sure the answer is two specific letters, but can't tell which ones. Choose the right alphabet and get the right explanations. :-) $\endgroup$
    – user28935
    Mar 15, 2018 at 16:56
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    $\begingroup$ "i'll give it to you square", if you flip v upside down you get ^ which is used for exponents (square being ^2) $\endgroup$
    – Jordan.J.D
    Mar 15, 2018 at 17:30
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    $\begingroup$ Nice try, but I'm afraid this isn't correct. Some of the explanations are a bit flimsy, especially on the second verse. I think the intended answer will fit much better :-) $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Mar 15, 2018 at 21:50
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Another possibility:

It has something to do with computer characters or a computer keyboard. Or the clues are translated into a string of characters that lead to some other answer.

Expanding on that:

It could be something like: 12 IZU 13 XX 4 $ (or ^2 $) 5 # -$ 13 ^ " ! < 10

The hint:

The hint is the word "letters", which could refer to letters of the alphabet, computer characters, or communications sent through the mail.

Once each month I slept with you,

Could be 12 for 12 times a year or 30 for every 30 days. The second half could be the letters I and U or merely the letter U. "Slept" could indicate Z as used to denote a snoring sound. Also I notice that on the qwerty keyboard, the letters YUIO are all next to each other, which might be what "I slept with you" refers to.

But unfortunately I'm a young woman.

"Unfortunately" could indicate bad luck as in the number 13, and the young woman would have XX chromosomes.

I'll give it to you square: I'm rich!

4 is the number of sides of a square, and on a US English keyboard, the alternate symbol on the 4 key is $. Another possibility is the ^ symbol as used for exponents in many markup systems.

Halfway to perfect in an attack.

The repetition of "perfect(ion)" later in the puzzle makes me think there's some link between these lines, and this line is halfway through the riddle. Halfway to a perfect 10 would be 5. I'm not sure about "attack" but it could refer to ! ("bang") or maybe # (like a tic tack toe board). Also, "knowing is half the battle" - perhaps that's related.

My sister makes much less sense:

It might mean something that it's a sister and not a brother, father, or mother, etc. Could be a repeat of XX. "Sense" maybe is a pun on "cents" and therefore another reference to $. Perhaps "less sense" indicates a minus sign or less than symbol in front.

Her misfortune was to be created.

Bad luck and therefore 13 again. Then perhaps Insert or ^ for "created".

Twice I told her, I really did,

"I told her twice" makes me think of the double quote key or character. "I really did" isn't clear - maybe !.

But her perfection has now dimmed.

"Dimmed" could mean less as in minus sign or less than symbol. Again, "perfection" might indicate the number 10 or the corresponding keyboard keys.

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    $\begingroup$ Your final answer isn't right, but some of your reasoning is actually along exactly the right lines. +1 for sure; you just need to use those clues in a slightly different way. $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Mar 15, 2018 at 21:51
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Partial

Are you

F8 and Shift

Once each month I slept with you,

12 “F” keys

But unfortunately I'm a young woman.

F8 may be short for female, 8 years old

I'll give it to you square: I'm rich!

Halfway to perfect in an attack.

F16 is a fighter jet

My sister makes much less sense:

Could refer to a definition of shift being evasive and misleading “shifty”

Her misfortune was to be created.

Twice I told her, I really did,

There are two shift keys on a keyboard

But her perfection has now dimmed

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    $\begingroup$ Although your final answer isn't correct, your way of thinking about some of the clues is spot-on. In some ways you're the closest yet. +1 for sure; you just need to use those clues in a slightly different way. $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Mar 16, 2018 at 10:21
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    $\begingroup$ @Randal'Thor I'm confused by the support you've given to answers that seem to be related to things that are different for people who live in different countries or use different currencies when you commented on your answer that those things don't matter. Certain computer peripherals are very different even between the US and Canada, for example, to say nothing of the UK or Australia, and that's even with a common language. $\endgroup$
    – Todd Wilcox
    Mar 20, 2018 at 6:44
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    $\begingroup$ @ToddWilcox Then clearly computer keys aren't the part of this answer's methodology that's correct :-) (I should really add another hint, shouldn't I. Edit: done.) $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Mar 20, 2018 at 15:38
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I think the the speaker and the sister are

the moon and the sun

Once each month I slept with you,

Because the “you” refers to the earth? And there’s a full moon every month?

But unfortunately I'm a young woman.

The moon is often seen as the goddess Selene (from mythology)

I'll give it to you square: I'm rich!

Possibly rich in minerals? Lunar mining? Not really sure.

Halfway to perfect in an attack.

Don’t know this either, but something to do with the half-moon phase.

My sister makes much less sense:

Aka the sun, but I’m not sure why it isn’t much less sense.

Her misfortune was to be created.

Because although stars are created, they die… I don’t really understand

Twice I told her, I really did,

The moon and the sun meets around 2 times a year for either a solar or lunar eclipse?

But her perfection has now dimmed.

The sun is dying like all stars do

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    $\begingroup$ Welcome to Puzzling. That's a really nice answer :) $\endgroup$
    – ABcDexter
    Mar 12, 2018 at 6:31
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    $\begingroup$ Good try, but I'm afraid you're barking up the wrong tree. For the correct solution, all the clues should fit together more snugly than this. $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Mar 12, 2018 at 17:30
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    $\begingroup$ Stationary depends on the viewpoint. Viewed from the Earth, the sun do in fact orbit around it, rises and sets. $\endgroup$
    – Florian Bourse
    Mar 15, 2018 at 13:27
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    $\begingroup$ Nothing in the universe is 'stationary' $\endgroup$
    – Chowzen
    Mar 15, 2018 at 13:32
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    $\begingroup$ And yet, eveything is stationary in its own frame of reference $\endgroup$
    – Florian Bourse
    Mar 15, 2018 at 13:50
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Partial answer for the sister's identity. Clues point to

the letter C

My sister makes much less sense:

c is the symbol for 'cents' (credit to Todd)

Her misfortune was to be created.

Misfortune means the letter 'o' (as in 'Oh, woe is me'). C inside O is the symbol for copyright (assigned to creator of a work)

Twice I told her, I really did,

Double meaning here: CC is to email someone a message, 2c is 'my two cents'

But her perfection has now dimmed.

Turn C 90 degrees clockwise (no longer perfect) and you get the dimmer symbol on lightswitches

I think the speaker may be

the letter X (adjacent to C on my keyboard, i.e. her sister) the letter B (adjacent in the alphabet, hence sisters)

but I can't make all the clues fit

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    $\begingroup$ Good try, but the role of the hint in the solution isn't quite as great as some people are thinking :-) $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Mar 16, 2018 at 10:20
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Are the sisters a written letter, and a mistake:

Once each month I slept with you,

A reference to the downward slant of letters, or the shift from capital case to lower case(since each month is a proper noun)

But unfortunately I'm a young woman.

young as in new/fresh, and letters or handwriting could be considered a feminine noun

I'll give it to you square: I'm rich!

Give it to you square could be an idiom for being straightforward. Rich could be refering to ink quality

Halfway to perfect in an attack.

Pen is mightier than the sword, you have the letters/handwriting you just need to put it together.

My sister makes much less sense:

Sister implies that both have a relation of coming from the same origin/parent. An error does not make sense.

Her misfortune was to be created.

Can be interpreted as the demise of the sister was in the creation of the sister.

Twice I told her, I really did,

You scratch out mistakes, or write over them.

But her perfection has now dimmed.

Can be a reference to how the error is outwritten by the correct version/ or crossed out

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    $\begingroup$ Nice try, but I don't think it quite fits. The "sister" in your case doesn't really have "perfection", and the explanation of "Halfway to perfect in an attack" isn't all that convincing. $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Mar 16, 2018 at 10:19
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Credit to brother Darren R on most of the second verse

The speaker and sister are

The letters K and C

Once each month I slept with you,

C is a crescent moon?

But unfortunately I'm a young woman.

"Kay" is woman's name

I'll give it to you square: I'm rich!

K*K = 1,000*1,000 = 1,000,000 = she's a millionaire

Halfway to perfect in an attack.

K.O. = knockout

My sister makes much less sense:

The pronunciation of K (at least in English) is very predictable; C can be pronounced as "see" or "kay"

Her misfortune was to be created.

C is in a hole -> copyright symbol (with help from Darren R)

Twice I told her, I really did,

Double meaning here: CC is to email someone a message, 2c is 'my two cents' (Darren R)

But her perfection has now dimmed.

Turn C 90 degrees clockwise (no longer perfect) and you get the dimmer symbol on lightswitches (Darren R)

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Adding another partial answer addressing the first set of clues. It seems clear from Rand al'Thor's comments on several answers that

the answer is not two distinct letters of the alphabet. The question is also tagged with 'word' which seems to confirm this.

The only clear hint provided is

Letters so perhaps each line refers to a different letter?

Based on this I think the first set of clues point to:

Once each month I slept with you

The letter 'h'. If we take sleeping to mean that the letters are lying down (rotated 90 degrees to either the right or left) then the sleeping letter 'h' can be decomposed into a sleeping 'i' and 'u'. 'h' is also the only letter to appear in both 'each' and 'month'

But unfortunately I'm a young woman.

Not sure what letter this could refer to. If the clue were 'young female' then I'd suggest 'u' as in ewe

I'll give it to you square: I'm rich!

the letter 'T': the T-square is a common drafting tool; if I strike Texas Tea (crude oil) I'll be rich

Halfway to perfect in an attack.

The letter 'B'. The B2 bomber is perfect for attacking.

Unfortunately,

I can't see any way to bring these letters together to form a known word

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    $\begingroup$ In some ways your approach is close to the correct one, but you're still quite far off the mark. Perhaps I should add another hint ... $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Mar 19, 2018 at 21:13
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I came across this and decided to give it a shot. I might be way off track, trying to think of extremely simple analogies, but hell, why not.

Following one of the logics from @Todd Wilcox:

What if it's actually the letter W speaking of the letter V?

Once each month I slept with you.

Simplest thing I could think of is that month twelve has both letters together.

But unfortunately I'm a young woman.

Woman begins with the letter W.

I'll give it to you square: I'm rich!

Might refer to the word wealth.

Halfway to perfect in an attack.

Could be referring to a weapon.

My sister makes much less sense:

Vague, maybe?

Her misfortune was to be created.

Still trying to look for a more convincing way to answer this part. Closest thing I got is the relation to the wheel of fortune, which I don't think is very accurate.

Twice I told her, I really did,

Maybe the idea of W being two times V.

But her perfection has now dimmed.

Tough one, could be just because W seems to be a much more powerful letter, much more used and being the double of V in a literal way (making V not near as perfect as W). I wonder if this also relates to the word vanity.

So this is it, everything might have been harder for me due to english not being my mother language, but I wanted to join in the fun of this riddle. Really excited to see what the answer is.

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    $\begingroup$ Good try, but the intended answer fits much more snugly into everything than this. Each line is something more specific than just a word containing a given letter. $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Mar 15, 2018 at 21:53
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I think the sisters are

Euro (€) and pound sterling (£)

Because

Once each month I slept with you,

You get paid once a month (hopefully)

But unfortunately I'm a young woman.

Maybe I have no patience, I will get spent soon

I'll give it to you square: I'm rich!

The bank notes are squareish-shaped and make you rich

Halfway to perfect in an attack.

I don't know about this one

My sister makes much less sense:

It's a stretch, but maybe the origin of the pound (one pound of silver divided into 250 parts)

Her misfortune was to be created.

Could be referring to the drop of the pound's value recently after Brexit was confirmed

Twice I told her, I really did,

I'm not really knowledgeble about politics, but maybe the EU gave the UK two chances to stop Brexit?

But her perfection has now dimmed.

I'm not sure if it's the case, but maybe the pound is still not as valuable as it was a couple of years ago?

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  • $\begingroup$ If it has to do with getting paid once a month, then it's definitely culturally slanted. I don't know anyone who gets paid only once a month. $\endgroup$
    – Todd Wilcox
    Mar 15, 2018 at 22:02
  • $\begingroup$ Yeah, the answer is much less culture-dependent than this. All the clues should fit quite snugly without requiring so much stretching :-) $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Mar 15, 2018 at 22:11
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This (partial) answer is a continuation of the one given by Darren R.

The sister is

The letter C (credit to Darren R)

The speaker is:

The letter O

Once each month I slept with you

Once a month there is a full moon, which looks like an O (Note this also works with C, in the waning crescent phase of the moon)

But unfortunately I'm a young woman.

"The Story of O" is a story about a young woman called O

I'll give it to you square: I'm rich!

Something to do with squaring the circle??? Tenuous at best

Halfway to perfect in an attack.

Don't know

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  • $\begingroup$ I like how you've made this fit some of the clues pretty well, but it doesn't fit all of them. The role of the hint in the riddle isn't quite so great as some people are thinking :-) $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Mar 16, 2018 at 10:17
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Partial answer:

The speaker is:

T?

Once each month I slept with you

T is next to U (you)?!?

But unfortunately I'm a young woman

A teenage perhaps?

I'll give it to you square: I'm rich!

I'll give it to you square => truth?

Halfway to perfect in an attack.

A is half in "attack". So T is closer to half thus halfway to "perfect" in an attack

The sister is:

H?

My sister makes much less sense:

Her misfortune was to be created.

or hapless (causing misfortune) perhaps

Twice I told her, I really did,

T + T side by side = H

But her perfection has now dimmed.

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    $\begingroup$ Good try, but the intended answer fits much more snugly into everything than this. Each line is something more specific than just a word containing a given letter. $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Mar 16, 2018 at 10:16
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I will love this riddle if the answer is:

π (pi) and τ (tau). I can't quite figure out how to make those make sense. I think the sister would be π since it has been called into question as the best way to relate circle radii and circumferences, so its perfection has diminished.

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  • $\begingroup$ Sorry, you're barking up the wrong tree here. $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Mar 15, 2018 at 21:53

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