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A married couple making themselves some tea, but which is the man and which is the woman? It's impossible to tell from their names, so let's have some clues...

Look at the one on the left. If it's a woman, she might be sitting on a remade table, or perhaps she's stirring her drink with a fork. If it's a man, he's much taller than his wife; he tops her by a head, although he might seem to be like a small burrowing rodent.

Now the one on the right. If it's a woman, she's probably got a few pet moths, or maybe she's just got away from the Indian film industry. If it's a man, he needs most of what he can get from petrol, diesel, or gasoline.

Put everything together - a man, a woman, and the pot of tea between them - and what have you got?

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  • $\begingroup$ This makes no sense... What on earth does this mean lol. $\endgroup$
    – warspyking
    Dec 24, 2014 at 15:26
  • $\begingroup$ @warspyking - Have faith! It's all meaningful and has a single correct answer. (BTW have you seen Travis Kindred's riddles? Some of them seem completely bonkers, but they're actually brilliant! I was trying to do one like his here, but less stylised since I don't have his skill.) $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Dec 24, 2014 at 15:50
  • $\begingroup$ Any relation to the classic visual illusion? $\endgroup$
    – jscs
    Dec 24, 2014 at 20:53
  • $\begingroup$ @JoshCaswell Nope, but nice idea. $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Dec 24, 2014 at 21:01
  • $\begingroup$ All right, now I'm agonizing over words with different suffixes depending on gender. $\endgroup$
    – Len Pitre
    Dec 25, 2014 at 16:49

1 Answer 1

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Answer:

Christmas

A man and a woman and a pot of tea:

Chirstmas => Chris T maS => Chris and Sam and Tea in-between. Chris and Sam are both gender-neutral names.

"Look at the one on the left. If it's a woman, she might be sitting on a remade table"

If Chris is a woman, the name might be short for Christabel, where "tabel" is a remade "table."

"or perhaps she's stirring her drink with a fork"

Or it's short for Christine where "tine" is a "prong or sharp point, such as that on a fork or antler."

"If it's a man, he's much taller than his wife; he tops her by a head,

Chris is short for Christopher. Chris top her.

"although he might seem to be like a small burrowing rodent."

"topher" resembles "gopher", a small burrowing rodent.

"Now the one on the right. If it's a woman, she's probably got a few pet moths, "

If Sam is a woman, it might be short for Samantha, and "antha" comes from Greek "anthos" meaning flower. A flower may have a few pet butterflies.

"or maybe she's just got away from the Indian film industry."

Sam may be short for Indian names Samskruthi or Samhita. Or more likely, the clue is referring to "Antha", a 1981 Bollywood film.

"If it's a man, he needs most of what he can get from petrol, diesel, or gasoline."

If Sam is a man, then it's Samuel. "uel" is the most he can get from "fuel."

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    $\begingroup$ Brilliant - congratulations! The intended interpretation of "moths" and "Indian film industry" was slightly different - type 'antha' into Google to see what I mean. Still, you got it; +1 and accept. $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Dec 27, 2014 at 17:27
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    $\begingroup$ Ah, I actually edited my answer, probably after you saw it, to include the Indian movie interpretation. But didn't question my moth interpretation, even though I was dubious if a butterfly could be called a moth. Thanks! Nice riddle. $\endgroup$
    – Daniil Agashiyev
    Dec 27, 2014 at 17:58

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