# Soar High for You? No Way!

Me and my fellows upon a time,

Have earned the championship in our prime.

Alas! That time has passed, my dearest fren',

But we are still often used, according to Ben.

Soar high for you? No way, it'll all be in vain,

But by the slowest method, bit by bit you'll gain

What/ who am I?

HINTS:

Soar high for you? No way, it'll all be in vain,

graph

I am already better than my enemy.
He gets you back from high to me.

Hint on Hint:
Who is my true enemy?
Why can he get you back to me, no matter what you are?

But we are still often used, according to Ben.

Name: nickname, surname,
Also: don't just focus on the name, focus on what he claimed

Me and my fellows upon a time: "ones" homophone = "once" (solved by @BladeWraith)
Have earned the championship in our prime: "one" homophone = "won" (solved by @tilper)
Alas! That time has passed, my dearest fren': ???
But we are still often used, according to Ben.: ???
Soar high for you? No way, it'll all be in vain,: ???
But by the slowest method, bit by bit you'll gain: "gain": integer addition, "slowest method": adding 1 at a time is the slowest way to add one integer to another (as long as adding is all we do)(solved by @tilper)

Please upvote comment if you need a hint!

• This comment is for hint request. pls upvote this comment if you need a hint. I will use this as a reference for when i should give a hint to you all. thanks! – Omega Krypton Jan 20 '19 at 1:54

Are you:

A Bell, specifically one used in a clock tower?

Me and my fellows upon a time, Have earned the championship in our prime.

They were once the prime method of time telling.

Alas! That time has passed, my dearest fren',

They are used to signify the passing of time every hour.

But we are still often used, according to Ben.

Reference to Big Ben, the famous bell in the clock tower in London.

Soar high for you? No way, it'll all be in vain,

They are often up high at the top of towers.

But by the slowest method, bit by bit you'll gain

If you wish to know what time it is, you'll need to listen out to the number of times the bell tolls. This is quite a slow method, a lot slower than just looking at a clock.

• nice try, but sorry no, pay attention to the tags ;) – Omega Krypton Jan 2 '19 at 13:11

Are you

the number 1?

Me and my fellows upon a time,

Once upon a time. Once. One.

Have earned the championship in our prime.

Earned the championship = won first place.

Alas! That time has passed, my dearest fren', But we are still often used, according to Ben.

"time" and "Ben" (Big Ben) refer to telling time. The number 1 is often used in telling time. In fact, it's the most common number to appear on a clock face with Arabic numerals. (1, 10, 11, 12). Big Ben does not have such a face so maybe this is referring to the similar fact that "1" is the most commonly used number when expressing a time in hours and minutes?

Soar high for you? No way, it'll all be in vain,

The graph of $$y=1$$ does not "soar high" since it's close to the $$x$$-axis.

But by the slowest method, bit by bit you'll gain

"gain" perhaps refers to (integer) addition, and "slowest method" would be because adding 1 at a time is the slowest way to add one integer to another (as long as adding is all we do)

• Correct lines (No.): 1, 6, Almost there: 2,5 – Omega Krypton Jan 3 '19 at 6:27
• +1, keep it up! – Omega Krypton Jan 3 '19 at 6:27

Are you:

The Number 1

Me and my fellows upon a time,

Once upon a time ie: 1, once sounds like ones, so mulitple 1s, hence me and my fellows

Have earned the championship in our prime.

A) earning 1st... winning first... past tense means won first and won sounds a bit like one... especially when the way the queen used to say one

Alas! That time has passed, my dearest fren',

from the previous clue, the queen no longer says one in the same way so i no longer sounds like won

But we are still often used, according to Ben.

Possible reference to mathematicians Ben Andrews, Ben Green, Ben Sparks, Benjamin Benneker, Arthur T Benjamin, Benjamin Alvord, Benjamin Peirce... Basically there's a lot of Ben named Mathematicians... yet for some reason when you google "famous mathematician Ben" only Benjamin Banneker comes up.

Soar high for you? No way, it'll all be in vain,

i'm assuming if i get the correct Ben it will point to the signifcance of 1 in terms of graphs is

But by the slowest method, bit by bit you'll gain

Integer addition, adding 1 again and again is the slowest reach the answer using whole integers, and the bit probably refers to binary where you an only add another 1 each time

Edited after looking at the clue and tilpers suggestions

I have reached my wits end... This has been interesting to say the least but its reached the stage where i think i'm only going to get it by the OP drip feeding me clues. which seems somewhat dishonest of me, i shall leave it to someone else to complete, unless i can figure out all the clues and complete it in a single final go

• answer b is correct, +1, but most explanations are wrong. therefore, you may lose the tick if someone explains them correctly before you, Hurry and keep it up! ;) – Omega Krypton Jan 2 '19 at 14:23
• @OmegaKrypton, ok so i'm at leaston the right track... no pressure... where any of them correct? – Blade Wraith Jan 2 '19 at 14:24
• rot13: svefg yvar: "bapr" fbhaqf yvxr "barf" guhf "sryybjf", naq pbzchgref ner fybj!?? ;) – Omega Krypton Jan 2 '19 at 14:28
• rot13: ab, vg'f abg ora10, vz abg gung puvyqvfu... abe vf vg ncbyyb. nyfb, 1 vf abg n cevzr – Omega Krypton Jan 2 '19 at 14:35
• Apologies, and fair point, i always thought it was, just checked turns out i was indeed wrong – Blade Wraith Jan 2 '19 at 14:40

Are the other ones related to

counting? You keep adding one to one, and so its time has passed, since now we're at 2,3, etc., still often used because you keep adding one to get each number (don't know about Ben) and it will all be in vain because you will never reach the end. Additionally, the soar high but in vain can be related to how every number is tiny compared to other bigger numbers that you will reach as you count

Maybe the part of all being in vain is related to -1, since if you start adding -1 to a number greater than 1 to each you will eventually reach 1, hence being 1's greatest enemy

1

Me and my fellows upon a time:

"ones" homophone = "once" (solved by @BladeWraith)

Have earned the championship in our prime:

"one" homophone = "won" (solved by @tilper)

Alas! That time has passed, my dearest fren':

1 is not a prime, refer to previous line

But we are still often used, according to Ben.:

Benford's Law claimed that 1 is the digit most frequently used

Soar high for you? No way, it'll all be in vain,:

Fastest way to increase any $$x$$ is by power, but any $$x$$ to the power 1 is still $$x$$

But by the slowest method, bit by bit you'll gain:

"gain": integer addition, "slowest method": adding 1 at a time is the slowest way to add one integer to another (as long as adding is all we do)(solved by @tilper)

Hints:

H1:

graph:

Plot a graph

I am already better than my enemy.

boolean "enemy": 0 vs 1

He gets you back from high to me.

Anything to the power of 0 = 1

Hint on Hint: Who is my true enemy?

true ==> boolean

Rest of hints: Self-explanatory