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Bob has never been a M before.

He boards a plane in his home state.

Shortly after takeoff, he becomes a M. Nobody else on the plane is a M.

When he arrives at his destination, he's no longer a M.

He boards another plane to go back home. When he arrives, he's a M again!

What is M?

Hint: You are looking for a word beginning with 'M'.

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    $\begingroup$ My first thought was terrorist lol $\endgroup$ Mar 24, 2019 at 15:21
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    $\begingroup$ rot 13(znex, znavnp, zrff, zvabevgl), any of these? I feel, as we've seen from hexomino's answer, that there is no unique solution. $\endgroup$ Mar 24, 2019 at 23:06
  • $\begingroup$ "Pilot" could work, except that it doesn't start with 'M' $\endgroup$ Mar 25, 2019 at 1:42
  • $\begingroup$ @BlueRaja-DannyPflughoeft Usually, you pilot training aircraft long before your first commercial flight. Also, planes usually have two pilots. Finally, he becomes a "M" when he arrives... a bit too late to become a pilot I guess. $\endgroup$
    – EKons
    Mar 25, 2019 at 16:01
  • $\begingroup$ @EKons: I was thinking of a single-person aircraft $\endgroup$ Mar 25, 2019 at 16:29

6 Answers 6

44
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A long shot but is M a

Millionaire

Bob has never been a M before. He boards a plane in his home state.

Bob's a regular guy and is leaving say France to fly to England.

Shortly after takeoff, he becomes a M. Nobody else on the plane is a M.

He bought a say Euromillions lottery ticket and has just won a million Euro. No one else is a rich.

When he arrives at his destination, he's no longer a M.

In England the value of €1M ≈ £860 000 and he's not considered a millionaire in England.

He boards another plane to go back home. When he arrives, he's a M again!

He doesn't spend his winnings and is a millionaire when he returns to France.

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    $\begingroup$ Wow. The fact that this is the answer. What a puzzle. $\endgroup$
    – Dylan
    Mar 25, 2019 at 15:46
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    $\begingroup$ This is clever, and I like the puzzle as an idea, but I don't think it's very good. He's still a millionaire in his home country the entire time. The fact that he owns €1M doesn't change while he's in England. While he's in England, he is, in fact, a millionaire (in Euros). $\endgroup$
    – user91988
    Mar 25, 2019 at 19:10
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    $\begingroup$ I think the money-changing thing is still fair game for a riddle like this. What really bothers me is that there's nothing about being on the plane that contributes to him becoming a M. $\endgroup$ Mar 25, 2019 at 22:43
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    $\begingroup$ ROT13: Anu, ur'q ybfr gbb zhpu cnlvat sbervta rkpunatr srrf ba vg gjvpr. 😂 $\endgroup$ Mar 25, 2019 at 22:44
44
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I think the answer might be

Man

Bob has never been a M before.

He is under 18 and so, technically, he is still a boy.

Shortly after takeoff, he becomes a M. Nobody else on the plane is a M.

The date turns over to his 18th birthday shortly after takeoff and he becomes a man. Weirdly, nobody else on the plane is a man.

When he arrives at his destination, he's no longer a M.

He crosses the international date line and arrives somewhere where it is still the previous day (say travelling New Zealand to Hawaii). In this new place, he would still be considered 17 and so, still a boy.

He boards another plane to go back home. When he arrives, he's a M again!

When he arrives back home, he is 18 again and so, a man.

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    $\begingroup$ Not the answer I was looking for, but valid nonetheless. $\endgroup$
    – rybo111
    Mar 24, 2019 at 11:30
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    $\begingroup$ "Weirdly, nobody else on the plane is a M"... Dying! 🤣 $\endgroup$
    – Dylan
    Mar 25, 2019 at 15:47
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I know the answer's been found, but I like this one:

mazed

Bob has never been a M before.

Bob has led a boring life, and has never been amazed by anything.

Shortly after takeoff, he becomes a M. Nobody else on the plane is a M.

He's never flown before, and is amazed by the experience. Everyone else has, and does not find it so amazing.

When he arrives at his destination, he's no longer a M.

He was just flying from one boring place to another, nothing to be amazed about here.

He boards another plane to go back home. When he arrives, he's a M again!

He gets back home and finds that missing it made it more amazing than it was before.

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    $\begingroup$ I like this because a) it justifies the plane as a central piece of the puzzle, and fits nicely with the fact that nobody else on the plane is one and b) it just qualifies as a word like the hint calls for. Nice first answer! $\endgroup$
    – WAF
    Mar 26, 2019 at 7:08
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I think the answer is

marshal (as in air marshal)

Bob has never been a M before

he does not have the job

Shortly after takeoff, he becomes a M. Nobody else on the plane is a M.

He is doing some kind of test to see if he gets the job. Nobody else is one (the person evaluating him is probably just an evaluator or something)

When he arrives at his destination, he's no longer a M.

his evaluation is over so he isn't one anymore

He boards another plane to go back home. When he arrives, he's a M again!

he comes back and he got the job

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A horrible answer, but it kind of fits:

Molester

Bob has never been a M before.

Good Bob!

Shortly after takeoff, he becomes a M. Nobody else on the plane is a M.

Bad Bob! Good other passengers!

When he arrives at his destination, he's no longer a M.

Bob landed in a country where what he did was legal, hence there's no criminal label is applied to him.

He boards another plane to go back home. When he arrives, he's a M again!

But Bob was extradited! Or very stupid. Regardless, he's back home where he will face his crime.

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    $\begingroup$ rot 13: Gur jbeq "znyrsnpgbe," zrnavat fbzrbar jub pbzzvgf n pevzr, pbhyq or hfrq gb rkgraq guvf ybtvp gb nal pevzr, abg whfg zbyrfgngvba. $\endgroup$
    – s6th
    Mar 25, 2019 at 3:46
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I suspect this is not the answer, but it fits so well...

Bob became a Mile High Club member, meaning he had sexual intercourse or arousal on a plane.

Bob has never been a M before.

Clear enough.

Shortly after takeoff, he becomes a M. Nobody else on the plane is a M.

This means that Bob is experiencing sexual arouas from the planes vibration, and not having intercourse with another passanger (no, I'm not making this up, this is on the Wikipedia page of Mile High Club).

When he arrives at his destination, he's no longer a M.

I think because it was only an arousal, the title is taken away from him as the flight is over.

He boards another plane to go back home. When he arrives, he's a M again!

On his way back, he actually has an intercourse and will be a member of the Mile High Club forever!

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    $\begingroup$ The Wikipedia article says that's an alleged explanation of why people do it, not that is what it is. It says what it is in the first sentence. $\endgroup$
    – George
    Mar 25, 2019 at 15:16

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