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Fellow puzzlers,

I suddenly came up with an idea for a nice riddle. Here it is:

I'm a snake on an island,
I'm certain letters (possibly with something to end).

I'm in the DNA of a tree,
And the queen of a land under the sea.

I'm even a stone of some kind,
Now tell me, what am I, before I blow your mind?

Given the experience of riddle solvers here, I don't think this should be very hard, so I'll wait with accepting an answer until all parts have been explained.

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  • $\begingroup$ Golden lancehead? I don't know in details $\endgroup$
    – Niranj Patel
    Commented Feb 6, 2018 at 12:52
  • $\begingroup$ @NiranjPatel Nope. $\endgroup$
    – Lolgast
    Commented Feb 6, 2018 at 13:37
  • $\begingroup$ Is it amber? Only my guess $\endgroup$
    – user45103
    Commented Feb 6, 2018 at 14:02
  • $\begingroup$ @YashJain Nope. Not any closer than any of the other guesses so far. $\endgroup$
    – Lolgast
    Commented Feb 6, 2018 at 14:04
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ @GustavoGabriel Yeah, I'm thinking about adding two more lines (and maybe a small hint). If I do indeed decide to do so, they'll be here in a couple of hours probably, when I get home. $\endgroup$
    – Lolgast
    Commented Feb 6, 2018 at 16:48

10 Answers 10

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This is most certainly wrong and is a massive long-shot.

I also just joined so forgive me if my formatting is off. But here we go anyway.

You are:

Programming languages. See here

I'm a snake on an island

Snake: Cobra or Python
Island: Java (credit to KSmarts)

I'm certain letters (possibly with something to end).

Action! or Go! or Snap!
C, C++, C# (credit to gnovice)
and F, F#, R, D (credit to Ksmarts)

I'm in the DNA of a tree

Tree: Oak (originally intended by OP: Maple)
DNA: Adenine (credit to Untitpoi)

And the queen of a land under the sea.

Wyvern (also a dragon with a reptilian body)
Maxima (queen of the Netherlands) (credit to gnovice)

I'm even a stone of some kind

Ruby or PEARL

Now tell me, what am I, before I blow your mind?

Brainf**k (credit to Kendra)

Edit by OP: I've added in the solutions from the comments, which found solutions the last three hints not originally noticed by Jack Pettinger, as well as give the intended solutions for two hints for which the originally posted solution was too far off imho.

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  • $\begingroup$ Excellent, you got it! The letters and queen lines are off though, and you've missed three hints :P $\endgroup$
    – Lolgast
    Commented Feb 6, 2018 at 17:32
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    $\begingroup$ For the "blow your mind" line, I personally would guess the language "Brainf**k" just because of the name. $\endgroup$
    – Kendra
    Commented Feb 6, 2018 at 17:35
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    $\begingroup$ I'm guessing "certain letters" are C, C++, C#, etc., and the queen could be Maxima (i.e. Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, the queen of a land that is in large part below sea level). $\endgroup$
    – gnovice
    Commented Feb 6, 2018 at 17:48
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    $\begingroup$ The "island part" could refer to Java. And, @gnovice, there's also D, F#, R, and probably more "certain letters". $\endgroup$
    – KSmarts
    Commented Feb 6, 2018 at 18:26
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    $\begingroup$ Well done - but pearls aren't stone, just dried clam snot. $\endgroup$
    – Grimm The Opiner
    Commented Feb 7, 2018 at 9:17
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This is a long, long stretch...

Magma

I'm a snake on an island

Magma "crawls" from a volcano like a snake

I'm certain letters (possibly with something to end).

This I don't know for certain, possibly because magma causes destruction (end)

I'm in the DNA of a tree,

Magma Tree

And the queen of a land under the sea.

Magma chamber (Under sea)

I'm even a stone of some kind,

Magma is melted rock (stone)

Now tell me, what am I, before I blow your mind?

Volcanic Bomb

Again, this is probably not correct...

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  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Very interesting interpretation! But as you expected, not the intended one. $\endgroup$
    – Lolgast
    Commented Feb 6, 2018 at 12:05
  • $\begingroup$ Could you expand on your "queen of a land under the sea" explanation. The queen bit in particular. $\endgroup$
    – Chris
    Commented Feb 6, 2018 at 13:14
  • $\begingroup$ @Chris I thought in my head that since there are multiple magma chambers under the surface, magma is a "queen" (under the sea/surface), but as I said it was a long stretch... $\endgroup$
    – Gustavo Gabriel
    Commented Feb 6, 2018 at 13:23
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This is a partial answer as I haven't figured out how it relates to all the lines. Is it

Diacritic marks/accents

I'm a snake on an island

ñ the tilde looks like a snake, and n like an island

I'm certain letters (possibly with something to end).

Letters with diacritics are often treated as separate letters in their own right, (and appear after the letter when placed in alphabetical order??)

I'm in the DNA of a tree,

  • Don't know

And the queen of a land under the sea.

Ç the cedilla is located under the C/"sea"

I'm even a stone of some kind,

"grave" accent

Now tell me, what am I, before I blow your mind?

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  • $\begingroup$ Not quite either... Off about as much as Florian $\endgroup$
    – Lolgast
    Commented Feb 6, 2018 at 16:00
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How about:

Snakeskin agate. $$$$ Snakeskin agate

I'm a snake on an island

The snake is the snakeskin pattern, the island is the stone.

I'm certain letters (possibly with something to end).

Interpreted this as a hint about the next line...

I'm in the DNA of a tree

Can form "AGATE" from the letters G,A,T,C with something (an E) to end. The "tree" is a red herring.

And the queen of a land under the sea.

A reference to Queen Mab. She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes In shape no bigger than an agate-stone. The "under the sea" bit is a reference to her appearance in Moby Dick (yep, stretching it now).

I'm even a stone of some kind

Hmmm... snakeskin agate.

Now tell me, what am I, before I blow your mind?

Snakeskin agate. Maybe. Who knows?

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  • $\begingroup$ Yet another "no" I'm afraid. As a small hint, all the lines are independent, so your idea about the second line is incorrect (although I must say it is a nice one!). The lines could be rearranged in any order without affecting anything. $\endgroup$
    – Lolgast
    Commented Feb 6, 2018 at 14:21
  • $\begingroup$ I was thinking diamond back ... $\endgroup$
    – Will Crawford
    Commented Feb 7, 2018 at 10:24
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Somewhat partial answer and thoughts:

I think the solution might be

A character

With the following explanations:

I'm a snake on an island,

I think this refers to the sign "?", which looks like a snake, with a dot below (the island).

I'm certain letters (possibly with something to end).

Letters are characters, as is "." which is something to end.

I'm in the DNA of a tree,

For this one, I was thinking about family trees, in which case the DNA is similar, so this would correspond to the character "=". On a second thought, I think the "°" (degree) fits better, still with the idea of the family tree

And the queen of a land under the sea.

land under the sea makes me think of sand, hence I think ampersand "&" might apply, although I'm not sure about the queen part.

I'm even a stone of some kind,

You can say a stone can be "♯" (sharp).

Now tell me, what am I, before I blow your mind?

"!" is sometimes called a bang, fun fact: "‽" is called interrobang

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  • $\begingroup$ The structure of your answer is based on the right idea, but you're quite some distance off. (Hopefully this comment is clear enough without giving too much away...) $\endgroup$
    – Lolgast
    Commented Feb 6, 2018 at 14:11
  • $\begingroup$ I wonder if it's something more mundane? Initially I was convinced "16" was the answer, and tried to make it fit somehow, but failed. $\endgroup$
    – Guest
    Commented Feb 6, 2018 at 15:39
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You are

the letters "mer"

I'm a snake on an island,

Mersnake monster from http://monster-wiki.com/monster/Mersnake which is depicted on a island on the illustration.

I'm certain letters (possibly with something to end).

the letters "mer" usually have something else at the end in English to make a full word, although in some languages (eg. French) "mer" is a valid word by itself.

I'm in the DNA of a tree,

DNA contains oligonucleotides (short DNA or RNA molecules) whose length is usually denoted by "-mer" (from Greek meros, "part"). For example, an oligonucleotide of six nucleotides (nt) is a hexamer, while one of 25 nt would usually be called a "25-mer". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligonucleotide

And the queen of a land under the sea.

The queen of Atlantis in DC comics is "Mera" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mera_(comics)

alternatively

Little mermaid is the princess of land under sea in Andersen's fairytale.

I'm even a stone of some kind,

Merstone is a village on the isle of Wight https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merstone

Now tell me, what am I, before I blow your mind?

Mermaids in much folklore are able to entice people and to "blow their minds" so that they blindly go into sea where they drown.

alternatively:

The Longues-sur-Mer battery was a World War II artillery battery constructed by the Wehrmacht near the French village of Longues-sur-Mer in Normandy. It formed a part of Germany's Atlantic Wall coastal fortifications. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longues-sur-Mer_battery

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  • $\begingroup$ Interesting find! I can tell you however, that it doesn't rely on appending words from the riddle to the answer, as you did with snake/stone. $\endgroup$
    – Lolgast
    Commented Feb 6, 2018 at 16:05
  • $\begingroup$ @Lolgast Okay, I will think more. You must concede though, that the answer fits your riddle. ;) $\endgroup$
    – Gnudiff
    Commented Feb 6, 2018 at 16:07
  • $\begingroup$ Yeah, I must say I'm quite surprised to see what people manage to fit :P I'll think about maybe adding two more lines to limit the options a bit more if it doesn't get solved $\endgroup$
    – Lolgast
    Commented Feb 6, 2018 at 16:11
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ND? I'm a snake on an islaND, I'm certain letters (possibly with something to eND). I'm in the DNA of a tree, And the queen of a laND uNDer the sea. I'm even a stone of some kiND, Now tell me, what am I, before I blow your miND

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  • $\begingroup$ Interesting find, but not at all in the right direction. On a side note, please use spoiler tags so other people don't accidentally see your solution. $\endgroup$
    – Lolgast
    Commented Feb 6, 2018 at 16:51
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Seems like this is becoming a gymnastic course... My answer is similarly strechtchy.

I'm a snake on an island,

Naga river (snakelike) on the phillipines (big island)

I'm certain letters (possibly with something to end).

N and G wit an A as something to end with. NA and GA.

I'm in the DNA of a tree,

I know too little about dna or trees tbh. I could imagine since naga is a short word there might be proteans called naga or something like that.

And the queen of a land under the sea.

Azshara - Queen of the Naga in the Warcraft universe comes to mind. Her city sank to the ocean floor where she presumely still resides.

I'm even a stone of some kind,

Naga Eye - Thailand stone/gem used as accessory.

Now tell me, what am I, before I blow your mind?

Possibly a reference to sirens? They are pretty similar to naga. As they cloud the mind of seafarers by their singing... unlikely I know but... I got no better idea.

So my solution would be

Naga

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  • $\begingroup$ Interesting, but not any closer than the other answer. $\endgroup$
    – Lolgast
    Commented Feb 6, 2018 at 14:00
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Is it

a circle/ring ?

I'm a snake on an island,

A snake going around an island would bite it's own tail - forming a circle

I'm certain letters (possibly with something to end).

certain letters contain circles + something to finish the shape

I'm in the DNA of a tree,

Tree's DNA (plus environmental factors) cause them to form circles/rings while they age

And the queen of a land under the sea.

The strongest driving force under the sea are currents which run in circles

I'm even a stone of some kind,

many times a ring includes/carries a stone

Now tell me, what am I, before I blow your mind?

aaand I'm stuck on the last one :D

Probably also false as it doesn't perfectly fit some lines, but I liked the idea.

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  • $\begingroup$ Certainly a nice idea! Though just as far off as Morfium/Guest's answers (and slightly further than Florian's one) $\endgroup$
    – Lolgast
    Commented Feb 6, 2018 at 14:33
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I apologise in advance, but I'll take stab at an answer with very little to back it up, other than possible answers to two lines and your statement that Florian has "something like the right idea".

I'm a snake on an island:

Asp is a word for snake

And the queen of a land under the sea.

Mera is queen of Atlantis

So:

Ampersand

...is damn near an anagram of those two answers. And a little snakey. (On the very small chance it's right, I'll try to find more justifications and edit them in as they occur to me...)

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  • $\begingroup$ Nope. While Florian might have he the right mindset, none of his actual explanations are correct. $\endgroup$
    – Lolgast
    Commented Feb 6, 2018 at 16:25

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