An ode to Puzzling

Question

Good morning puzzlers, near and far, I am back again.

I have another puzzle, so time to rack your brain.

When last we met, you had a rest, for innovation's sake

To good old Quantum Twinkie, it was a piece of cake

Hopefully you have had long enough a break

For now I have another game, so keep in mind what's at stake.

First though, have some breakfast, add some sea salt for taste.

Though come to think of it, breakfast is toast, so the salt is quite a waste.

Take what's left and use your mind, It's barely after three,

wrap it all up and choke it all down, and my prefix there will be.

With an early start, and bellies full, the day shan't be for naught.

Grab your shovel and saddle up, for my infix marks the spot.

---

We've found the treasure, quite the stash, with gold and jewels galore!

You've quite enough wealth, but you still don't rest, for you're seeking something..... more.

My suffix is the strangest thing, the promise of every time

so elusive, yet every day, it's with you at the front of the line.

If that's what you seek, then I fear we must part, for I cannot come along.

Your path is much to treacherous, there's much that can go wrong.

Once you've found what you're looking for, our roads will again collide.

and only then will you answer the question: What am I?

Hint:

If you aren't a fan of toast, that really doesn't matter.
Breakfast can be anything, from pizza to brownie batter

Hint #2:

If you're having trouble, I'm not surprised
This one's tough, so be advised.
When I say to keep in mind, that's no formality
I want you to remember it in actuality.
Use this clue, and solve the puzzle, a bounty you shall get.
Don't get too excited, you've hardly started yet.

Hint #3:

My suffix is an ultimate goal for all who have big dreams
To all the naive youngsters, passion bursting at the seams.
It is promised to us regularly by those who seek great power
It is harder to attain than they may have thought, and they their promises sour

Hint #4:

You are all off to quite a start, but you seem to be quite lost.
I'll help you get that bounty, quite a bit it cost.
You all want to use your mind, that brings you closer to a win.
I care not for the treasure chest, but for the thing that lies within

Answer 1

My inspiration for this puzzle comes from @Elpharya's most recent answer, so please go and upvote their answer! Thank you so much to @Elpharya for the assistance and the legwork on the suffix -- team @El strikes again! :D

If @Cubemaster is playing games with us again, is it at all possible that the answer is

STACKEXCHANGE??

The Prefix:

For now I have another game, so keep in mind what's at stake.

Let's keep the word "STAKE" in mind.

First though, have some breakfast, add some sea salt for taste.

We'll add some "C SALT", perhaps?

Though come to think of it, breakfast is toast, so the salt is quite a waste.

Then remove the "SALT", leaving "C".

Take what's left and use your mind, It's barely after three,

What's in mind? STAKE is. We need to take the left letters...but how many of them? Barely after three of them, so four of them. This leaves STAK.

wrap it all up and choke it all down, and my prefix there will be.

We now have C and STAK. Wrapping it all together, we can rearrange these letters to form STACK.

The Infix:

Grab your shovel and saddle up, for my infix marks the spot.

X marks the spot, which sounds like the true infix EX.

The Suffix:

My suffix is the strangest thing, the promise of every time

People are always promised CHANGE in their lives, change for the better.

so elusive, yet every day, it's with you at the front of the line.

It's elusive and hard to get, but if you're at the front of the line, you're at the leading edge or cutting edge of something: the frontier of CHANGE. Per @Cubemaster, you need pocket CHANGE when you're buying something at the front of the line. Thanks, @Cubemaster!

Putting this all together yields

STACK + EX + CHANGE = STACKEXCHANGE.

As for the hints:

First Hint: Since breakfast didn't matter, it was a red herring. This showed me that the important part was "SEA SALT" - "SALT" = "SEA" = "C".

Second Hint: This one told me that we actually needed to keep a word in mind and use it later on to find the prefix. Although I initially thought it was "MIND", I think "STAKE" works better given the above solution.

Third Hint: CHANGE is indeed an ultimate goal for dreamers and naive youngsters; CHANGE has been promised by the powerful to the masses and is indeed hard to impose (and sometimes doesn't end up happening at all!)

Fourth Hint: The treasure chest of STACKEXCHANGE may be great, but you care more for the treasure inside - namely Puzzling.SE, this community, and the puzzles that are produced and solved everyday by our community!

As for the title,

This was indeed an Ode to Puzzling...an Ode to Puzzling.STACKEXCHANGE!

Answer 2

Just a few little tidbits to start off...

Adding sea salt and removing the salt could mean adding "SEA" or "C";
I'm not sure what this could be added to; either "TOAST" or "FOUR" (after 3) or "IT" (wrap "IT" all up);
The infix is either "X" or "EX" possibly, since that's what marks the spot.

Answer 3

Okay I got a word.

Good morning puzzlers, near and far, I am back again.

Good mornin'. I acknowledge the fact that you are back.

I have another puzzle, so time to rack your brain.
When last we met, you had a rest, for innovation's sake,
To good old Quantum Twinkie, it was a piece of cake.
Hopefully you have had long enough a break;
For now I have another game, so keep in mind what's at stake.

Woo! I acknowledge this game. Let's do this :D

First though, have some breakfast, add some sea salt for taste.
Though come to think of it, breakfast is toast, so the salt is quite a waste.

First $\to$ prefix. I'll have some breakfast because it is the morning, and perhaps put on some sea salt... without the salt, as it is quite a waste. So let's put on some sea instead.

Take what's left and use your mind, It's barely after three,

Well we already used our mind ($\to$ "come to think of it"). Okay so the left of "sea salt" is sea and then acknowledge (use the mind, again) that it is barely after three. It might mean that it IS three (because it's barely after it, like how the toast may be bare without salt, but it is still toast). So sea = C being the third letter of the alphabet? We have to use our mind to read, and that comes with acknowledging the alphabet.

wrap it all up and choke it all down, and my prefix there will be.

Okay now let's have the toast... mmm, after I choked (message: C is the prefix) it all down, it actually tastes pretty good.

With an early start, and bellies full, the day shan't be for naught.
Grab your shovel and saddle up, for my infix marks the spot.

Well, this refers to the game naughts and crosses (or tic-tac-toe). Since it isn't naught, then all we have left is the cross X that marks the spot for treasure that we can dig up.

We've found the treasure, quite the stash, with gold and jewels galore!

That represents what is inside the treasure $\to$ the treasure is inside the word (namely X).

You've quite enough wealth, but you still don't rest, for you're seeking something..... more.

Oooo... seems like the treasure was merely a distraction, because I didn't come here for it... Also, there is five full stops in the sentence, because now the infix is known which has five letters, but there is more I want to acknowledge.

My suffix is the strangest thing, the promise of every time

a.k.a now. Quite strange because of the following verse:

so elusive, yet every day, it's with you at the front of the line.

Every time you say the word now, it is in the past. Much like how every second goes by, lines (queues) can do the same.

What we have is

C, X, NOW
a.k.a
We have a C, a treasure we know, and now....

If that's what you seek, then I fear we must part, for I cannot come along;
Your path is much too treacherous, there's much that can go wrong.

The word now is right before a ledge in the word acknowledge. If I seek that, I might fall off. Very dangerous!

Once you've found what you're looking for, our roads will again collide,
and only then will you answer the question: What am I?

Well, I acknowledge the fact that the answer is acknowledge.

---

Yes, I think the answer is:

ACKNOWLEDGE.

PREFIX: A C.
INFIX: KNOW. The letter X marks the unknown, but because we found the treasure; we know what it holds.
SUFFIX: NOW is right before the ledge at the very end.

---

HINT:

If you aren't a fan of toast, that really doesn't matter.
Breakfast can be anything, from pizza to brownie batter.

Well, I guess the toast was a distraction... nothing accompanied with that.

HINT 2:

If you're having trouble, I'm not surprised;
This one's tough, so be advised.

I know, right? I acknowledge that.

When I say to keep in mind, that's no formality
I want you to remember it in actuality.

You cannot acknowledge something without the mind.

Use this clue, and solve the puzzle, a bounty you shall get.
Don't get too excited, you've hardly started yet.

I acknowledge there is more to the puzzle.

---

Extra hidden clue:

Good morning puzzlers, near and far, I am back again.

Good morning puzzlers, near and far, I am back again.

Answer 4

Based on other answers and hints, here's my shot.

Prefix:

First though, have some breakfast, add some sea salt for taste.

Though come to think of it, breakfast is toast, so the salt is quite a waste.

SEA SALT - SALT = SEA -> C

Take what's left and use your mind, It's barely after three,

wrap it all up and choke it all down, and my prefix there will be.

MIND after three = D, C+D = CD

Infix:

Grab your shovel and saddle up, for my infix marks the spot.

X marks the spot, so X or EX

Suffix:

My suffix is the strangest thing, the promise of every time

so elusive, yet every day, it's with you at the front of the line.

The promise of every time, FREEDOM, or to be FREE.

Answer

CDex Free a free CD ripper, or treasure extractor, as the theme of the poem seems to suggest.

Answer 5

First Guess

Some thoughts on the prefix...

Start by taking SEA (what's left after taking the salt), and then using my MIND. But for MIND, "it's barely after 3", so take only the D. Wrap it all up - so maybe wrap SEA around D, giving SEDA, but this looks weird, so I'm not sure this is prefix quite yet.

Second Guess

Prefix:

Breakfast was quite delicious, only the salt (NA) didn't get used
Taking what's left (literally) -> N
Then use our MIND (but only take the first 3 letters) -> MIN
Wrap it together -> MINN

Infix:

"X" marks the spot! but to make it fit, we'll say it's EX

Suffix:

I propose you're looking for whatever's NEXT (making the word MINNEXT) It's hard to find what's next, and if you're at the front of the line, you're next

So you may be

A minnow!
Once you find what's next, you're doing it NOW, so replace NEXT with NOW
and you get MINNOW :)

Third Guess
Prefix:

Taking what's left over from the sea salt - salt -> C
Using what's within our mind -> IN
(I'm afraid I still don't quite understand the "barely after 3" part)
Combine to get CIN

Infix:

"X" marks the spot

Suffix:

With Hint 3, it sounds like the suffix could be CHANGE. Those with big dreams want to create change (in the industry, for their life, etc); naive youngsters believe they can change the world; politicians promise change (like tax cuts), but seldom follow through.

Altogether:

CINEXCHANGE

Answer 6

Partial Answer

Prefix: The work behind the prefix is quite a challenging puzzle. The fact that we have to add, remove, and shift letters is quite ingenious. Please do this again at some point!

I think the prefix contains IN; I'm guessing this based on using my mind and keeping in mind. How this correlates to the riddle for finding it, I'm not sure yet.

Sea: Add sea salt for taste. The salt is a waste.
Mind: Use your mind.
It: Wrap it up, choke it down.

Now these have to work in conjunction; I believe somehow we will be combining sea and mind by wrapping it and choking down (removing letters). This is quite a riddle in itself and ingenious on behalf of Cubemaster.

Infix: This has been narrowed down by ... and confirmed as narrowed by Cubemaster; however, a true infix has not yet been found.

X or Ex; I believe it is x as there are more possible combinations, and x literally marks the spot whereas ex is simply another interpretation.

Suffix: The suffix has been troublesome to the entire community, with many answers coming to the light, but alas, all were wrong. I believe it may be:

Synonymous to future in some way; words such as later or fate could be possible. This is a guess based on elusive every day and front of the line since the future is constantly eluding us and is always ahead of us.

Full Word Guesses

First Guess: This one is quite odd, and is most likely wrong. I would be very surprised otherwise.

Mesaxon - This meets the criteria of everything, though most likely not the answer; for example: The prefix is mesa which is the combination of sea and mind when wrapped and choked. The infix is x, and the suffix is on in which a definition denotes indicating continuation of a movement or action which is synonymous to moving forward to the future.

I would really like to see anyone solve this, but it is quite a difficult riddle! Congrats to Cubemaster for forcing us to think to lateral extremes. I didn't know that my body is better at yoga than my mind! I should probably start doing more brain training.

Answer 7

Prefix:

First though, have some breakfast, add some sea salt for taste.

Though come to think of it, breakfast is toast, so the salt is quite a waste.

Take what's left and use your mind, It's barely after three,

Take out "Take what's left" because "It's barely after three", getting and. Add a c to the front of that, getting cand.

Infix:

X marks the shot, and es has about the same sound. Candes.

Suffix: My suffix is the strangest thing, the promise of every time

so elusive, yet every day, it's with you at the front of the line.

Descent. It takes time to get descendants and at the front of a long line, always, you can descent to people around you.

Are you

Candescent

Hint #3

The goal of many is power, the ability to do anything, so they CAN do anything

Hint #4

Light is very valuable, especially in dark holes that treasure chests lie in.