Riddle - Divided by a wall

Question

I remember hearing this riddle when I was young.

Divided by a wall, N and S.
Tunnels in between, but no one pass.

The West has more, and the East has less.
Less is more, but More is less.

What am I, can you guess?

Hint 1:

I have a rectangular border

My first idea is that this is related to the tunnels under the Berlin Wall (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernauer_Stra%C3%9Fe). — Gamow, Mar 03 '15 at 09:27
@Gamow, I agree with you. Other hints also leads to your answer. — PM., Mar 03 '15 at 09:33
I guess that the tunnels are the letter 'o' or 'n' or something. The wall would then be I or L or something. NoIoS, I can't get it really... — Valentin Grégoire, Mar 03 '15 at 09:54
if the West has more tunnels, then it has less wall. If the East has less tunnels, then it has more wall. This might be what is described by the second stanza. — YoungJohn, Mar 03 '15 at 18:51
Thinking a bit about the rectangular border hint, the first part might describe a net dividing a playing field into a northern and southern part. The net has tunnels in between that no one passes. Not sure about the West/East, Less/More part, maybe some obscure scoring system like in tennis? — Moghwyn, Mar 04 '15 at 13:12
@Nemo I agree. I really want to know the answer to this one. I'd offer a bounty if I had more rep to spare. — Ben, Mar 30 '15 at 15:42
Has a correct answer been posted? If so, please consider accepting it to mark it as correct; if not, you might want to consider [edit]ing a hint into your question. — Rand al'Thor, Jun 20 '18 at 16:03

score 21 · Answer 1 · 2015-03-04T14:49:58.807

21

Divided by a wall, N and S.

S for seven (7), N for nine(9), eight (8) is in between

Tunnels in between, but no one pass.

Eight is 8, with 2 tunnels

The West has more, and the East has less.

Seven has 5 letters, nine has 4 letters

Less is more, but More is less.

Seven is less than nine

Answer:

The number 789

edited Mar 04 '15 at 14:49

answered Mar 03 '15 at 09:56

I am sorry, I forgot that the hint says it is rectangle – Mar 04 '15 at 15:37
3

But it's a nice answer anyway. – not my job Mar 04 '15 at 16:37
2

On a digital clock the numbers do have rectangular borders... – Ben Mar 13 '15 at 06:32

score 10 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 03 '15 at 10:15

10

Roman numbers.

Divided by a wall, N and S.

Horizontal line at the top and bottom.

Tunnels in between, but no one pass.

Gap between the letters forming the number.

The West has more, and the East has less.

Letters on the left usually contribute more to the sum than on the right, e.g. XVI for 10 + 5 + 1.

Less is more, but More is less.

IV is less than V, even though it consists of more letters.

answered Mar 03 '15 at 10:15

Moghwyn

3,090
15
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"N" is the largest Roman numeral I was taught (though some haven't heard of it), meaning 5000, and "S" is the smallest Roman numeral written with a letter, meaning 1/2. Perhaps incorporating those into your answer would help? – Paul Rowe Mar 03 '15 at 15:37
@PaulRowe, I have never heard of 5000 being represented as N. I'd be interested in seeing a source for that. – Bishop Mar 03 '15 at 16:20
@Bishop I clearly remember 5000 being represented by N, but I've never been able to find corroborating evidence. Oh, well... – Paul Rowe Mar 03 '15 at 17:58
2

I've found evidence of S = 1/2 but the only thing I can find for numbers above 1,000 are the same basic letters with overlines or leading & trailing vertical lines. – Engineer Toast Mar 03 '15 at 19:06

score 6 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 03 '15 at 11:45

Korea

Divided by a wall, N and S.

Korea is divided into North-Korea and South-Korea by the border wall

Tunnels in between, but no one pass.

There are tunnels going under the border, preparing both parts for future military attacks

The West has more, and the East has less.

the rich South-Korea counts as part of the western alliance, the poor North-Korea belongs to the east

Less is more, but More is less.

The propaganda machineries in North and South lie about everything

it doesn't have a rectangular border. – Memming Mar 03 '15 at 19:41 — Memming, Mar 03 '15 at 19:41

score 4 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 30 '15 at 19:50

What the heck, I will just take the answer @Moghwyn suggests in a comment and run with it.

Answer:

a tennis court

Divided by a wall, N and S.

Tennis is generally viewed from the side and above, so the net (wall) is up-and-down -- i.e. "north-and-south" -- in your field of view.

Tunnels in between, but no one pass.

holes in the net

The West has more, and the East has less.

Tennis is a Western sport, so surely the West has more tennis courts.

Less is more,

Tennis scoring goes "deuce, advantage, game", which is roughly "two, one, game over".

but More is less

If the score is advantage for your opponent, and then you win the point, the score reverts back to deuce. So by winning the point you move the game less close to completion.

Would fit to "rectangular border" – WOWOW Jul 26 '23 at 10:45 — WOWOW, Jul 26 '23 at 10:45

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 04 '15 at 10:41

2

A soccer field

has a rectangular border, and is divided into two halves.

There are tunnels for the players entering the field.

The west has invested more money into soccer than the east.

answered Mar 04 '15 at 10:41

Alexis

8,302
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score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Mar 31 '15 at 06:21

You're a

Planisphere (world map)

Divided by a wall, N and S.

Equator, N=North, S=South

Tunnels in between, but no one pass.

Meridians connect North and South, they're imaginary lines so nobody can use them as "tunnels"

The West has more, and the East has less.

West (Europe and America) is rich, East is generally poor.

Less is more, but More is less.

This is a bit tricky, but I think the explanation is in the Mercator projection. In fact, it distorts areas and lengths: what's far from equator appears big (More) but it should be smaller (Less) and viceversa.

I have rectangular border

Maps are rectangular, usually.

What am I, can you guess?

Planisphere (world map)

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Mar 04 '15 at 16:39

I know this isn't a rectangular item, but I think it can still answer the riddle.

The Yin/Yang symbol

Divided by a wall, N and S.

The line between the two symbols runs (mostly) N/S, though it is curved

Tunnels in between, but no one pass.

Each side has a "tunnel" (dot) showing the other color. The tunnel must lead to the other color, but the colors don't blend, so they don't pass through.

The West has more, and the East has less. Less is more, but More is less.

The yin/yang symbol can either be black on the left and white on the right or vice versa, but either way it works. White is "more" and black is "less" because people usually associate white with good, positive things and black with negative things. BUT white is "less" and black is "more" because white stuff technically doesn't absorb any colors and black absorbs all of them colors.

Again, not rectangular, but I think it fits the clues.

score -1 · Answer 8 · answered Mar 03 '15 at 21:33

Guess:

Night and Sun

Divided by a wall, N and S.

Night and sunlight are blocked by the earth or are blocked by the spin of the earth

Tunnels in between, but no one pass.

There are tunnels in earth but neither night nor sunlight pass through. Alternatively, the tunnels could be dusk and dawn, which neither night nor sunlight can pass through all the way

The West has more, and the East has less.

The west has more countries that use daylight savings times than the east.

Less is more, but More is less.

Less of one is more of the other

Riddle - Divided by a wall

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