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OK, so you want to get in to the party.

The door is being guarded by an elephant, who will trample any visitor who gives the wrong answer.

A polar bear comes up to the door. The elephant says, "1", and the polar bear replies "14", and is admitted.

Then a horned lark flies up to the door. The elephant says, "2". The lark twitters back "14" and is trampled.

Next up is a cat. The cat saunters up to the door, and the elephant says "2". The cat replies "10" and is admittted.

An emperor penguin waddles up to the door. The elephant says "3", and the penguin replies "19" (and is admitted).

Finally a massive tortoise, which has flown in specially from the Galapagos Islands just to attend this party, walks (very slowly) up to the door. The door-keeping elephant says "4" and the tortoise replies (very slowly) "Six" (deep breath, long pause) "teen". The tortoise is admitted to the party.

Now it's your turn. The elephant says "5"; what do you reply?

Rohcana
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A E
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1 Answers1

7

Got it:

The number given by the elephant is useless, just a red-herring.

Polar bear is Ursus maritimus, which have 14 letters.
Horned lark is Eremophila alpestris, which have 19 letters, not 14, so it was trampled.
Cat is Felis catus, which have 10 letters.
Emperor penguin is Aptenodytes forsteri, which have 19 letters.
Galápagos giant tortoise is Chelonoidis nigra, which have 16 letters.

Finally, I am an Homo sapiens, so I should answer 11.

Victor Stafusa - BozoNaCadeia
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    Correct! Nice one. Now see what you can make of my musical clues: http://puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/4057/the-security-to-the-party-12-now-with-party-soundtrack ;) – A E Nov 13 '14 at 12:20