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So, I've been given these strange blocks of clues. I've read them end to end but frankly I just can't make head or tail of them! I know I must be missing some kind of connection somewhere. Can't you help me, please? It's driving me insane!

Block 1:
1. Talk to me, I talk back, ask me why, then I lie.
2. A fruit we are, like fat but not quite.
3. I'm the happiness that's almost miss.

Block 2:
1. Like someone on the warpath, just shorter.
2. Rude drivers and angry bulls use me quite often.
3. Resting against a curve makes one tidy.

Block 3:
1. More like a cow than a cow, just scared.
2. Rough weather or long road?

Block 4:
1. We are shy, but when you're all gone the world is ours.
2. Misleading acronym time? Step on it!
3. A most costly kind of gate.
4. Lay me down if you want to get your way.
5. Put me on and do it good, I once got stopped by some big dude.

What is this puzzle trying to tell me?

Xenocacia
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5 Answers5

24

What it's trying to tell me --

N U T S

The gimmick:

Put the answer words of each block "end to end", as it were, by making "some kind of connection"—a crossword-style connection, linking them at common letters. Correctly connecting the answer words will draw out a letter per block, and these put together spell out the four letter puzzle answer.

entries in BOLD were found independently by me (even though others got there too)
entries in BOLD ITALIC were borrowed from someone else (with credit given).

Block 1:

1. Talk to me, I talk back, ask me why, then I lie. PHONE (@Dan Russell)
    you talk (in)to your phone and it talks back; phone-why→phony→lie
2. A fruit we are, like fat but not quite. PLUMS (@stack reader)
    fat→plump→plum→plums (because "we" is plural)
3. I'm the happiness that's almost miss. BLISS
    bliss is the happiness synonym that rhymes with miss 

P   B
HL  L
O U I
N  MS
E   S        → "N"

Block 2:

1. Like someone on the warpath, just shorter. WRATH
    someone on the warpath is mad as heck→wrathful→wrath; also, warpath leaves wrath
2. Rude drivers and angry bulls use me quite often. HORN
    rude drivers honk their horns, angry bulls gore you with 'em.
3. Resting against a curve makes one tidy. CLEAN (@Thrax)
    a curve, "C", with "lean" against it, makes clean=tidy 

W  C
R  L
A  E
T  A
HORN        → "U"

Block 3:

1. More like a cow than a cow, just scared. COWER
    more cow-like→cow-er→cower, something you do when scared.
2. Rough weather or long road? WINDY (@Dreagen)
    rough weather is windy. long roads can wind around = windy. 

COWER
  I
  N
  D
  Y          → "T"

Block 4:

1. We are shy, but when you're all gone the world is ours. MEEK (@TwoBitOperation)
    the meek shall inherit the earth
2. Misleading acronym time? Step on it! MAT
    [m]isleading [a]cronym [t]ime → mat
3. A most costly kind of gate. TOLL (@dcfyj)
    toll gates cost money to pass; other gates generally don't.
4. Lay me down if you want to get your way. LAW
    lay down the law to make sure people do things your way.
5. Put me on and do it good, I once got stopped by some big dude. SHOW
    per OP, this is about WWE; Big Show's signature move was the "Show Stopper"

 MEEK
 A
 TOLL
    A
 SHOW        → "S"
Rubio
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  • 4.4 is correct! I thought that might one of the more obscure ones. :) – Xenocacia Oct 26 '16 at 08:17
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    I'm pretty sure that 4.1 is "MEEK" – TwoBitOperation Oct 26 '16 at 12:53
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    Wow. MAT is an awesome answer :) – Abhirath Mahipal Oct 27 '16 at 01:06
  • This answer is well on the way to being accepted, but it would be great if you could provide explanations for some of the less obvious riddles (e.g. 4.5). – Xenocacia Oct 27 '16 at 02:45
  • Awesome answer @Rubio, and great work everyone! It was fun watching you guys solve this, and I hope to make more of such puzzles in the near future. :) – Xenocacia Oct 27 '16 at 03:57
  • @Rubio Awesome work! I didn't expect anyone to solve this puzzle. I thought the OP would end up answering the question in the end :) – Abhirath Mahipal Oct 27 '16 at 04:23
  • As a not native speaker (and not even a speaker generally, just reader and writer) it was a great time to watch you – all of you – solving the puzzle. I didn't even try myself, as not fluent enough. Those bolded words wouldn't even cross my mind, even though I know most of them. Anyway I'd like to expand the solution a bit by pointing out the connection of the answer with the opening sentence in the puzzle's title: 'This puzzle is driving me NUTS.' – CiaPan Oct 27 '16 at 06:53
  • Yes, we made the "driving me NUTS" observation while solving it (and stack reader included it in his answer below); I forgot to put it in and didn't feel like going back afterwards for yet another edit, especially when it speaks for itself. :) glad you were entertained vicariously--we had fun solving it too. – Rubio Oct 27 '16 at 06:57
  • How did you figure out the visual aspect, Rubio? It's a lovely component, @Xenocacia! Signed $\small -$ typewriter-art lover – humn Oct 29 '16 at 05:01
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    We were in a chat room, I was bemoaning the fact that w/o knowing the connection between each block's clues we were reduced to trial and error asking if our latest guesses for the answer words were correct . . . when suddenly it came to me... – Rubio Oct 29 '16 at 05:05
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    there was no obvious connection between the words, but finding one would be simplest with that block of just two words... and then it struck me. there was that W in the middle of COWER, and another at the beginning of WINDY ... and put them together at that W, you have both a literal connection, and a letter. Finding most of an S with what we had for block 5 made it likely, and when my previously discarded guess of "SHOW" for the final word was confirmed, completing that S, that cinched it – Rubio Oct 29 '16 at 05:05
  • Thank you! Yes, @Rubio really made quite an inspired leap of deduction there, and with minimal help from me aside from repeatedly stressing the clues in the introductory text. :) – Xenocacia Oct 29 '16 at 12:52
8

Partial answer

Block 1:
1. Talk to me, I talk back, ask me why, then I lie. PARROT OP: nay
2. A fruit we are, like fat but not quite. PLUM (Thanks to @stack reader) OP: almost yay, but note "WE"
3. I'm the happiness that's almost miss. BLISS (Thanks to @Abhirath Mahipal) OP: yay

Block 2:
1. Like someone on the warpath, just shorter. READ (as in "READY (to fight)", but shortened) OP: nay
2. Rude drivers and angry bulls use me quite often. HORN OP: yay
3. Resting against a curve makes one tidy. CLEAN (the curve is "C") OP: yay

Block 3:
1. More like a cow than a cow, just scared. COWER (Thanks to @M.Oehm) OP: yay
2. Rough weather or long road? WINDY (thanks to @Dreagen) OP: yay

Block 4:
1. We are shy, but when you're all gone the world is ours. WORM OP: nay, correct answer already given
2. Misleading acronym time? Step on it! MAT (Thanks to @Rubio) OP: yay
3. A most costly kind of gate. HELL OP: nay, think @DanRussell got this first
4. Lay me down if you want to get your way. LAW (as in the idiom "Lay down the law") OP: yay
5. Put me on and do it good, I once got stopped by some big dude.

Xenocacia
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Thrax
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  • 2.2 is correct, but I'm afraid 3.1 is slightly off. :) – Xenocacia Oct 26 '16 at 07:24
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    I guess 3.1 is COWER. (More like cow, ha!) – M Oehm Oct 26 '16 at 08:05
  • @MOehm That's what I think too, but I didn't write it cause felt like stealing his word XD – stack reader Oct 26 '16 at 08:07
  • 2.3 was edited to make it clear, you're right but the answer is the word in parentheses. Sorry about that. – Xenocacia Oct 26 '16 at 08:16
  • @Xenocacia Thanks for invalidating most of my answers! xD (I got "Law" 3 mins before Rubio, which is why he wrote that he got it independently). – Thrax Oct 26 '16 at 08:26
  • actually i didn't see your answer at all - i just marked everything I got on my own that way, as I'd started solving clues before posting a partial answer and already had gotten a few before seeing other people's answers. i guess that was supposed to be a harder one, so props to both of us :) – Rubio Oct 26 '16 at 08:37
  • could 3.2 be WINDY? as in windy weather is quite rough, and a long road could be a long windy road? – Dreagen Oct 26 '16 at 09:00
  • 1.2 could be Bat, like fruit bat – Dreagen Oct 26 '16 at 09:15
  • 4.3 could be a TOLL as well. Those get costly... – dcfyj Oct 26 '16 at 14:01
5

A couple additions:

Block 4:

1. We are shy, but you're all gone the world is ours. MEEK (the meek shall inherit the Earth)
3. A most costly kind of gate. TOLL (you have to pay at a toll gate)

Dan Russell
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4

Answers in bold only are my own

The answer is NUTS. as in "driving me nuts!"
Good team work everyone!

Block 1:
1. Talk to me, I talk back, ask me why, then I lie. PHONE(CONFIRMED)
2. A fruit we are, like fat but not quite.PLUMS(CONFIRMED)
3. I'm the happiness that's almost miss. bliss(CONFIRMED)

Block 2:
1. Like someone on the warpath, just shorter. wrath(CONFIRMED)
2. Rude drivers and angry bulls use me quite often. horn(CONFIRMED)
3. Resting against a curve makes me tidy. clean(CONFIRMED)

Block 3:
1. More like a cow than a cow, just scared. COWER(CONFIRMED)
2. Rough weather or long road?windy(CONFIRMED)

Block 4:
1. We are shy, but you're all gone the world is ours. meek(CONFIRMED)
2. Misleading acronym time? Step on it! mat(CONFIRMED)
3. A most costly kind of gate. toll(CONFIRMED)
4. Lay me down if you want to get your way. law(CONFIRMED)
5. Put me on and do it good, I once got stopped by some big dude.show(CONFIRMED)

I wrote all we got so far in a easy to read format and added all the clues from the question I judged useful to finding the answer.

HINTS

read them end to end
can't make head or tail of them
missing some kind of connection

1

PHONE
PLUMS
BLISS

2

WRATH
HORN
CLEAN

3

COWER
WINDY

4

MEEK
MAT
TOLL
LAW
SHOW

stack reader
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3

Partial Answer. Will keep updating as I get more.

Block 1:
1. Talk to me, I talk back, ask me why, then I lie.
2. A fruit we are, like fat but not quite. PLUM(from the word Plump)
3. I'm the happiness that's almost miss. BLISS

Block 2:
1. Like someone on the warpath, just shorter.
2. Rude drivers and angry bulls use me quite often.
3. Resting against a curve makes me tidy.

Block 3:
1. More like a cow than a cow, just scared.
2. Rough weather or long road?

Block 4:
1. We are shy, but you're all gone the world is ours.CHILDREN
2. Misleading acronym time? Step on it!
3. A most costly kind of gate. BORDER
4. Lay me down if you want to get your way. ROAD
5. Put me on and do it good, I once got stopped by some big dude.

General Idea:-

Are you talking about children and their safety? (wrong)

Abhirath Mahipal
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