CONTEST

SOLVED! 1/30/23

The riddle was solved tonight! Thank you all for playing, this was a lot of fun. The correct guess was accompanied by great explanations of much of the imagery in the poem.

The correct answer was "MOLDUGA" which is a fictional beast from the Nintendo game Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The Molduga is effectively a desert beast similar to the monsters in Frank Herbert's Dune, or the 90s horror movie Tremors. If you walk upon the sand dunes where it lives, it can feel the vibrations and shortly after, you meet your death. 

When writing the riddle, I purposefully aimed to use water imagery that would be misleading. Most guesses were along these lines: KRAKEN, SHARK, SIRENS, TSUNAMI, etc.

Within the tranquil sea that could be glass,
A terror feared by amazons and knights,
The noonday sun scorches a weary pass,
Leading unto the deadly chill of night.

But on a closer look, it all doubles as desert imagery. Within the tranquil see that could be glass is just a reference that sand can become glass. The next couple lines are about desert weather. Scorching hot days and deadly cold nights. In the game, you take damage both day and night if not protected against the elements. 

Also in the first quatrain is a reference to feared by knights and amazons. The Knight was meant to be Link himself, and the Amazons are the Gerudo women who live in the desert and have to deal with the Molduga. 

The second quatrain gives the best information about the monster itself. If you're walking on sand and a Molduga is near, it comes after you FAST.

Then with sharpened sensory it does not bide,
It seeks to end noble pursuit of all,
Stony islands provide the hope to hide,
Awreck and broke before your doom befalls.

The water imagery continued with the mention of the stony islands. There are little rock islands here and there which provide the only safe harbor. Just like in Dune and Tremors, you're safe if you're standing on rock. 

The most direct reference to Zelda: Breath of the Wild is noble pursuit. I assumed people would Google elements of the riddle and there are not actually that many given. There is a quest during the game where you have to make a drink called the noble pursuit. All top Google results for "noble pursuit" point directly to the game and that quest. 

The third quatrain is admittedly filler and mostly serves to bring the sonnet to a conclusion. But it also indirectly mentions the game. 

But should you solve this riddle brash and bold,
And discover what I speak with this breath,
You'll find a beast worth its wild weight in gold,
Resulting in a date with certain death.

I felt that this was actually a little risky because wild weight doesn't even make much sense. I thought it would stick out like a sore thumb. Finally, the last reference to the Molduga is in the ending couplet. 

Search well, research, conspire and think it through,
The true answer afoot will come to you.

The final line was a reference that if you're afoot in the desert, the Molduga will come to you!

Congratulations to Jaland Worley as the winner. He got through the door-opener and connected the dots in the riddle. Excellent work! 

Great guessing by all,

Matt Cannon

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

This is the contest page for a challenge at the GripBoard! For more information, go to www.gripboard.com and look for the thread called CONTEST! 137 IronMind #3. 

• The riddle is below. The answer is a single word. We had fun and made it a Shakespearean sonnet in iambic pentameter. 
• To make a guess, email BOTH the rating which has never come up and the answer to the riddle to info@cannonpowerworks.com. (We want to make sure you figured out the rating and not just the passcode.)
• Limit one guess per email and you cannot guess again until you receive feedback on your prior guess. 

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

 

Within the tranquil sea that could be glass,
A terror feared by amazons and knights,
The noonday sun scorches a weary pass,
Leading unto the deadly chill of night.
Then with sharpened sensory it does not bide,
It seeks to end noble pursuit of all,
Stony islands provide the hope to hide,
Awreck and broke before your doom befalls.
But should you solve this riddle brash and bold,
And discover what I speak with this breath,
You'll find a beast worth its wild weight in gold,
Resulting in a date with certain death.
Search well, research, conspire and think it through,
The true answer afoot will come to you.