My weird friend is back. He asked me to guess a number. Then instead of waiting for me to guess like a normal person, he handed me a piece of paper with this written on it:

You thought this clue was the toughest one.
(Not by a long shot.)
But this riddle isn't even half done.
(Nope, definitely not.)
You see the times are getting tough.
(I've said that twice.)
Four of my coworkers told me that they had had enough.
(Isn't that nice?)
There is a five percent chance this riddle will end soon.
(Better go throw the dice.)
Ninety-five says the end of June.
(When temperatures melt the ice.)
Anyways, I need to go back to watching 300 the movie.
(Like right now.)
So if you could solve this quickly, that would be groovy.
(Very much wow.)

Scratched on the back of the page was the number 86415690.
What number is my friend thinking of?

Note: the obvious answer isn't always right.

  • 1
    $\begingroup$ 86415690 perhaps? $\endgroup$ – Beastly Gerbil Nov 1 '16 at 18:53
  • $\begingroup$ And I don't think the tags are unconventional at all $\endgroup$ – Beastly Gerbil Nov 1 '16 at 18:55
  • $\begingroup$ Okay I'll take it out of the challenge, but leave the question $\endgroup$ – Kevin Rock Nov 1 '16 at 18:55
  • $\begingroup$ Oh definetely leave the question! $\endgroup$ – Beastly Gerbil Nov 1 '16 at 18:56
  • $\begingroup$ Well, there are 8 verbal hints (not counting parentheses) and 8 digits in the number. June (the sixth month) occurs in the sixth verbal hint which is also the sixth digit in the number. That's all I got so far. Interesting! $\endgroup$ – GoldenGremlin Nov 1 '16 at 19:18

He's (maybe) thinking of


Taking the number 86415690 to mean...

The position of a word in each of the lines not in parentheses.

There are 8 digits in the number and 8 lines in the riddle. The 8th (first digit) word of the first line is "one" which already fits so well this could be the obvious answer that's not always right.

The words are...

8: one
6: half
4: times
1: four
5: percent
6: of (or arguably "June")
9: 300

1/2 * 300 * 4/100 = 6

  • $\begingroup$ Can't think of any more compelling reasoning! $\endgroup$ – Samthere Nov 2 '16 at 10:21

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