Anonymous asked: And another? Two convicts are locked in a cell. There is an unbarred window high up in the cell. No matter if they stand on the bed or one on top of the other they can't reach the window to escape. They then decide to tunnel out. However, they give up with the tunneling because it will take too long. Finally one of the convicts figures out how to escape from the cell. What is his plan? xxx

Ah, you’re doing slightly better today in your choice of riddles. This one is at least marginally interesting.

As I have said in the past, it is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Without any information about the door, the lock-picking skills of the convicts, nor the actual dimensions of the cell itself, I cannot give you one definitive answer as there are at least eight possible means of escape depending on the rest of the situation.

However, there are a few simple possibilities.

• Pick the lock.
• Shout for help and incapacitate the guard, stealing his or her uniform and escaping in disguise. Two guards may possibly be incapacitated if desired.
• Lift the bed so it rests on the wall as a ladder. Climb up the bed and out the window.

However, I think the answer you are looking for—since you specifically mention tunneling—is below.

• Use the loose dirt from the failed tunnel attempt to build a base high enough to stand on to climb out the window. The dirt, depending on the quantity available, may be packed on the floor or on the bed.

Your convicts certainly aren’t very patient if they can’t be bothered to dig one tunnel.

-SH

Anonymous asked: My my, Sherlock! You're getting through these mighty quick. How about another. Paul is 20 years old in 1980, but only 15 years old in 1985. How is this possible? xxx

Paul was born in 2000 B.C.E. Not that anyone born in that era was named Paul. Dreadfully inaccurate.

-SH

Anonymous asked: If you are still bored, this is my riddle again: A man and a woman were driving in their car when it broke down. The man decided to go for help at a gas station a few miles back. He made sure nobody was in the car, rolled all the windows up, and locked all of the sedan's doors. He went off, but when he came back, his wife was dead, and there was a stranger in the car. No physical damage was done to the car, so how did the stranger get in?

I am always bored. Humanity is boring.

And really, you can do so much better than this. The woman was pregnant and in labor, and died in childbirth. The baby did not.

Obviously.

-SH

Anonymous asked: Dear dear, Sherlock! Having problems with my little riddle are we? Do you want a hint? I might give you one if you're polite. xxx

I have received no riddle apart from the ridiculously simple one you sent two days ago. I have been aware that there have been technical problems in the servers of this website recently. Perhaps try submitting it instead.

-SH