stumper
noun

- a particularly difficult or baffling question or problem

- something that is extremely difficult, complicated, or puzzling; a problem that does not have an easy or intuitive solution

- a question that is incredibly difficult to answer; one that stumps you completely, leaving you without an answer or even a guess

Merriam-Webster, Dictionary com, The Free Dictionary

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WORD ORIGIN

The story of stumper begins in the forests of colonial America — and it is more physical than you might expect.

Old English / Germanic root: stump — the part of a felled tree left in the ground after cutting. When European settlers cleared land in North America, tree stumps posed a real problem: ploughs got stuck, wagons stopped dead, and travellers were routinely blocked. Being “stumped” meant being physically halted — unable to move forward.

By the early 19th century, the word had made the leap from the literal to the figurative. Politicians who ran out of arguments during a debate — or simply couldn’t answer a question — were said to be “stumped.”

Modern English: stumper = any baffling question or problem, especially in a quiz, interview, or debate context.

There is a secondary meaning worth knowing: a stumper was also a political campaigner who gave speeches standing on a literal tree stump — hence the phrase stump speech and on the stump (campaigning). The two meanings share the same root but led entirely separate lives in the language.

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CAN YOU SOLVE THIS?

This is a classic logic puzzle that requires a bit of algebra to uncover a rather "cheeky" answer.

A mother is 21 years older than her son. In 6 years she will be 5 times older than him. The question is:

"Where is the father?"

. . .
. . .
. . .
. . .
. . .
. . .

SOLUTION:


To find the father, we first have to find the age of the son. Let’s break down the math:

The Calculation
• Current Age: Let the son's age be S and the mother's age be M.
• The mother is 21 years older than the son: M = S + 21
• In 6 Years: * The mother will be M + 6 and the son will be S + 6.
• The mother will be 5 times older than the son: M + 6 = 5(S + 6)

Now, let's substitute the first equation into the second:

(S + 21) + 6 = 5(S + 6)
S + 27 = 5S + 30
−3 = 4S
S = −3/4​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Result:
The son’s age is -3/4 of a year.
If we convert that into months (-3/4 \times 12 months), the son is exactly -9 months old.

So where is the father?

Since the son is currently at the moment of conception (minus 9 months), the father is... most likely in bed with the mother—for he’s the reason she’s pregnant.

Helga & Paul Smith

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SYNONYMS

a hard/tough nut to crack, a real head-scratcher, a tall order, at a loss for words, back to the drawing board, baffler, befuddlement, beyond me, brain-teaser, can’t make head or tail of it, caught flat-footed (off guard, short), conundrum, couldn’t wrap my head around it, difficult problem, drawing a blank, enigma, go figure, hard question, hard to get one’s head round, head-scratcher, how should I know, impasse, intractable question, killer question, knotty problem, leaves you scratching your head (stuck), left speechless, makes you think, million-dollar question, nightmare question, no idea, not a clue, poser, puts you on the spot, stickler, stops you in your tracks, stumped for an answer, STUMPER, teaser, that beats me, that’s a tough one, throws you, tough nut, tough nut to crack, toughie, vexed question, where do you even begin, who knows

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“Would you like to try the STUMPER I read in OWAD today?”

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(OWAD Founder)