[WiZ] The Sharp Knife of a Short Life

[WiZ]

A young man dies at the age of 15. At his funeral, his best friend discovers something about him. But not because of anything that was said or done, or anyone who did or did not attend. What did he learn, and how?

Based on a Novel. No caveat. OAATP Rules apply

[Doriana]

Was what the friend discovered related to the young man's family? education? physical appearance? religion? beliefs? hopes? dreams? fears? health? hobbies? preferences? interests?

[WiZ]

Was what the friend discovered related to the young man's family? education? physical appearance? this, no to rest religion? beliefs? hopes? dreams? fears? health? hobbies? preferences? interests?

[trebor]

Is it an open casket funeral? Closed?

[WiZ]

Is it an open casket funeral? yes Closed? left as an exercise for the reader

[GalFisk]

Relevant how he died? How he lived?

[WiZ]

Relevant how he died? yes How he lived? yes

[GalFisk]

Did he die from: cold? Heat? Fire? Explosion? Exposure? Drowning? Suffocation? Strangulation? Hanging? Impact? Fall? Projectile? Blunt force? Infection? Disease? Chronic condition? Medical issue? Suicide? Poisoning? Gas? Injection? Accident? Overdose? Electrocution? Animal attack? Venom? Murder? Shock? (If you feel that murder, suicide etc is against the OAATP spirit, skip those).

[WiZ]

Did he die from: cold? Heat? Fire? Explosion? Exposure? Drowning? Suffocation? Strangulation? Hanging? Impact? Fall? Projectile? Blunt force? Infection? Disease? Chronic condition? this Medical issue? and this, i guess, but this is less precise Suicide? Poisoning? Gas? Injection? Accident? Overdose? Electrocution? Animal attack? Venom? Murder? Shock? (If you feel that murder, suicide etc is against the OAATP spirit, skip those) They're not relevant in this case, but I would be happy to leave them in on principle

[Doriana]

Did the chronic condition affect his brain? lungs? heart? intestines? liver? other internal organ? muscles? bones? metabolism? hormones? skin? mind? cognition? vision? hearing?

[GalFisk]

How he lived: did he relevantly hide the condition? Treat it? Ignore it? Cause it? Hide symptoms? Hide symptoms from treatment (such as chemo hair loss)?

[JenBurdoo]

Is anything in the coffin unexpected or different? His appearance? clothing? an object?

[WiZ]

Doriana

Did the chronic condition affect his brain? lungs? heart? intestines? liver? other internal organ? muscles? this, relevantly bones? metabolism? hormones? skin? mind? cognition? vision? hearing?

GalFisk

How he lived: did he relevantly hide the condition? Treat it? Ignore it? Cause it? Hide symptoms? Hide symptoms from treatment (such as chemo hair loss)? no(t relevantly) to all

JenBurdoo

Is anything in the coffin unexpected or different? hard to answer. No aspect of how he has been prepared and presented is out of the ordinary practice His appearance? this is relevant clothing? an object? no to both

[Enjay]

Is it relevant that he died young? That he died before his body would likely have fully grown?

[WiZ]

Is it relevant that he died young? I think not - this puzzle could work with two adult friends who had known each other a while That he died before his body would likely have fully grown? no - although I don't believe this puzzle would work if he had reached a certain age...

[Doriana]

Is his height relevant? weight? weight distribution? proportions? hair? facial hair? facial features?

[WiZ]

Is his height relevant? yes! weight? weight distribution? proportions? hair? facial hair? facial features? no to rest

[LemonCurry]

Was the best friend blind, and therefore unaware of the deceased‘s condition?

[Doriana]

Did the young man - when he was still alive - look shorter than he actually was because of his condition?

[GalFisk]

Was he an amputee? Was he buried in a short coffin because they took off his prothetic legs? If so, had he hidden the fact that he had prothetic legs?

[trebor]

Did he shrink post-mortem? Grow?

[WiZ]

LemonCurry

Was the best friend blind, and therefore unaware of the deceased‘s condition? no

Doriana

Did the young man - when he was still alive - look shorter than he actually was because of his condition? yes, very good

GalFisk

Was he an amputee? no Was he buried in a short coffin because they took off his prothetic legs? n/a If so, had he hidden the fact that he had prothetic legs? n/a

Trebor

Did he shrink post-mortem? no Grow? yope

***** SPOILER *****

The young man had muscular dystrophy and had lived his life in a wheelchair. Seeing him lying at his full body length in the coffin, his best friend could see for the first time that he was tall.

Congratulations, Doriana, on the solution, and thank you everyone for playing!

Puzzle is adapted from the YA novel 'See ya, Simon' by David Hill, which everyone who attended a New Zealand school from the 90s onwards will have read or had read to them at least once.

[Doriana]

Nice puzzle. I'm a bit of a rare (and not so rare) diseases nerd, so when I read "young man dies at the age of 15", my mind immediately jumped to muscular dystrophy. Didn't want to waste a WAG on the diagnosis though.

[WiZ]

Interesting. I tried to put myself in the same place, and my mind leaped to suicide. But this is a particularly big problem among young New Zealand men.

[JenBurdoo]

Thanks for the recommendation, will look it up.