[JenBurdoo] Now plant the potatoes

[JenBurdoo1]

Why does a woman mail rotten food to her husband?

[Sarisberie]

Does he receive the rotten food? Was he expecting it? Is he happy/sad/cross/surprised etc to receive it, or that it's rotten? Relevant where she got it or what kind of food it is (besides being rotten)? Present day? Is it a kind of food which is meant to be eaten rotten, e.g. surströmming or stinkheads?

[JenBurdoo1]

Does he receive the rotten food? Yes. Was he expecting it? Yes. Is he happy/sad/cross/surprised etc to receive it, or that it's rotten? Happy. Relevant where she got it or what kind of food it is (besides being rotten)? No. Present day? No. Is it a kind of food which is meant to be eaten rotten, e.g. surströmming or stinkheads? Assume no, though this could work.

[Sundowner64]

Was the food already rotten when she sent it? did it rot on the way?
Was he meant to eat the food? Was it still edible? did it improve through the rotting process?
Did she let the food rot on purpose before she sent it?
Was it one specific food item? meat? fish? vegetable? eggs? bread? cereals? a drink?
Did the rotten food convey a pleasant message for the husband? like: that the wife is still alive? that a child is born?
Was the food kept in some place until some day comes/something happens? and now this event had happened?
Was the husband away from home? the wife? both? Relevant why? work-related? military service? prison/deportation?

[Biograd1]

Did he want the food itself? or rather a sample of the microorganisms that were causing it to rot? I remember on Futility Closet they had a whole series of stories on people brewing beer from yeast that they managed to recover from all kinds of unlikely places.

[JenBurdoo1]

Was the food already rotten when she sent it? did it rot on the way? This.
Was he meant to eat the food? Was it still edible? did it improve through the rotting process? No to all.
Did she let the food rot on purpose before she sent it? No.
Was it one specific food item? meat? fish? vegetable? eggs? bread? cereals? a drink? Irrelevant exactly what it was; assume anything that would be obviously rotten to the observer. Eggs would work well.
Did the rotten food convey a pleasant message for the husband? like: that the wife is still alive? that a child is born? No, although you're OTRT.
Was the food kept in some place until some day comes/something happens? and now this event had happened? Yes, but look out for false assumptions.
Was the husband away from home? This. the wife? both? Relevant why? Yes. work-related? military service? This. prison/deportation? and this.

Did he want the food itself? or rather a sample of the microorganisms that were causing it to rot? No to both. I remember on Futility Closet they had a whole series of stories on people brewing beer from yeast that they managed to recover from all kinds of unlikely places. Nothing like this.

[Sundowner64]

I guess this happened far in the past? more than 100 years ago? more than 200 years ago? more than 500 years ago?
Was the man voluntarily in the place where he was? or was he kidnapped/arrested/deported? was he a prisoner of war?
Did the wife know where exatly the husband was? Did she expect the food would reach him still in an edible state?
Did she send the food by mail? courier? pigeon?
Was there something concealed in the food? or, rather, did the kind of food itself conceal a message? (like: if I'm sending you an egg then ...)

[JenBurdoo1]

I guess this happened far in the past? more than 100 years ago? Less. more than 200 years ago? more than 500 years ago?
Was the man voluntarily in the place where he was? No. or was he kidnapped/arrested/deported? was he a prisoner of war? This.
Did the wife know where exactly the husband was? Irr, assume yes. Did she expect the food would reach him still in an edible state? No.
Did she send the food by mail? This. courier? pigeon?
Was there something concealed in the food? Yope. or, rather, did the kind of food itself conceal a message? No. (like: if I'm sending you an egg then ...)

[trebor2]

Was mail for POWs inspected prior to being given to them? Did she intend to basically release a stink bomb on his captors? For his captors to test the food before giving it to him, and thus become ill? Is she trying to mislead his captors somehow? Is she trying to communicate information to her husband? Does she hope that he will respond somehow?

Is the POW going to do anything relevant with the food once he gets it?

Regarding the yope to something being concealed in the food: because the food looks fine on the outside? Has the wife done something to the food (other than mail it)? Has she done something that would hasten the rotting process? Has she put something in it?

Is it relevant how she got the food?


Is it correct that: the food was kept in some place until some day comes? Some event happens? And now that day has come? That event has happened? Had the food been kept in a place that food would not normally be kept in? Relevant where the food was kept until she mailed it? Is this one specific item that she has kept for some time before mailing? (Like keeping, say, an egg for god knows how long until she mails it, as opposed to just mailing one that she bought a week before?) Was the event in question his being captured? His captors' nation surrendering? Is the event something more related to her than to him?

[JenBurdoo1]

Was mail for POWs inspected prior to being given to them? Yes. Did she intend to basically release a stink bomb on his captors? Yes, but... For his captors to test the food before giving it to him, and thus become ill? No, but... Is she trying to mislead his captors somehow? Yes. Is she trying to communicate information to her husband? Yes. Does she hope that he will respond somehow? No.

Is the POW going to do anything relevant with the food once he gets it? No.

Regarding the yope to something being concealed in the food: because the food looks fine on the outside? Has the wife done something to the food (other than mail it)? Has she done something that would hasten the rotting process? Has she put something in it? No to all.

Is it relevant how she got the food? No.

Is it correct that: the food was kept in some place until some day comes? Some event happens? And now that day has come? That event has happened? Waiting is irrelevant, but a specific relevant event does occur. Had the food been kept in a place that food would not normally be kept in? No. Relevant where the food was kept until she mailed it? No. Is this one specific item that she has kept for some time before mailing? No. (Like keeping, say, an egg for god knows how long until she mails it, as opposed to just mailing one that she bought a week before?) Would work, but no. Was the event in question his being captured? No. His captors' nation surrendering? No. Is the event something more related to her than to him? No.

[Sarisberie]

Was he going to use it for something other than food? Give it to another creature or person for some reason, e.g. poisoning? Use it to make some kind of chemical compound? Did she know it would be rotten by the time it arrived? Was the fact that the food was rotten meant to convey or suggest something, e.g. that the wife was possibly dead (correctly or incorrectly)? That he was possibly dead... e.g. if he died, someone would return the parcels to the wife, and she would be able to tell the timescale by the stage of decay of the food?
Relevantly, was this during any of the wars of the last century?
The something yope-ishly contained in the food: was it spores or some kind of poisonous substance, perhaps a substance that needed to be grown or modified? The food itself when it reached a certain stage of decomposition?
Do his captors decline to examine the food/properly because it was so putrid? So she could easily hide something inside it, knowing that the guards would not inspect it properly? Is the relevant event the anticipated end of the war?

[trebor2]

Does it matter whether the food reaches him after being inspected by his captors?

Does it matter what nation he's from? What nationality his captors are? Does she intend to injure? kill? his captors? Make them sick? Are the captors going to think something that she wants them to think, based upon inspecting this package? Are they going to take some relevant action? Does she think whoever inspects the food is going to relay information to superiors? Is this whole effort going to help him escape somehow?

Does the rotten food give him a timeframe for something? Does it show how long it takes mail to reach him? And how long it takes mail to reach her? Does it help him figure out where he is? How far away she is? Does she have a profession related to the war? Is her profession relevant? Is any prior communication between the two of them relevant?

Does the food convey to the husband information about the war? About his captivity? About home? About their family? About growing conditions? Weather conditions? How thoroughly their interactions are monitored?

[JenBurdoo1]

Was he going to use it for something other than food? No. Give it to another creature or person for some reason, e.g. poisoning? No. Use it to make some kind of chemical compound? No. Did she know it would be rotten by the time it arrived? Yes. Was the fact that the food was rotten meant to convey or suggest something, e.g. that the wife was possibly dead (correctly or incorrectly)? Yope. That he was possibly dead... e.g. if he died, someone would return the parcels to the wife, and she would be able to tell the timescale by the stage of decay of the food? No.
Relevantly, was this during any of the wars of the last century? Yes. Specifically, WWII.
The something yope-ishly contained in the food: was it spores or some kind of poisonous substance, perhaps a substance that needed to be grown or modified? The food itself when it reached a certain stage of decomposition? None of these.
Do his captors decline to examine the food/properly because it was so putrid? Yes. So she could easily hide something inside it, knowing that the guards would not inspect it properly? Close enough. See SPOILER. Is the relevant event the anticipated end of the war? No.

Does it matter whether the food reaches him after being inspected by his captors? Yope.

Does it matter what nation he's from? No. What nationality his captors are? No. Does she intend to injure? kill? his captors? Make them sick? None of these. Are the captors going to think something that she wants them to think, based upon inspecting this package? Yes. Are they going to take some relevant action? Yes. Does she think whoever inspects the food is going to relay information to superiors? No. Is this whole effort going to help him escape somehow? Yes.

Does the rotten food give him a timeframe for something? Does it show how long it takes mail to reach him? And how long it takes mail to reach her? Does it help him figure out where he is? How far away she is? Does she have a profession related to the war? Is her profession relevant? None of these. Is any prior communication between the two of them relevant? Yes.

Does the food convey to the husband information about the war? About his captivity? About home? About their family? About growing conditions? Weather conditions? How thoroughly their interactions are monitored? None of these.




SPOILER




After the midpoint of WWII, the prisoners at the famous Colditz Castle stopped escaping, but they continued to communicate with the outside world. One method devised by MI-9, the British agency responsible for communicating with PoWs, was to hide escape materials, such as maps, inside cans of food (with two layers of metal, which sandwiched the supplies). When the Germans discovered this, they took to puncturing and examining the cans as they were delivered.

One prisoner got his wife to send him such a can, but without sterilizing it first. Upon puncturing it, the stench was so bad that the Germans simply threw the can into the nearest bin, whence it was retrieved by the prisoners.

[Sarisberie]

Great puzzle