my guess for number 1:

the future? once time moves on, the future is really the past, or history.

for number 4:

greenwich mean time or time zone? that as long as you keep track of what day it is, you can figure out what time it is anywhere?

this one is a stretch.

The inverse of the future is *not* history...it is the past. "History" has a relationship to "the past"...

Sun Dial Calendar

*Sighs*

I'll cook the food,

If you'll bring the wine...;P

This is really hard but I still don't get the big picture. What I mean is that even when we (hopefully one day) learn all of the 'correct' answers, how do they come to be described as 'spurned lovers'? It's looking more to me like the specs for a digital camera.

Haha...no, the "spurned lovers" was a theme...I wrote the lines to sound like something "spurned lovers" would say to the one who spurned them...I actually thought up the clues separately and then realized that it would be a good theme, that would allow me to put in certain hidden clues (like "you'll never come back" a revealing clue that hides nicely in a dialogue between a spurned lover and a spurner )

The "big picture" I refer to is the entire puzzle, which is what you have to look at to figure out the identity of the spurner, which is probably the best first step in solving the riddle...also I might have used "big picture" to refer to looking at the meanings of lines instead of focusing on individual keywords, which may obfuscate the matter...

8 or 88 and 1 (maybe)

Octane rating, considered a lucky number (hence the beijing olympics start August 8, 2008, i.e. 8-8-08...)

And channel one news in moscow tower?

Yoruichi-san

Please can I have a clue?

There are two snakes mentioned. The fifth line talks about *the next* snake...you're correct about the Chinese Zodiac so put these things together and it should help you...

The dragon race was tight.

(The Bush-Gore presidential election, 2000)

Humpty Dumpty's seat fell on a snake.

(The Humpty dance, 1989, popular to wear pants down below your underwear)

And I have no clue where to start for the other 2 lines:

The rat wasn't with the farm.

The next snake has some monkeys.

The princess ran away on an ox.

(Princess Di ran away from the paparazzi)

There was some panic over a rabbit

(Y2K)

Correct, it was a tight and highly contested dragon race in which some old men and women overstepped their bounds...but let's not get into an argument over politics ;P.

Keep thinking on Humpty....

a sundial

Very close to what I was thinking...

1 - pre big bang a palsma state of gas at several billion degrees, has to be a colourful state right? - it's all blacka and white to the naked eye noe (what is a 'naked eye' ?

Wow, that's intense..

.but don't get caught up with the colors...it's more an analogy...as mentioned before, has something to due with history inverted...;P

maybe Fourier transform . It seems to be one of the many favorites of y-s .

Wow, I like the way you think...but its not suppose to be that complicated...

A man builds a house with 4 sides. Strangely, each side faces north. A bird goes by the house. What kind of bird is it?

Umm...this seems familiar...

I think a penguin is a bird. So I'm saying penguin...

I just got this on my iGoogle Gadget homepage. fun

I know part of what this is.

Right now is the Rat It is about the Chinese Zodiac Calendar.

I know that 'princess ran away on an ox' means that Princess Diana passed away in 1997- the year of the Ox.

The 'panic over a rabbit' has to do with Y2K in 1999.

hahahaha GW Bush is Humpty Dumpty- took office first in Jan 2001-year of the snake.

The rest of you can fill in the rest...

Welcome, and thanks for adding the spoiler

Yep, Now is the year of the Rat!

The princess I was referring to Princess Di, but actually, by "ran away" I meant she ran away from the paparazzi, which sadly resulted in crash that killed her...

Since the lunar year (which is what the Chinese Zodiac goes by) actually ends/starts in January or February of the solar year, the "over a rabbit" I was referring to was the millennium transition from 1999-2000, which occurred during the year of the rabbit...

And rofl...I love the idea of GW as Humpty Dumpty...but the riddle specifically refers to Humpty Dumpty's seat falling...

and then when I came home at three

the little man was waiting there for me

but when I looked around the hall

I couldn't see him there at all

go away, go away, and don't come back any more

go away, go away, and hey, don't slam the door

your inner child...

...you should let him out to play!

Okay, some of these replies are totally hilarious!

But again, this is most emphatically *not* a sequence...the question is very specifically *not* "what comes next?", but *definitely* is "so what now?" *and* "what do these lines mean?"

those of you who said poseidon were right (or neptune, if you want to go all roman on me. Let me explain:

Two brothers I have, both with a wife

Posiedon has two brothers, Zeus and Hades. Zeus is married to hera and hades is married to the goddess of spring (srry, frgt her name)

though i have none we all rule life

They all rule one part of life (hades:the underworld, Zeus the skies, and poseidon the water. Poseidon is the only one who isnt married

many a child i have, for many i see

yeah... the gods fell in love with mortals, and sometimes the ocassinal wood nymph or water nyads.

each will have some powers like me

Hereditary powers

but my children beware, to not go to the skies

thats zeus' territory

on the ground your power lies

he's the ruler of the sea and the earth shaker

the ability to shake whatever will walk

like i previously said, he's the earth shaker

beneath the sea, we are able to talk.

that explains itself

(Hey, sorry if you dont like this, im a sucker for greek mythology

I enjoy Greek mythology, too...btw, Hade's wife is Persephone, who he abducted and then tricked into eating a pomegranate so that she had to stay in the underworld for half the year-which is why there is winter (according to the Greeks)! *sigh* and you thought you were desperate... ;P

Can you just post a recap of what's been correctly guessed already? I'm getting lost in all these spoilers and hints...

Kk...

1. Unknown

Been guessed: history, rain, memory, sun, rainbow, widow, text, drawing/sketch, Catherine of Aragon, thoughts, sun dial, Copernicus, space, sun/earth, dream,

2. Memory

3. Velocity or speed

4. Unknown

Been guessed: calender, digital, Anne of Cleaves, mind, history book, half-life, language,

5. Light

It seems like it has to do with a royal family line, each animal representing when they were born according to the Zodiac. So... well, I'm not sure about the first. Maybe the rat went against his family and his sons, both dragons, fought for his throne. And then the princess ran away with (or on o.O) an ox . Not sure what Humpty Dumpty is all about but the next king is a snake, and the next snake had monkeys and a rabbit, which for some reason caused panic. And then... the pig has some sheep. I don't know.

Randomness...

Haha...that's awesome. But there is definitely method to *my* madness...;P

Oh, and Humpty Dumpty is a nursery rhyme (try the all-knowing Wikipedia )

1. was guessed memories

2. I guess video - degrades over time

3. was guessed velocity

4. I guess calendar - keep the date

5. was guessed light

2 is memories. 1 is yet unsolved (and difficult). Calender has been guessed for 4...that's why I think ppl are misreading the lines...think about it

.

Not a sequence...;P

Interpret the lines.

Sorry but i don't get how it could be gravity

I can't get any of them but i think the first one might be rain and the second one might be a memory

Oops, missed this post before, sorry...

2 is indeed memory! A memory captures a moment in time, but time can change memories (particularly with the help of suggestion...), to the *bane* of the Justice System...

One of the things most strongly embedded in my own memory from Psychology...but I could be wrong ;P

The rat wasn't with the farm.

The dragon race was tight.

The princess ran away on an ox.

Humpty Dumpty's seat fell on a snake.

The next snake has some monkeys.

There was some panic over a rabbit.

So what now?

(and what do these lines mean?)

on my own']1. inverted history is the future? -yeah, you're thinking in the right direction, but you've got farther to go to get to the answer (I told you this one is tough ;P)

2. television - still captures time but teh TV has changed over time -umm, interesting thought, but its less of a stretch than that...

3. either velocity (which slows time as approaches the speed of light ) or gravity (which slows time to an outside observer) -yep, time slows as velocity or speed increases (but dawh beat you to it )

4. history book - if you know the date then you can see what happened at that time -i like that answer , but not the interpretation of "translate" I was going for...

5. light - astronomers use light to "see" past time -yay, correct! Light (or electromagnetic radiation in general) carries traces of past events from countless distant galaxies and stars to us and everywhere else (unless it gets sucked up by a black hole first...;P)

Not sure about the rest, but I think I have this one now.

Speed or velocity? As an object approaches the speed of light (grows), time slows down for the object.

The "it's hard to think" part is kinda a hidden clue referring to the fact that Relativity can be a difficult concept to think about...it *did* take a genius (with really bad hair) to come up with it...;P

I'm always trying to think of a SET of five ???

(1) Before we met, I was every color shown in light,

Now that you're gone, I'm just black and white.

(2) I was the one who captured you, The sun, earth relationship ?

But now you have changed me, too.

(3) It's hard to think that as I grow, similar gravity effect

You could and would actually slow.

(4) For you I'll translate, ?????

If you can keep the date.

(5) I'll forever take your traces.

To countless far-away places. CMB radiation

We know that you'll never come back,

So we've come together as a pack. Expanding universe

But you will be the one who sees, use of telescope maybe

If they can discover our identities.

No, it's not a set. The "so we've come together as a pack" is suppose to indicate that they normally don't come as a pack or a set... But I like how you're thinking...

could use a hint but here goes

1. space - big bang is before time then when time is gone nothing but black adn white

2. a photograph- captures a "momemt in time" then fades as gets older

stuck ....

Okay, *fine* ;P

1. This is probably the hardest one, and the one I am most proud of

. As mentioned before, people who guessed "history" had it inverted...that's all I'll say for now...I don't mind leaving this one for last.

2. firebirdaz, you're getting warmer...but I was thinking of more of a change than just fading...

3. This one is the most straightforward once you've figured out the spurner (which you have). You should be able to derive the answer .

4. I think you're thinking in the correct area on this one, but you may be misreading the clue...

5. Okay, firebirdaz, I think you have this one...just think more general .

Hopefully this will help some...but I'm not going to make this too easy for you guys, cuz I know how smart you guys are and how clever you can be when you try...so keep trying! ;P

OK, hint time!

Ft Lauderdale

there is a lot of mis-direction in this one! having math skills like Yoruichi-san is great, but that may just sink you deeper into a bottomless pit. In other words, some random math is most-likely meant to throw people off the scent.

nothing about this puzzle has to do with infinity

the code box is indeed necessary

I'll add a 6th line if these hints just aren't doing it for you but not for a while

Yeah, having math skills *definitely* can sink you into a bottomless pit that will suck up 4-10 years of your life...it's called "college" ;P

As for the puzzle, I don't really know what a codebox does...(they didn't teach Codeboxes 101 at the "bottomless pit" I went to...)