Hmm, it occurred to me that where I heard this may not have been the "official" solution. (I'm never sure what the official solution is.) Someone comes up with a solution that's relatively correct and the various details might be different. But that solution is the only one I've ever seen.

So I tried to Google this specific puzzle and I'm not seeing this added detail as part of the answer anywhere. Only that this is his only source of income and he's afraid he won't be a midget anymore.

The extra detail does add an extra personal issue to it if you still want to try to guess it.

For one, I'm still confused about those circular disks... specially about this: If the disks are removed, how can he feel taller? Wouldn't it be the other way round? Of course, this must be because I don't know how those walking sticks are made... =/

As for the clippings, I guess that they showed the man how he seemed to be taller each time, and maybe, how he was getting less 'fame' over the years, or as a way to see how his height was changing?

I might have to agree with unky about the news clippings talking about his fame or his fame fading.

Unky, if he is a midget then he has a stickk let's say 2 ft tall, and he was 3 ft tall and if the cut 6 inches off the stick then he would appear to be 6in taller. Get it?

Yeah, what Adam said. He knows how the cane feels and how tall it is. If it started feeling differently, that is, feeling shorter to him, he'd think he was getting taller. Oh, and the "disks" weren't removed - they weren't disks to begin with. They were sawed off and became disks, and tossed under the cot where he never saw them. (Boy, that made it difficult answering some stuff.)

As for the clippings - there is nothing actually in the answer that has specific info about what's in them. I don't think there was anything about his fame slipping. I suspect they were about him and probably the circus he was with.

Now the version I heard was that he had the distinction of being the shortest circus midget, so he would be losing that as well. It makes it a bit more sentimental, and also could mean the clippings would be about his "guinness record" status, possibly comparing him to other midgets, etc.

In the end, I think the clippings are just about him looking at his past and thinking it's going away. He's the only one who thinks he's getting shorter, so I can't see why the clippings would be about that. Remember he can't read, so he's not catching up on news - he can only look at them. (Though I don't know why he was made illiterate.) Also don't forget he has scrapbooks as well, probably with photos of him and the other circus people, and this would be sentimental to him as well. Which adds something other than just maybe losing his job. Looks like he drank a lot of whiskey over it as well.

One thing that goes unanswered is why someone did this to him. Someone asked if someone else wanted him dead and I had to answer "we don't know." Cause we don't know what that person's motivation was. Did he think the guy would kill himself? Or was he just a jerk, thinking this a practical joke?

So, he was comparing his height with the stick... and as he saw his stick getting shorter, he thought that it was the other way round, that he was getting taller? Ok, now I get it :)

Well, the things about the papers and the scrapbooks do make sense. And we often say that people who are in circuses are often illiterate people, right? So I guess the 'illiteracy' was a hint about him forming part of a circus.

Yay that was fun. Another please?

You actually want another? I figured everyone would be tired of it. But I can easily hunt down another if you want.

Or if someone else wants to do one instead... I can even point you to some pages where some lie in wait. I'll wait until tomorrow so that I don't hog this position. :)

I am not good at these but I do like doing them. I find them fun. So, if you would like to do another, I would greatly appreciate it.

I started a new thread over here:
https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/games/...ml#post2496084

In case you haven't noticed, I can't stand really, really long threads. I'm going to start with some shorter puzzles.

By the way the "riddle" thread still has some unanswered questions on it. Or if you don't like those, I can post some different ones.

Ok, I will go and check it out. I never noticed it. Thank You!