20 Questions

Is it solid?

1. Yes, it's solid.

Would you expect to find it in a kitchen?

2. No, it's not generally in the kitchen.

Is it typically found in nature?

Is it your cute puppy?

Is it a person?

Is it alive?
Was it ever alive?

Would you eat it with some fava beans and a nice bottle of Chianti?

3. No, it's not typically found in nature.

4. No, it's not a puppy.

5. No, it's not a person.

6. No, it was never alive.

7. No, I would not eat it.

Can it be held with one hand?

Oh, come ON, people, have you never played twenty questions?? You get better results if you use your first several questions to narrow it down to increasingly-small mutually exclusive categories. "Is it a puppy" doesn't help much. If it is, you win! But if it isn't, it just tells you it's a non-puppy, and there are a seemingly infinite number of things in that category. You have to choose questions whose negative answers give you information. The stereotypical first thing to do is to determine whether it is animal, vegetable, or mineral. Hence my question:

Is it mineral?

WH: I think when MW answered my question about it being found in nature, it became pretty clear that it's not a mineral. It might be an animal, though, as there are animals not typically found in nature, but minerals are certainly found in nature almost exclusively.

Nevermind... it's not an animal either, as it was never alive.

The "animal, vegetable, mineral" classification includes manmade objects made from minerals as minerals. So, for example, a car tire would be mineral, even though it's not found in nature.

I don't regard car tires as minerals, and it's not clear whether MW does either. Mineral, to me, implies natural occurence.

Is it bigger than a breadbox?

8. Yes, it can be held in one hand.

9. There is some debate as to whether it is a mineral or not, but most would say no.

Car tires aren't mineral, since they're mostly rubber and rubber comes from trees, I believe. I don't think "mineral" implies that it occurs naturally, since, for instance, highly radioactive elements such as Germanium would be considered mineral and they only exist in laboratories. Mineral implies to me, basically, that something is not biological (plant or animal, with protozoa counted as animal and fungi counted as plants, I suppose). (Whew.)

10. No, it's not bigger than a breadbox.

Or does most rubber come from petroleum now? Eh.

Does it have entertainment value?

Is it electronic?

11. Yes, it has entertainment value.

12. No, it is not electronic.

Does it come in multiple colors?

Does it come in multiple sizes?

13. Yes, it comes in multiple colors.

14. Yes, it comes in multiple sizes.

Is it typically something only children use?

Is it old?

15. Yes, it's primarily used by children.

16. No, I wouldn't consider it old.

Is it typically used indoors?

17. Yes, I'd say it's typically used indoors.

I have some ideas on what it is, but I don't want to waste a question on them... so I guess I'll try to narrow it down a bit more..

Is it malleable?

My guess is that it's one of the following:

Lego(s)
Silly putty
Play-doh

.. or one of these:

Colored chalk
Markers
Crayons

Mark: It is Legos! Wow, good job. How'd you get that?

MW: Thanks. Well, I started thinking about what would fit all of the criteria, as designated by your answers to the questions... and so I made a mental list of all the things that would reasonably fit into them: used mainly by children, comes in multiple colors and sizes, is mainly used indoors, is non-electronic, and can be held in one hand. These were the biggest clues.

If you had responded to my last question, "Is it malleable" with "No, it is not"... I would have been 100% certain you were thinking of Legos. Legos were my first guess and, as usual, your first guess tends to be right.