Follow TV Tropes

Following

A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside an Enigma

Go To

"It's a mystery. Broken into a jigsaw puzzle. Wrapped in a conundrum. Hidden in a Chinese box. A riddle."

A Stock Phrase typically used to describe something that is immensely puzzling to figure out or extraordinarily complex to fully understand, often relying on hyperbole and, occasionally, wit and sarcasm.

The phrase is open to great interpretation and variation. Its three distinct-yet-related nouns allow for a variety of setups and gags related to The Triple and dependent on the Rule of Three. Frequently, the last item of the phrase is changed to something completely different and irrelevant to mystery for Rule of Funny, and the exact order of what's wrapped and inside what varies with almost every separate occasion the phrase is evoked. Sometimes, one of the three parts may be dropped for gags and line deliveries that require a faster pacing; conversely, additional clauses can be added for greater exaggeration.

The trope name originates from a statement made by Sir Winston Churchill in 1939 about what role the Soviet Union might play in World War II:

"I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest."

Characters and things described by this turn of phrase may be incorporating a Multilayer Façade.

Not to be confused with Riddle for the Ages.


Examples

    open/close all folders 

    Advertising 
  • Budget Direct insurance had a parody of the "eccentric genius detective who gets results" being called in to investigate some bizarre happenings, not least being why the victims would pay so much for their life insurance.
    Da Chief: Why would anyone throw their money away like that?
    Detective: It's a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in a conundrum, lost in a Scotch mist.
    The Narrator: It's a mystery why anyone would pay more for insurance. Get award-winning cover for less: Budget Direct Insurance.

    Comic Books 
  • Batman: The Riddler himself is an example of this—his entire identity (Mr. E. Nygma) is a pun on the phrase.
  • In the story "A Tree Grows in Ed" from a comic book adaptation of Ed, Edd n Eddy, the Eds are wondering how a pair of shoes went up to a communication cable. Ed calls it "A riddle wrapped in an egg roll, sitting next to a fortune cookie."
  • Spider-Man: In The Amazing Spider-Man #26, the narrator asks, "Can Spider-Man solve this dark riddle, cloaked within a grim puzzle, hidden beneath the shadows of a deadly enigma?"

    Fan Works 

    Films — Animated 
  • In Monsters vs. Aliens, General Monger refers to the top-secret prison Susan is taken to as "an X-File, wrapped in a cover-up, and deep-fried in paranoid conspiracy".

    Films — Live-Action 
  • In Halloween: Resurrection, Freddie hypes up the premise of his reality television show filmed inside the old Myers residence as "a mystery wrapped up inside of a riddle inside of an enigma".
  • In Holy Flying Circus, Alan Dick uses the phrase "he's a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a shit" to describe Malcolm Muggeridge's unpredictability.
  • In JFK, David Ferrie refers to the Kennedy Assassination as "a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma" when trying to convince Jim Garrison to drop his investigation during a paranoia-fueled rant.
    Ferrie: The fucking shooters don't even know!
  • Parodied in Knives Out when Benoit Blanc explains his view of the mystery with an overly convoluted metaphor:
    Benoit Blanc: I spoke in the car about the hole in the center of this donut. And, yes, what you and Harlan did that fateful night seems at first glance to fill that hole perfectly... A donut hole in the donut's hole. But we must look a little closer. And when we do, we see the donut hole has a hole in its center — it is not a donut hole at all but a smaller donut with its own hole. And our donut is not a hole at all!

    Literature 
  • Discworld:
    • In The Fifth Elephant, Lord Vetinari describes Uberwald as "a mystery inside a riddle wrapped in an enigma." Sergeant Colon misinterprets this and later refers to it as "a misery wrapped in an enema."
    • In Men at Arms, the clowns ask Colon to search for their late compatriot's real nose, despite the fact that he had one. Vimes, reading the report, reflects that "the whole nose business looked like a conundrum wrapped up in an enigma, or at least in Sergeant Colon's handwriting, which was pretty much the same thing".
  • In the Nikki Heat novel Heat Rises, Jameson Rook claims, "What can I say? I'm an enigma inside a conundrum inside a condom."
  • From Tiassa, two guardsmen conversing, as rendered by Paarfi of Roundwood:
    "An Easterner with an Imperial Title!"
    "Well," said Nill, "this is an enigma wrapped in, ah..."
    "Another enigma?"
    "Precisely."
  • Used by Verin Sedai in The Wheel of Time (namely, in The Dragon Reborn): "Name hidden within name shrouded by name. Secret buried within secret cloaked by secret."

    Live-Action TV 
  • In an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun, Dick describes an imagined conspiracy as "a riddle wrapped around an enigma fried up in a conundrum with Chinese mustard dipping sauce".
  • In Andromeda, Seamus calls Trance "an enigma wrapped in a riddle with a tail in the middle".
  • In the Burn Notice episode "Sins of Omission", Victor calls Michael "an enigma wrapped in a schizophrenic". (Michael had taken advantage of Victor spying on him to help sell his cover ID to a mark, which involved gunfire.)
  • When Stephen Colbert uncovers "lost footage" from an interview with Bill O'Reilly in The Colbert Report, Stephen introduces it as "a conundrum wrapped in a riddle covered with a spicy enigma sauce".
  • In Degrassi: The Next Generation, when hanging out with Imogen, Clare describes Eli with the trope name. Imogen comments that he sounds like a burrito.
  • Doctor Who:
    • In "Nightmare in Silver", the Doctor refers to Clara as "a mystery wrapped in an enigma squeezed into a skirt that's just a little bit too... tight".
    • In a writing competition where the contestants had to come up with a description of Matt Smith's Doctor In the Style of Terrance Dicks, the winning entry was the following:
      Ian Hewett: A slim mismatched jigsaw of a man, paintbrush hair atop a young face with ancient eyes, an enigma wrapped in a bow tie.
    • And this runner-up:
      sammorgan 11: He looked like an alien crammed into the body of a human who had been crammed into the clothes of a maths teacher.
  • In Elementary, Sherlock Holmes' description of Moriarty from the episode "The Diabolical Kind":
    Sherlock: The woman is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma I've had sex with. I would be lying if I said I was the strongest assessor of her motives at this point.
  • In Eureka, when the characters are trying to shut down an extremely powerful Death Ray Doomsday Device in the episode "Dr. Nobel", Henry calls the weapon "a riddle inside an enigma wrapped in ten inches of titanium alloy".
  • In Everybody Loves Raymond, Robert once describes himself as "an enigma wrapped in a mystery". Ray promptly replies that Robert is more of "an idiot wrapped in a moron".
  • In Homicide: Life on the Street, when Munch and Kellerman work on a case involving a suicide jumper killed by a stray shotgun blast on the way down from a tall building, Munch describes it as "a riddle, surrounded by a mystery, wrapped inside an enigma, and stuffed inside a body bag".
  • A segment of the "La Leyenda del Tio la Vara" series of sketches from La Hora De Jose Mota has Father Tornices saying the trope name word for word.
  • In Human Target, Chance once tells Winston, "You're like a... mystery wrapped in a riddle wrapped in... cashmere."
  • In Lost Girl, thus spake Kenzi: "It is a riddle, cloaked in a mystery, wrapped in layers of hot, hot manliness!"
  • Lucifer (2016) describes Ella as "an enigma wrapped in a hoodie under a jaunty ponytail".
  • In one Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode, Jonah Heston calls the 1961 film The Mask "a riddle wrapped in a mystery seen through a migraine-inducing idea of 3D glasses".
  • In NCIS, Tony once refers to Abby as "A paradox wrapped in an oxymoron, smothered in contradictions in terms."
  • In NewsRadio, Jimmy James once refers to himself, saying:
    "I am a cipher — a cipher, wrapped in an enigma, and smothered in secret sauce."
  • A transgender woman Liz befriends in the first season of Nip/Tuck is called "a conundrum wrapped in a riddle".
  • In Once Upon a Time, Emma describes newcomer August as "a typewriter wrapped in an enigma wrapped in stubble".
  • In One Tree Hill, Lucas once observes that despite Peyton's desire to express herself through her art, she doesn't want anyone to know it's her. Peyton responds to this, "I'm just a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a bitch", but Lucas sees something else: A troubled artist.
  • In Psych, Shawn once speaks of Juliet as being "an enigma wrapped in a little blonde riddle".
  • In one episode of Seinfeld, Elaine and Jerry get into a discussion about the nature of Newman.
    Elaine: Maybe he's an enigma — a mystery wrapped in a riddle.
    Jerry: He's a mystery wrapped in a Twinkie.
  • The Star Trek: Voyager episode "Riddles" sees The Doctor refer to the Vulcan brain as "a puzzle wrapped inside an enigma housed inside a cranium".
  • In the Supernatural episode "Free to Be You and Me", when Sam takes a 10-Minute Retirement and tries to live a "normal" life, a girl curious to learn about Sam's past but at a loss of words to describe his peculiarity gives Sam the opportunity to quip that he's "a riddle wrapped inside an enigma wrapped inside a taco".
  • Mozzie from White Collar sometimes describes himself as this.
  • In an early episode of Will & Grace:
    Grace: [to Will] You know, I thought I knew everything about you. But you're a mystery. Wrapped in a riddle. Surrounded by enigma. Growing boobies.
  • In the Pilot for Witchblade, after the titular artifact gauntlet bonds with Sara, she has the following exchange with Kenneth about what the artifact is.
    Sara: What is this thing? What is the Witchblade?
    Kenneth: A mystery, wrapped in a riddle, and cloaked in a conundrum.
    Sara: That doesn't help very much.
  • The X-Files: The episode "Patient X" contains a variant on the trope phrasing. Agent Mulder, who has grown skeptical of the existence of extraterrestrials but, instead, believing the alien conspiracy to be a lie purported by the military to hide a different and all more sinister scheme, describes his belief in "a conspiracy wrapped in a plot inside a government agenda."

    Magazines 

    Music 
  • The song '"For You" by Barenaked Ladies:
    An enigma wrapped in a mystery,"
    Or a fool consumed by fear.

    Newspapers 
  • An article from January 2008 in The New York Times that explains why fortune cookies are absent from Chinese restaurants in China was titled "Solving a Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside a Cookie."

    Professional Wrestling 

    Tabletop Games 

    Video Games 
  • Brawlhalla: The description for the legend of Orion is "A riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in Ivaldic battle armor."
  • The Elder Scrolls:
    • The Dragonborn expansion for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has Neloth sending you on a Fetch Quest for a Black Book that he believes he has located:
      Neloth: Now, it's only a rumor of a whisper of a conjecture...
    • In the Mages Guild questline from The Elder Scrolls Online, Sheogorath describes the trials needed to get his books as "a contest, wrapped in a mystery, with an enigma glaze".
  • Mario Kart: Double Dash!!: Wario's official profile states that he is "a puzzle, wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in yellow."
  • Minecraft: One of the title screen quips that appears after starting up the game is "A riddle wrapped in a mystery!"
  • Nintendo Wars: In Advance Wars, Sturm's description is "A riddle within a shadow, revealing nothing."
  • Valve's description of The Spy on the Team Fortress 2 website begins, "He is a puzzle, wrapped in an enigma, shrouded in riddles, lovingly sprinkled with intrigue, express mailed to Mystery, Alaska..."

    Webcomics 
  • In Homestuck, WV comments to himself that women are "a riddle draped in a mystery wrapped in post-apocalyptic shroudwear".
  • Narbonic:
    • When Helen explains to Artie that she hopes sparing Dave what she went through will make up for the terrible things she's done, before adding "And then I can destroy those fools at the Symposium and RULE THE WORLD!", Artie comments "You're just a mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a peculiar sense of ethics, aren't you?"
    • The Director's Cut commentary says that while there's a backstory explaining why Helen is the way she is, Mell is "a mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a very short skirt".
  • In Questionable Content, when someone references Raven's indecipherable status (is she just a Ditz given to being unusually insightful, or a Genius Ditz with Obfuscating Stupidity?), Raven responds, "I'm a mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in an AWESOME rack!"

    Web Originals 

    Western Animation 
  • In one episode of Bromwell High, as Mrs. Jackson is explaining her separation from her husband to the main characters:
    Mrs. Jackson: As Churchill said, Martin is "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, wrapped in an enigma".
    Keisha: Wrapped in a cocksucker.
    Mrs. Jackson: I don't think Churchill said that.
  • In the Dragons: Riders of Berk episode "Edge of Disaster Part 2", Tuffnut says about Heather, "One might say she's an enigma, wrapped in a riddle, wrapped in yak bacon."
  • In Duck Dodgers, the Eager Young Space Cadet describes the title character this way.
    Cadet: He's so complicated, l-l-l-like a mystery wrapped in a r-r-r-riddle inside an enigma.
    Manobrain: I'd say he's more like a halfwit wrapped in a hot dog bun inside a coloring book.
  • Parodied in Histeria!. Winston Churchill is shown saying the trope quote, and then we zoom out to reveal that he's behind the counter of a fast food restaurant.
  • In the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode "Maud Pie", Rainbow Dash parodies this phrase to describe Pinkie's sister Maud, whose only outstanding characteristic seems to be her obsession with rocks.
    Rainbow: That pony is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an igneous.
    Rarity: Don't you mean 'inside an enigma?
    Rainbow: No, I mean igneous. It's a kind of rock. Ask me how I know that.
  • The Penguins of Madagascar: In "All Choked Up", Skipper calls Alice "a riddle, wrapped in mystery, and dunked in nasty sauce".
  • The Simpsons: In "Lisa's Date with Density", Lisa describes Nelson as "a riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a vest".
  • In one episode of The Tick, our titular hero says that something is "a riddle, wrapped in an enigma and smothered in secret sauce".

 
Feedback

Video Example(s):

Alternative Title(s): Riddle Wrapped In Mystery, A Mystery Inside An Enigma, Wrapped Inside An Enigma

Top

Wrapped in Pastry

Weebl and Bob invoke the classic 'wrapped in an enigma' phrase when they realise they have built a laser out of pastry instead of pie.

How well does it match the trope?

5 (1 votes)

Example of:

Main / ARiddleWrappedInAMysteryInsideAnEnigma

Media sources:

Report