Alive - not in any literal sense
Sentient - no
Object - not really, ish. I wouldn't call it so. But maybe you could.
Physically exists - yes
Natural - ... ... ... ...nooo, but one needs to be cautious here as well. It is, in a way. But then again, it isn't, looking at its origins according to the legendarium.

Damn it! I will stick to the usual person/place/thing next time and not come up woth something crazy!

Is it (can it be) used/handled for a purpose?

Alive - not in any literal sense
Sentient - no
Object - not really, ish. I wouldn't call it so. But maybe you could.
Physically exists - yes
Natural - ... ... ... ...nooo, but one needs to be cautious here as well. It is, in a way. But then again, it isn't, looking at its origins according to the legendarium.
Is it (can it be) used/handled for a purpose? - No, it can't be, and it isn't.

A clue, perhaps? :)
You seem to have pulled out something very curious for us to guess.

Clues, clues...

Ok. Well, I think that the most confusing part is how can in be physical and not, and natural and not, at the same time. In a way in works the same way as one of my previous "answers" - calaquendi. (am I that redundant? I have to very those answers every once in a while...) Like everything in the legendarium, it was made, but in our world we consider it natural. On the other hand, just like calaquendi is a division that people created amongst themselves, but is still made up of absolutely natural people....

Does that make any sense?

PS: this is indeed a curious thing - something that I don't remember ever being the answer! (though of course I did not read the whole thread - that would be insanity!!!)

Galadriel, dearheart, do remember what this was or could we perhaps start again? Same rules but after so long and so many pagesI don’t think we need to worry about repeating items.

I have no idea what I had in mind. Take it away if you wish. :)

Let us know if it comes back to you..

So any questions?

I wish. I'm curious myself. What on earth was I thinking?


Anyway. Alive?

A added mystery.

Alive? No

Place?

Alive? No
Place? No

Does it have a name in one of Tolkien's created languages?

hS

interesting question.

Alive? No
Place? No
Has a name in a language created by Tolkien? No

Object?

Indeed

Alive? No
Place? No
Has a name in a language created by Tolkien? No
Object? Yes

First age?

Alive? No
Place? No
Has a name in a language created by Tolkien? No
Object? Yes
First Age? No

Man-made?

Alive? No
Place? No
Has a name in a language created by Tolkien? No
Object? Yes
First Age? No
Man-made? Yes although a somewhat ambiguous question in Tokien’s Legendarium!

Third age?

Alive? No
Place? No
Has a name in a language created by Tolkien? No
Object? Yes
First Age? No
Man-made? Yes
Third age? Yes

On a roll...

A sword?

Alive? No
Place? No
Has a name in a language created by Tolkien? No
Object? Yes
First Age? No
Man-made? Yes
Third age? Yes
A sword? No.

Could it be picked up by Aragorn? (Assuming he was somehow placed directly in front of it.)

hS

Alive? No
Place? No
Has a name in a language created by Tolkien? No
Object? Yes
First Age? No
Man-made? Yes
Third age? Yes
A sword? No.
Could it be picked up by Aragorn? Yes

Is it a Hobbit thing?

Alive? No
Place? No
Has a name in a language created by Tolkien? No
Object? Yes
First Age? No
Man-made? Yes
Third age? Yes
A sword? No.
Could it be picked up by Aragorn? Yes
Is it a hobbit thing? Again an ambiguous question but no.

Made by Feanor?

Alive? No
Place? No
Has a name in a language created by Tolkien? No
Object? Yes
First Age? No
Man-made? Yes
Third age? Yes
A sword? No.
Could it be picked up by Aragorn? Yes
Is it a hobbit thing? Again an ambiguous question but no.
Made by Feanor? No, well neither known to be or likely to be.

Made of wood?

Alive? No
Place? No
Has a name in a language created by Tolkien? No
Object? Yes
First Age? No
Man-made? Yes
Third age? Yes
A sword? No.
Could it be picked up by Aragorn? Yes
Is it a hobbit thing? Again an ambiguous question but no.
Made by Feanor? No, well neither known to be or likely to be.
Made of wood? No

A jewel?

Alive? No
Place? No
Has a name in a language created by Tolkien? No
Object? Yes
First Age? No
Man-made? Yes
Third age? Yes
A sword? No.
Could it be picked up by Aragorn? Yes
Is it a hobbit thing? Again an ambiguous question but no.
Made by Feanor? No, well neither known to be or likely to be.
Made of wood? No
A Jewel? No

A standard?

So what do we know? It's a crafted object, not extant in the First Age but around in the Third. It's small enough and light enough to pick up. It's almost certainly not a weapon - not a sword, not one of the Hobbits' knives, and not a bow or arrow (which would be wooden). It's not made by Feanor, which rules out... the Palantiri, I guess. It's not a jewel, so isn't the Arkenstone (the Elessar was already out by virtue of its name; it's kind of a shame this question didn't say 'jewellery', to get the Rings as well).

It doesn't have an Elvish name, which rules out a lot. While it could be the One Ring, most other things without Elvish names are 'regular use' items. So... hmm.

If it's not wooden, it could be metal, stone, or some form of organic material - cloth, food, paper, something like that. Metal would probably point to a Ring; it could be something like Pippin's brooch, but that would surely be a 'Hobbit thing'. It could also be armour. Stone... you know, I actually can't think of a liftable stone object that isn't already ruled out. Organics could be anything from the Book of Mazarbul to Denethor's dinner. (It could also be Aragorn's standard, but we're going to know that explicitly pretty soon. :))

I like to think in terms of splitting the field in half, rather than trying to rule out specific answers. There's only a few metal answers still viable, only a few stone ones (if any), and not a whole lot of animal-based material ones. Add them together, and they probably equal the plant-based answers, and therefore:

-Is it made of a material that came from plants?

hS

Alive? No
Place? No
Has a name in a language created by Tolkien? No
Object? Yes
First Age? No
Man-made? Yes
Third age? Yes
A sword? No.
Could it be picked up by Aragorn? Yes
Is it a hobbit thing? Again an ambiguous question but no.
Made by Feanor? No, well neither known to be or likely to be.
Made of wood? No
A Jewel? No
A standard? No
Huinesoron, to my mind the correct approach especially Were I to be strict about the 20 questions.
Made from material of plant origin? No

Right, it's not plant-based. So it's not food, it's not general clothing. It's probably not a document, since I don't think any are explicitly said to be on vellum or something, so I don't think we'd have got a flat 'no' on plant-based.

(We're up to 15 question so far, so if we want to get in under 20, we've got our work cut out for us.)

I'm torn over whether to continue pushing the materials line, or try and narrow down something like use or location. Not knowing how famous this object is makes it tricky - if we're after 'Eowyn's helmet which she used to disguise herself as Dernhelm', asking whether it's something you wear would probably narrow it down faster than checking materials. But if it's something big-name, then finding out whether it's metal (and therefore probably a Ring) or leather (and therefore... I don't even know) would be more useful.

Wait - it's not one of the Rings, because it's only 'not likely to be' made by Feanor, whereas they are known not to be. So it's something without a known maker. Hmm.

Okay, I may regret this question, because I'm not sure it will tell me as much as I'd like, but:

-Is it something that Eowyn could wear? (Again assuming she was placed directly in front of it.)

(Why Eowyn? Why not Eowyn?)

hS

Alive? No
Place? No
Has a name in a language created by Tolkien? No
Object? Yes
First Age? No
Man-made? Yes
Third age? Yes
A sword? No.
Could it be picked up by Aragorn? Yes
Is it a hobbit thing? Again an ambiguous question but no.
Made by Feanor? No, well neither known to be or likely to be.
Made of wood? No
A Jewel? No
A standard? No
Made from material of plant origin? No
Could Eowyn wear it? Yes

A helmet?