from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Conundrum \Co*nun"drum\, n. [Origin unknown.]
1. A kind of riddle based upon some fanciful or fantastic
resemblance between things quite unlike; a puzzling
question, of which the answer is or involves a pun.
[1913 Webster]
Or pun ambiguous, or conundrum quaint. --J. Philips.
[1913 Webster]
2. A question to which only a conjectural answer can be made.
[1913 Webster]
Do you think life is long enough to let me speculate
on conundrums like that? --W. Black.
[1913 Webster]