Is it a compass?

Annie, it must be valium as MS is a math grad & teacher!

0) It is mineral.
1) Is it bigger than a breadbox? No
2) Does it have moving parts? No!
3) Is it manufactured? Yes
4) Does it cost more than the average novelty breadbox in the shape of a grand piano? Assuming your idea of a good price to pay for a grand-piano-shaped breadbox is about $0.06, yes!
5) Is it ornamental? No
6) Is it a really small ukulele? No!
7) Does it have a practical application? Yes indeed!
8) Would you keep it in the bathroom? No. I suppose one could, but I wouldn't recommend it.
9) Is it round? It is not spherical, but it is circular about one axis, yes.
10) Does it produce light? No.
11) Do they traditionally come singularly, or when there's one are there normally others? The latter.
12) Is it a coin? Nope!
13) Would a dog think twice before eating it? I know at least one dog that has eaten one of these, but he was a pretty dumb dog.
14) Would you wear it? Nope!
15) Is it a mouse (the kind most associated with computers)? Nope!
16) Is it electrical? Nope!
17) Is it normally made of a ceramic or silica/glass? No
18) Is it normally used to contain something else? No
19) A needle? Nope!
20) Is it a compass? Nope!

The item in question is a stick of chalk!

Well done MS!

Thankee, thankee! Do I get a celebratoy pie, perhaps labeled with an "S" for success?

I guess this means I go again. Here's a very Ffordean one:

0) The Ffordean item in question is entirely mineral.

Spoon?

Okay, that's just scary. MistyCat, your turn!

"Scary, Watson? Any child could have done it with simple education."

"What sort of education, Holmes?"

"Elementary, my dear Watson."

OK, the new object.
When I was a lad the object was usually made from wood. Later metal became more popular, then plastic, but all three are still possible.
I'll use the one that I currently own as my object.

0. The object is not animal.

Is it used to measure things?

The correct answer would be "no," but (for example) a house could be said to be a measuring tool in the expression "That pile of Stumpy Scrumpy barrels is as big as a house," so it's not a clear-cut "no."

0. The object is not animal.
1. Is it used to measure things? That is not its purpose.

2. Is it an implement?

On the subject of measurements I saw a "peck". As in "you have to eat a peck of dirt before you die", I'd always assumed it was akin to a "pinch" but no, it's huge, about the size of the average head.

I remember a peck as 2 gallons or a quarter bushel from the list printed on the covers of my primary school exercise books back in the early 50s, (along with the rod, pole or perch.)

Using Nextian Chat terms, I guess that would be about half a breadbox.

The object is used to implement a certain purpose, but...

0. The object is not animal.
1. Is it used to measure things? That is not its purpose.
2. Is it an implement? No.

<waving hands in the air excitedly>

oh oh! Is it bigger than a breadbox (the half-a-peck size)!??

Hmmm. Tricky. It's bigger than a small breadbox, but smaller than a big breadbox. That means...


0. The object is not animal.
1. Is it used to measure things? That is not its purpose.
2. Is it an implement? No.
3. Is it bigger than a breadbox (the half-a-peck size). It is exactly the size of a breadbox.

Could it possible be a box to hold bread or other doughy comestibles? (I am not sure of the exact name.)

(perks up in sickbed)

A BREADBOX?! It was the plankton. the PLANKTON!

Couldn't you find a sickbed in the U.K. Egon?

The keenly analytical mind of SM has peeled back my skillful layers of cunningly concealed deception, unraveled the mystifying mystery bound in a concealed conundrum wrapped in an enigmatic enigma to strike with unerring accuracy at the heart of the answer. The answer was, indeed, 42. No, wait, the answer was that elusive item, the left-handed, indianrubber, counterclockwise, Lesser Spotted BREADBOX!

I retire, bloody but unbowed (OK, maybe just a little bit bowed) to allow the new champion to ascend to his true glory.

Your move, SM.

There must have been some terrible mistake. The answer to the Great Breadbox Question can't possibly be breadbox. This means the universe has turned into one of those inside out bottles that mathematicians are so fond of - no wonder ES has perked up in his bed. Do wish he'd used a bucket though.

<I deKlein to comment.>