Part of the Community Metapuzzle. The word in the puzzle below is also the word needed here.
I received a very odd communication this morning. When I got up, I found a letter on the kitchen table. It wasn't there last night. The doors were all still locked and the windows latched. I heard nothing although I am a very light sleeper.
When I picked up the letter, I saw that it had no stamp - I hadn't expected to see one - only a stylized capital Q in the upper left corner and in the center, the words I have used in the title: "Weird Genii Making Deli Meat".
Inside was a single sheet of what I believe to be papyrus. The poem that appears below was written on it in reddish-brown ink using a brush of some sort.
I know humn went much deeper into the time and space travel aspect of the community meta-puzzle than the rest of us. I can only assume that he has discovered some of the dread secrets from which Deusovi tried to protect us. I believe the poem was written in ancient Egypt. I have no theory regarding the envelope. I can only pray humn returns safely to this time and place. I believe also that it is, was, or will be his wish that this poem be published as part of the community meta-puzzle. I hope I am doing the right thing.
It's a piece of a code round a man with a gun.
More than half a grand grand of it, isn't that fun?
It is found in your fist and the glove of a fox
And this pie piece, I've heard, is no stranger to socks!
Answer
I believe the answer is
DIGIT.
Firstly, the title:
Weird Genii Making Deli Meat.
As soon as I saw the word "genii", I suspected that
final letters of words would be required somewhere along the line -- that word was clearly chosen because it's one of relatively few English words which end in I
-- and I was not disappointed!
a stylized capital Q in the upper left corner
This just refers to humn's avatar:
The whole business of talking about humn in the question also appears not to be part of the puzzle, but simply a reference to the fact that humn was originally supposed to contribute to the community metapuzzle but was unable to, and so you've valiantly stepped up to take his place.
It's a piece of a code round a man with a gun.
This is probably a wordplay clue of some sort, the 'round' cluing us to put one word around another to get DIGIT? Edit: yes indeed, it's DI(GI)T: "dit" as in the dits and dahs of Morse code, GI as in a US soldier.
More than half a grand grand of it, isn't that fun?
A grand is slang for a thousand, so half a grand grand is 500,000. Not sure what that has to do with digits though, except that it's got six of them. Edit: DI is "more than half a grand" in Roman numerals, and "grand of it" --> G+IT. Also "isn't that fun?" could be a reference to "dig it?"
It is found in your fist and the glove of a fox
Digits (fingers) are in a fist, and foxgloves are also called digitalis.
And this pie piece, I've heard, is no stranger to socks!
Something to do with pi(e) being irrational with infinitely many digits?
Thanks to @GarethMcCaughan for some help with the riddle - specifically, both edits above.
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