Reverse Empathy Game of Empathy
704 replies. Last post: 2013-11-17
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MarleysGhost at 2012-09-29
The original Reverse Empathy thread is 4.5 years old with over 1000 posts. While it may be of historical interest, it's taking too long to download for everyday play, so let's continue in this new thread.
So far we've established they're chemical elements, but the topic is not “radioactive elements” or “elements named after ancient gods”.
1. Uranium
2. Plutonium
3. Thorium
4. Neptunium
5. Radon
6. Bismuth
7. Mercury
8. Iridium
9. Rhenium
10. Hafnium -
MarleysGhost at 2012-09-30
1. Uranium
2. Plutonium
3. Thorium
4. Neptunium
5. Radon
6. Bismuth
7. Mercury
8. Iridium
9. Rhenium
10. Hafnium
11. Ytterbium
12. Thulium
13. Holmium -
MarleysGhost at 2012-09-30
14. Terbium
15. Neodymium
16. LanthanumI was disappointed that my Egyptian Hieroglyphic topic lasted such a short time, so I don't mind that this one's taking a while. Pretty soon I'm going to have to start giving hints.
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Tellmarch at 2012-09-30
well, they are all elements that are in the last two rows of the periodic table, but that includes more than half of all known elements, so I guess there must be something more… And since I'm no chemist, I have no idea what.
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MarleysGhost at 2012-10-01
I know little or no chemistry, and it wouldn't help anyway.
1. Uranium
2. Plutonium
3. Thorium
4. Neptunium
5. Radon
6. Bismuth
7. Mercury
8. Iridium
9. Rhenium
10. Hafnium
11. Ytterbium
12. Thulium
13. Holmium
14. Terbium
15. Neodymium
16. Lanthanum
17. Xenon
18. Tellurium
19. Tin
20. Cadmium -
MarleysGhost at 2012-10-01
If you think *that* was evil, what did you think about “10-point scrabble words” not so long ago?
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Tellmarch at 2012-10-01
Well, at that time I wasn't registered on littlegolem yet, so I didn't see it, hence it never happened.
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stay at 2012-10-02
1. band
2. bread
3. free
4. egg
5. dumb
6. harm
7. race
8. track
9. ship
10. trek
11. nest -
Ray Garrison at 2012-10-02
words where if you change one letter, it becomes another word?
(bane, breed, tree, ego, bumb, hare, face, trace, slip, tree, rest) -
stay at 2012-10-02
1. band
2. bread
3. free
4. egg
5. dumb
6. harm
7. race
8. track
9. ship
10. trek
11. nest
12. soot
13. triple
14. tryst -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-10-08
1. rat
2. mole
3. shrew
4. tenrecs
5. voles
6. bears
7. walrus
8. horse
9. manatee
10. seal
11. zebra -
Ray Garrison at 2012-10-09
mammals that can't climb trees? (well, many bears can climb trees, but the rest can't)
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-10-09
1. rat
2. mole
3. shrew
4. tenrecs
5. voles
6. bears
7. walrus
8. horse
9. manatee
10. seal
11. zebra
12. monotreme -
maraca at 2012-10-09
;-) another thought: are some animals in plural and some in singular on purpose?
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-10-09
1. rat
2. mole
3. shrew
4. tenrecs
5. voles
6. bears
7. walrus
8. horse
9. manatee
10. seal
11. zebra
12. monotreme
13. wolverine -
MarleysGhost at 2012-10-09
Representatives of each of the mammal families? (although monotreme is more a family itself than a representative of a family)
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-10-09
1. rat
2. mole
3. shrew
4. tenrecs
5. voles
6. bears
7. walrus
8. horse
9. manatee
10. seal
11. zebra
12. monotreme
13. wolverine
14. ichneumon -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-10-09
1. rat
2. mole
3. shrew
4. tenrecs
5. voles
6. bears
7. walrus
8. horse
9. manatee
10. seal
11. zebra
12. monotreme
13. wolverine
14. ichneumon
15. nemertean(I assume there no mythologies about nemertea :)
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Ray Garrison at 2012-10-10
mammals that have more than one species? For example, black bear and grizzly bear, or plains zebra and mountain zebra, etc
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-10-10
1. rat
2. mole
3. shrew
4. tenrecs
5. voles
6. bears
7. walrus
8. horse
9. manatee
10. seal
11. zebra
12. monotreme
13. wolverine
14. ichneumon
15. nemertean
16. sandworms -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-10-11
1. rat
2. mole
3. shrew
4. tenrecs
5. voles
6. bears
7. walrus
8. horse
9. manatee
10. seal
11. zebra
12. monotreme
13. wolverine
14. ichneumon
15. nemertean
16. sandworms
17. elasmosaurus
18. steneosaurus -
MrMoto at 2012-10-11
It seems as though these beasts are being listed in some kind of order: perhaps along an evolutionary tree or according to fossil dates.
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Ray Garrison at 2012-10-11
I thought music was correct….tenrec is a band (not tenrecs). So are the monotremes, and also montreme records is a group. Ichneumon is a solo artist. And there is a band called Ichneumon Fly. I get a hit on a song by Taylor Swift called “nemerteans” but I can't seem to get any info on it. Sandworms is a FICTIONAL beast (from DUNE) and it is also the name of a band…There is an artist named Matt Costa who has an album called The Elasmosaurus E.P. The others I believe all are musical groups, too, Rat and Zebra are bands I am familiar with. The only one I could not connect with music was steneosaurus.
One hint should be that some are plural, others are not. another hint is that sandworms is fictitious. Another hint is that the words are generally getting longer and longer…
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-10-13
Hint: One of Ray's presumed hints is an inaccuracy. Another is a herring hooked. Another is a true hint or help.
1. rat
2. mole
3. shrew
4. tenrecs
5. voles
6. bears
7. walrus
8. horse
9. manatee
10. seal
11. zebra
12. monotreme
13. wolverine
14. ichneumon
15. nemertean
16. sandworms
17. elasmosaurus
18. steneosaurus
19. saurischian
20. scolosaurus
21. aurochs
22. anaconda -
MarleysGhost at 2012-10-13
I'm just guessing here, but my guess is that “sandworms is fictitious” is the alleged inaccuracy, and that “words are generally getting longer” is the red herring, which leaves music as the true hint. But I'm just guessing.
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Knyx at 2012-10-14
The third hint would be left as some are plural, assuming they were looking at the three in the last paragraph.
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-10-15
1. rat
2. mole
3. shrew
4. tenrecs
5. voles
6. bears
7. walrus
8. horse
9. manatee
10. seal
11. zebra
12. monotreme
13. wolverine
14. ichneumon
15. nemertean
16. sandworms
17. elasmosaurus
18. steneosaurus
19. saurischian
20. scolosaurus
21. aurochs
22. anaconda
23. roadrunner
24. rhinoceros -
maraca at 2012-10-15
animals that appeared in comic strips?
more specific maybe donald duck or mikey mouse?
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-10-16
1. rat
2. mole
3. shrew
4. tenrecs
5. voles
6. bears
7. walrus
8. horse
9. manatee
10. seal
11. zebra
12. monotreme
13. wolverine
14. ichneumon
15. nemertean
16. sandworms
17. elasmosaurus
18. steneosaurus
19. saurischian
20. scolosaurus
21. aurochs
22. anaconda
23. roadrunner
24. rhinoceros
25. marabou…but not flamingo -
Ray Garrison at 2012-10-20
hmmm…a difficult puzzle….a new hint is that Nathan has updated his list a few times recently by deleting his recent post (a privilege of members) and updating the list with new “but nots” This tells me that either the list is limited to these 28 items, or, Nathan can not think of #29….but this could be another “herring hooked” ?
I keep thinking that the members of the solution have nothing to do with the animal itself, but the word, maybe the letters, # vowels, scrabble value, or???
I am completely stumped!
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kingofthebesI at 2012-10-21
The words definitely are of different scrabble value.
Could it be they are animal which are the same in english and another language, latin maybe?
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MarleysGhost at 2012-10-21
Good idea, but I don't think the language thing is it.
cat and dog are felix and canus in Latin, gato and pero (sp?) in Spanish, katze and hund in German, so for those languages, there's no indication that one of them would be on topic and the other off.I looked at qwerty keypad locations, but didn't see a distinguisher.
I would be disappointed if the criterion involves Scrabble points, as Ray already did that. Nevertheless, if they aren't all the same Scrabble value, could it be even/odd or prime/composite Scrabble value?
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Knyx at 2012-10-21
Taxamonialy wise, I though I was on to something with weather there were sub species/more specific types of them or not, but it didn't hold up… I have a feeling it has to do with the words, but then why are they all animals? Was that just a red herring?
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MarleysGhost at 2012-10-22
The list started as all-mammals, which turned out to be a red herring. The topic could be “animal names that are X” rather than “words that are X”.
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-10-22
1. rat…but not mouse
2. mole…but not hedgehog
3. shrew…but not rodent
4. tenrecs
5. voles
6. bears
7. walrus
8. horse
9. manatee
10. seal
11. zebra…but not quagga
12. monotreme…but not platypus
13. wolverine
14. ichneumon…but not cranefly
15. nemertean
16. sandworms
17. elasmosaurus…but not plesiosaur
18. steneosaurus…but not longirostrines
19. saurischian…but not theropods
20. scolosaurus…but not ankylosaur
21. aurochs…but not ox
22. anaconda…but not python
23. roadrunner…but not duck
24. rhinoceros
25. marabou…but not flamingo
26. dinosaur…but not archaeopteryx
27. foxes…but not ferrets
28. monarch…but not butterfly
29. bee…but not wasp
30. deer…but not elk
31. cat…but not dog
32. snake…but not serpent -
MarleysGhost at 2012-10-22
I withdraw my earlier speculation that “sandworms are fictitious” was the one of Ray's statements that Nathan characterized as inaccurate. I haven't found any use of “sandworms” for real animals on Earth.
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Knyx at 2012-10-22
There are three real life creatures called sandworms (in at least one region of the world).
See them here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandworm
Of course, this doesn't mean that the sandworms he is referring to are the real life ones, he could also be talking about the ones from dune.
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Ray Garrison at 2012-10-22
Nathan, please don't delete your old lists unless no one has made a comment. I think you added a “but not” (or two?) but we have no way to determine what you have changed, as you have erased the history of the puzzle. The puzzle is already hard enough!
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Ray Garrison at 2012-10-22
As for “sandworms” that surely seemed suspicious to me at the time, and I have given much thought about Nathan's comment concerning one of my three “hints” as being a true hint.,..which one? not the length of the words (bee, deer, cat, snake are all short), and surely not music (that must be the “herring hooked” as Dog could be represented by Three Dog Night, for example, but “dog” is not an answer), so is the hint about the sandworms as a fictitious beast the true angle? Everything else on the list seems real enough….still completely stumped!
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-10-23
“Another is a true hint or help.”
Meaning, a long list of longer words must be more helpful than the opposite – or so I had thought! The Rosetta Stone is more helpful than a pottery shard. That is all.
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Tellmarch at 2012-10-23
I know. They are all words from a randomly generated list of animals, that is only known to Nathan.
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-10-23
1. rat…but not mouse
2. mole…but not hedgehog
3. shrew…but not rodent
4. tenrecs…but not gymnure
5. voles
6. bears
7. walrus
8. horse
9. manatee
10. seal
11. zebra…but not quagga
12. monotreme…but not platypus
13. wolverine…but not wolf
14. ichneumon…but not cranefly
15. nemertean
16. sandworms
17. elasmosaurus…but not plesiosaur
18. steneosaurus…but not longirostrines
19. saurischian…but not theropods
20. scolosaurus…but not ankylosaur
21. aurochs…but not ox
22. anaconda…but not python
23. roadrunner…but not duck
24. rhinoceros
25. marabou…but not flamingo
26. dinosaur…but not archaeopteryx
27. foxes…but not ferrets
28. monarch…but not butterfly
29. bee…but not wasp
30. deer…but not elk
31. cat…but not dog
32. snake…but not serpent
33. marmoset…but not capuchin -
Knyx at 2012-10-23
There definitely seems to be a relation between the first animal on a line and it's counterpart. What exactly it is is a different question.
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-10-24
1. rat…but not mouse
2. mole…but not hedgehog
3. shrew…but not rodent
4. tenrecs…but not gymnure
5. voles…but not lemmings
6. bears
7. walrus
8. horse
9. manatee
10. seal
11. zebra…but not quagga
12. monotreme…but not platypus
13. wolverine…but not wolf
14. ichneumon…but not cranefly
15. nemertean
16. sandworms
17. elasmosaurus…but not plesiosaur
18. steneosaurus…but not longirostrines
19. saurischian…but not theropods
20. scolosaurus…but not ankylosaur
21. aurochs…but not ox
22. anaconda…but not python
23. roadrunner…but not duck
24. rhinoceros
25. marabou…but not flamingo
26. dinosaur…but not archaeopteryx
27. foxes…but not ferrets
28. monarch…but not butterfly
29. bee…but not wasp
30. deer…but not elk
31. cat…but not dog
32. snake…but not serpent
33. marmoset…but not capuchin
34. uakari…but not titi -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-10-24
1. rat…but not mouse
2. mole…but not hedgehog
3. shrew…but not rodent
4. tenrecs…but not gymnure
5. voles…but not lemmings
6. bears
7. walrus
8. horse…but not donkey
9. manatee
10. seal
11. zebra…but not quagga
12. monotreme…but not platypus
13. wolverine…but not wolf
14. ichneumon…but not cranefly
15. nemertean
16. sandworms
17. elasmosaurus…but not plesiosaur
18. steneosaurus…but not longirostrines
19. saurischian…but not theropods
20. scolosaurus…but not ankylosaur
21. aurochs…but not ox
22. anaconda…but not python
23. roadrunner…but not duck
24. rhinoceros
25. marabou…but not flamingo
26. dinosaur…but not archaeopteryx
27. foxes…but not ferrets
28. monarch…but not butterfly
29. bee…but not wasp
30. deer…but not elk
31. cat…but not dog
32. snake…but not serpent
33. marmoset…but not capuchin
34. uakari…but not titi
35. vervet…but not grivet -
Ray Garrison at 2012-10-25
I propose a new rule: If any puzzle list gets to 50 items, then the puzzle author wins for stumping everyone, and has to reveal the solution and start a new puzzle!
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-10-26
1. rat…but not mouse
2. mole…but not hedgehog
3. shrew…but not rodent
4. tenrecs…but not gymnure
5. voles…but not lemmings
6. bears
7. walrus…but not pinniped
8. horse…but not donkey
9. manatee
10. seal
11. zebra…but not quagga
12. monotreme…but not platypus
13. wolverine…but not wolf
14. ichneumon…but not cranefly
15. nemertean
16. sandworms
17. elasmosaurus…but not plesiosaur
18. steneosaurus…but not longirostrines
19. saurischian…but not theropods
20. scolosaurus…but not ankylosaur
21. aurochs…but not ox
22. anaconda…but not python
23. roadrunner…but not duck
24. rhinoceros…but not elephant
25. marabou…but not flamingo
26. dinosaur…but not archaeopteryx
27. foxes…but not ferrets
28. monarch…but not butterfly
29. bee…but not wasp
30. deer…but not elk
31. cat…but not dog
32. snake…but not serpent
33. marmoset…but not capuchin
34. uakari…but not titi
35. vervet…but not grivet
36. fox…but not oxen
37. tamarin…but not macaque -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-10-26
I want to second Ray's proposition, because I want this round to end before I do, so that LG members need not gain further items from me in seances.
Also, here is a hint:
!http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/Bohol_Tarsier.jpg/800px-Bohol_Tarsier.jpg!
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-10-27
1. rat…but not mouse
2. mole…but not hedgehog
3. shrew…but not rodent
4. tenrecs…but not gymnure
5. voles…but not lemmings
6. bears…but not pandas
7. walrus…but not pinniped
8. horse…but not donkey
9. manatee
10. seal
11. zebra…but not quagga
12. monotreme…but not platypus
13. wolverine…but not wolf
14. ichneumon…but not cranefly
15. nemertean
16. sandworms
17. elasmosaurus…but not plesiosaur
18. steneosaurus…but not longirostrines
19. saurischian…but not theropods
20. scolosaurus…but not ankylosaur
21. aurochs…but not ox
22. anaconda…but not python
23. roadrunner…but not duck
24. rhinoceros…but not elephant
25. marabou…but not flamingo
26. dinosaur…but not archaeopteryx
27. foxes…but not ferrets
28. monarch…but not butterfly
29. bee…but not wasp
30. deer…but not elk
31. cat…but not dog
32. snake…but not serpent
33. marmoset…but not capuchin
34. uakari…but not titi
35. vervet…but not grivet
36. fox…but not oxen
37. tamarin…but not macaque
38. humans…but not troglodytes -
Art Duval at 2012-10-27
Note 1. and 3.: rat … …but not rodent
Strong evidence it's the wordplay of these names, not their meaning. Not that I have any useful idea what kind of wordplay…. -
Art Duval at 2012-10-27
Also, wondering about the recent hint, and what is that thing, I looked at the page source code to get the link to the picture, in case it helps any of you (it hasn't helped me):
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/Bohol_Tarsier.jpg/800px-Bohol_Tarsier.jpg
Bohol Tarsier??
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-10-28
This fellow is trying to help you too. You had better take these critters' advice.
!http://pgtnaturegarden.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Great-Horned-Owl-Chick_4002.jpg!
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stay at 2012-10-28
no (working) ideas - but i'm enjoying the pics. wait! ..i got it; these are creatures that possess the ability to stare into the very center of your soul. that's the connection, isn't it? the soul-piercing eyes? :)
i've known psychiatrists who appeared less observant (but only slightly) -
Pinobambu at 2012-10-28
I think it must be what stay says: binocular animals. Although I don't know many of those animals.
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-10-28
1. rat…but not mouse
2. mole…but not hedgehog
3. shrew…but not rodent
4. tenrecs…but not gymnure
5. voles…but not lemmings
6. bears…but not pandas
7. walrus…but not pinniped
8. horse…but not donkey
9. manatee…but not dugong
10. seal
11. zebra…but not quagga
12. monotreme…but not platypus
13. wolverine…but not wolf
14. ichneumon…but not cranefly
15. nemertean
16. sandworms
17. elasmosaurus…but not plesiosaur
18. steneosaurus…but not longirostrines
19. saurischian…but not theropods
20. scolosaurus…but not ankylosaur
21. aurochs…but not ox
22. anaconda…but not python
23. roadrunner…but not duck
24. rhinoceros…but not elephant
25. marabou…but not flamingo
26. dinosaur…but not archaeopteryx
27. foxes…but not ferrets
28. monarch…but not butterfly
29. bee…but not wasp
30. deer…but not elk
31. cat…but not dog
32. snake…but not serpent
33. marmoset…but not capuchin
34. uakari…but not titi
35. vervet…but not grivet
36. fox…but not oxen
37. tamarin…but not macaque
38. humans…but not troglodytes
39. hanuman…but not langur -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-10-28
This young one is very concerned that you haven't understood the other creatures' suggestion. I'm afraid he's being a bit repetitive about it.
!http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_gWwjfAYGaXA/TKKX8C6sxzI/AAAAAAAAAZk/DbrjAOubcfw/s1600/tersa1.jpg!
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Marius Halsor at 2012-10-29
It cannot have anything do do with the animals per se, I think, and so I agree with Art that it must have something to do with the words. However, I fail to see any connection between the spellings, and also I get no clues from looking at my keyboard. Iâm starting to think it has something to do with how the words are pronounced. Which makes it difficult, as Iâm not really sure of the exact correct pronounciation of all these animals.
Something along the lines of âanimals pronounced with a higher pich than the family the animal belongs toâ? Iâm sure itâs something simpler, but perhaps someone else can build on this idea and get it right? âAnimals pronounced with an upgoing toneâ, perhaps? It seems to me, at least, that the animals that are included are pronounced in a somewhat âlighterâ tone than the ones that arenât, but that could be just me not knowing the correct pronounciation…
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-10-29
1. rat…but not mouse
2. mole…but not hedgehog
3. shrew…but not rodent
4. tenrecs…but not gymnure
5. voles…but not lemmings
6. bears…but not pandas
7. walrus…but not pinniped
8. horse…but not donkey
9. manatee…but not dugong
10. seal…but not dolphin
11. zebra…but not quagga
12. monotreme…but not platypus
13. wolverine…but not wolf
14. ichneumon…but not cranefly
15. nemertean
16. sandworms
17. elasmosaurus…but not plesiosaur
18. steneosaurus…but not longirostrines
19. saurischian…but not theropods
20. scolosaurus…but not ankylosaur
21. aurochs…but not ox
22. anaconda…but not python
23. roadrunner…but not duck
24. rhinoceros…but not elephant
25. marabou…but not flamingo
26. dinosaur…but not archaeopteryx
27. foxes…but not ferrets
28. monarch…but not butterfly
29. bee…but not wasp
30. deer…but not elk
31. cat…but not dog
32. snake…but not serpent
33. marmoset…but not capuchin
34. uakari…but not titi
35. vervet…but not grivet
36. fox…but not oxen
37. tamarin…but not macaque
38. humans…but not troglodytes
39. hanuman…but not langur
40. tarsier…but not monkey -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-10-29
This piscean, thinking that the other animals' hints have been too oblique, has decided to take a more active approach in pointing the way – it also gives him an excuse to be a show-off.
!http://home.comcast.net/~john.kimball1/BiologyPages/F/flounder.jpg!
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MrMoto at 2012-10-30
Circles and squares … hmmm. Incidentally, I notice that all the good animals have no descenders (g,j,p,q,y) in their name. Alas, there are a handful of bad animals with the same property.
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MrMoto at 2012-10-30
Animals that have exactly one ascending letter and no descending letters in their names.
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-10-30
Hurrah! Mr. Moto has worked it out, at long last!
It remains to explain some of the hints. Many people had figured that the meanings of the words didn't matter, but didn't know where to go from there.
The tarsier, owl, and caterpillar are saying “Look! Use your eyes!”
The flounder is saying “Look at the shapes that are there in black and white!”By the way, I don't think I've ever seen a word puzzle anywhere that made use of this aspect of word shape.
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MrMoto at 2012-10-31
Excellent puzzle! Thank you for challenging us. (And excuse me while I wipe the sweat from my brow …)
At some point I suspected that it had to do somehow with the spelling, or plural forms, hence the question about fox/foxes/ox/oxen. The hints all pointed towards shape: the first and second got me thinking about I's (eyes) and O's, and the second and third suggested some kind of repetition or alternation.
And we got to learn about some nice animals along the way. :)
-
Marius Halsor at 2012-10-31
Uhmm - what are the ascending and the descending letters? You know, just for us who don't have English as our main language?
-
MarleysGhost at 2012-10-31
Descending letters have a part that extends below the line you're writing on, namely 'g', 'p', 'q', and 'y'. There are no descending uppercase letters, unless you count 'Q' in some florid fonts.
Ascending letters have a height greater than that of, say, 'o'. They are 'b', 'd', 'f', 'h', 'k', 'l' and 't'.Actually, I'd never heard the term “descending letters” before. I've used “letters with descenders”. When trying to print or display with a minimal number of pixels, sometimes the descenders are crammed up onto the line being written on, making 'g', 'p' etc. look like they're floating higher than the surrounding letters.
-
MrMoto at 2012-10-31
Indeed, I was misusing the terminology. A more proper rephrasing: “Animals whose names contain exactly one letter with an ascender and none with a descender.”
Speaking of which, here's an observation: Many people think of the letter t as being tall, like an l with a crossbar. But t is really just a short letter that gives off an attitude of height.
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Ray Garrison at 2012-10-31
Nathan, good puzzle, but doesn't the letter “i” have a dot that ascends above the line? so a word like “dinosaur” has two letters that ascend above the other letters…
Mr.M, congrats….we look forward to your puzzle…
-
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-10-31
Ray, I'd wondered about that very thing, but as best as I could find out the term ascender isn't usually applied to i, or j, as what they have isn't a line or a stroke, and not part of the 'body' of the letter, but merely a dot, and detached from the body.
Of course, the puzzle could be considered as so many high-going/low-going lines, regardless of what the technical terms in the type-field be.
-
MrMoto at 2012-11-02
Oh, is it my turn again? Sorry for keeping everyone waiting, I'm very busy at work. I hope someone else can come up with a puzzle in the meantime! :)
(And by the way, the dot on an i or j is called a tittle, and tittles are not to be confused with ascenders.)
-
Ray Garrison at 2012-11-02
I have a puzzle, probably an easy one, but should be fun.
1. descent
2. bale
3. crash -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-11-03
Ypercube: My Random House Dictionary says it comes from Old English /titul/, in turn coming from Latin /titulus/, meaning superscript or title; and the word 'title' has the same origin.
Not kin with 'tit' which comes from the Old English /titt/, and is connected to the German /Zitze/.
-
Ray Garrison at 2012-11-04
Thanks, Mr. Moto! Did you solve the puzzle? (feel free to send me a message with your solution if you don't want to post the next puzzle….)
-
Ray Garrison at 2012-11-04
For the record, Mr. Moto has solved the puzzle via message. But he is not prepared to provide a new puzzle, so this puzzle is still alive…
1. descent
2. bale
3. crash
4. company
5. murder
6. mischief(Mr. Moto thinks this should have been the first word on the list)
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Ray Garrison at 2012-11-04
1. descent
2. bale
3. crash
4. company
5. murder
6. mischief
7. labor
8. drove(6, 7, and 8 should probably be clues 1, 2, and 3)
-
Knyx at 2012-11-04
They are all names for groups of animals. To be fair I should note that I was forced to search them in google, and ended up finding this: “http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Glossary_of_collective_nouns_by_collective_term”:http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Glossary_of_collective_nouns_by_collective_term
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Ray Garrison at 2012-11-04
Congrats, Knyx!
6. mischief of RATS
7. labor or MOLES
8. drove of SHREWS(I could not find what a group of Tenrecs is called!)
1. descent of woodpeckers
2. bale of turtles
3. crash of rhinos
4. company of badgers
5. murder of crows -
Knyx at 2012-11-05
I don't know if this will be easy or hard, but I figured I'd give it a shot:
1. Saratoga Springs
2. Latte
3. Seduction
4. Your Majesty -
Carroll at 2012-11-06
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola -
Carroll at 2012-11-07
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird -
Carroll at 2012-11-07
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker -
Carroll at 2012-11-08
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar -
Carroll at 2012-11-08
No Yper, the melodious blackbird is mostly black
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel -
Carroll at 2012-11-09
Nope
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel
10. Sparrow -
Carroll at 2012-11-12
That was a good try Ray ;-)
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel
10. Sparrow
11. Pigeon -
Carroll at 2012-11-12
I was awaiting this ;)
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel
10. Sparrow
11. Pigeon
12. Bat -
Carroll at 2012-11-12
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel
10. Sparrow
11. Pigeon
12. Bat
13. Libellule (but not Fly) -
Carroll at 2012-11-12
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel
10. Sparrow
11. Pigeon
12. Bat
13. Libellule (but not Fly)
14. Flamingo (but not Heron) -
Carroll at 2012-11-14
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel
10. Sparrow
11. Pigeon
12. Bat
13. Libellule (but not Fly)
14. Flamingo (but not Heron)
15. Beetle (but not Cricket) -
Carroll at 2012-11-15
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel
10. Sparrow
11. Pigeon
12. Bat
13. Libellule (but not Fly)
14. Flamingo (but not Heron)
15. Beetle (but not Cricket)
16. Puffin (but not Auk) -
Carroll at 2012-11-16
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel
10. Sparrow
11. Pigeon
12. Bat
13. Libellule (but not Fly)
14. Flamingo (but not Heron)
15. Beetle (but not Cricket)
16. Puffin (but not Auk)
17. Mobula ray (but not Flying Fish) -
Carroll at 2012-11-19
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel
10. Sparrow
11. Pigeon
12. Bat
13. Libellule (but not Fly)
14. Flamingo (but not Heron)
15. Beetle (but not Cricket)
16. Puffin (but not Auk)
17. Mobula Ray (but not Flying Fish)
18. Common Snipe (but not Snail Kite) -
Carroll at 2012-11-22
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel
10. Sparrow
11. Pigeon
12. Bat
13. Libellule (but not Fly)
14. Flamingo (but not Heron)
15. Beetle (but not Cricket)
16. Puffin (but not Auk)
17. Mobula Ray (but not Flying Fish)
18. Common Snipe (but not Snail Kite)
19. Maybug (but not Earwig) -
Carroll at 2012-11-26
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel
10. Sparrow
11. Pigeon
12. Bat
13. Libellule (but not Fly)
14. Flamingo (but not Heron)
15. Beetle (but not Cricket)
16. Puffin (but not Auk)
17. Mobula Ray (but not Flying Fish)
18. Common Snipe (but not Snail Kite)
19. Maybug (but not Earwig)
20. Paradise tree snake -
maraca at 2012-11-26
For a moment I thought animals with an even number of consonants, but this seems to be wrong.
-
Tellmarch at 2012-11-26
I know, they are all animals that verify a certain property P known only by Carroll.
-
Carroll at 2012-11-27
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel
10. Sparrow
11. Pigeon
12. Bat
13. Libellule (but not Fly)
14. Flamingo (but not Heron)
15. Beetle (but not Cricket)
16. Puffin (but not Auk)
17. Mobula Ray (but not Flying Fish)
18. Common Snipe (but not Snail Kite)
19. Maybug (but not Earwig)
20. Paradise tree snake
21. Anomalure (not flying Squirrel) -
Carroll at 2012-11-28
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel
10. Sparrow
11. Pigeon
12. Bat
13. Libellule (but not Fly)
14. Flamingo (but not Heron)
15. Beetle (but not Cricket)
16. Puffin (but not Auk)
17. Mobula Ray (but not Flying Fish)
18. Common Snipe (but not Snail Kite)
19. Maybug (but not Earwig)
20. Paradise tree snake
21. Anomalure (not flying Squirrel)
22. Pteranodon (not Tyrannosaurus) -
Carroll at 2012-11-30
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel
10. Sparrow
11. Pigeon
12. Bat
13. Libellule (but not Fly)
14. Flamingo (but not Heron)
15. Beetle (but not Cricket)
16. Puffin (but not Auk)
17. Mobula Ray (but not Flying Fish)
18. Common Snipe (but not Snail Kite)
19. Maybug (but not Earwig)
20. Paradise tree snake
21. Anomalure (not flying Squirrel)
22. Pteranodon (not Tyrannosaurus)
23. Magpie (not Jay) -
Carroll at 2012-12-03
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel
10. Sparrow
11. Pigeon
12. Bat
13. Libellule (but not Fly)
14. Flamingo (but not Heron)
15. Beetle (but not Cricket)
16. Puffin (but not Auk)
17. Mobula Ray (but not Flying Fish)
18. Common Snipe (but not Snail Kite)
19. Maybug (but not Earwig)
20. Paradise tree snake
21. Anomalure (not flying Squirrel)
22. Pteranodon (not Tyrannosaurus)
23. Magpie (not Jay)
24. Robin (not Tit) -
Marius Halsor at 2012-12-03
I think you can find a Fly almost anywhere (not sure about the Antarctic, but still…)
-
Carroll at 2012-12-03
Hum no…
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel
10. Sparrow
11. Pigeon
12. Bat
13. Libellule (but not Fly)
14. Flamingo (but not Heron)
15. Beetle (but not Cricket)
16. Puffin (but not Auk)
17. Mobula Ray (but not Flying Fish)
18. Common Snipe (but not Snail Kite)
19. Maybug (but not Earwig)
20. Paradise tree snake
21. Anomalure (not flying Squirrel)
22. Pteranodon (not Tyrannosaurus)
23. Magpie (not Jay)
24. Robin (not Tit)
25. Albatross (not Skua) -
Carroll at 2012-12-04
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel
10. Sparrow
11. Pigeon
12. Bat
13. Libellule (but not Fly)
14. Flamingo (but not Heron)
15. Beetle (but not Cricket)
16. Puffin (but not Auk)
17. Mobula Ray (but not Flying Fish)
18. Common Snipe (but not Snail Kite)
19. Maybug (but not Earwig)
20. Paradise tree snake
21. Anomalure (not flying Squirrel)
22. Pteranodon (not Tyrannosaurus)
23. Magpie (not Jay)
24. Robin (not Tit)
25. Albatross (not Skua)
26. Brown Kiwi (not Ostrich) -
Carroll at 2012-12-05
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel
10. Sparrow
11. Pigeon
12. Bat
13. Libellule (not Fly)
14. Flamingo (not Heron)
15. Beetle (not Cricket)
16. Puffin (not Auk)
17. Mobula Ray (not Flying Fish)
18. Common Snipe (not Snail Kite)
19. Maybug (not Earwig)
20. Paradise tree snake
21. Anomalure (not flying Squirrel)
22. Pteranodon (not Tyrannosaurus)
23. Magpie (not Jay)
24. Robin (not Tit)
25. Albatross (not Skua)
26. Brown Kiwi (not Ostrich)
27. Brushturkey (not Horned Guan) -
Tellmarch at 2012-12-05
I propose a new rule. After one month without a correct answer, the author automatically loses. It is then the turn of another player, and the answer to the puzzle will never be known.
-
Ray Garrison at 2012-12-05
I had proposed a completely different rule on Oct. 25, namely:
“If any puzzle list gets to 50 items, then the puzzle author wins for stumping everyone, and has to reveal the solution and start a new puzzle!”
The rule was seconded by Nathan Miller
-
Carroll at 2012-12-06
Well these two propositions are contradictory so one would have to chose.
I'll try a middle way between not revealing and revealing, as something came to my mind while discussing topology with Ypercube:“Open” is closed and “Closed” is open. And as Yper said some sets can be both.
-
Carroll at 2012-12-06
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel
10. Sparrow
11. Pigeon
12. Bat
13. Libellule (not Fly)
14. Flamingo (not Heron)
15. Beetle (not Cricket)
16. Puffin (not Auk)
17. Mobula Ray (not Flying Fish)
18. Common Snipe (not Snail Kite)
19. Maybug (not Earwig)
20. Paradise tree snake
21. Anomalure (not flying Squirrel)
22. Pteranodon (not Tyrannosaurus)
23. Magpie (not Jay)
24. Robin (not Tit)
25. Albatross (not Skua)
26. Brown Kiwi (not Ostrich)
27. Brushturkey (not Horned Guan)
28. Red-bellied Pitta (not Lovely Cotinga) -
Carroll at 2012-12-07
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel
10. Sparrow
11. Pigeon
12. Bat
13. Libellule (not Fly)
14. Flamingo (not Heron)
15. Beetle (not Cricket)
16. Puffin (not Auk)
17. Mobula Ray (not Flying Fish)
18. Common Snipe (not Snail Kite)
19. Maybug (not Earwig)
20. Paradise tree snake
21. Anomalure (not flying Squirrel)
22. Pteranodon (not Tyrannosaurus)
23. Magpie (not Jay)
24. Robin (not Tit)
25. Albatross (not Skua)
26. Brown Kiwi (not Ostrich)
27. Brushturkey (not Horned Guan)
28. Red-bellied Pitta (not Lovely Cotinga)
29. Egyptian Goose (not Swan Goose) -
Carroll at 2012-12-11
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel
10. Sparrow
11. Pigeon
12. Bat
13. Libellule (not Fly)
14. Flamingo (not Heron)
15. Beetle (not Cricket)
16. Puffin (not Auk)
17. Mobula Ray (not Flying Fish)
18. Common Snipe (not Snail Kite)
19. Maybug (not Earwig)
20. Paradise tree snake
21. Anomalure (not flying Squirrel)
22. Pteranodon (not Tyrannosaurus)
23. Magpie (not Jay)
24. Robin (not Tit)
25. Albatross (not Skua)
26. Brown Kiwi (not Ostrich)
27. Brushturkey (not Horned Guan)
28. Red-bellied Pitta (not Lovely Cotinga)
29. Egyptian Goose (not Swan Goose)
30. Pegasus (not Unicorn) -
Carroll at 2012-12-13
Only the Flying Spaghetti Monster!
If nobody opposes I'll give the solution this week end.
-
Carroll at 2012-12-14
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel
10. Sparrow
11. Pigeon
12. Bat
13. Libellule (not Fly)
14. Flamingo (not Heron)
15. Beetle (not Cricket)
16. Puffin (not Auk)
17. Mobula Ray (not Flying Fish)
18. Common Snipe (not Snail Kite)
19. Maybug (not Earwig)
20. Paradise tree snake
21. Anomalure (not flying Squirrel)
22. Pteranodon (not Tyrannosaurus)
23. Magpie (not Jay)
24. Robin (not Tit)
25. Albatross (not Skua)
26. Brown Kiwi (not Ostrich)
27. Brushturkey (not Horned Guan)
28. Red-bellied Pitta (not Lovely Cotinga)
29. Egyptian Goose (not Swan Goose)
30. Pegasus (not Unicorn)
31. Burrowing Owl (not Great Horned Owl) -
MrMoto at 2012-12-14
FSM is good, eh?
How about the following: paper aeroplane? (Or paper airplane?) Boomerang? Roc? Superman? The Silver Surfer? Smaug?
-
MrMoto at 2012-12-16
Hmm! Well, before you give away the answer, let's ask some more questions.
The good ones on the list all fly, or move through the air somehow. You've told us that earwig, tyrannosaurus, and unicorn are bad, but we have no reason to expect otherwise. Can you provide any examples of any non-flying creatures that would be on the list?
-
Carroll at 2012-12-16
No you are right, no non-flying creature is on the list, there is also another criteria which puts the ones you cited off the list.
I must say paperplane, aeroplane and boomerang share this criteria but are not flying creatures. -
Marius Halsor at 2012-12-17
I find Smaug's appearance on the list interesting. That exludes a lot of possible parameters. Also, I find that “Swan Goose” and “Great Horned Owl” is NOT on the list, is interesting. These birds ARE capable of prolonged flight.
So with Smaug on the list, and “prolonged flight” ruled out, there can't be many parameters left to consider - unless one looks to metadata like spelling, I suppose.
Would a general term, like “Bird”, be on the list? (I suppose it might, since “Bat” is). What about “Swan”, since “Swan Goose” is not?
-
Carroll at 2012-12-17
Bird would be, Swan is not.
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel
10. Sparrow
11. Pigeon
12. Bat
13. Libellule (not Fly)
14. Flamingo (not Heron)
15. Beetle (not Cricket)
16. Puffin (not Auk)
17. Mobula Ray (not Flying Fish)
18. Common Snipe (not Snail Kite)
19. Maybug (not Earwig)
20. Paradise tree snake
21. Anomalure (not flying Squirrel)
22. Pteranodon (not Tyrannosaurus)
23. Magpie (not Jay)
24. Robin (not Tit)
25. Albatross (not Skua)
26. Brown Kiwi (not Ostrich)
27. Brushturkey (not Horned Guan)
28. Red-bellied Pitta (not Lovely Cotinga)
29. Egyptian Goose (not Swan Goose)
30. Pegasus (not Unicorn)
31. Burrowing Owl (not Great Horned Owl)
32. Yellow-Bellied Flycatcher -
Carroll at 2012-12-18
Maybe I'll wait for EoW in the end…
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel
10. Sparrow
11. Pigeon
12. Bat
13. Libellule (not Fly)
14. Flamingo (not Heron)
15. Beetle (not Cricket)
16. Puffin (not Auk)
17. Mobula Ray (not Flying Fish)
18. Common Snipe (not Snail Kite)
19. Maybug (not Earwig)
20. Paradise tree snake
21. Anomalure (not flying Squirrel)
22. Pteranodon (not Tyrannosaurus)
23. Magpie (not Jay)
24. Robin (not Tit)
25. Albatross (not Skua)
26. Brown Kiwi (not Ostrich)
27. Brushturkey (not Horned Guan)
28. Red-bellied Pitta (not Lovely Cotinga)
29. Egyptian Goose (not Swan Goose)
30. Pegasus (not Unicorn)
31. Burrowing Owl (not Great Horned Owl)
32. Yellow-Bellied Flycatcher
33. Bullfinch -
Carroll at 2012-12-20
Last day…
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel
10. Sparrow
11. Pigeon
12. Bat
13. Libellule (not Fly)
14. Flamingo (not Heron)
15. Beetle (not Cricket)
16. Puffin (not Auk)
17. Mobula Ray (not Flying Fish)
18. Common Snipe (not Snail Kite)
19. Maybug (not Earwig)
20. Paradise tree snake
21. Anomalure (not flying Squirrel)
22. Pteranodon (not Tyrannosaurus)
23. Magpie (not Jay)
24. Robin (not Tit)
25. Albatross (not Skua)
26. Brown Kiwi (not Ostrich)
27. Brushturkey (not Horned Guan)
28. Red-bellied Pitta (not Lovely Cotinga)
29. Egyptian Goose (not Swan Goose)
30. Pegasus (not Unicorn)
31. Burrowing Owl (not Great Horned Owl)
32. Yellow-Bellied Flycatcher
33. Bullfinch
34. Stymphalian birds -
Carroll at 2012-12-20
1. Parrot
2. Hummingbird
3. Scarlet macaw
4. Neotropic cormorant
5. Oropendola
6. Melodious Blackbird
7. Ringed Woodpecker
8. Jacamar
9. Magellanic Diving Petrel
10. Sparrow
11. Pigeon
12. Bat
13. Libellule (not Fly)
14. Flamingo (not Heron)
15. Beetle (not Cricket)
16. Puffin (not Auk)
17. Mobula Ray (not Flying Fish)
18. Common Snipe (not Snail Kite)
19. Maybug (not Earwig)
20. Paradise tree snake
21. Anomalure (not flying Squirrel)
22. Pteranodon (not Tyrannosaurus)
23. Magpie (not Jay)
24. Robin (not Tit)
25. Albatross (not Skua)
26. Brown Kiwi (not Ostrich)
27. Brushturkey (not Horned Guan)
28. Red-bellied Pitta (not Lovely Cotinga)
29. Egyptian Goose (not Swan Goose)
30. Pegasus (not Unicorn)
31. Burrowing Owl (not Great Horned Owl)
32. Yellow-Bellied Flycatcher
33. Bullfinch
34. Stymphalian birds
35. Australasian babblers
36. Kakapo
37. Black Vulture
38. Magnificent Frigatebird
39. Sandpiper
40. Hornbill -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-12-20
Something that /almost/ seems to work would be “flying creatures with a bilabial consonant (i.e. p, b, m).” But then, 'superman' isn't good – perhaps because he is humanoid rather than a 'creature'. Also I'm uncertain about pteranodon, because the initial p is silent, in the English pronunciation at least.
-
Carroll at 2012-12-20
Sorry about Pteranodon if that mislead you, Iâm not fluent for prehistoric bests pronunciation.
It comes from a French social game called “touche” ça touche pas, “touche pas” ça touche ; for which my English equivalent was “open” is closed, “closed” is open.
-
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-12-21
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-12-21
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-12-22
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-12-23
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-12-24
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-12-25
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-12-26
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-12-27
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-12-28
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens
16. birds…but not colly birds -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-12-28
Fret not; as you will recall, the “true love” of the carol gets beyond his avian obsession shortly.
-
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-12-28
“This carol.“:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Days_of_Christmas_(song)
-
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-12-28
…although, “this Carroll”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Carrol did go on about birds a bit, didn't he?
-
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-12-29
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens
16. birds…but not colly birds
17. gold rings…but not five -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-12-30
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens
16. birds…but not colly birds
17. gold rings…but not five
18. laying…but not geese -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2012-12-31
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens
16. birds…but not colly birds
17. gold rings…but not five
18. laying…but not geese
19. dugongs diving…but not swans swimming -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-01-01
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens
16. birds…but not colly birds
17. gold rings…but not five
18. laying…but not geese
19. dugongs diving…but not swans swimming
20. maids…but not milking -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-01-02
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens
16. birds…but not colly birds
17. gold rings…but not five
18. laying…but not geese
19. dugongs diving…but not swans swimming
20. maids…but not milking
21. ladies…but not dancing -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-01-03
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens
16. birds…but not colly birds
17. gold rings…but not five
18. laying…but not geese
19. dugongs diving…but not swans swimming
20. maids…but not milking
21. ladies…but not dancing
22. lords…but not leaping -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-01-03
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens
16. birds…but not colly birds
17. gold rings…but not five
18. laying…but not geese
19. dugongs diving…but not swans swimming
20. maids…but not milking
21. ladies…but not dancing
22. lords…but not leaping
23. eleven bonobos on oboes…but not pipers piping–and within those is something which might bring your thinking in tune:
!http://www.fredonia.edu/music/oboe/pages/syllabi_files/page2_1.jpg!
-
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-01-04
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens
16. birds…but not colly birds
17. gold rings…but not five
18. laying…but not geese
19. dugongs diving…but not swans swimming
20. maids…but not milking
21. ladies…but not dancing
22. lords…but not leaping
23. eleven bonobos on oboes…but not pipers piping
24. drummers drumming…but not twelve -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-01-05
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens
16. birds…but not colly birds
17. gold rings…but not five
18. laying…but not geese
19. dugongs diving…but not swans swimming
20. maids…but not milking
21. ladies…but not dancing
22. lords…but not leaping
23. eleven bonobos on oboes…but not pipers piping
24. drummers drumming…but not twelve
25. woodwind…but not clarinet -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-01-06
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens
16. birds…but not colly birds
17. gold rings…but not five
18. laying…but not geese
19. dugongs diving…but not swans swimming
20. maids…but not milking
21. ladies…but not dancing
22. lords…but not leaping
23. eleven bonobos on oboes…but not pipers piping
24. drummers drumming…but not twelve
25. woodwind…but not clarinet
26. zither…but not strings -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-01-06
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens
16. birds…but not colly birds
17. gold rings…but not five
18. laying…but not geese
19. dugongs diving…but not swans swimming
20. maids…but not milking
21. ladies…but not dancing
22. lords…but not leaping
23. eleven bonobos on oboes…but not pipers piping
24. drummers drumming…but not twelve
25. woodwind…but not clarinet
26. zither…but not strings
27. bugle…but not tuba -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-01-07
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens
16. birds…but not colly birds
17. gold rings…but not five
18. laying…but not geese
19. dugongs diving…but not swans swimming
20. maids…but not milking
21. ladies…but not dancing
22. lords…but not leaping
23. eleven bonobos on oboes…but not pipers piping
24. drummers drumming…but not twelve
25. woodwind…but not clarinet
26. zither…but not strings
27. bugle…but not tuba
28. diminuendo…but not crescendo -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-01-08
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens
16. birds…but not colly birds
17. gold rings…but not five
18. laying…but not geese
19. dugongs diving…but not swans swimming
20. maids…but not milking
21. ladies…but not dancing
22. lords…but not leaping
23. eleven bonobos on oboes…but not pipers piping
24. drummers drumming…but not twelve
25. woodwind…but not clarinet
26. zither…but not strings
27. bugle…but not tuba
28. diminuendo…but not crescendo
29. gong…but not tam-tam -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-01-09
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens
16. birds…but not colly birds
17. gold rings…but not five
18. laying…but not geese
19. dugongs diving…but not swans swimming
20. maids…but not milking
21. ladies…but not dancing
22. lords…but not leaping
23. eleven bonobos on oboes…but not pipers piping
24. drummers drumming…but not twelve
25. woodwind…but not clarinet
26. zither…but not strings
27. bugle…but not tuba
28. diminuendo…but not crescendo
29. gong…but not tam-tam
30. bandura…but not balalaika -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-01-09
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens
16. birds…but not colly birds
17. gold rings…but not five
18. laying…but not geese
19. dugongs diving…but not swans swimming
20. maids…but not milking
21. ladies…but not dancing
22. lords…but not leaping
23. eleven bonobos on oboes…but not pipers piping
24. drummers drumming…but not twelve
25. woodwind…but not clarinet
26. zither…but not strings
27. bugle…but not tuba
28. diminuendo…but not crescendo
29. gong…but not tam-tam
30. bandura…but not balalaika
31. rhythm…but not tempo -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-01-10
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens
16. birds…but not colly birds
17. gold rings…but not five
18. laying…but not geese
19. dugongs diving…but not swans swimming
20. maids…but not milking
21. ladies…but not dancing
22. lords…but not leaping
23. eleven bonobos on oboes…but not pipers piping
24. drummers drumming…but not twelve
25. woodwind…but not clarinet
26. zither…but not strings
27. bugle…but not tuba
28. diminuendo…but not crescendo
29. gong…but not tam-tam
30. bandura…but not balalaika
31. rhythm…but not tempo
32. “your mom”…but not “is so fat” nor “by the time were born, you were already three”
33. “your mom is”…but not “so”; “old”… but not “she has thumbs on her feet” -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-01-11
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens
16. birds…but not colly birds
17. gold rings…but not five
18. laying…but not geese
19. dugongs diving…but not swans swimming
20. maids…but not milking
21. ladies…but not dancing
22. lords…but not leaping
23. eleven bonobos on oboes…but not pipers piping
24. drummers drumming…but not twelve
25. woodwind…but not clarinet
26. zither…but not strings
27. bugle…but not tuba
28. diminuendo…but not crescendo
29. gong…but not tam-tam
30. bandura…but not balalaika
31. rhythm…but not tempo
32. “your mom”…but not “is so fat” nor “by the time were born, you were already three”
33. “your mom is”…but not “so”; “old”… but not “she has thumbs on her feet”
34. violin…but not cello -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-01-12
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens
16. birds…but not colly birds
17. gold rings…but not five
18. laying…but not geese
19. dugongs diving…but not swans swimming
20. maids…but not milking
21. ladies…but not dancing
22. lords…but not leaping
23. eleven bonobos on oboes…but not pipers piping
24. drummers drumming…but not twelve
25. woodwind…but not clarinet
26. zither…but not strings
27. bugle…but not tuba
28. diminuendo…but not crescendo
29. gong…but not tam-tam
30. bandura…but not balalaika
31. rhythm…but not tempo
32. “your mom”…but not “is so fat” nor “by the time you were born, you were already three”
33. “your mom is”…but not “so”; “old”… but not “she has thumbs on her feet”
34. violin…but not cello
35. lyre…but not lute(note small correction to phrase in 32.)
-
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-01-13
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens
16. birds…but not colly birds
17. gold rings…but not five
18. laying…but not geese
19. dugongs diving…but not swans swimming
20. maids…but not milking
21. ladies…but not dancing
22. lords…but not leaping
23. eleven bonobos on oboes…but not pipers piping
24. drummers drumming…but not twelve
25. woodwind…but not clarinet
26. zither…but not strings
27. bugle…but not tuba
28. diminuendo…but not crescendo
29. gong…but not tam-tam
30. bandura…but not balalaika
31. rhythm…but not tempo
32. “your mom”…but not “is so fat” nor “by the time you were born, you were already three”
33. “your mom is”…but not “so”; “old”… but not “she has thumbs on her feet”
34. violin…but not cello
35. lyre…but not lute
36. melody…but not harmony -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-01-14
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens
16. birds…but not colly birds
17. gold rings…but not five
18. laying…but not geese
19. dugongs diving…but not swans swimming
20. maids…but not milking
21. ladies…but not dancing
22. lords…but not leaping
23. eleven bonobos on oboes…but not pipers piping
24. drummers drumming…but not twelve
25. woodwind…but not clarinet
26. zither…but not strings
27. bugle…but not tuba
28. diminuendo…but not crescendo
29. gong…but not tam-tam
30. bandura…but not balalaika
31. rhythm…but not tempo
32. “your mom”…but not “is so fat” nor “by the time you were born, you were already three”
33. “your mom is”…but not “so”; “old”… but not “she has thumbs on her feet”
34. violin…but not cello
35. lyre…but not lute
36. melody…but not harmony
37. mandolin…but not sitar -
Thomas Werner at 2013-01-15
Is this a linguistic riddle, i.e. based on the english words, their pronounciation or the letters of their written representation, or is this a intellectual riddle, i.e. based on the meanings of these words, puns, associations in popular culture?
38. (Chaplin/Laurel/Hardy) … but not (Chaplin/Laurel/Hardy)?
-
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-01-15
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens
16. birds…but not colly birds
17. gold rings…but not five
18. laying…but not geese
19. dugongs diving…but not swans swimming
20. maids…but not milking
21. ladies…but not dancing
22. lords…but not leaping
23. eleven bonobos on oboes…but not pipers piping
24. drummers drumming…but not twelve
25. woodwind…but not clarinet
26. zither…but not strings
27. bugle…but not tuba
28. diminuendo…but not crescendo
29. gong…but not tam-tam
30. bandura…but not balalaika
31. rhythm…but not tempo
32. “your mom”…but not “is so fat” nor “by the time you were born, you were already three”
33. “your mom is”…but not “so”; “old”… but not “she has thumbs on her feet”
34. violin…but not cello
35. lyre…but not lute
36. melody…but not harmony
37. mandolin…but not sitar
38. Laurel… but not Hardy nor Chaplin
(answering Thomas' question:)
39. words…but not sense -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-01-16
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens
16. birds…but not colly birds
17. gold rings…but not five
18. laying…but not geese
19. dugongs diving…but not swans swimming
20. maids…but not milking
21. ladies…but not dancing
22. lords…but not leaping
23. eleven bonobos on oboes…but not pipers piping
24. drummers drumming…but not twelve
25. woodwind…but not clarinet
26. zither…but not strings
27. bugle…but not tuba
28. diminuendo…but not crescendo
29. gong…but not tam-tam
30. bandura…but not balalaika
31. rhythm…but not tempo
32. “your mom”…but not “is so fat” nor “by the time you were born, you were already three”
33. “your mom is”…but not “so”; “old”… but not “she has thumbs on her feet”
34. violin…but not cello
35. lyre…but not lute
36. melody…but not harmony
37. mandolin…but not sitar
38. Laurel… but not Hardy nor Chaplin
39. words…but not sense
40. biwa…but not koto -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-01-17
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens
16. birds…but not colly birds
17. gold rings…but not five
18. laying…but not geese
19. dugongs diving…but not swans swimming
20. maids…but not milking
21. ladies…but not dancing
22. lords…but not leaping
23. eleven bonobos on oboes…but not pipers piping
24. drummers drumming…but not twelve
25. woodwind…but not clarinet
26. zither…but not strings
27. bugle…but not tuba
28. diminuendo…but not crescendo
29. gong…but not tam-tam
30. bandura…but not balalaika
31. rhythm…but not tempo
32. “your mom”…but not “is so fat” nor “by the time you were born, you were already three”
33. “your mom is”…but not “so”; “old”… but not “she has thumbs on her feet”
34. violin…but not cello
35. lyre…but not lute
36. melody…but not harmony
37. mandolin…but not sitar
38. Laurel… but not Hardy nor Chaplin
39. words…but not sense
40. biwa…but not koto
41. marimba…but not xylophone -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-01-18
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens
16. birds…but not colly birds
17. gold rings…but not five
18. laying…but not geese
19. dugongs diving…but not swans swimming
20. maids…but not milking
21. ladies…but not dancing
22. lords…but not leaping
23. eleven bonobos on oboes…but not pipers piping
24. drummers drumming…but not twelve
25. woodwind…but not clarinet
26. zither…but not strings
27. bugle…but not tuba
28. diminuendo…but not crescendo
29. gong…but not tam-tam
30. bandura…but not balalaika
31. rhythm…but not tempo
32. “your mom”…but not “is so fat” nor “by the time you were born, you were already three”
33. “your mom is”…but not “so”; “old”… but not “she has thumbs on her feet”
34. violin…but not cello
35. lyre…but not lute
36. melody…but not harmony
37. mandolin…but not sitar
38. Laurel… but not Hardy nor Chaplin
39. words…but not sense
40. biwa…but not koto
41. marimba…but not xylophone
42. Moog…but not synthesizer -
ypercube at 2013-01-18
Moog … but not synthesizer.
It's so obvious. Should have thought of this question.
-
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-01-19
1. yule log
2. jingle bells
3. Ebenezer…but not Scrooge
4. ivy…but not holly
5. Donner…but not Blitzen
6. gingerbread…but not candycane
7. garlands…but not tinsel
8. bows…but not boxes
9. magi…but not kings
10. myrrh…but not frankincense
11. reindeer…but not Rudolph
12. ballet…but not nutcracker
13. evergreen…but not pear tree
14. doves…but not turtledoves
15. eggs…but not hens
16. birds…but not colly birds
17. gold rings…but not five
18. laying…but not geese
19. dugongs diving…but not swans swimming
20. maids…but not milking
21. ladies…but not dancing
22. lords…but not leaping
23. eleven bonobos on oboes…but not pipers piping
24. drummers drumming…but not twelve
25. woodwind…but not clarinet
26. zither…but not strings
27. bugle…but not tuba
28. diminuendo…but not crescendo
29. gong…but not tam-tam
30. bandura…but not balalaika
31. rhythm…but not tempo
32. “your mom”…but not “is so fat” nor “by the time you were born, you were already three”
33. “your mom is”…but not “so”; “old”… but not “she has thumbs on her feet”
34. violin…but not cello
35. lyre…but not lute
36. melody…but not harmony
37. mandolin…but not sitar
38. Laurel… but not Hardy nor Chaplin
39. words…but not sense
40. biwa…but not koto
41. marimba…but not xylophone
42. Moog…but not synthesizer
43. organ…but not piano -
Thomas Werner at 2013-01-19
Words that do not contain a pronounced h/k/t, resp. do not contain voiceless consonants?
-
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-01-19
Finally solved! Words without voiceless consonants – or, looking at it oppositely, words that are voiced all the way through. All-voiced words are considerably less common than ones with at least one voiceless sound.
It remains to explain the sole visual clue of 2013-01-04…Those are the double-reeds inside an oboe, which make their sound vibrating against each other – a loose analogy to how the pair of human vocal cords work together.
!http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Gray956.png!
-
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-01-20
“A short article about voiced and voiceless consonants”:http://www.clearly-speaking.com/speech-tips/47-foreign-accent/197-what-are-voiced-and-voiceless-consonants.html
-
Thomas Werner at 2013-01-21
I am very pleased to have solved this one, t'was quite hard. Here the next riddle.
1. stope
2. timer
3. fox -
Thomas Werner at 2013-01-23
1. stope … but not shaft
2. timer … but not clock
3. fox … but not cat
4. sinners … but not salvation
5. taker … but not giver -
Thomas Werner at 2013-01-27
1. stope … but not shaft
2. timer … but not clock
3. fox … but not cat
4. sinners … but not salvation
5. taker … but not giver
6. walking … but not strolling
7. personality … but not character
8. million … but not hundred
9. thessalonians … but not babylonians
10. knife … but not spoon
11. viciously … but not ferociously
12. baskets … but not buckets
13. edgar … but neither allan nor poe -
Thomas Werner at 2013-01-28
14. abrogable … but not answering
15. ironworkers … but not blacksmiths
16. fortuneless … but not unlucky
17. flows … but neither flaws nor floss, not even blows, brows, glows or grows -
Thomas Werner at 2013-01-28
18.
A man who once played second fiddle
decided no longer to piddle
endeavored to reach
the heart of the speech
and thus sought to answer the riddle. -
Thomas Werner at 2013-01-30
1. stope … but not shaft
2. timer … but not clock
3. fox … but not cat
4. sinners … but not salvation
5. taker … but not giver
6. walking … but not strolling
7. personality … but not character
8. million … but not hundred
9. thessalonians … but not babylonians
10. knife … but not spoon
11. viciously … but not ferociously
12. baskets … but not buckets
13. edgar … but neither allan nor poe
14. abrogable … but not answering
15. ironworkers … but not blacksmiths
16. fortuneless … but not unlucky
17. flows … but neither flaws nor floss, not even blows, brows, glows or grows
18. /a Limerick hint/
A man who once played second fiddle
decided no longer to piddle
endeavored to reach
the heart of the speech
and thus sought to answer the riddle.
19. wakas … but no shakira
20. pulmonary … but not respiratory
21. /a Haiku hint/
Examine my core
and you shall reveil that it's
the essence of all. -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-01-31
The “heart of the speech” clue had me noticing that all the good words had odd-number of letters, and certain letters appearing over and over again in the middle position … letters near the middle of the alphabet…
then comes the mean clue…
so, set a=1, b=2, c=3, etc. Sum the values in a word, and the mean average will be the value of the central letter.
-
Thomas Werner at 2013-02-01
Nathan got it.
The letter in the middle of the word is - either in ASCII representation or in the way Nathan described - at the same time the average letter of the word.
I have to admit that only the first three words have been made up by myself. During that I realized that there are way too few words with this property (except simple examples like “fed” or “ace”), so I wrote a C program (called ta for text analyzer) that would analyze an incoming text stream and mark appropriate words with “OK”.
This way I could use something like
cat war_and_peace.txt \| ./ta \| grep OK \| sort \| uniq
or
cat bible.txt \| ./ta \| grep OK \| sort \| uniq
in order to find these scarce words. (War and Peace contains 500000 words and about 65 matching expressions. Some of them are quite strange, e.g. “kuzmich”. The bible contains “jehoiakim”, “talketh” and other fancy stuff, but only 52 hits in over 800000 words.)Most of the words were taken from the SOWPODS list, but “thessalonians”, which I liked very much, was found in the bible.
Other beautiful words with the intended property are
- ozone … but not layer
- mohican … but not sioux
- quicksand … but not dangerous
- untransmissible … but not intransmissible
- rocking … but not rolling
and
- cookies … but not monster -
lorentz at 2013-02-05
Something that almost works :) – Any letter in the word can be changed to make a new word. If I change “any letter” to “most letters” I seem pretty close….
-
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-02-09
visual hint:
!http://www.silverbearcafe.com/private/04.10/images/radio_waves.jpg!
-
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-02-12
!http://s2.evcdn.com/images/edpborder500/I0-001/005/765/697-2.jpeg_/beethovens-fifth-symphony-97.jpeg!
-
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-02-23
That's it! There seem to be a lot of such words, & eventually
I just used the shortest and longest I could find.As for the pictures, they were just to suggest Morse code, some
more directly than others.1. Radio waves
2. The famous duh-duh-duh-duuuuum has been used as a mnemonic for
the code for 'V'.
3. A tree for the 26 English letters. Left/up/blue = dot,
Right/down/yellow = dash.
4. Smoke signals are early telegraphy, so a very primitive forerunner
to Morse.
5. A later telegraphic device using another coded alphabet system.
The handles tipped the needles on a second matching machine.
6. The necklace says 'LOVE' going counterclockwise.After figuring Morse was involved, if no-one had got any further,
the next visual would have been this:!http://assets7.gcstatic.com/u/apps/asset_manager/uploaded/2012/46/10-cannon-balls-1352802475-view-1.png!
-
Ray Garrison at 2013-02-23
that was a tough puzzle…The Beethoven picture was a big clue for me, then I saw the smoke signal, and knew I was on to something…I need to think up a new puzzle, will post tonight or tomorrow.
-
Ray Garrison at 2013-02-23
Here we go, new puzzle….good luck!
1) Hippopotamus
2) hedgehog
3) lion
4) beaver
5) Bobcat -
Ray Garrison at 2013-02-24
1) Hippopotamus
2) hedgehog
3) lion
4) beaver
5) Bobcat
6) Canary
7) Nightjar -
Ray Garrison at 2013-02-24
1) Hippopotamus
2) hedgehog
3) lion
4) beaver
5) Bobcat
6) Canary
7) Nightjar
8) Owl -
Ray Garrison at 2013-02-25
1) Hippopotamus
2) hedgehog
3) lion
4) beaver
5) Bobcat
6) Canary
7) Nightjar
8) Owl
9) Frog -
Ray Garrison at 2013-02-26
It is good to guess animals, that forces me to add a non animal to the list. No, not ice cream, either
1) Hippopotamus
2) hedgehog
3) lion
4) beaver
5) Bobcat
6) Canary
7) Nightjar
8) Owl
9) Frog
10) newt
11) navy -
Ray Garrison at 2013-02-27
1) Hippopotamus
2) hedgehog
3) lion
4) beaver
5) Bobcat
6) Canary
7) Nightjar
8) Owl
9) Frog
10) newt
11) navy
12) mgm grand -
Ray Garrison at 2013-03-02
1) Hippopotamus
2) hedgehog
3) lion
4) beaver
5) Bobcat
6) Canary
7) Nightjar
8) Owl
9) Frog
10) newt
11) navy
12) mgm grand
13) al pastor
14) situation -
Ray Garrison at 2013-03-03
1) Hippopotamus
2) hedgehog
3) lion
4) beaver
5) Bobcat
6) Canary
7) Nightjar
8) Owl
9) Frog
10) newt
11) navy
12) mgm grand
13) al pastor
14) situation
15) Pharaoh
16) Sun -
Ray Garrison at 2013-03-04
1) Hippopotamus
2) hedgehog
3) lion
4) beaver
5) Bobcat
6) Canary
7) Nightjar
8) Owl
9) Frog
10) newt
11) navy
12) mgm grand
13) al pastor
14) situation
15) Pharaoh
16) Sun
17) cloud
18) ark -
Ray Garrison at 2013-03-05
1) Hippopotamus
2) hedgehog
3) lion
4) beaver
5) Bobcat
6) Canary
7) Nightjar
8) Owl
9) Frog
10) newt
11) navy
12) mgm grand
13) al pastor
14) situation
15) Pharaoh
16) Sun
17) cloud
18) ark
19) Kazakhstan
20) carnivalCarroll-nope, that is not it.
Here is a hint–some are capitalized, some are not
-
Ray Garrison at 2013-03-06
1) Hippopotamus
2) hedgehog
3) lion
4) beaver
5) Bobcat
6) Canary
7) Nightjar
8) Owl
9) Frog
10) newt
11) navy
12) mgm grand
13) al pastor
14) situation
15) Pharaoh
16) Sun
17) cloud
18) ark
19) Kazakhstan
20) carnival
21) scale
22) time
23) Victory -
Ray Garrison at 2013-03-07
1) Hippopotamus
2) hedgehog
3) lion
4) beaver
5) Bobcat
6) Canary
7) Nightjar
8) Owl
9) Frog
10) newt
11) navy
12) mgm grand
13) al pastor
14) situation
15) Pharaoh
16) Sun
17) cloud
18) ark
19) Kazakhstan
20) carnival
21) scale
22) time
23) Victory
24) craigslist
25) mnemonic
26) fever -
maraca at 2013-03-14
words in the headlines of XYZ (XYZ = some specific paper/magazine yet to find out)
-
maraca at 2013-03-14
words with more than a million hits on google
this makes me think: are there also nonsensical words like asdf or qwerty on the list?
-
Ray Garrison at 2013-03-14
not even close….here is a hint:
order matters!36) kraft
37) rbi
38) sri lanka -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-03-16
Words beginning with the letter symbols for the elements.
When capitalized, the symbol is one letter.I had this figured out a while ago, but hadn't wanted to start a new round then.
But I decided to pipe up before Der Monster got to fifty. And also I've now got a new one to do:1. silver
2. glory
3. weather -
maraca at 2013-03-17
You can add a word and it still makes sence:
silver amulet, glory hole, weather forecast, conceited ass, blood pressure. -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-03-17
That isn't it, though. (Are there any words one can't add a word to?)
6. rotation
-
maraca at 2013-03-17
silver -> solver, glory -> glary, weather -> leather, conceited -> conceiled, blood -> flood, rotation -> notation
-
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-03-22
“Ring” isn't part of the solution, nor would be a member of the list.
I will say that unlike so many of the recent puzzles, the meaning of the
words is relevant here. But there is a twist. -
maraca at 2013-03-26
I guess it has something to do with air. Everything either cuts the air, moves the air/oxygen is oxidated by oxygen or something similar.
The pictures are telling me: 1. interwoven, 2. an ear but color channels seperated, what makes me think at seeing -> eyes… and the message would be: use your sences, 3. colors again and different categories… is the answer in the form of property1 or property2 or property3 = valid word?
-
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-03-26
You aren't getting the right meaning from all of the clues…
yet the answer to your last question is - yes!20. spider
-
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-03-31
Time for a Celebrity Guest Hint:
!http://i50.tinypic.com/2jyzag.jpg!
-
Art Duval at 2013-04-01
The Guest Celebrity is Carly Simon, and the image is the cover of her 1972 album “No Secrets”:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Secrets_(Carly_Simon_album)
The most famous song from that album (and of her career) is almost certainly “You're So Vain”, famous for the mystery of the subject of the song:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You%27re_So_Vain
I have no idea what this has to do with anything else, but I thought I could at least pass this on.
-
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-04-02
Hurrah!! Art solved it..just a little before I began to run out of
reasonable words!As for the other pics:
1. Borromean rings. Have the neat property that while they are linked,
no _two_ are linked. Here the added color repurposes them as a Venn diagram
meaning A or B or C.2. Same ear diagram with three different looks–> My way of hinting at
triple homophony. (look different, sound same)3. Try sorting the items to three groups.
4. Actually a weathervane, just without its compass arrows below.
-
Art Duval at 2013-04-08
You may want to temporarily ignore the first 3 clues, which came from a slightly different list as the rest.
-
Art Duval at 2013-04-10
Yes, colors. More specifically, I was thinking “interesting color names”, and the list I drew from has a subset of crayola brand crayon colors. The first 3 are not crayola colors, but are in fact color names. My source:
http://www.namenerds.com/uucn/listofweek/color.html
The crayola colors are in the second column.
-
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-04-10
They've gotten a bit more imaginative then when I was a kid.
My next round idea starts:
1. flashgun
2. jigsaw
3. machine -
Art Duval at 2013-04-15
Not an official guess, just an observation in case it helps someone: Many, but not all, of these words contain other words. Sometimes because they are themselves compound words: flash-gun, jig-saw, gun-metal, bed-bug; others are just there: arts-FACT, SHACK-le, dande-LION, HARP-oon, ANAL-yzer. But I can't put “machine” or “disrupt” in there (unless “in” and “up” count, but in that case, any word with “a” or “i” would count).
-
Art Duval at 2013-04-17
Consecutive letters of the alphabet consecutively, though possibly in reverse order.
-
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-04-17
Yes! I was thinking of it as “letters staying side by side” – thus the pic.
I prepared by searching through the SOWPODS list…and found some
pairs had no examples in that list at all:jk, pq, qp, qr, vw, wv, and wx.
-
Carroll at 2013-04-19
What is the mental process to find these empathic rules?
Is just looking at the words enough and your brain suddenly gets a haha?
Or are you constructing a long list of possible empathy rules and you check them one after the other?For me, even reading the solution, I find it hard to check it is true…
Or do you need to have an Asperger syndrome?Danica Patrick?
-
Art Duval at 2013-04-19
Danica Patrick: sorry, no.
@Carroll: The strategies you suggest are about what I do. Maybe I won't give more ideas just now, since I'm setting this puzzle.
New clues:
4. like all xylophones
5. colorful dark grapes
6. don't feed whales -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-04-20
Phrases where the beginning letters spell an item in the
International Air Transportation airport code.
e.g. 4. LAX for Los Angeles, 5. CDG = Charles de Gaulle Airport, etc. -
Art Duval at 2013-04-21
Yes!
I'm traveling, so my thoughts were towards airports.
1. ATL Atlanta
2. LHR London Heathrow
3. ORD Chicago O'Hare
4. LAX Los Angeles
5. CDG Paris Charles de Gaulle
6. DFW Dallas/Ft. Worth
7. FRA Frankfurt
8. DEN Denver
9. AMS Amsterdam SchipholI stuck with airports in U.S. and Europe, since I thought they would be more familiar to this audience. I went in order of passenger traffic as per wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_busiest_airports_by_passenger_traffic
-
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-04-21
We begin again:
1. jade corn shop
2. olden gala pear
3. highest cat aria -
Art Duval at 2013-04-29
idea: the picture of Pangea make me think to say each 3-word phrase with the words all smushed together, without taking a breath, e.g., mylonetribe. Some of them sound almost pronounceable this way, but I can't get any further than that. (Oh, and I tried anagrams, but the anagram server didn't make any single words out of the first two clues I tried.)
Just for fun: Nathan, is “Holy smokes, Batman” a potential member of the list? “Book 'em, Danno”?
-
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-04-29
It would be hard to know if those phrases are members. They are
almost certainly not.You are or have been closer than you think.
!http://lilt.ilstu.edu/jhreid/escherhands.jpg!
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Art Duval at 2013-04-30
“It would be hard to know if those phrases are members.”
So perhaps the list is derived (in one of Nathan's usually devious ways) from another list that is still growing? (Players at LG? Names of famous people? Names of minor planets?) Still no idea how the one list is derived from the other. I was apparently close with anagrams or smushing words together.
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-05-07
Again, it is hard to know for sure – tho I worked at it
for a while ;)The solution is along a path you have trodden.
29. a tinselled eel
30. real hairy hut -
Art Duval at 2013-05-07
I haven't found a good way to check this, but:
Many of the pictures are “binary”: every symbol is one of only two symbols. So I'm thinking something about Morse code. The smushing suggests to remove (or reposition) spaces. “it is hard to know for sure â tho I worked at it for a while” indicates one has to be clever in some way to move the spaces. I tried Morse codifying some of the phrases, removing the spaces, and feeding it back into the Morse code translator, but it either brings back the original phrase, or complete confusion. Maybe someone else can do this better? -
Art Duval at 2013-05-08
The last two are anagrams of Dr. Seuss and R.L. Stine, children's authors. Is it just anagrams of authors?
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-05-08
Yes! Finally!
I'll explain the pics first: (**SPOILERS** for the other entries and pics,
should anyone wish to ponder them further)1. The Pangea has the continents that are to be rearranged - hinting anagrams.
2. The two hands are writing (or probably more precisely drawing) to hint
writers, authors.Most of the pics are to hint how to try anagramming, with some limiting data.
3. Shape frames for the first three items, for low-going letters, letters
that are tall (ascenders, capitals, or the dot) or neither.
they fit 1. Joseph Conrad 2. Edgar Allan Poe 3. Agatha Christie4. Signatures reduced to Consonants or Vowels. 4. Stephen King 5. Jane Austin
5. Substitution cypher. 6. William Shakespeare 7. Louis Lamour
6. Six lines of Morse with spaces out (including code for '8' and '9' –
making 8. Michael Crichton 9. Mark Twain7. Visual allusion: The first line says 'golem' in _cirth_, a rune-like
alphabet invented by 10. J.R.R. Tolkien. The second line, being reflected
writing, is a thing used by 11. Lewis Carrol, in connection to a different
monster, the Jabberwocky.8. The shifty tiles show Scrabble tile values for 12. Charles Dickens
and 13. Harold RobbinsThe remaining members:
14. Dean Koontz
15. Jack London
16. Emily Bronte
17. Mickey Spillane
18. Henry James
19. Bram Stoker
20. Anne Rice
21. Robin Cook
22. Sidney Sheldon
23. Horatio Alger
24. Voltaire
25. Robert Ludlum
26. Zane Grey
27. Karl May
28. Edgar Wallace
29. Danielle Steel
30. Arthur Hailey -
Art Duval at 2013-05-09
What made this hard is that anagram servers don't have names in their mix.
Anyway, let's try something new:
1. venus
2. palestine
3. paris -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-05-10
Things that ought to be capitalized. No. 5 must refer to Wink Martindale.
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Art Duval at 2013-05-11
@Carroll: It's in this direction, but that's not quite it. (Though, following this hint too precisely will probably lead you down the wrong track.)
8. dime box
9. detroit -
Art Duval at 2013-05-12
@maraca: Yes!
When I was a kid, I read one or two of these “one-minute mysteries” [where there's really just one trick to figure out in order to solve the mystery], where the trick was that the person they're trying to catch has made an itinerary consisting of something like “London, Moscow, Paris, Palestine”, and the hero realizes it must be the Texas version of those cities because [and this is dating the books I read] “Palestine” had just been renamed “Israel”. Later I realized how silly this is, because (a) these are mostly really little towns in Texas, and (b) just because something (or someplace) has had its name changed recently doesn't mean people stop using that name. Anyway the story always stuck with me, and so I thought it might make a good puzzle here.
Some other disclaimers:
\* Capitalization: I suppose it's a little unfair that I didn't capitalize all the clues. I thought this way made the puzzle a little harder.
*“Places you haven't visited yet”: Well, strictly speaking, I have not been to any of these cities (at least their Texas versions; I have been to Paris, France). I thought about adding some small town I've passed through, but decided that it was still fair to just not count ypercube's answer as correct.
*“Things that represent two different things”. Well, I guess the point is that I was picking Texas place names that also had another meaning. But that seems to be missing the bigger picture, hence my response, which I hope was accurate enough.BTW, my source was:
http://forums.bands.org/vb/showthread.php?30364-Random-Funny-Texas-city-names
(including the comments), though I also knew about Kermit and Wink (not on that webpage) from a friend from college. West is from the news recently (fertilizer plant explosion), and Odessa actually is a big (OK, at least medium) city.This idea of Paris, Texas vs. Paris, France shows up in a humorous song (called “Paris, France”) by Allison Downey on her 2008 album “Across the Sea”; track 13 at:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/across-the-sea/id274510659ps: The adjective (and denonym) is “Texan”.
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maraca at 2013-05-13
Thanks, still thinking about the new puzzle, if somebody comes up with something sooner, go ahead.
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Carroll at 2013-05-31
I propose we vote on our intuition between a semantic or syntactic rule…
I still think it may be semantic.
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lorentz at 2013-05-31
I agree with Carroll: semantic. The 2-word clues are especially baffling to me.
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Ray Garrison at 2013-05-31
check is correct! congrats, Art…
In hockey, you check the wing (right wing or left wing) and you also check the forward… (in baseball, you check your swing, in chess you check the king)
When you are cooking steaks on the grill, you need to check the grill now and then to make sure they aren't burning…
you should always check your math…
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Martyn Hamer at 2013-06-01
I'm going to have an early guess at prime numbers, these clues have 2, 3 and 5 letters
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Art Duval at 2013-06-01
no not right [count the number of letters in each word of that response :)]
4. easy
5. into -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-06-12
No-one has started a round for over a week… so here is something new:
1. coo
2. dack
3. darf -
Martyn Hamer at 2013-06-14
The first initial is that of an animal, the end of the word is the end of the noise they make.
Not sure if this works for all of them, and I could be totally wrong, but seems to work for 2 (duck - quack), 4 (goose - honk) and 5 (cat - purr)
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Martyn Hamer at 2013-06-14
And 1 (cow - moo), which I've just seen, though I can't work out what 3 is
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-06-14
Yes! the theme is “Animals trying to tell you their names.”
No. 3 is just dog + arf.
Your turn!
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Martyn Hamer at 2013-06-14
Does drunk person - barf work for this as well :o)
Anyway, here's a new one.
1. Belgium
2. Brazil
3. Romania -
Martyn Hamer at 2013-06-15
They are countries, but not all countries would be on the list. The USA for example.
5. Spain
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Ray Garrison at 2013-06-19
words that can be used as a noun and also can be used as a non-noun (verb, adverb, etc)
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Martyn Hamer at 2013-06-20
3-5 letter words? I know there will be more to it than that, but curious to see if any longer words are on the list.
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Art Duval at 2013-06-20
Ray's got it!
(“homonyms” = 2 different words that are spelled and pronounced the same)
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slaapgraag at 2013-07-03
of course, 'a lot of little children playing chess'- how come I dint't get it immediately after 'van'? ;-)
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Ray Garrison at 2013-07-03
The photo above is from the largest chess tournament in the history of the world, Nashville 2013, 5335 players
slaapgraag….sorry, not the right answer…
27) sandbox
28) slit -
Martyn Hamer at 2013-07-11
Just an observation that may or may not be relevant, There haven't been any 'descending' letters for a while (g, p, q and y). The last one was 21 (rough) and p, q and y don't seem to appear at all.
This certainly isn't the answer though, as it doesn't explain why 'fa' isn't in the list. Just food for thought
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Ray Garrison at 2013-07-11
41) ole
42) polyinteresting observations Martyn. It is a fact that q is not in any word that could be on the list.
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-07-16
It may be words hidden (some better than others) in names of games offered here.
OR somesuch similar. I don't know why not 'fa', as 'sofa' would be from Lines of Action, which also hath ye fa.
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Ray Garrison at 2013-07-16
correct! (yes, fa is included, sorry about that error) It was getting very hard to find words…
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-07-16
So this round was a little like playing “One-Lie Mastermind”
The new Round comes 'round:
1. waxbean
2. squash
3. kale -
Art Duval at 2013-07-16
I just want to lodge a minor complaint with Ray: Excluding “fa” really messed me up; I'd been thinking from early on about answers being parts of longer words, but seeing “sofa” is included, while “fa” is not, meant any inclusion things like that was not possible.
Otherwise, though, it was a clever puzzle.
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Carroll at 2013-07-18
Games you can play with round things (beans, balls, loops…). The game is Sprouts…
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William Fraser at 2013-07-23
foods which contain a shorter word in them. (Though I'm having a bit of trouble with spuds)
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William Fraser at 2013-07-27
I think we may be ready for a few hints which are words that are NOT in the list…..
Oh, I see. Hints like that only happen after someone makes a guess which is possible – then they get an element which proves it.
Okay. Foods!
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-07-29
That's it!
Re the pic: The Earth and moon are showing very exaggerated tidal forces.
Tides of the sea vary in height from day to day, but have a fixed period in time.
So, the words' letters rise and fall regularly. -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-07-30
I hope it isn't things that start with 'L'. That would be Lazy and Loony.
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-08-01
So far, the words are start with 'even' letters; L is the 12th letter, F is 6th,
P is 16th, and H is 8th. -
William Fraser at 2013-08-05
20. Time (but not Space)
21. Grape (but not Cherry)Ok, I've reached number 20! Time for a picture hint (let's see if this works):
!http://www.entas.com.tr/destinasyon_res/76258f481055ffc7e128e1954fdeca20.jpg(graphical hint)!
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William Fraser at 2013-08-07
22. Mad (but not angry)
23. Punk (but not Gothic)
24. Lead (but not Gold) -
William Fraser at 2013-08-08
25. Bread (but not Loaf)
26. Water (but not Milk)
27. Jug (but not Carafe) -
William Fraser at 2013-08-09
28. Jump (but not Skip)
29. Rope (but not Thread)
30. Fodder (but not Cannon) -
William Fraser at 2013-08-13
37. May (but not April)
38. June (but not Summer)
39. July (but not August)Have people lost interest? Or is this too hard?
Another picture hint coming tomorrow….
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William Fraser at 2013-08-14
40. Either (but not Neither)
41. Tough (but not Hard)!http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Allied_Invasion_Force.jpg(A second picture hint)!
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Carroll at 2013-08-14
No it is still interesting, but so hard I don't have yet the beginning of a good idea…
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-08-14
Both pictures suggest coordinate grids to me, but I can't make that do
anything useful with the words list. -
Ray Garrison at 2013-08-15
I won't be able to start a puzzle until August 27, so if anyone has an idea for a puzzle, please go ahead. Good puzzle, William!
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-08-22
Here's something which I hope won't be overly impossible–
1. adept
2. outstanding
3. impressive -
William Fraser at 2013-08-27
The image is page 15 of the shorthand edition of Alice in Wonderland. It is the first page of chapter 2, The Pool of Tears.
Those adjectives seem like ones that Lewis Carol would have used, but I don't see any place that he did….
So, since the first line is “Curiouser and Curiouser” I'm going to guess “Adjectives”.
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-08-27
“Adjectives” is a delimiter, but that's not all there is.
10. taciturn
11. laconic -
Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-08-31
Sorry for the delay in updating the puzzle … lightning struck my computer!
12. dangerous
13. destructive -
Art Duval at 2013-09-02
Adjectives that you can't make “stronger” by adding “-er” to the end. For instance, you can say “stronger” instead of “more strong”, but you can't say “fantasticer” instead of “more fantastic”. Sorry I don't know the fancy name for this.
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-09-02
That's it! Adjetives that can't take a suffix to become comparative.
The /Alice/ page was close to a giveaway to anyone who can read it.
” 'Curiouser and curiouser!' cried Alice (she was so much surprised that
for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English)…” -
Art Duval at 2013-09-02
It's funny…“curiouser” doesn't sound unusual to me, probably because of its use in Alice.
Anyway, new puzzle:
1. Zeppelin
2. Yale
3. Franklin -
Carroll at 2013-09-20
Flowers?
Not sure about Ball, but Berkeley database yields some matches (nice site):
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu
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William Fraser at 2013-09-25
20. Twin – but not Triplet
21. Wind – but not RainHere's a hint. Carroll was close…..
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Ray Garrison at 2013-09-30
Herb Gale was a character in “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger….but I see no other connections…
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Carroll at 2013-09-30
Nope but Interesting, I've must have been unconsciously attracted to these words by the Salinger's book.
10. Balance (not that I have verified it is not included…)
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Ray Garrison at 2013-09-30
I will guess anyway…
Catcher in the Rye?
(I posted this and then deleted this while Caroll posted his reply, above, I was going to repost my guess as….J.D. Salinger)
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Carroll at 2013-10-04
16. Pigheadednesses
Sorry for the Scottish people, do you know the conjugation in Scottish:
I am firm,
You are stubborn,
He is pigheaded. -
William Fraser at 2013-10-12
Cool words. I have a few ideas, but no time to work on them.
Maybe I'll have some time on the train on Monday?
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William Fraser at 2013-10-15
Nope, my idea had something to do with the sum of the values of the letters (A=1, etc) but I couldn't get anything to work out.
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The_Shark_c at 2013-10-19
Ah, I got it. Words which can be changed to a different word by replacing the first letter.
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-10-23
If you select the letters that happen to be roman numerals,
they indicate the number of letters in the word. -
William Fraser at 2013-10-23
Nathan F Miller is correct.
There are only 415 words with this property.
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William Fraser at 2013-10-24
Yes, ABOVE is first. Three fairly cool ones which I hadn't done yet were:
ASPHYXIATES
FIVE
I -
Ray Garrison at 2013-10-26
New puzzle…good luck!
1. Community
2. Company
3. Income
4. Place
5. Follow -
Martyn Hamer at 2013-10-28
Words used in Monopoly? I can see Community Chest, Electricity Company, Income Tax & Just Visiting, though the other 3 may be a problem.
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Martyn Hamer at 2013-10-28
Of course, I'm only familiar with the UK version so didn't think of those. I still don't see Follow on the board though…
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Ray Garrison at 2013-10-28
“Follow the instructions on the top card”. is on the community chest square. Congrats Martyn!
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-11-03
These appear to all be words that were items in previous rounds of this game.
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kfas2 at 2013-11-08
It seems you can always replace first letter with another one and get a valid word, but maybe there is something more to it.
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ypercube at 2013-11-08
… or you can always replace any letter with another one and get a valid word.
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Art Duval at 2013-11-09
Even though it was incorrect, I love ypercube's guess. But I'm having trouble seeing how “sleigh” fits that description, I think even for *any* letter in the word.
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Carroll at 2013-11-09
Skeigh:
I like the definitionadjective:
1. (of horses) spirited; inclined to shy.
2. (of women) proud; disdainful.And I agree despite this word ypercube deserves a prize!
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kfas2 at 2013-11-10
sleigh really causes trouble.
There is an Irish word pleigh :-)ask made me think that these may be words not on the Academic Words List :-)
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Art Duval at 2013-11-13
Is “axe” 13. or 16. ?
Does it matter? Is this just a typo?
(Not that I have any ideas at this point, just trying to be helpful.) -
Ray Garrison at 2013-11-13
17 could be breach? rhymes with 4.peach. I note 14. thug rhymes with 1. rug and 15. brawl rhymes with 2.awl and 16. axe rhymes with 3. tacks
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Art Duval at 2013-11-13
If Ray's excellent observation is true, was there any way to guess the puzzle *before* we got to clue 14?!
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-11-13
It would have been possible to solve earlier, but less easily.
17. leech
Hint: It all ends so badly.
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Art Duval at 2013-11-13
Gashlycrumb tinies
The words are the “endings” that happen to the children
(“endings” as in how they meet their sorry end, and also the ending word of each line) -
Art Duval at 2013-11-13
I should add: each “ending” is tied to a letter of the alphabet, but the endings are not presented in the order of the letters they are tied to.
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-11-14
Art has solved it.
Actually, the letters are only tied to the names of the children. The puzzle begins with the fates of George, Olive, Leo, Ernest, and Maud.
The next item would have been the highly implausible death by 'ennui'.
“The whole unfortunate series is here.“:http://takalak.narod.ru/gorey/
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kfas2 at 2013-11-14
Nice story :-) I wonder how many of us have seen it before.
I also would like to ask Art to start a new thread with new puzzle. This one is already too long to scroll down on a mobile.
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Art Duval at 2013-11-14
I agree to start a new thread. But it may take me a day or so to come up with a worthy puzzle.
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Nathan F Miller ★ at 2013-11-17
The game continues in “thread III”:http://www.littlegolem.net/jsp/forum/topic2.jsp?forum=200&topic=464