Snunkoople

In each of these pairs of nonsense words, which is funnier?

quingel vs. heashes
prousup vs. mestins
finglam vs. cortsio
witypro vs. octeste
rembrob vs. sectori
pranomp vs. anotain
fityrud vs. tessina

If you’re like most people, you’ll find the first word in each pair funnier than the second. In a 2015 study, University of Alberta psychologist Chris Westbury found that the difference is explained surprisingly well by Shannon entropy, which here measures the unlikelihood of each combination of letters: Outlandish specimens such as yuzz-a-ma-tuzz, oobleck, truffula, and sneetch, all from Dr. Seuss, seem funnier than, say, clester, which might plausibly be a real word. (Schopenhauer had argued that humor results from the violation of expectations.)

“The results show that the bigger the difference in the entropy between the two words, the more likely the subjects were to choose the way we expected them to,” Westbury said. Indeed, the most accurate subject chose correctly 92 percent of the time. “To be able to predict with that level of accuracy is amazing. You hardly ever get that in psychology, where you get to predict what someone will choose 92 percent of the time.”

Interestingly, Westbury had to omit vulgar-sounding nonwords (whong, dongl, shart, focky, clunt) before he even got started — these were so consistently considered funny that they would have interfered with the rest of the examination.

(Chris Westbury, et al., “Telling the World’s Least Funny Jokes: On the Quantification of Humor as Entropy,” Journal of Memory and Language 86 [2016]: 141-156.)

May 17, 2026May 16, 2026 | Language

Twist

This is the most efficient way to pack 10 unit squares into a surrounding square.

It looks like something I would turn in after running out of time.

May 16, 2026May 15, 2026 | Science & Math

Ahead of Schedule

Cut the decimal expansion of π into parcels of 10 digits:

pi expansion

Mathematician John Conway points out that the chance is only about 1 in 40,000 that all of the digits 1234567890 will appear in any given parcel … and yet there they all are in the seventh.

(Via Alfred Posamentier and Ingmar Lehmann, π: A Biography of the World’s Most Mysterious Number, 2004.)

May 15, 2026May 14, 2026 | Science & Math

Unquote

“My favorite poem is the one that starts ‘Thirty days hath September’ because it actually tells you something.” — Groucho

May 15, 2026May 14, 2026 | Quotations

“Words Without Song”

In 1903, Gilbert Woglom of New York composed “The Tramp’s Gratitude,” a musical composition in which the names of the notes, taken successively, spell out a poem:

A bad-faced, faded, aged cad
Begged a feed, a bed, bedad.
Bedded, fed, a café added,
Bed, bag, baggage, egad, cad cabbaged.

The longest English word that can be spelled with musical note names alone is CABBAGE-FACED.

May 14, 2026May 13, 2026 | Language

The Embracing Skeletons of Alepotrypa

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Embracing_Skeletons.jpg — Image: Wikimedia Commons

In 2015, archaeologists discovered a pair of human skeletons in a cave in southern Greece, where a human settlement had flourished in the Neolithic age. The two, a man and a woman in their early 20s, had been embracing for 5,800 years.

“They’re totally spooning,” anthropologist Bill Parkinson told National Geographic News. “The boy is the big spoon, and the girl is the little spoon: Their arms are draped over each other, their legs are intertwined. It’s unmistakable.”

Archaeologist Anastasia Papathanasiou added, “It’s a very natural hug; it doesn’t look like they were arranged in this posture at a much later date.” How the two had met their end is unknown.

More embracing skeletons.

May 14, 2026May 13, 2026 | Death

Penmanship

In 1855, the town of Salitpa in southern Alabama applied for a federal post office. The residents had intended to name their community after nearby Satilpa Creek, but in completing the paperwork the applicant mistakenly crossed the L instead of the T. The town has been Salitpa ever since.

May 13, 2026May 12, 2026 | Language · Trivia

The Silver Rule

“When asked by a disciple if there were one single word which could serve as a principle of conduct for life, Confucius replied, ‘Perhaps the word reciprocity will do. Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself.'” — Analects

May 13, 2026May 12, 2026 | Society

In a Word

balneal
adj. pertaining to a warm bath

May 12, 2026May 11, 2026 | Language

Seniority

Annie, Betty, Carrie, Darla, and Eve all have the same birthday, but all are different ages. On their shared birthday:

Darla said to Betty: “I’m 9 years older than Eve.”
Eve said to Betty: “I’m 7 years older than Annie.”
Annie said to Betty: “Your age is exactly 70 percent greater than mine.”
Betty said to Carrie: “Eve is younger than you.”
Carrie said to Darla: “The difference between our ages is 6 years.”
Carrie said to Annie: “I’m 10 years older than you.”
Carrie said to Annie: “Betty is younger than Darla.”
Betty said to Carrie: “The difference between your age and Darla’s is the same as the difference between Darla’s and Eve’s.”

Whenever one of them spoke to someone older than herself, everything she said was true, but when she spoke to someone younger, everything she said was false. How old is each person?

	Select Click for Answer
Annie – 30 Betty – 51 Carrie – 55 Darla – 46 Eve – 37 Carrie tells Annie she’s older than her by 10 years. If Carrie were really younger than Annie, this statement would be true, and that’s impossible, so Carrie must be older than Annie, just not by 10 years. Record that as a fact: Carrie is older than Annie (but not by 10 years). Carrie also lies to (younger) Annie that Betty is younger than Darla. Fact: Darla is younger than Betty. Darla tells the truth to (older) Betty that she’s 9 years older than Eve. Fact: Darla is 9 years older than Eve. Eve tells the truth to (older) Betty that she’s 7 years older than Annie. Fact: Eve is 7 years older than Annie. Annie tells the truth to (older) Betty that Betty’s age is 70 percent greater than her own. For Betty’s age to be a whole number, Annie’s age must be a multiple of 10. Since Betty is older than Darla, and Darla is 7 + 9 = 16 years older than Annie, that means Betty has to be more than 16 years older than Annie. The lowest multiple of 7 greater than 16 is 21. Fact: Annie is at least 30 years old (and definitely a multiple of 10). At this point, it appears that either Carrie or Betty is oldest and thus lying to everyone else. Let’s assume that Carrie is oldest and see whether that works. In that case, Carrie is lying to Darla that the difference in their ages is 6 years, but Betty is telling the truth to (older) Carrie that the difference between Carrie’s age and Darla’s is the same as the difference between Darla’s and Eve’s, namely 9 years. Let’s test this scenario, assuming Annie’s age is 30. Then we get, from youngest to oldest: Annie = 30, Eve = 37, Darla = 46, Betty = 51, Carrie = 55 Checking all statements and the age relations shows that this is an answer. Is it the only answer? If Annie’s age were 40, then Betty’s age would be 68, and Carrie’s age would be 65, so Carrie would not be the oldest, and that would be a fatal flaw. If Annie is older than 30, then Betty is older than Carrie, and Carrie is not the oldest. Hence the values above form the only consistent answer. From the Wikibooks puzzles collection (see that solution for a mathematical argument).

Click for Answer

Annie – 30
Betty – 51
Carrie – 55
Darla – 46
Eve – 37

Carrie tells Annie she’s older than her by 10 years. If Carrie were really younger than Annie, this statement would be true, and that’s impossible, so Carrie must be older than Annie, just not by 10 years.

Record that as a fact: Carrie is older than Annie (but not by 10 years).

Carrie also lies to (younger) Annie that Betty is younger than Darla.

Fact: Darla is younger than Betty.

Darla tells the truth to (older) Betty that she’s 9 years older than Eve.

Fact: Darla is 9 years older than Eve.

Eve tells the truth to (older) Betty that she’s 7 years older than Annie.

Fact: Eve is 7 years older than Annie.

Annie tells the truth to (older) Betty that Betty’s age is 70 percent greater than her own. For Betty’s age to be a whole number, Annie’s age must be a multiple of 10. Since Betty is older than Darla, and Darla is 7 + 9 = 16 years older than Annie, that means Betty has to be more than 16 years older than Annie. The lowest multiple of 7 greater than 16 is 21.

Fact: Annie is at least 30 years old (and definitely a multiple of 10).

At this point, it appears that either Carrie or Betty is oldest and thus lying to everyone else. Let’s assume that Carrie is oldest and see whether that works.

In that case, Carrie is lying to Darla that the difference in their ages is 6 years, but Betty is telling the truth to (older) Carrie that the difference between Carrie’s age and Darla’s is the same as the difference between Darla’s and Eve’s, namely 9 years. Let’s test this scenario, assuming Annie’s age is 30. Then we get, from youngest to oldest:

Annie = 30, Eve = 37, Darla = 46, Betty = 51, Carrie = 55

Checking all statements and the age relations shows that this is an answer. Is it the only answer?

If Annie’s age were 40, then Betty’s age would be 68, and Carrie’s age would be 65, so Carrie would not be the oldest, and that would be a fatal flaw. If Annie is older than 30, then Betty is older than Carrie, and Carrie is not the oldest. Hence the values above form the only consistent answer.

From the Wikibooks puzzles collection (see that solution for a mathematical argument).

May 12, 2026May 11, 2026 | Uncategorized