- SWEET-TOOTHED has three consecutive pairs of letters. SUBBOOKKEEPER has four.
- Will you answer this question negatively?
- 4624 = 44 + 46 + 42 + 44
- The telephone number 278-7433 spells both ASTRIDE and CRUSHED.
- “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” — Emerson
Language
In a Word
contrist
v. to make sad
dolorifuge
n. anything that drives away pain
dedolence
n. absence of sorrow
Misc
- EVIAN, SEIKO, and STROH’S are all English words spelled backward.
- Can “I apologize” be false?
- 165033 = 163 + 503 + 333
- Little Wymondley, in Hertfordshire, is bigger than Great Wymondley.
- “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you was?” — Satchel Paige
Trivium
RICHARD MILHOUS NIXON and WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON are the only U.S. presidents whose names contain the letters C-R-I-M-I-N-A-L.
In a Word
psilosopher
n. a superficial philosopher
Rubbing Shoulders
Every number greater than 8 has at least two letters in common with each of its neighbors.
In a Word
piscation
n. fishing
halieutics
n. a treatise on fish or the art of fishing
News of Note
Two very old stories are worth repeating for their peculiar excellence. A Scotch newspaper, reporting the danger that an express-train had run in consequence of a cow going upon the line, said, ‘As the safest way, the engineer put on full steam, dashed up against the cow, and literally cut her into calves.’ In the earlier half of this century a London paper announced that Sir Robert Peel and a party of fiends were shooting peasants in Ireland.
— William Shepard Walsh, Handy-Book of Literary Curiosities, 1892
Misc
- The smallest number name that’s typed with eight fingers is ONE SEPTILLION ONE THOUSAND.
- Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus are all towns in Indiana.
- 2427 = 21 + 42 + 23 + 74
- SAN DIEGO is an anagram of DIAGNOSE.
- “It is not customary to love what one has.” — Anatole France
Down for the Count
If A = 1, B = 2, etc., then:
- DEUX CENT VINGT DEUX = 222
- ZWEIHUNDERTSIEBEN = 207
- ONE FOUR SIX = 146
- TWO OUGHT OUGHT = 200
- TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY-ONE = 251
Discovered by Edward Wolpow and Dmitri Borgmann. See Truthful Numbers.