Unutterably Silly Quiz

[Fat Abe]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I think that counts as obscure knowledge you'd need to look up.

I assure you that everyone reading this forum has all the necessary information to identify the link between these times:

9:27
13:48
8:59
19:17
2:08
18:43

These have to be post times on MR, right? I would have guessed high/low tide times, but that requires looking them up on a chart.

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by Fat Abe

In Hawaii, Ohana means family, and family means you never run out of mouth$ to support. One of my children remembered a Discovery Channel episode about the Wright brothers, and the rest, you know, is history ...

Are we close on the answer to #9?

The brain is truly a remarkable organ, I sometimes marvel at what it is capable of remembering.

No, we aren't even close to anything correct ere, and since Paul is the one with the floor I guess I should present the remaining answers. #9 is that 2.5 million of their books were turned into pulp to be mixed in with the tarmac for the M6 to make it more absorbent.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by orlok

I presume this only works on a 24 hour clock, given the way you have specified the times? Is it that the angle between the hour hand and the minute hand is always the same?

Clock hands have nothing to do with it.

Originally Posted by Fat Abe

These have to be post times on MR, right? I would have guessed high/low tide times, but that requires looking them up on a chart.

No, this isn't a MobileRead specific puzzle, nor do you have to look up tide times.

8:25 also belongs on the list, unless you're rather old-fashioned in your speech patterns.

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

The brain is truly a remarkable organ, I sometimes marvel at what it is capable of remembering.

No, we aren't even close to anything correct ere, and since Paul is the one with the floor I guess I should present the remaining answers. #9 is that 2.5 million of their books were turned into pulp to be mixed in with the tarmac for the M6 to make it more absorbent.

Ooh, I knew that (although not that it was Mills and Boon books specifically). It was the new toll road bit of the M6 I think - I use it regularly.

[Kumabjorn]

So you drive on top of discarded romance novels?
Is that a sublime message about the genre?

[Kumabjorn]

I guess I can add the answer to #7.
The book is "infamous" because it was George W Bush's favorite children's book.
It was also published when he was 22 years old.

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

So you drive on top of discarded romance novels?
Is that a sublime message about the genre?

Not from me, nor from the people that built the road, according to this report;

Tarmac spokesman Brian Kent said the company was not suggesting there was anything wrong with Mills & Boon novels.

"We want to reassure Mills & Boon readers that we're not just picking on their favourite books - other books are down there too."

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

How did you come up with The Virginian-Pilot, Fbone? As a teenager, I delivered that newspaper on my bicycle, and I still subscribe to it. That paper's been around a loooong time.

I'm not sure where I first read it. Probably in a history of flight article.

As a subscriber, you may be able to read the article from 1903 and compare it to what really occurred on that day.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

9:27
13:48
8:59
19:17
2:08
18:43

Perhaps some more examples and counter-examples will help.

These ARE some more examples
11:21
10:38
9:14

These DO NOT belong in the list
8:10
7:58
6:27

Shall I give the answer? You'll all regret if if I do.

I suggested reading them out loud. Perhaps you could also try writing them down (in a slightly different form).

[Kumabjorn]

To finish of my questions so we can focus on the real question from Paul.

A babalevante is someone who makes lame or feeble jokes. Fbone has an impressive collection of jokes in another thread, that I personally enjoy tremendously but that some people groan at. As we all know, humor is very individual, so this was in no way aimed at Fbone, just used as an illustration. The next time you encounter someone you think make lame jokes, you can now exclaim; "You're such a babalevante!"

The first to get fined for speeding was a man named Walter Arnold, in 1896 he went 8mph in a 2 mph zone.

[Billi]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Hint: Try reading the times out aloud. (This is just a hint, it won't immediately give you the solution.)

I really do mean that anyone who can read and write can get the answer to this one. It doesn't require any specialist knowledge or mathematical ability.

Does it require knowledge of the English language? Is it a language and not a number/times question?

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Billi

Does it require knowledge of the English language? Is it a language and not a number/times question?

It does require a minimal knowledge of the English language regarding numbers.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Fbone

I'm not sure where I first read it. Probably in a history of flight article.

As a subscriber, you may be able to read the article from 1903 and compare it to what really occurred on that day.

I may give that a shot this week when I have more time and I'm at my home computer, although I'd be surprised if the user searchable archives go back that far.

[Fat Abe]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

It does require a minimal knowledge of the English language regarding numbers.

This could be a syllabic form of poetry involving numbers.

9:27 could be nine twenty seven (5 syllables) or twenty seven after nine (7 syllables).

The first way gives you a 5-5-4-5-3(or 4)-5 meter.

The counterexample, 8:10, 7:58, 6:27, has a 2-5-4 meter.

The clock is ticking, and all is not well.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Fat Abe

9:27 could be nine twenty seven

Yes, that's the way I'd put it. I'm not looking at syllables, but there is a reason it is 9:27 not 09:27.