Official answers to brainteasers

[susie_flo]

On Friday I posted two word puzzles from Richard Wiseman's blog. Nothing challenging for you fiends, as it turned out, but here are the official answers, just for the record...

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Can you punctuate the words in the sentences below so that they make sense? None of the words are shown capitalized so as not to give any hints as to the beginning or ending of the sentences.

1) that that is is that that is not is not is it it is

2) James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher

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Answers;

1) That that is, is. That that is not, is not. Is it? It is!

2) James, while John had had ‘had’, had had ‘had had’. ‘Had had’ had had a better effect on the teacher.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

Comments

[whiteshadow.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, I have ny serious doubts on the second one, even if the English is correct the sentence poorly constructed.

Some other phrases which irritate me....

False pretences (Are there any other sort of pretences)

Whether or not (or not is actually redundant)

These ones (making a singular plural - not good!)

Hope your day is going well.

D

[the-meanest-cat.livejournal.com]

My mum always hated the phrase "in actual fact"... as if fact could be anything other than actual.

[ms-siobhan.livejournal.com]

I literally hate literally the overuse literally of the word literally, literally.

I also hate very/quite/ unique - something is either unique or it isn't.

[the-meanest-cat.livejournal.com]

"I LITERALLY died of shock when I saw the weather, cos it was VERY unique. I mean - it was LITERALLY raining cats and dogs"

(Did I make you melt from the power of tsk?)

[ms-siobhan.livejournal.com]

I am literally going postal as I type (well I will be later when I head for the post office) but in the meantime I will use the ire you have sired in me on the bathroom tiles which need cleaning ;-)

I think I qualify as a slattern today though - my nail varnish is chipped and I did the ironing whilst watching Jeremy Kyle.

[the-meanest-cat.livejournal.com]

Jeremy Kyle is too much for me. (I already shout at the telly like a lunatic when Breakfast TV is on... I think JK might just tip me over the edge)

[kissmeforlonger.livejournal.com]

LOL!

[chiller.livejournal.com]

The second only works if you allow that someone is deliberately trying to construct a sentence from hell. There's not enough context to understand what is meant by the bold "hads":

"James, while John had had ‘had’, had had ‘had had’. ‘Had had’ had had a better effect on the teacher."

Do we mean "put", as in "he'd put/had that word in an essay"? Do we mean "been given"? Even when properly punctuated the sentence fails to convey any meaning and we're left wondering whether poor James and John are in a classroom where pairs and singles of the word "had" are wandering randomly about, waiting to he "had" by schoolboys.

In short, I feel had.

[the-meanest-cat.livejournal.com]

Like you, I assume the bold hads refer to 'used' in an essay or a piece of writing. It's definitely an awkward turn of phrase - so old school as to be almost Times Crosswordy in tone.

G looked it up on wikipedia and I think the puzzle was coined in the 1940s.