Word-Wizardry level 4: The Voyage of Theseus

[Kieran Child]

The penultimate battle. A set of devious questions

1) Before which word do "fat" and "thin" mean the same thing?
2) Before which phrase do "second" and "third" mean the same thing?
3) Which word has KST in the middle, in the beginning, and at the end?
4) In which word does the plural usually mean less than the singular form?
5) What two-word term, when read allowed, could mean what EVERY journalist wants, or could mean what NO vegetarian wants?
6) What acronym is 3 times as long as the phrase it represents?
7) What's the biggest number that has the same value as the number of letters used to spell it out, in any language?
8) Which word on this page is quite short, is still short even when you add a few letters to it, and then is even shorter when you add another couple of letters?

[Jon Corby]

1. Chance

[Charlie Reams]

3) Inkstand.
4) Hair.
6) WWW

Where are you getting these from?

[Daniel O'Dowd]

3) INKSTAND

[Phil Reynolds]

4. Grain

[Jon Corby]

4) Hair.

What?

4. Grain

What?

[Dinos Sfyris]

Just a bit of guessing and random thought streaming here

1) Chance
2) When agreeing with a statement?
4) Absences?
5) I'm guessing one of the words is write/right but can't think of the other.
8) I've heard a question like this before where the answer is "SHORT" but you've phrased it differently so it must be something else

[Phil Reynolds]

4) Hair.

What?

4. Grain

What?

Both are words that fit the description posed by Kieran (viz. which word usually means less in the plural). "Hairs" tends to mean a small number of individual strands while the singular form "hair" is also used as a mass noun to mean a head or coat of hair. I doubt if it's right, not least because Charlie's suggestion got me thinking that the same logic probably applies to many other words, "grain" being one example that I thought of.

[Jon Corby]

4) Hair.

What?

4. Grain

What?

Both are words that fit the description posed by Kieran (viz. which word usually means less in the plural). "Hairs" tends to mean a small number of individual strands while the singular form "hair" is also used as a mass noun to mean a head or coat of hair. I doubt if it's right, not least because Charlie's suggestion got me thinking that the same logic probably applies to many other words, "grain" being one example that I thought of.

Ah I see. Yeah, that makes sense now. I didn't follow that at all, I must be dim. If you'd written hair/hairs or grain/grains I probably would have got the jist, but I was thinking the plural of hair (single hair) is hair (as in head of) and likewise with grain.

[Gavin Chipper]

Surely "Fat chance" is just sarcasm so if we're allowing sarcasm then you could give virtually any answer. And does anyone actually say "thin chance"?

[Charlie Reams]

Surely "Fat chance" is just sarcasm so if we're allowing sarcasm then you could give virtually any answer. And does anyone actually say "thin chance"?

Reminds me of a "joke" (no claim to this actually being funny is made):

A linguistics teacher says to his class, "In some languages, a double negative makes a positive, and in some languages it makes a stronger negative, but in no language does a double positive make a negative."
A sarcastic student responds, "Yeah right."

[David O'Donnell]

Surely "Fat chance" is just sarcasm so if we're allowing sarcasm then you could give virtually any answer. And does anyone actually say "thin chance"?

Reminds me of a "joke" (no claim to this actually being funny is made):

A linguistics teacher says to his class, "In some languages, a double negative makes a positive, and in some languages it makes a stronger negative, but in no language does a double positive make a negative."
A sarcastic student responds, "Yeah right."

Am I sad? I found that quite funny.

[Andrew Feist]

Presumably 8 is meant to be "or", but I don't see that word on the page anywhere (unless you count its appearance inside short etc.)

Maybe 1 was supposed to be "slim" chance instead?

[Jon Corby]

Presumably 8 is meant to be "or", but I don't see that word on the page anywhere (unless you count its appearance inside short etc.)

It's in question five.

[Gavin Chipper]

5) What two-word term, when read allowed, could mean what EVERY journalist wants, or could mean what NO vegetarian wants?

Prime meet/meat (meeting with the Prime Minister)

7) What's the biggest number that has the same value as the number of letters used to spell it out, in any language?

There's more than one way to interpret "in any language" so I'll just say infinity, which I suppose would take infinity letters in Roman numerals.

[Andrew Feist]

Presumably 8 is meant to be "or", but I don't see that word on the page anywhere (unless you count its appearance inside short etc.)

It's in question five.

Oh so 'tis. Today's lesson: always use Ctrl-F.

[D Eadie]

No 2..........is it rate, as in second rate, third rate, with both really mean inadequate?

[M. George Quinn]

I was thinking hand as in; the third hand on my watch is the second hand.

[Gavin Chipper]

No 2..........is it rate, as in second rate, third rate, with both really mean inadequate?

But isn't third rate meant to be an exaggerated version of second rate?

[Gavin Chipper]

What happened to Keiran and the answers?

[Kai Laddiman]

What happened to Keiran and the answers?

I heard they're both in a Southern Siberian log cabin after breaking their legs eating beavers.

[Liam Tiernan]

5) What two-word term, when read allowed, could mean what EVERY journalist wants, or could mean what NO vegetarian wants?


Allowed?

[Liam Tiernan]

What happened to Keiran and the answers?

I heard they're both in a Southern Siberian log cabin after breaking their legs eating beavers.

Erm...... Kai?.....

[Kai Laddiman]

5) What two-word term, when read allowed, could mean what EVERY journalist wants, or could mean what NO vegetarian wants?


Allowed?

Shurely any word can be read "Allowed", therefore allowing any answer. Pow.

[Liam Tiernan]

5) What two-word term, when read allowed, could mean what EVERY journalist wants, or could mean what NO vegetarian wants?


Allowed?

Shurely any word can be read "Allowed", therefore allowing any answer. Pow.

Surely there's only one word that can be read "allowed"? Kaipow.

[Kieran Child]

Hey guys. Sorry about that. I was unexpectedly away for quite a while and couldn't get on here. I am back now, and was amused to find two pleas for the answers in my inbox What follows is the intended answers. There may well be others. I never cared much for eliminating cooks.

1) Chance
2) Hand on a watch
3) Inkstand
4) Hair
5) Pullitzer Prize/Pullet surprise (found this during a brief spell teaching)
6) WWW
7) 22 in Zulu is Amashumiamabilinambili (more below if you're interested)
8) Or - Short - Shorter

counting up to 22 (with a few gaps) using only numbers in the language where the value is the same as the length:

1 - U - Catalan
2 - Du - Esperanto
3 - Tri - Czech
4 - Four - English
5 - Viisi - Finnish
6 - Zurgaa - Mongolian
7 - Septyni - Lithuanian
8 - Praimbei - Khmer
9 - Kokonotsu - Japanese
10 - Dziesiatka - Polish
11 - Njimbedhiet - Albanian
12 - Labingdalawa - Tagalog
13 - Umikumamakolu - Hawaiian
14 - Tessarakaineka - Greek
16 - Kuusteistkummend - Estonian
22 - Amashumiamabilinambili - Zulu

If I have made a mistake and offended your glorious nation somehow, sorry.

Also I put penultimate.... damn.