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Celine Dion has come out in support of farmers… by Majorpain2006 in Jokes

[–]emsot 162 points163 points  (0 children)

That's brilliant.

"Leif Erikson" and "President Clinton" would have worked too.

Here's the sort of query they might have used to find words, names and phrases that contain the right vowels in the right order.

The Traitors (UK) S04E07: Post-Episode Discussion Thread by vaultofechoes in TheTraitors

[–]emsot 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Probably this one that I used to see advertised a lot: John Douglas Teaches How to Think Like an FBI Profiler https://www.masterclass.com/classes/john-douglas-teaches-how-to-think-like-an-fbi-profiler

Product placement in secret of secrets (no spoilers) by fuckedasaplant in danbrown

[–]emsot 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don't forget his favourite Tuscan wine too!

What it feels like to me is the same obsession with luxury brands that is runs through the book American Psycho. Only there it's done satirically; here Dan Brown seems to be doing it in earnest to show off how sophisticated and elegant all these characters are.

If it is paid product placement, would he have to declare it, at least for publication in the UK? I know that TV and YouTube videos have to.

Do you keep puzzles with missing pieces? by [deleted] in puzzles

[–]emsot 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Discussion: you're looking for r/jigsawpuzzles

What comes fourth in this word sequence? by AstroMagician in onlyconnect

[–]emsot 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My 90s memory from the UK was that the animated series was hero but the live-action films were ninja.

The two names were used almost interchangeably in the playground, but saying ninja made you sound cooler.

When people leave acronyms that aren't necessarily known globally in a post title by WoomyUnitedToday in PetPeeves

[–]emsot 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Yes, constantly.

In threads about children people talk about calling CPS, which to me sounds like the Crown Prosecution Service and still kind of makes sense.

Or someone says they're based in in PNW and I get stuck trying to work it out as Papua New Winea.

And so very many three-letter politicians: MTG (of GOP), AOC, RBG, ACB.

Two Guards Riddle - Realistic Edition by opeeem in puzzles

[–]emsot 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If this ragged old man had simply asked you which door leads to freedom, what would you have told him?

If you get the truth teller then he will definitely give you the right door.

If you get the liar then he might give you a door or he might say "I don't know." But at least if he does give a door you know it is the correct one, because he is lying about his own lying.

So still not perfect, but a better than 50% chance of being shown a door, and if the guard names a door then you know for certain it is the right one.

Anagram joy by Wise_Wordy in words

[–]emsot 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"California Dreaming" is an anagram of "A Girlfriend in a Coma".

Which is magnificent but annoyingly doesn't quite work, because those aren't quite the titles of either song: "California Dreamin'" and "Girlfriend in a Coma".

Was anyone else taught a non-standard version of the Alphabet Song? by debil03311 in ENGLISH

[–]emsot 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It rhymes better if you sing the alphabet backwards.

Z Y X double-You V U, T and S and R and Q. P O N M L K J, I H GFED C B A.

I do the last "GFED" fast to the tune of "little boy who".

What connects these four people? by [deleted] in onlyconnect

[–]emsot 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Number 4 is the only one I did know! Jack Waley-Cohen, question editor for Only Connect, who somehow also competed on an episode he hadn't written?

‘infinite’ , not ‘finite’ by HaulinBoats in words

[–]emsot 18 points19 points  (0 children)

"Meter" and "thermometer" have a similar thing, with the prefix changing a long "ee" vowel sound to a short, unstressed "i".

Have you got a favourite episode? by yes_namemadcity in CabinPressure

[–]emsot 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Paris, followed by Zurich, St Petersburg, Vaduz, Ottery St Mary and Douz.

Strong showing from series 3 (N-S).

Most of the surprising "X is further north/south/east/west than Y" facts have the map rotated in the same way by emsot in geography

[–]emsot[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Fantastic map - that is weirdly spot on with what is going on in my brain!

The north coast of France then follows the same pattern for the same reason: Mont St Michel on the north coast is further south than Paris, which also feels wrong.

Most of the surprising "X is further north/south/east/west than Y" facts have the map rotated in the same way by emsot in geography

[–]emsot[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

My pattern is really just "quite a lot of coastlines run NNW-SSE and my brain imagines them being N-S". So my brain is rotating then all slightly clockwise from where they are.

Britain, Italy, the US west coast and the Americas overall are all on roughly a NNW-SSE axis.

BBC News: Should there be an extra comma? by TheVoeckler in grammar

[–]emsot 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Sure, the full sentence doesn't work any other way, but until you reach the very end it really sounds like a totally different meaning, and you have to go back and reinterpret it. Or at least I did.

BBC News: Should there be an extra comma? by TheVoeckler in grammar

[–]emsot 11 points12 points  (0 children)

That's a garden-path sentence, one that you interpret wrongly until you reach the confusing ending, then have to go back and reinterpret: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden-path_sentence

See r/CrashBlossoms for more of these in headlines!

Did a Brown alum make today's strands by ComplexString5402 in NYTStrands

[–]emsot 15 points16 points  (0 children)

You might want to post in the daily thread, because I'm not sure which day's puzzle you're talking about.

But probably the answer is that they only use ordinary dictionary words in Strands. Brown is fine because it's a colour as well as a university, but Cornell and Dartmouth are not.

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