Wikipedia:Wikifun/Round 12/Answers/Question 20

The answer was published in 1611, in 1940 and in 2001. -- Ravn 11:01, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

repap

Reverse "paper" is "repap" found in BJAODN:

Repap: The specially designed paper used to carry out the skill of etirw, oposed to the more traditional method of using a mirror.

Etirw: The art of writing backwards used by nuns and monks, some believe that the english language now is actually backwards to the original language.

Well, I liked it ;) -- ALoan (Talk) 11:56, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

The marvels of technology. Me want some. ;) But it's not what I had in mind. -- Ravn 12:04, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

More seriously, the King James Version of the Bible was published in 1611. Surely someone published it in 2001... -- ALoan (Talk) 11:59, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

Go ahead. This is neither the answer, nor the question. But it's not the wrong way. -- Ravn 12:04, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

Is the answer 42? It is linked to from the Wikifun page.

Any self-respecting Douglas Adams fan will recognise this as The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything.

Finding the question is a bit harder, perhaps even impossible. I'm hesistant to guess lest I cause the universe to cease to exist. Candidates include:

• "WHAT DO YOU GET IF YOU MULTIPLY SIX BY NINE."
• How many roads must a man walk down, before you can call him a man?
• Think of a number, any number. Dmn 05:10, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

No, this is also not what you were supposed to find. -- Ravn 13:50, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

42 was my original idea too. But if not, could the question be "what are the origins of snowflakes?"? Johannes Kepler first published a letter about this in 1611. And I'll use ALoan's line of "Surely someone published it in 2001...". David 5000 14:05, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

ALoan was closer than you are. -- Ravn 16:43, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Well, the ESV, a pretty notable version of the Bible, was published in 2001, I believe. I've seen comparison's made between the KJV and ESV on word-for-word accuracies. I don't know where to go with that, though. And the 42 confuses me. It seems the perfect fit for this problem, but it isn't? - ElAmericano | talk 05:04, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

The number 42 and the ESV are not related to this puzzle. -- Ravn 20:23, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Paper chase...

Quoth the Oxford English dictionary (forget Wikitionary):
noun

1. informal the action of processing forms and other paperwork, esp. when considered excessive.
   
2. informal the attempt to gain academic qualifications, esp. a law degree.
   

There's your answer (I thought it was 42?). The question: "What the heck is a paper chase?"--HereToHelp (talk • contribs) 18:47, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

A paper chase is a children's game similar to a Scavenger hunt, or Wikifun. You follow a clue to find the next one. Please notify me if the term is very uncommon. I am not a native English speaker, and far from grokking all the regional locutions. I might as well strike the first sentence about the paper chase. -- Ravn 19:22, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

I found the following on dictionary.com:

hare and hounds

n : an outdoor game; the hares start off on a long run scattering bits of paper (the scent) and the hounds try to catch them before they reach a designated spot [syn: paper chase]

So apparently Ravn wasn't entirely making it up. But I'd never heard of it, nor of hare and hounds for that matter. Although the dictionary entry doesn't say I'll bet it is (or used to be - - it may well be a thing of the past) a British game; if it were a U.S. game it'd be called jackrabbits and coyotes. Zoicon5 16:02, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

'Paper chase' is a perfectly cromulent term in the United Kingdom, I understood it without thinking. 'Hare and hounds' is less so. Dmn € Դմն 16:06, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

Thanks to you all for enlightening me. :) I removed that sentence nonetheless and replaced it by one that might be more widely understood. -- Ravn 17:27, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

Indeed, a robust vocabulary embiggens the smallest man. Hoof Hearted 17:44, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

Random thoughts...

Carlo Gesualdo published his Tenebrae Responsories in 1611, while a CD was published in 2001.

There were Qinpus puclished on 1611 and 2001.

The Authorized Version of the Bishops' Bible was published in 1611. The most available reprinting of its New Testament portion can be found in the fourth column of the New Testament Octapla edited by Luther Weigle, chairman of the translation committee that produced the Revised Standard Version. An update of it is the ESV.

I think, it's time for an additional hint. The last one was not distinct enough... -- Ravn 15:17, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

By the way, have you read Wikipedia:Wikifun/Round 12/Answers/Question 10? Fetofs ^Hello! 22:06, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for pointing this out. The page somehow escaped from my watchlist. -- Ravn 15:17, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

For Whom the Bell Tolls

The answer's got to be For Whom the Bell Tolls, first a meditation by John Donne ("Meditation XVII" of Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions), then a novel by Ernest Hemingway. The poem was republished in 2001 in The Complete Poetry and Selected Prose of John Donne. - ElAmericano | talk 21:51, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

So I guess the question is "For whom does the bell toll," and the answer is, "It tolls for me/thee/all of the human race"? - ElAmericano | talk 21:53, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

As far as I can see, the Devotions were first published in 1624. But I find your answer very elegant nonetheless. -- Ravn 22:56, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

Limiting the Guess

It was published in 1611, in 1940 and in 2001, so it is a book. It's not the King James Bible, because that was 1611 and 1769 (with others in the 1980s), although in the 1611 article it is the only book I can find. Ghelae^talk 18:27, 9 February 2006 (UTC)

Maybe it's not a book, but rather a piece of music? I think music is "published", so if we can't find anything else, it may be a possibility. - ElAmericano | talk 19:01, 10 February 2006 (UTC)

Unfortunately the article 1611 in music doesn't exist. 1611 in literature doesn't seem to help either. - Ghelae^talk_contribs 09:38, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

It certainly helps. -- Ravn 10:10, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

hum, here we go again... I think I know the answer, and "certainly somebody also published it in 1940", but I can't see whom.... and the 1940 page doesn't seem to help (;-)

P.S.: Ghelae: it's: style="color:...", not "text-color:..."... — MFH:Talk 14:48, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

owl

What did the owl say to the tree?

Bible

Is the answer Genesis 1:3? After that you weren't on the dark anymore... Fetofs ^Hello! 12:34, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

Genesis 1:3 is not the answer, no. -- Ravn 12:40, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

I think, like Fetofs, it is probably a reference in some written work, but failing that, it is probably some kind of ratio. It isn't a Bible, because there are no 1940 bibles in this list. - Ghelae^talk_contribs 18:30, 18 February 2006 (UTC)

1611

Well, 17th century in literature says the following were published in 1611:

• The Authorized Version (King James Version) of the Bible
• The Tempest by William Shakespeare
• Catiline his Conspiracy (play) - Ben Jonson
• The Roaring Girle (play) - Thomas Dekker and Thomas Middleton

It seems to be not the first, but I don't see that the other three get us anywhere... -- ALoan (Talk) 09:55, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

According to the article Greg Hollingshead, a book called The Roaring Girl was written in 1995, so if they are related in any way then that means that the forth item on the list is not the answer, leaving The Tempest and Catilene his Conspiricy, but according to The Tempest's page a version of it wasn't released in 1940, leaving just Catiline his Conspiracy left. - Ghelae^talk_contribs 19:22, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

Also, perhaps what is written in italics under ' Question 20 ' one the Wikifun page would be a good clue to try and work by, as question 19 says Why don't you ask me for it's colour as well?, and the answer was Homer Simpson (Who is famously coloured yellow), and from question 11 (I've eaten number one), the first on the list that the answer is Milky Way, which is also the name of a chocolate, which you eat, so I'm still in the dark.. should mean something, when we work out what some other parts of the answer are. - Ghelae^talk_contribs 19:38, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

Well, I think that prompted the Genesis guess. I did wonder if the ".." rather than a usual elipsis ("..." or "…") was a clue... -- ALoan (Talk) 21:44, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

It's just my way to write an elipsis. Also note that I did not say that the Genesis is unrelated. I just said that Genesis 1:3 is not the answer. -- Ravn 22:04, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

Let there be light

I think the answer is Let there be light.

• Let There Be Light is one of the most famous phrases in the English language, due to its presence in the third verse of the King James Bible, published in 1611:

Genesis 1:3 - And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

• Let There Be Light is an elegantly written comic diary by the English humourist Tony Gillan, published in 2001.
• Let There Be Light (Heinlein) is a short story Robert A. Heinlein wrote and published in Super Science Stories magazine in May 1940 under the pseudonym Lyle Monroe.

Now to the question, there are different possibilities:

• What phrase did God pronounce (according to the KJV) to create the light ?
• What is the only title published in 1611, 1940 and 2001 ?
• What is one of the most famous phrases in the English language, due to its presence in the third verse of the King James Bible?

and surely many others more. I don't think the information given to us permits to select one of these in an unambigious way. (And I think that if this answer is correct, I merit at least half (or say 2/3...) of the points....) — MFH:Talk 13:11, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

Congratulations, this is the correct answer. Concerning the points, you will have to check with the final solver - I would give you 1:3 of the total... ;) Concerning the questions, how about looking for an article in the Wikipedia? -- Ravn 13:41, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

The Last Question

It's The Last Question, a short story by science fiction author Isaac Asimov. — MFH:Talk 15:45, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

(Explanation: This particular story deals with the development of a computer (...) Eventually the Cosmic AC discovers the answer, but has nobody to report it to. It therefore decides to implement the answer and reverse entropy, creating the universe anew; the story ends with AC's pronouncement, "'LET THERE BE LIGHT!' And there was light—" — MFH:Talk 15:54, 20 February 2006 (UTC))

Congratulations. That's it. :) -- Ravn 16:11, 20 February 2006 (UTC)