Timothy McSweeney's Header Image

- - - -

Now available for preorder:
The San Francisco Panorama
.

- - - -

M c S W E E N E Y ' S
B R A I N   E X P L O D E R :
A N S W E R S .


- - - -

PITTSBURGH PUZZLE
PARRY-IN-A-PEN MATCH:
"LET'S GIT IT ON!"

August 13

Last week's Pittsburgh Puzzle Parry-In-A-Pen Match was over before the sleepy BE staff even puttered into the office on their company Vespas. Will Milford cracked the code just hours after the puzzle was released early Wednesday morning. We received hundreds of entries before the Friday deadline and by then more than three-dozen individuals had solved the puzzle on their own. Several dozen others solved the puzzle after receiving a subtle clue.

For those who missed it, here was the puzzle:

JG43, RH46, ET56, LC58, SD59, DM97, AJ98, JL03

And here is the answer:

Judy Garland, 1943, Girl Crazy
Rita Hayworth, 1946, Gilda
Elizabeth Taylor, 1956, Giant
Leslie Caron, 1958, Gigi
Sandra Dee, 1959, Gidget
Demi Moore, 1997, G.I. Jane
Angelina Jolie, 1998, Gia
Jennifer Lopez, 2003, Gigli

- - - -

We'd like to acknowledge the first ten people after Will who answered the puzzle correctly. They are, in order:

Philip Hall
Micaela Daniel
Donnie Bowman
Matt Sergi
Matthew Bove
Brian Telpner
Quinn Warnick
Heather Ann Kaldeway
Francis Doehner
Matt Reed

Many entrants were tripped up by Angelina Jolie, who also starred in Girl, Interrupted. However, that film was released in 1999, not 1998. Several suggested the letters and numbers represented the names of chromosomes and, now that we think about it, we're not sure they don't. The most common incorrect guesses surmised that the numbers indicated not years in which the actresses made a film beginning with the letters "GI," but rather years in which those actresses were divorced. After a hasty check we were surprised to learn this correlation holds true (or nearly does) for half of these women. It's both a strange coincidence and a sad comment on 20th century Hollywood marriage.

We received many valiant, unsuccessful (and frequently half-finished) stabs at a solution, but our favorite this week came from Anthony Vitigliano:

I think it has something to do with Australian cricket players, their first and middle initials and the year they were born… in reverse. Examples:

RH Sams born 1964 <— reverse = RH46
JG Ferrant born 1934 <— reverse = JG43
JL Chambers born 1930 <— reverse = JL03
ET Odumbe born 1965 <— reverse = ET56
LC Davis born 1985 <— reverse = LC58

Presumably, Anthony is still working on that.

 

 

MORE BRAIN EXPLODERS

- - - -

MAIN PAGE | ARCHIVES



Memories of Amanda Davis




Red dot denotes content that is new today.

Black dot denotes newish content.

McSWEENEY'S STORE

SUBSCRIBE TO:
McSWEENEY'S
THE BELIEVER
WHOLPHIN

FUTURE McSWEENEY'S BOOKS

THE AMANDA DAVIS HIGHWIRE FICTION AWARD

INVITE A McSWEENEY'S AUTHOR TO SPEAK IN YOUR TOWN OR COLLEGE

THE BEST AMERICAN NONREQUIRED READING

McSWEENEY'S MONTHLY MAILING LIST

BOOKSTORES WITH A McSWEENEY'S DISPLAY

McSWEENEY'S-RELATED EVENTS AND VARIOUS TOUR DATES

ORDER INQUIRIES AND ADDRESS CHANGES

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
FOR BOOKS
FOR THE QUARTERLY
FOR THE WEBSITE
FOR WHOLPHIN

McSWEENEY'S INTERNSHIPS

CONTACT US

- - - -

LETTERS TO McSWEENEY'S

LISTS

McSWEENEY'S RECOMMENDS

REVIEWS OF NEW FOOD

NEW WHOLPHIN FILM

DAN LIEBERT, VERBAL CARTOONIST

TEDDY WAYNE'S UNPOPULAR PROVERBS

NON-ESSENTIAL MNEMONICS

BITCHSLAP: A COLUMN ABOUT WOMEN AND FIGHTING

DISPATCHES FROM A GUY TRYING UNSUCCESSFULLY
TO SELL A SONG IN NASHVILLE


GLOBAL WAR ON BEDBUGS: LETTERS FROM BEDBUG CITY

THE CONFLICTED EXISTENCE OF A FEMALE PORN WRITER

OH MY GAWD: A COLUMN ABOUT A TEENAGER NAVIGATING RELIGION

DISPATCHES FROM MANILA

DISPATCHES FROM AN INDIAN CASINO

THE CONVERGENCES CONTEST

CHRIS WHITE ANSWERS PROFOUND
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PRESIDENTS


REPORTS FROM THE PINBALL SCENE

LETTERS FROM THE HELLBOX

NOTES FROM AN AMATEUR SPECTATOR
AT AMATEUR MIXED MARTIAL ARTS FIGHTS


B.R. COHEN'S DAYS AT THE MUSEUM

CONVERSATIONS AT A WARTIME CAFÉ

AND HERE'S THE KICKER:
MIKE SACKS'S CONVERSATIONS WITH HUMOR WRITERS


GRANT MUNROE'S CORPORATE FOLKTALES

SARAH WALKER SHOWS YOU HOW

DISPATCHES FROM AN ENVIRONMENTAL LAWYER
WHO IS TRYING TO GROW A MUSTACHE


DISPATCHES FROM A HANGDOG BANKRUPT

DISPATCHES FROM THE CAPITAL

DISPATCHES FROM INDIA

THE WINNER'S CIRCLE WITH ERIC FEEZELL

SEAN MICHAELS LISTENS TO MUSIC IN MONTREAL

SHORT IMAGINED MONOLOGUES

KIDS' LETTERS TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

STAINED TEETH: A COLUMN ABOUT WINE

YOUR MONEY, YOUR JOB ... YOUR LIFE, WITH ALISON ROSEN

KEVIN DOLGIN TELLS YOU ABOUT PLACES YOU SHOULD GO IN EUROPE

ABOUT THE WILD THINGS

ABOUT THE CONVALESCENT

ABOUT FEVER CHART

ABOUT GOD SAYS NO

ABOUT ZEITOUN

LETTERS FROM AN EARTH BALL
TO, OR CONCERNING, SEAN HANNITY


E-MAILS SENT TO THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FLAG-FOOTBALL TEAM


TRAVELING EUROPE IN STYLE WITH AUCKLAND DINGIROO,
DARK-AGE TOURIST AND CRITIC OF FOOD AND DRINK


JOHN MOE'S POP-SONG CORRESPONDENCES

INTERVIEWS WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE INTERESTING OR UNUSUAL JOBS

FLIP: A COLUMN ABOUT SKATEBOARDING

OPEN LETTERS TO PEOPLE OR ENTITIES WHO ARE UNLIKELY TO RESPOND

DISPATCHES FROM A PUBLIC LIBRARIAN

MICHAEL IAN BLACK IS A VERY FAMOUS CELEBRITY

DAN KENNEDY SOLVES YOUR PROBLEMS WITH PAPER

STEPHEN ELLIOTT'S POKER REPORT

- - - -

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL