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This Weekend Genius Challenge is short but sweet. The five words in the list below have something specific in common. While there are multiple answers to this particular query (for instance, they all contain the letter “i”) only one answer will match ours. If you’re the lucky first to do so, you’ll win a T-shirt of your choice from the mental floss store. The words:
bicentennial, hallucinogen, hitchhiker, reincarnation, unfamiliar.
Answer by commenting below. Please include what style/size of T-shirt you’d like in your response. The correct answer will be revealed Monday, unless we don’t yet have a winner, in which case we’ll add a few words to the list and continue the challenge. Good luck!
All have a four letter word inside of them.
Bicentennial - Cent
Hallucinogen - Hall
Hitchhiker - Itch
Reincarnation - Rein
Unfamiliar - Liar
That’s all I got.
Easy as Pi, Women’s, Medium.
posted by Stephanie on 1-5-2008 at 9:56 am
I tried to come up with something, and failed … wanted to see the other comments though.
posted by katie on 1-5-2008 at 9:59 am
All are spelled using chemical symbols.
(But I had to look that up!)
Pluto R.I.P. (M)
posted by Meri on 1-5-2008 at 10:13 am
Instant flashback to the 70’s for me, although i seriously doubt that was your intent! It was such a strong feeling I had to share it to see if anyone else felt the same. (btw Steph, I don’t recognise those as 4-letter words)
posted by julie on 1-5-2008 at 10:37 am
Each include letters MULTIPLE times :
Hallucinogen - l (2) and n (2)
Hitchhiker - h (3)
Reincarnation n(3) a(2) and i (2)
unfamiliar a (2) i(2)
Pavlov, long sleeved womans small
posted by Amy on 1-5-2008 at 10:46 am
Oops!
Forgot Bicentennial - i (2) e (2) n (2)
Pavlov, long sleeved womans small
posted by Amy on 1-5-2008 at 10:49 am
“After ingesting the hallucinogen, the reincarnation of the hitchhiker forgot to celebrate the bicentennial!”"
don’t know except believe that it is the sets of double letters as mentioned by someone else.
posted by olal on 1-5-2008 at 12:01 pm
What were the answers to the Weekend Genius Challenge #12 - the 70s music one?
posted by Ben Stucky on 1-5-2008 at 1:08 pm
Not sure but it sounds like the plot to Hunter S. Thompson’s last unfinished novel.
posted by Knox on 1-5-2008 at 2:29 pm
Maybe each word involves TWO :
Bicentennial : two centuries
Hallucinogen : in addition to the actual drug, one
assumes there must also be a USER
Hitchhiker : in addition to the one seeking a ride,
one again assumes there must also
be a driver who gives it
Reincarnation : taking on a second body or form
unfamiliar : ??????? Darn, I thought I was on to something here , albeit rather farfetched!
Still, if I am close - I’d like a Pavlov, long sleeved womans small
posted by Amy on 1-5-2008 at 3:56 pm
are they all compound words (of some sort)???
Mental Floss T-orange-men’s medium
posted by Kelli K. on 1-5-2008 at 5:22 pm
Could it be as easy as…
they are all words without their first syllable?
i.e. centennial, lucinogen, hiker, incarnation, familiar.
Hmm.
Pluto R.I.P. (W medium)
posted by AMR on 1-5-2008 at 5:32 pm
They all contain the letter “i”?
Tee hee
posted by Whitney on 1-5-2008 at 5:35 pm
All of the words have something to do with change. Going from the known to the unknown, or moving on to something new or different.
posted by Nan on 1-5-2008 at 5:40 pm
They’re all spelled with annoying things:
Respectively,
Cent, Hall, Itch, Car, Liar
and, they all have odd numbers of vowels!
“RIP Pluto” Men’s Small
posted by Ed on 1-5-2008 at 6:00 pm
They each contain the litter but the quantities skip.
Bicentennial - 2 ‘i’
Hallucinogen - 1 ‘i’
Hitchhiker - 2 ‘i’
Reincarnation - 1 ‘i’
Unfamiliar - 2 ‘i’
posted by JaneM on 1-5-2008 at 6:02 pm
Never mind - I have lost the ability to cound. Reincarnation has 2
posted by JaneM on 1-5-2008 at 6:03 pm
Shot in the dark:
Guide words in your dictionary.
Easter Island, Large
posted by Laura on 1-5-2008 at 7:08 pm
They are words that are in the book “A Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy”
Scurvy tee shirt size small
posted by Melinda on 1-5-2008 at 7:31 pm
I think they are presented here in the order in which they appear in Thompson’s article, “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”. Excellent read, btw.
Mens Rhesus M
posted by Johnny Cat on 1-5-2008 at 8:39 pm
Every one of these word’s entries can be found in column 3 (of 4) of a verso (even-numbered) page of the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1959 edition.
posted by David Fogg on 1-6-2008 at 7:30 am
these words are all a base word with an adjective added to change the meaning..
centennial + bi
hallucinate + gen(erate)
hitch + hiker
re + incarnation
un + familiar
posted by Shawn Acheson on 1-6-2008 at 10:07 am
These words are all on the SOWPODS list.
According to Wikipedia, “SOWPODS is a term used to refer to the word list used in tournament Scrabble in all English-speaking countries except the USA, Canada, Thailand and Israel, which use the American Tournament Word List or TWL. ”
If I am correct, I’d like a mentalfloss logo shirt in orange (Large)
posted by R. E. C. on 1-6-2008 at 11:29 am
I believe they are all related to Douglas Adams’ “Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy” if I had to wager a guess.
If correct I would like the XL- No wrong way to eat a Rhesus - t-shirt.
Thanks for the outstanding website and books.
posted by Mike Akers on 1-6-2008 at 12:32 pm
Each word has a repeating vowel sound. phonetically speaking.
no right way to a rhesus as big as you can please
posted by Gilbert on 1-6-2008 at 1:11 pm
Well, here’s my pathetic solution for this week’s very good puzzle. Each word has exactly two 4-letter words embedded in it, if you read both forwards and backwards and if you also require that the word be able to stand alone (this eliminates “lima” as in “lima bean”).
bicentennial: cent (Forw.) lain (Backw.)
hallucinogen: hall (F.) cull (B.)
hitchhiker: itch (F.) hike (F.)
reincarnation: rein (F.) inca (F.)
unfamiliar: liar (F.) rail (B.)
If by some miracle that is acceptable, then please send Entropy, XL. Tx.
posted by Mike Jackson on 1-6-2008 at 3:30 pm
This seems a little far-fetched, but I can’t think of anything, so,
I think there’s a syllable pattern: 5,5,3,5,5
Gregor Mendel, Small please
posted by ash on 1-6-2008 at 4:26 pm
None of these words has a single word anagram. I think that this is what they have in common.
mentalfloss logo slate Large
posted by R. E. C. on 1-6-2008 at 6:27 pm
This has been consuming my thoughts all weekend. The best I can do-
they all have an odd/prime number of consonants.
Idioms, Med wmns.
posted by stephanie on 1-6-2008 at 9:37 pm
I think Meri with the third answer is right, and if not, that is the most brilliant answer so far.
posted by Susan on 1-7-2008 at 12:27 am
this is a long shot but here goes.
In 1807 Robert Morrison hitched a ride on a British navy ship began missionary work in china, a country known for opium production, a powerful hallucinogen. The Chinese predominate religion is Buddhism, a religion that believes in reincarnation. China was unfamiliar with Christianity.
Marx XL
posted by Ian on 1-7-2008 at 4:36 am
I think all of the words make up different words when you take out some letters in the middle.
Bicentennial - biennial
Hallucinogen - halogen
Hitchhiker - hitcher (or hiker)
Reincarnation - ration
Unfamiliar - unfair (ok, a bit of a stretch)
If I’m right, and I’m sure I’m not, I’d like a men’s large Simple As Pi.
posted by Joe on 1-7-2008 at 11:25 am