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Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix
Short and sweet: be the first to solve our riddle and win a free T-shirt of your choice from the mental_floss store:
With noggin in oven
It has letters seven
But contains eleven
And takes you to heaven
Answer by commenting to this post; PLEASE REMEMBER that comments are moderated and won’t show up until they’re released, so they may not appear right away. We’ll reveal the correct answer tomorrow (Saturday) morning, April 12, along with the winning answer to last week’s Weekend Genius Challenge. Good luck!
Comments (44)
Comment
In The Magazine
suicide
posted by Anne Raybon on 4-11-2008 at 8:47 am
revelations?
posted by Gary on 4-11-2008 at 8:55 am
abracadabra
posted by Clotho on 4-11-2008 at 8:56 am
creme brulee
posted by Mary DesRosiers on 4-11-2008 at 8:56 am
Propane?
Seven letters, 8 hydrogen atomes, 3 carbon atoms.
posted by Brian Little on 4-11-2008 at 8:57 am
Sylvia Plath’s
Suicide
posted by Chas on 4-11-2008 at 9:01 am
Propane.
Seven letters, 11 atoms (8 hydrogen, 3 carbon)
My third attempt to post this. Thanks, reCaptcha.
[Ed. note: It’s not that, Brian — all comments have to be approved before they’re released, so they don’t appear instantaneously.]
posted by Brian Little on 4-11-2008 at 9:01 am
Creme Brulee
posted by Justin on 4-11-2008 at 9:03 am
I am still working on the answer but I was gonna guess suicide too, but don’t suicides go to hell?
posted by lizhot on 4-11-2008 at 9:04 am
Cookies
posted by Amy on 4-11-2008 at 9:09 am
The Holy Grail
posted by JaneM on 4-11-2008 at 9:09 am
Balloon!
contains ll (Ba(ll)oon), 7 letters, and if filled with hot air will take you to heaven.
posted by Ellen on 4-11-2008 at 9:11 am
7-11
posted by TMo on 4-11-2008 at 9:11 am
I think Brian has the best answer…
Mine is tastier though:
TURKEYS
7 letters, 11 yummy ingredients whose taste is heavenly. You don’t typically cook the head… but you can! :D
posted by Kelly on 4-11-2008 at 9:19 am
Oh wait… CHICKEN! Does kfc have 11 ingredients?
Do I seem hungry today? lol
posted by Kelly on 4-11-2008 at 9:22 am
How about hypoxia?
You are deprived of oxygen if you stick your head in the oven, it has seven letters and contains eleven (XI).
posted by Eric on 4-11-2008 at 9:55 am
Is my comment showing up? I can’t see it, but I tried resubmitting and it said it was a duplicate.
I’ll put my answer here again for fun:
HYPOXIA
posted by Eric Y. on 4-11-2008 at 9:59 am
souffle
posted by tommy on 4-11-2008 at 10:16 am
Kilimanjaro
posted by Elizabeth on 4-11-2008 at 10:22 am
Okay, it keeps saying I made a duplicate post, but I didn’t… I don’t think.
Here again:
Suicide
Forgiveness
posted by kristina on 4-11-2008 at 10:33 am
I was thinking balloon, too. but i’ll distinguish myself by saying hot-air balloon, to tie in the whole oven deal
posted by Kevin on 4-11-2008 at 10:51 am
Lasagna!
posted by Alice on 4-11-2008 at 10:59 am
SUICIDE
posted by Kevin on 4-11-2008 at 11:09 am
Euthanasia
posted by Downchez on 4-11-2008 at 11:12 am
Methane
posted by Mike on 4-11-2008 at 11:35 am
Bell Jar?
posted by Carly Prather on 4-11-2008 at 11:39 am
Led Zeppelin
11 letters (l, p, e repeated–7 kinds)–most famous for Stairway to Heaven–oven, maybe Hindenburg, on their album covers–noggin? Old English word, band known for pagan/Viking songs (witness Immigrant Song, used Giant’s Causeway on album covers)
posted by Zac on 4-11-2008 at 11:57 am
Oh, well - Brian beat me to the punch on my guess (propane; seven letters, C3H8). But, I would have to give kudos to Eric for creativity on ‘hypoxia.’
posted by Roger on 4-11-2008 at 12:01 pm
blind guess here…
caramel (noggin of butter in oven = 7)
caramelized (tastes very heavenly = 11)
posted by Mikey on 4-11-2008 at 12:47 pm
I started to wonder if it had to be more complicated than I originally made it. The seven/eleven thing popped this word into my head:
‘therein’
(seven letter word contain eleven others without rearranging the letters)
It’s a stretch, but forth a try.
posted by kristina on 4-11-2008 at 1:08 pm
Two guesses:
extinct
expires
If you put your noggin in the oven, either one would happen to you.
They both have seven letters.
They both contain eleven in the form of an X and an I (XI being the Roman numeral equivalent of 11).
Both of them would result in you going to heaven.
posted by gmsc on 4-11-2008 at 1:45 pm
leavens
posted by kmt on 4-11-2008 at 2:46 pm
It has to be a Balloon (hot air type) because the top (or noggin) is in the Oven (ie the heat from the blower), it has seven letters and the 2 ll’s make the number 11 and it can take you into the heavens (with enough fuel of course!)
posted by Sandie F on 4-11-2008 at 2:47 pm
Methane
posted by Shambo on 4-11-2008 at 2:50 pm
Gonna guess uranium, although propane was my first choice! Love balloon and hypoxia too! Good luck, everybody!
posted by Cathleen on 4-11-2008 at 2:58 pm
DIOXIDE
As in Carbon Dioxide, a by-product of oven cleaners (noggin in oven). The fumes will kill ya’ (takes you to heaven). It has seven letters and contains eleven (roman numeral XI)
posted by Sheila on 4-11-2008 at 3:20 pm
Slurpee?
…..oh thank heaven!
posted by Pierre on 4-11-2008 at 3:34 pm
7-layer cake
posted by drew on 4-11-2008 at 4:11 pm
incarnation
posted by James on 4-11-2008 at 4:16 pm
Alcohol
posted by Bailey on 4-11-2008 at 6:58 pm
aphixia
posted by Tim Wright on 4-11-2008 at 7:00 pm
suicide
seven letters
ii looks eleven like
posted by Naomi on 4-11-2008 at 7:08 pm
heart attack?
posted by grace on 4-12-2008 at 12:45 am
…but another reason why you might put your head in the oven would be to CLEAN it:
EASY-OFF; Product name is seven letters
Oven Cleaner;It’s use is eleven letters
Since cleanliness is next to Godliness,it takes you to heaven.
posted by Scott on 4-12-2008 at 10:30 am