About two years ago, I got the idea of compiling some works of poetry or prose using the subject lines from the scores and scores of spam emails I receive every day. Many of them use random-word generators, so you end up with some nonsensical (but interesting-sounding) phrases. One email that I got was labeled “A Twirl of Wheezy,” and I was so gung-ho on the project that I actually reserved that domain name thinking that I’d use it as the title of said book. Alas, as with many of my ideas, I learned that I was a day late and a dollar short. Before I had the time to act on the idea, several similar sites popped up across the WWW. But the concept still intrigues me, and it inspired this weekend’s WGC.

If you’ve played a Weekend Genius Challenge or otherwise commented on a mentalfloss.com post recently, you’ve noticed that we’ve implemented the ReCaptcha system to prevent misuse. When we comment on others’ posts, we have to key in the words just like you do, and I’ve noticed the wide variation of two-word sequences that pop up on ReCaptcha. So for WGC #29, I want you to write something — a sentence, a phrase, a headline, a poem, a paragraph — using the two ReCaptcha words that pop up when you click “comment.” Put the two words in ALL CAPS so that we know which two they are. And no, we’re not going to require a screen capture or anything complex to prove you’re being honest. We trust you.

As usual, we’re looking for the creative, the smart, the bizarre, and the humorous. So if you keep refreshing until you get two “good” words, you’ll probably end up ruining your chances. Challenge yourself. It is a great person who can make something from nothing. (Sounds like a fortune cookie, eh?) We’ll allow up to three entries per person, but each entry must be in its own comment. And PLEASE remember that comments are moderated, so they will NOT show up immediately after you enter them; it may take minutes/hours before they’re released. Good luck!

Don’t forget, we’ve got a sale going on in the mental_floss store. Everything is 15% off, excluding subscriptions. Just enter the code “survey” during checkout.

This includes all our classic t-shirts, including “When Life Gives You Scurvy, Make Lemonade” and “Lady Macbeth Hand Soap,” plus new favorites like “Hyperbole is the Best Thing Ever!” and “Christians Have the Best Sects.”

One last t-shirt note: We’ll be combing through the last wave of t-shirt slogan contest submissions this week, and emailing the winners on Friday. Thanks for all the fantastic ideas. We’ve got our work cut out for us.

• From Jan, a list of the Craziest Shoes from Around the World. The dog ones are by far the creepiest, although they definitely have some competition in this collection.

• Beer myths debunked, from Paul. Apparently untrue: my belief that drinking a pint of Guinness is equivalent to eating a loaf of bread. Although my stomach still kinda stands by that one.

• As exam season approaches, consider this humble procrastination tool from Amanda, who sends us a great link to a site full of fun games with wonderfully soothing music.

• A story about The Wind, and how he overcame his loneliness.
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In WGC #28, we asked you to complete a sequence of numbers that began: 5, 6, 6, 6, 3, 5…

It took several hours, but Buddz finally came up with the correct answer. Congratulations! To see it, click here.

This must have been a much harder puzzle than I thought when I first put it together. Usually we get dozens and dozens of emails with the correct answers to the week’s challenges. Today, only 7!

Before I show you the winners’ logic, I need some reader feedback for my next quiz:

1) Was the final puzzle too hard?
2) Were the individual challenges too hard?
3) Did the final trivia category (baseball) turn you off?
4) Any other thoughts this time around?

Most of those who did write in this time, did have most of the answers correct. Adam Constable, who won last month’s HDYK? contest worked with Bill Pearson over the course of the week and the two of them sent in the following answers/logic. We’ll let them fight it out over who gets the book and who gets the t-shirt.

Meanwhile, see you toward the end of May for the next puzzle…

[The winning email(s) after the jump]

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Okay, so I’m turning thirty years old next week, and I still don’t get what the big deal is. By now I would have expected to get the “So You’re Turning Thirty” package in the mail, but somehow nothing has come. I’ve had several friends who have experienced mini-crises related to hitting this milestone, and of course it was Sitcom Gold in the 80’s to have a character turn thirty years old and become the subject of endless ribbing. But for me, it doesn’t seem to mean anything. I guess my car insurance will get a little cheaper? Maybe now I start making cheesy butterfly-wing art (see image of my first attempt, above right) and start wearing my glasses on a string around my neck?

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Sorry I’m so late with today’s questions. My wife and I took my grandma out for a birthday lunch. Her birthday is February 22nd. Punctuality clearly isn’t my strong suit.

1. I feel like we’ve already discussed our craziest roommates. But let’s be a little more specific, and talk about crazy décor. What’s the strangest thing your roommate has insisted on displaying? For me, it was an eight-by-ten picture that hung in the kitchen. A baby picture, with his mother. In this old photo, my roommate was being breastfed. Had we been part of a reality show, the FCC would have levied fines. [Lots more on that crazy four-month stint here.]

2. Last week, we discussed the best VHS tapes still in your video library. Let’s talk about the ones that got (thrown) away. What’s the greatest VHS tape no longer in your possession? For me, it’s “MAGIC HOUR (SELECTED EPISODES).”
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There’s always a debate about whether violent cartoons are good for kids and whether some cartoon characters are actually gay. But some cartoon heroes just aren’t good for kids. Maybe they’re darkly depressed Vietnam vets, maybe they were on the A-Team or maybe they’re a stripper. Whatever the reason, these heroes just plain aren’t good role models.

John Rambo

John Rambo made his name in First Blood as a brooding, PTSD-ridden Vietnam vet, then eventually became a killing machine that just made a bloody mess of Burma in Rambo. So of course he’d make a good role model for kids, right? That’s what producers must have been thinking when they green-lit Rambo and the Forces of Freedom, a cartoon that put Sylvester Stallone’s hero on the TV screens of children across the nation. They toned down the PTSD implications that made Rambo such a complex hero in David Morell’s book First Blood and ramped up the witty one-liners. Rambo was united with a team of crime-fighters to fight the forces of S.A.V.A.G.E., a criminal empire led by General Warhawk. Somehow, Rambo managed to thwart Warhawk’s plans (among them were stealing art from Venice and buying South America) without killing anyone, instead compelling most of the bad guys into simply surrendering. Not surprisingly, Rambo didn’t translate well to the realm of kid’s TV and the series was cancelled after its first season.

Mr. T

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If you’ve made it this far, I commend you! One more puzzle to solve and you’re home free. First one to send in the correct answer to the challenge below, along with the correct answers found all along the path this week, AND, the logic behind ‘em (which is to say: HOW DID YOU KNOW?), gets a pick of any t-shirt and book from our store.
As comments have been turned off for the length of the hunt, please click on the following link and send your answers and logic to us at: TriviaHunt@Gmail.com

If you missed Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday’s challenges, there might still be time to solve them all. No one knows how long it’ll take for one of you trivia junkies to nail down the whole megillah, so make haste, make haste. And now, on the next page, I present the final puzzle, drawing on all the answers you dug up along the trail.

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So you think you’re an Office Space fan? Let’s see how well you know the cult classic by selecting the actual dialogue from the film in our Office Space Quiz. Mmmkay?

Be sure to come on back and let us know how you did once you’ve finished. Mmmkay?