Brain Teasers
Famous Firsts
Letter-Equations
Letter Equations are well known phrases or facts where the key words have been replaced with the first letter of that word. These are often in the form of an equation, which contain a number, an = sign and the rest of the obscured phrase or fact.Letter-Equations
It is a warm spring evening in Cipher, South Decoder. Tim, Hank, K.C., and the rest of the team (including Flynn and Jimmy Blake) are feeling downhearted after their loss at the baseball game. They decide to see what's happening at the local comedy club to cheer themselves up. They discover the club had been rented by the poetry club that night.
Eddie, one of the poetry club members who was serving as bouncer, explained, "It'll be a hoot. There will be a reading of famous poems - some serious, and some humorous. Then there will be a limerick writing contest. First prize is a trip to Nantucket. But you can't enter without one of the pass phrases."
The team was bewildered. Eddie showed them a piece of paper. "I'll help you out. This is my shorthand list of the acceptable pass phrases. They are all first lines of famous poems. Each of you that solves one can go on in."
Flynn took the sheet and quickly perused it. "I know the last one," he said, and whispered in Eddie's ear. Eddie nodded assent and held the door open as Flynn sauntered in, mumbling about pea-green boats and 5 pound notes.
Jimmy was now looking over the list. "Aha! I know this one. The poet and I have the same name. " He whispered 4 words in Eddie's ear, and before the others could recover from the shock, he too went inside.
K.C. took the list next. He wanted to redeem himself after his disappointing performance at the ball game. "I know lots of poems," he boasted. As he read the list, though, his confidence faltered. Can you help K.C. and the other remaining members of the team get into the club?
0) N M is an I
1) O upon a M D
2) T R D in a Y W
3) T was T K into the E
4) A T of B is a J for E
5) In F F the P B
6) The W was a T of D among the G T
7) I M G D to the S A, to the L S and the S
8) S W in B, like the N
9) The O W B for the M N that D
10) In X did K K
11) I T that I S N S
12) There are S T D in the M S
13) T T, B B
14) The O and the P-C W to S
Eddie, one of the poetry club members who was serving as bouncer, explained, "It'll be a hoot. There will be a reading of famous poems - some serious, and some humorous. Then there will be a limerick writing contest. First prize is a trip to Nantucket. But you can't enter without one of the pass phrases."
The team was bewildered. Eddie showed them a piece of paper. "I'll help you out. This is my shorthand list of the acceptable pass phrases. They are all first lines of famous poems. Each of you that solves one can go on in."
Flynn took the sheet and quickly perused it. "I know the last one," he said, and whispered in Eddie's ear. Eddie nodded assent and held the door open as Flynn sauntered in, mumbling about pea-green boats and 5 pound notes.
Jimmy was now looking over the list. "Aha! I know this one. The poet and I have the same name. " He whispered 4 words in Eddie's ear, and before the others could recover from the shock, he too went inside.
K.C. took the list next. He wanted to redeem himself after his disappointing performance at the ball game. "I know lots of poems," he boasted. As he read the list, though, his confidence faltered. Can you help K.C. and the other remaining members of the team get into the club?
0) N M is an I
1) O upon a M D
2) T R D in a Y W
3) T was T K into the E
4) A T of B is a J for E
5) In F F the P B
6) The W was a T of D among the G T
7) I M G D to the S A, to the L S and the S
8) S W in B, like the N
9) The O W B for the M N that D
10) In X did K K
11) I T that I S N S
12) There are S T D in the M S
13) T T, B B
14) The O and the P-C W to S
Hint
"Would it help to know the poets?" offered Eddie. "There's a list on the back of the paper. It's an alphabetical list, so it's not in the same order as the list of lines, but maybe you know some of their poems?"K.C. turned over the sheet of paper in his hands to find the following list:
William Blake
Robert Burns
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
John Donne
Robert Frost
George Gordon, Lord Byron
John Keats
Joyce Kilmer
Edward Lear
John Masefield
John McCrae
Alfred Noyes
Edgar Allan Poe
Robert W. Service
Ernest Lawrence Thayer
"Yes, this will help a bunch," he exclaimed. "William Blake is the poet with the same last name as Jimmy. I only know one of his poems, and its first line matches line #13."
Answer
"Tyger Tyger, burning bright," recited K.C.,"In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?"
"What about the last one? The one that Flynn knew?" asked Hank.
"The Owl and the Pussy-Cat went to sea," supplied Tim,
"In a beautiful pea-green boat:
They took some honey, and plenty of money
Wrapped up in a five-pound note."
"Who wrote that poem?" asked Hank, looking at the list of poets again.
"Edward Lear," said K.C., his confidence returning.
Having already forgotten their disappointing loss, the boys worked together to solve 8 more of the famous first lines. They all had a great time at the poetry readings and the limerick writing contest. First prize, however, went to a poetry club member named Sam Clemens
0) No man is an island ~ No Man is an Island by John Donne
1) Once upon a midnight dreary ~ The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
2) Two roads diverged in a yellow wood ~ The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
3) There was three kings into the east ~ John Barleycorn by Robert Burns
4) A thing of beauty is a joy for ever ~ Endymion by John Keats
5) In Flanders fields the poppies blow ~ In Flanders Fields by John McCrae
6) The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees ~ The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes
7) I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky ~ Sea Fever by John Masefield
8) She walks in beauty, like the night ~ She Walks in Beauty by George Gordon, Lord Byron
9) The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day ~ Casey at the Bat by Ernest Lawrence Thayer
10) In Xanadu did Kubla Khan ~ Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
11) I think that I shall never see ~ Trees by Joyce Kilmer
12) There are strange things done in the midnight sun ~ The Cremation of Sam McGee by Robert W. Service
13) Tyger Tyger, burning bright ~ The Tyger by William Blake
14) The Owl and the Pussy-Cat went to sea ~ The Owl and the Pussy-Cat by Edward Lear
Hide Hint Show Hint Hide Answer Show Answer
What Next?
View a Similar Brain Teaser...
If you become a registered user you can vote on this brain teaser, keep track of which ones you have seen, and even make your own.
Solve a Puzzle
Comments hidden to avoid spoilers.
Follow Braingle!