Brain Teasers
Sam or Mark?
Trivia
Trivia brain teasers have some element of trivia in them, but they are not just pure trivia questions.Trivia
Two friends were talking. They had both just finished reading a book. They were trying to remember the author's name. Friend A said,"I recall that the author's name was Sam."
"I'm certain that the author's name was Mark," said Friend B.
They were both correct, but how can this be?
"I'm certain that the author's name was Mark," said Friend B.
They were both correct, but how can this be?
Hint
The names Sam and Mark are both first names, not middle or last names.Answer
The author was indeed Mark Twain, more formally Samuel Longhorn Clemens. Mark Twain was his pen name.Hide Hint Show Hint Hide Answer Show Answer
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Please comment on my teaser. I need feedback to improve future teasers.
sure! this wuz a gr8 and (4 sum) hard teaser. u r doing pretty good job so far...
not that u only have 1 teaser like me, that is!
Jan 24, 2003
I think your teaser uses a nice trick - that the author uses a pen name, but there was not nearly enough information to guess the correct answer. Anyone who refers to Samuel Longhorn Clemens as Sam would surely have known that his pen name was Mark Twain. But maybe that's just me? Maybe you should have named Friend A and Friend B. Perhaps the title of the teaser could have clued the answer. I dunno.. maybe.. Twixt or Twain?
I guessed and got it right, but had no idea that Mark Twains real name was Samuel... Then again, I havn't gotton up to him yet in school
Good teaser! I remembered that Mark Twain was a pen name but I could not rember his real name. I knew it had to be Samuel something from your clue. Well done!
His name is Mark Sam
very good, but i just had it on a government test, and have come across that before.
many know mark twain was his pen name, but not all know that the way he got his name was because he worked on a boat in the river (not sure which one) and his job was to "check" the "depth" of the boat in the water, but back then, check = mark, and depth = twain, so his job was to "mark" the "twain" and so he took it as his name.
"Mark...twain", was taken from Mississippi riverboat terminology; it's a measure of depth, two fathoms, which was a good for shallow draft steamboats.
A good teaser should try to give something more and it should always respect its reader. This teaser was a good start. I'll be looking for more.
A good teaser should try to give something more and it should always respect its reader. This teaser was a good start. I'll be looking for more.
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