https://www.futilitycloset.com/2026/09/25/a-late-work/
A Late Work - Futility Closet
Sep 25, 2026 - This famous adagio is commonly attributed to the 18th-century Venetian composer Tomaso Albinoni (1671–1751). In fact it was written in 1958. Musicologist Remo...
futility closetlatework
https://www.futilitycloset.com/category/puzzles/page/80/
Puzzles Archives - Page 80 of 155 - Futility Closet
archives pagefutility closetpuzzles
https://www.futilitycloset.com/page/230/
Futility Closet - Page 230 of 1438 - An idler's miscellany of compendious amusements
An idler's miscellany of compendious amusements
futility closetan idlermiscellanycompendiousamusements
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2026/09/12/kakuro/
Kakuro - Futility Closet
Sep 12, 2026 - This logic puzzle is the numerical equivalent of a crossword. Each white cell in the diagram is to be filled with a digit from the range 1-9. The sum of each...
futility closetkakuro
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2005/09/08/cavendish-verse/
Cavendish Verse - Futility Closet
Mar 28, 2006 - An immortally bad poem by Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle (1623-1673): What Is Liquid? All that doth flow we cannot liquid name Or else would fire and...
futility closetcavendishverse
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2011/09/21/science-and-magic/
Science and Magic - Futility Closet
Sep 21, 2011 - In 1984, Timothy Zell patented a surgical procedure to make a unicorn of a cow, antelope, sheep, or goat, essentially by transplanting the horn buds. In the...
futility closetsciencemagic
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2013/05/14/outreach-2/
Outreach - Futility Closet
May 14, 2013 - There’s a museum on the moon. As Apollo 12 prepared to depart in 1969, New York sculptor Forrest Myers commissioned drawings from six prominent artists and had...
futility closetoutreach
https://www.futilitycloset.com/category/technology/page/89/
Technology Archives - Page 89 of 93 - Futility Closet
archives pagefutility closettechnology
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2013/03/30/stormy-weather-3/
Stormy Weather - Futility Closet
Jul 4, 2013 - Take an ordinary magic square and imagine that the number in each cell denotes its altitude above some common underlying plane. And now suppose that it begins...
stormy weatherfutility closet
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2014/07/20/rich-earth/
Rich Earth - Futility Closet
Jul 22, 2014 - Why do the elements ytterbium, yttrium, terbium, and erbium have similar names? Because all four of them were first discovered in ore from the same mine near...
futility closetrichearth
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2008/12/06/innovation-punished/
Innovation Punished - Futility Closet
Dec 6, 2008 - Pliny, Petronius, and Dion Cassius all tell of a flexible glass invented in the first century A.D. Dion says a man displayed a glass cup to Tiberius and dashed...
futility closetinnovationpunished
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2010/04/29/the-eiffel-tower/
"The Eiffel Tower" - Futility Closet
Jan 24, 2013 - By C.W. Wood. White to mate in two moves.
the eiffel towerfutility closet
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2009/03/07/a-blindfold-bullseye/
A Blindfold Bullseye - Futility Closet
Mar 7, 2009 - In 1908, German novelist Ferdinand H. Grautoff published Banzai!, a curiously prescient account of a war between Japan and the United States. Japan deals a...
futility closetblindfoldbullseye
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2006/02/25/the-barrison-sisters/
The Barrison Sisters - Futility Closet
Dec 7, 2010 - The Barrison Sisters after asking “Would you like to see my …” — well, you can guess. “The Wickedest Girls in the World” toured vaudeville between 1890 and...
the barrison sistersfutility closet
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2007/04/06/the-tree-that-owns-itself/
The Tree That Owns Itself - Futility Closet
Nov 18, 2010 - In 1832, Col. William Henry Jackson of Athens, Ga., made an unusual bequest: I, W. H. Jackson, of the county of Clarke, of the one part, and the oak tree … of...
the treefutility closetowns
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2011/07/27/a-personal-touch/
A Personal Touch - Futility Closet
Jul 27, 2011 - Two phantom towns appeared on Michigan’s official state map in 1978. Their names, Goblu and Beatosu, showed pretty clearly that the culprit was a University of...
a personalfutility closettouch
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2024/05/16/the-kings-salary/
The King's Salary - Futility Closet
May 16, 2024 - A little kingdom contains 66 people, a king and 65 citizens. Each of them, including the king, has a salary of one gold piece. When democracy comes, the king...
the kingfutility closetsalary
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2010/11/17/painting-the-lily/
Painting the Lily - Futility Closet
Nov 17, 2010 - About 50 years after Shakespeare’s death, John Dryden’s brother-in-law James Howard rewrote Romeo and Juliet as a tragicomedy in which the lovers are happily...
painting the lilyfutility closet
https://www.futilitycloset.com/category/history/page/51/
History Archives - Page 51 of 156 - Futility Closet
archives pagefutility closethistory
https://www.futilitycloset.com/category/literature/page/5/
Literature Archives - Page 5 of 126 - Futility Closet
archives pagefutility closetliterature
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2022/04/15/procrustes/
Procrustes - Futility Closet
Apr 15, 2022 - Rhymes for unrhymable words, by Willard R. Espy: It is unth- inkable to find A rhyme for month Except this special kind. The four eng- ineers Wore orange...
futility closetprocrustes
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2015/05/04/podcast-episode-56-lateral-thinking-puzzles/
Podcast Episode 56: Lateral Thinking Puzzles - Futility Closet
Oct 25, 2017 - Here are six new lateral thinking puzzles to test your wits! Solve along with us as we explore some strange scenarios using only yes-or-no questions. Many were...
podcast episodelateral thinkingfutility closetpuzzles
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2019/10/07/podcast-episode-267-the-murchison-murders/
Podcast Episode 267: The Murchison Murders - Futility Closet
Oct 14, 2019 - In 1929, detective novelist Arthur Upfield wanted to devise the perfect murder, so he started a discussion among his friends in Western Australia. He was...
the murchison murderspodcast episodefutility closet
https://www.futilitycloset.com/category/poems/page/40/
Poems Archives - Page 40 of 58 - Futility Closet
archives pagefutility closetpoems
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2026/09/21/dead-mans-chest/
Dead Man's Chest - Futility Closet
Sep 21, 2026 - Five pirates of different ages want to divide a treasure of 100 gold coins. They agree that the oldest among them will propose how to divide the coins, and...
dead manfutility closetchest
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2026/06/09/brainstorm/
Brainstorm - Futility Closet
Jun 9, 2026 - In 2015, Canadian politician Sheldon Bergson changed his name to Above Znoneofthe, so that it would appear on electoral ballots as “Znoneofthe, Above.” (The Z,...
futility closetbrainstorm
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2019/03/14/the-roving-princess/
The Roving Princess - Futility Closet
Mar 17, 2019 - A puzzle by University College London mathematician Matthew Scroggs: A princess lives in a row of 17 rooms. Each day she moves to a new room adjacent to the...
futility closetrovingprincess
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2020/01/02/moving-up-2/
Moving Up - Futility Closet
Jan 2, 2020 - Architect Raymond Hood’s 1927 proposal “City of Towers” would have turned Manhattan into a forest of needles — it would encourage developers to release some...
moving upfutility closet
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2010/08/14/time-well-spent/
Time Well Spent - Futility Closet
Jul 17, 2015 - The Journal of Recreational Mathematics published this remarkable magic square, composed by “a puzzlist who at the time was a prison inmate.” The large 13 × 13...
time well spentfutility closet
https://www.futilitycloset.com/page/206/?s=in+a+word
You searched for in a word - Page 206 of 221 - Futility Closet
in a wordsearched forfutility closet
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2025/03/12/one-way-3/
One Way - Futility Closet
Mar 12, 2025 - A maze by Eric Fisk. Following the arrows, find a path that leads away from the star and back to it.
one wayfutility closet
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2010/03/19/in-a-word-253/
In a Word - Futility Closet
Mar 19, 2010 - acephalist n. one who acknowledges no superior “In America everybody is of the opinion that he has no social superiors, since all men are equal, but he does...
in a wordfutility closet
https://www.futilitycloset.com/category/society/page/50/
Society Archives - Page 50 of 126 - Futility Closet
archives pagefutility closetsociety
https://www.futilitycloset.com/category/language/page/32/
Language Archives - Page 32 of 210 - Futility Closet
archives pagefutility closetlanguage
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2010/11/01/quite-contrary/
Quite Contrary - Futility Closet
Mar 4, 2013 - A contronym is a word with two contrary meanings, such as cleave or sanction (more here). The word contronym itself has no double meaning. Is it a contronym?...
quite contraryfutility closet
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2024/06/19/true-love/
True Love - Futility Closet
Jun 21, 2024 - The 1937 edition of Webster’s Universal Dictionary of the English Language contains this peculiar entry: jungftak (jŭngf´ täk) n. a fabled Persian bird, the...
true lovefutility closet
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2010/05/04/enormous-undescribed-animal/
"Enormous Undescribed Animal" - Futility Closet
Dec 18, 2010 - Sailing in the Gulf of California aboard H.M.S. Fly around 1838, Capt. George Hope looked down through waters “perfectly calm and transparent” and saw...
futility closetenormousundescribedanimal
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2018/07/27/arrh/
Arrh - Futility Closet
Jul 27, 2018 - In May 2017, brothers Ollie and Harry Ferguson launched a plastic pirate ship, the Adventure, into the North Sea at Peterhead, Scotland. It carried a message...
futility closetarrh
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2024/03/22/authority/
Authority - Futility Closet
Mar 22, 2024 - “King James said to the fly, Have I three kingdoms, and thou must needs fly into my eye?” — John Selden “The autocrat of Russia possesses more power than any...
futility closetauthority
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2011/12/07/the-chemist-to-his-love/
"The Chemist to His Love" - Futility Closet
Dec 7, 2011 - I love thee, Mary, and thou lovest me– Our mutual flame is like th’ affinity That doth exist between two simple bodies: I am Potassium to thine Oxygen. ‘Tis...
the chemistfutility closetlove
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2020/01/27/podcast-episode-282-helga-estbys-walk/
Podcast Episode 282: Helga Estby's Walk - Futility Closet
Feb 10, 2020 - In 1896, Norwegian immigrant Helga Estby faced the foreclosure of her family’s Washington farm. To pay the debt she accepted a wager to walk across the United...
podcast episodehelga estbyfutility closetwalk
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2005/03/15/spittoon-by-any-other-name/
Spittoon by Any Other Name - Futility Closet
Mar 30, 2006 - James Joyce claimed that cuspidor is the most beautiful word in the English language.
any other namefutility closetspittoon
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2009/11/28/unconditional/
Unconditional - Futility Closet
Nov 28, 2009 - When the 18-year-old Ethel Barrymore informed her father that she was engaged, he wired: CONGRATULATIONS LOVE FATHER When she informed him she’d broken it off,...
futility closetunconditional
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2008/09/29/the-lying-nun/
The Lying Nun - Futility Closet
Sep 21, 2010 - Canada saw a sensation in 1836 — a woman named Maria Monk claimed to have been a nun in a Montreal convent where priests from the nearby seminary would enter...
futility closetlyingnun
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2013/03/12/hells-kitchen/
Hell's Kitchen - Futility Closet
Mar 12, 2013 - Probably you’ll want to skip this one — a recipe “to rost a Goose alive,” from Johann Wecker’s Secrets of Nature, 1582: Let it be a Duck or Goose, or some such...
futility closethellkitchen
https://www.futilitycloset.com/page/43/
Futility Closet - Page 43 of 1438 - An idler's miscellany of compendious amusements
An idler's miscellany of compendious amusements
futility closetan idlermiscellanycompendiousamusements
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2011/11/18/carving-verbs/
Carving Verbs - Futility Closet
Nov 18, 2011 - A dinner host in the 17th century might have wished for a usage manual — a different term was used for carving each dish, and, according to Samuel Orchart...
futility closetcarvingverbs
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2010/07/26/chess-and-dominoes/
Chess and Dominoes - Futility Closet
Jan 24, 2013 - We learned in this problem that (spoiler!) if two squares of the same color are cut out of a chessboard, the remaining 62 squares cannot be tiled by 31...
futility closetchessdominoes
https://www.futilitycloset.com/category/oddities/page/182/
Oddities Archives - Page 182 of 260 - Futility Closet
archives pagefutility closetoddities
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2012/05/31/love-maps/
Love Maps - Futility Closet
May 31, 2012 - This “geographical love enigma” appeared on a German postcard in the early 20th century. Travel north to south through each successive country (green, red,...
love mapsfutility closet
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2024/08/29/a-fistful-of-scrawlers/
A Fistful of Scrawlers - Futility Closet
Aug 29, 2024 - From an 1897 Strand article: The “typewriter glove” was “a contrivance of wash-leather, upon which were embossed a set of rubber types. ‘Caps’ were on the left...
futility closetfistfulscrawlers
https://www.futilitycloset.com/category/poems/page/4/
Poems Archives - Page 4 of 58 - Futility Closet
archives pagefutility closetpoems
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2023/11/15/not-available/
Not Available - Futility Closet
Nov 15, 2023 - Since ethicists are trained to reason explicitly about morality, we might expect them to behave particularly well. For example, we might hope they’d return...
not availablefutility closet
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2019/06/03/unquote-605/
Unquote - Futility Closet
Jun 3, 2019 - “Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative.” — Oscar Wilde “Consistency requires you to be as ignorant today as you were a year ago.” — Bernard...
futility closetunquote
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2014/05/15/in-a-word-471/
In a Word - Futility Closet
May 15, 2014 - opitulate v. to help or aid subvene v. to come to the aid of adjutorious adj. helpful deoppilate v. to remove obstructions adjuvant n. a person who helps or...
in a wordfutility closet
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2006/09/08/starting-small/
Starting Small - Futility Closet
Jul 19, 2013 - The first KISS concert drew an audience of three (at the Popcorn Club in Queens, January 1973).
futility closetstartingsmall