# 6 \* 9 = 42?? WTF?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 10, 2001, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-9-42-wtf/49340 "2001-01-10T15:45:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![c\_goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@c\_goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_goat)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-9-42-wtf/49340/1 "2001-01-10T15:45:01Z")
In [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=54501) thread… and [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=54187) thread I see people say that six times nine is 42… nobody disputes it either so I have to assume that it’s a joke of some sort… What’s the joke? ---
**Author:** ![LazarusLong42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@LazarusLong42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LazarusLong42)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-9-42-wtf/49340/2 "2001-01-10T15:47:10Z")
Read Douglas Adams’ _The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_ and _The Restaurant at the End of the Universe_. Otherwise you won’t understand the joke. 🙂 LL ---
**Author:** ![c\_goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@c\_goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_goat)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-9-42-wtf/49340/3 "2001-01-10T15:49:41Z")
I should have known it was from that series. I read it so long ago that all I remember is 42. ---
**Author:** ![Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wonko_The_Sane)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-9-42-wtf/49340/4 "2001-01-10T19:01:41Z")
In either the third or fourth book in the five part trilogy, Arthur Dent is on prehistoric earth trying to teach the cavemen to play scrabble, but the only word they know is “grunt” and they don’t know how to spell it. Arthur and Ford Prefect are talking and decide that a good way to find out the ultimate question (the ultimate answer has long been known to be 42) is to introduce some kind of random element- picking scrabble tiles out of a bag made from a marks and spencer towel. The reasoning behind this is that Arthur Dent is a product of the earth (destroyed by the vogons in the first book) which was built for the mice to determine the ultimate question, the answer to which is 42. When Arthur pulled out the tiles and placed them in order, the phrase he got was “What you get when you multiply six by nine” Hope that clears it up. By the way, if you work in base 13, six by nine -is- 42. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-9-42-wtf/49340/5 "2001-01-10T21:44:24Z")
Wonko - that bit occurs at the end of the second book, _The Restaurant at the End of the Universe_. (You should know it isn’t the fourth book; that’s where your namesake shows up. ;)) Say, wouldn’t “Ark Two from Golgafrincham” be a good name for a rock band? How about “The Azgoths of Kria”? ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-9-42-wtf/49340/6 "2001-01-10T22:12:42Z")
I confused **c\_goat**! Yippee! 😛 😃 ---
**Author:** ![c\_goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@c\_goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_goat)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-9-42-wtf/49340/7 "2001-01-10T22:50:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gunslinger \* > \*\*I confused **c\_goat**! Yippee! 😛 😃 \*\* I used to think I was smart until I started coming here. Surprisingly, it’s not terribly difficult to confuse me. If you confused Cecil however, then you can jump up and down. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wonko_The_Sane)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2001, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-9-42-wtf/49340/8 "2001-01-11T15:41:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by c\_goat \* > I used to think I was smart until I started coming here. > \*\* Is this a flattering comment about everyone’s intellegence, or is c\_goat saying something insulting about the kind of person that shows up on this board?.. Tune in next time when you’ll hear C\_Goat say Ba-a-a-a-a… ---
**Author:** ![Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wonko_The_Sane)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2001, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-9-42-wtf/49340/9 "2001-01-11T15:41:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by c\_goat \* > I used to think I was smart until I started coming here. > \*\* Is this a flattering comment about everyone’s intelligence, or is c\_goat saying something insulting about the kind of person that shows up on this board?.. Tune in next time when you’ll hear C\_Goat say Ba-a-a-a-a… ---
**Author:** ![c\_goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@c\_goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_goat)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2001, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-9-42-wtf/49340/10 "2001-01-11T15:44:08Z")
Ba-a-a-a-a… (BTW: I wasn’t insulting anyone but myself) ---
**Author:** ![Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wonko_The_Sane)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2001, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-9-42-wtf/49340/11 "2001-01-11T16:19:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by c\_goat \* > \*\*Ba-a-a-a-a… > \*\* LOL!!! Arrrgghh! I’ve done the dreaded double post!!! \ gurgle… gurgle… snipsau! ---
**Author:** ![racerx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5e9695/32.png) [@racerx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racerx)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2001, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-9-42-wtf/49340/12 "2001-01-11T16:26:05Z")
oh great. now i know the question, i might as well quit reading the books. 😉