# Common denominators **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 17, 2008, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486 "2008-12-17T00:33:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/1 "2008-12-17T00:33:59Z")
I think we’ve played this game, or something similar, before: List three people (or things, or a combination of both). The next player states what they have in common, and gives a new trio. Make 'em as easy or as hard as you want. For instance: Thomas Jefferson Elizabeth I Danny Bonaduce They’re all redheads. Okay? Here’s the first list: Elvis Presley Jack LaLanne Emma Peel ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/2 "2008-12-17T15:13:46Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Okay? Here’s the first list: > > Elvis Presley > Jack LaLanne > Emma Peel Tough way to start! Were you thinking of the fact they’re all often seen wearing jumpsuits? Here’s a new one: George Patton Benjamin Spock Buster Crabbe ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/3 "2008-12-17T16:10:25Z")
Too hard? not for anyone over the age of 50! :smack: Yours – all Olympic athletes? (Knew that about Buster Crabbe, had a vague recollection on Patton, and thus started by googling Spock on it.) I had a second one in mind, but it was harder than jumpsuits, so let me think of something a little less obnoxious. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/4 "2008-12-17T17:12:02Z")
Fred Astaire Malcolm X Marlon Brando ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/5 "2008-12-17T19:25:29Z")
I’m enjoying this. My word-manipulation puzzles never go more than ten minutes. Leonardo da Vinci Alexander Hamilton Marilyn Monroe ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/6 "2008-12-17T19:56:41Z")
So did the time pass for post #4? If so, can you give away the answer? ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/7 "2008-12-17T20:00:11Z")
All three of them were living in a country that was in a war at some point of their lifetimes. Doesn’t seem like the right answer but it’s true. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/8 "2008-12-17T20:06:16Z")
Nope – still leaving #4 hanging. Bwah ha ha ha! BTW – “they’re all dead” is also true and also irrelevant, for both #4 and #5. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/9 "2008-12-17T20:08:49Z")
does my war answer work for 5? I guess I need a little clarification. Do I have to guess what you’re thinking or can anything they all share in common work? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/10 "2008-12-17T20:11:56Z")
Arthur Conan Doyle Nathaniel Hawthorne Baroness Emmuska Orczy ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/11 "2008-12-17T20:14:29Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > does my war answer work for 5? > > I guess I need a little clarification. Do I have to guess what you’re thinking or can anything they all share in common work? Well, since there’s no one on the planet, past or present, who’s ever lived in a place that has never been at war, I don’t think that’s a particularly helpful answer. And “never been in Cliff Claven’s kitchen” is also a little too all-inclusive. So, yeah, the thing I’m looking for is probably best, unless you come up with something of an equivalent level of specificity (as determined by me). ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/12 "2008-12-17T20:15:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Arthur Conan Doyle > Nathaniel Hawthorne > Baroness Emmuska Orczy Authors. Dan Akroyd Wayne Gretzky Cobie Smulders ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/13 "2008-12-17T20:32:51Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > Authors. Significantly more specific. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/14 "2008-12-17T20:43:39Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > Dan Akroyd > Wayne Gretzky > Cobie Smulders They’re all Canadian – did you have something more specific than that in mind? ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/15 "2008-12-17T20:47:32Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Leonardo da Vinci > Alexander Hamilton > Marilyn Monroe They were all born out of wedlock? ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/16 "2008-12-17T20:48:35Z")
All wrote historical fiction. 🙂 > [@twickster](#): > > They’re all Canadian – did you have something more specific than that in mind? Nope, you got it right! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/17 "2008-12-17T21:42:32Z")
Martin Luther King Jr. Desmond Tutu Woodrow Wilson ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/18 "2008-12-17T21:45:22Z")
Horatio Nelson Red Pollard Sandy Duncan ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/19 "2008-12-17T22:02:23Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Martin Luther King Jr. > Desmond Tutu > Woodrow Wilson They all have Nobel Peace Prizes. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/20 "2008-12-17T22:04:34Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > Horatio Nelson > Red Pollard > Sandy Duncan They’re all blind in one eye. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486.md?page=2)