# 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:** 2
**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, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/21 "2008-12-17T22:05:11Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > They’re all blind in one eye. Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/22 "2008-12-17T22:10:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Horatio Nelson > Red Pollard > Sandy Duncan All were blind in one eye.Dido Annie Lennox Barbara Mandrell ---
**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, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/23 "2008-12-17T22:12:36Z")
Boring day at work… Herman Melville Ernest Hemingway Norman Maclean ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/24 "2008-12-17T22:20:34Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > Boring day at work… > > Herman Melville > Ernest Hemingway > Norman Maclean Writers of fish(ing) tales? ---
**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, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/25 "2008-12-17T22:28:05Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Writers of fish(ing) tales? Yep. ---
**Author:** ![TheVioletCreep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eb8c5e/32.png) [@TheVioletCreep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheVioletCreep)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/26 "2008-12-17T22:45:32Z")
J.D. Salinger Howard Hughes Syd Barrett ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/27 "2008-12-17T23:21:29Z")
> [@](#): > > J.D. Salinger > Howard Hughes > Syd Barrett recluses Miguel de Cervantes Marco Polo Kurt Vonnegut ---
**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, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/28 "2008-12-17T23:25:27Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Miguel de Cervantes > Marco Polo > Kurt Vonnegut they’ve all been captured in war ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/29 "2008-12-18T00:04:17Z")
That’s the right answer of #27. Nobody’s guessed yet for #22. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/30 "2008-12-18T00:04:28Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Arthur Conan Doyle > Nathaniel Hawthorne > Baroness Emmuska Orczy Titles including the word “scarlet”. (_A Study in Scarlet_, _The Scarlet Letter_, _The Scarlet Pimpernel_) And an easy one: Red Grange Graham Kerr The Tacoma Narrows Bridge ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/31 "2008-12-18T00:10:51Z")
Benjamin Harrison George Lazenby Hugh Downs ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/32 "2008-12-18T01:14:32Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > They were all born out of wedlock? Correct. > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Titles including the word “scarlet”. (_A Study in Scarlet_, _The Scarlet Letter_, _The Scarlet Pimpernel_) Correct. Which just leaves us with my first one: > [@twickster](#): > > 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 18, 2008, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/33 "2008-12-18T01:19:23Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Red Grange > Graham Kerr > The Tacoma Narrows Bridge Really nice one! They all “gallop” – the Galloping Ghost, the Galloping Gourmet, and [“Galloping Gertie.”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacoma_Narrows_Bridge_Collapse) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/34 "2008-12-18T01:25:53Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Fred Astaire > Malcolm X > Marlon Brando I’ll spoiler this since I had to look it up.All were born in Omaha, Nebraska. My favorite radio show did a round like this once, leading to the following exchange: Host: “Banjo, bloodsucker, and Bartok.” Tony: “Those are my attorneys.” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/35 "2008-12-18T02:59:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Benjamin Harrison > George Lazenby > Hugh Downs Harrison succeeded and was succeeded by Grover Cleveland as President. Lazenby succeeded and was succeeded by Sean Connery in playing James Bond. I’m assuming there’s a similar connection with Downs, although I don’t know what it is. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/36 "2008-12-18T03:08:38Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Harrison succeeded and was succeeded by Grover Cleveland as President. Lazenby succeeded and was succeeded by Sean Connery in playing James Bond. I’m assuming there’s a similar connection with Downs, although I don’t know what it is. - The Today Show\*, maybe? ---
**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 18, 2008, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/37 "2008-12-18T05:16:51Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > They all have Nobel Peace Prizes. Incorrect. Woodrow Wilson did not. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/38 "2008-12-18T06:44:08Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Harrison succeeded and was succeeded by Grover Cleveland as President. Lazenby succeeded and was succeeded by Sean Connery in playing James Bond. I’m assuming there’s a similar connection with Downs, although I don’t know what it is. **twickster** is close:Hugh Downs was the announcer for the _Tonight Show_ during the time it was hosted by Jack Paar. In 1960, Paar was so upset over a joke being censored that he walked off the show with no notice. Hugh Downs became the host until Paar came back a month later.Nice job, **Little Nemo** , I really thought that one might be a stumper without some hints. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/39 "2008-12-18T14:35:33Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > **twickster** is close:Hugh Downs was the announcer for the _Tonight Show_ during the time it was hosted by Jack Paar. In 1960, Paar was so upset over a joke being censored that he walked off the show with no notice. Hugh Downs became the host until Paar came back a month later.Nice job, **Little Nemo** , I really thought that one might be a stumper without some hints. That’s what was tickling the back of my memory – should’ve done a little research. And I agree, **Little Nemo** deserves kudos for getting it – that was a good one. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominators/477486/40 "2008-12-18T14:41:53Z")
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