# Discussion thread for the "Polls only" thread (Part 3) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 29, 2026, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157 "2026-01-29T18:21:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/281 "2026-02-13T23:20:14Z")
I went on an Agatha Christie binge last year sometime. I truly didn’t know she was that good of a writer. Yes, some cringy moments due to racism and terrible ideas about women, but great to read overall. I haven’t heard of the other lady. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/282 "2026-02-13T23:23:19Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I haven’t heard of the other lady. Ha! . ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2026, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/283 "2026-02-14T01:06:57Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > You didn’t ask for my recommendation but I always suggest _The Golden Spiders_ as the best entry point to Stout’s Nero Wolfe series. Good choice. Also Too Many Cooks. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > But comparing Nero Wolfe books to Perry Mason books, I find both to be reliable entertainment. I did say entertaining. He is classified by many critics as a “hack” due to his output (and a couple accidentally had the same plots). I mean, he did put out like 600 books. Mind you, he devised a great template for his stories. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > nor any non-Nero Wolfe Rex Stout. His Tecumseh Fox books are okay, but they dont have quite the magic of those Archie “wrote”. Red Threads stars Inspector Cramer. > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > however Stout’s have the benefit of one of the best narrators in 20th Century fiction. Right and a great team up. Not to mention Cramer is a solid detective also, not a bumbler. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/284 "2026-02-15T12:39:34Z")
Why “ha”? I’d never heard of Ellery Queen until this poll, and assumed it was a woman until I looked it up just now. Turns out it was the pseudonym for two male writers (collaborating cousins), and also the name of the male detective in their stories. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2026, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/285 "2026-02-16T18:10:49Z")
Oh, I shared in the joke. It’s pretty obvious you never heard of someone if you get their gender wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2026, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/286 "2026-02-16T18:20:34Z")
“Never heard of that lady” sounds like the punchline to an Alice Cooper joke. Ellery Queen is fairly well known as a team of male writers and the male character is even more well known. I thought your comment was almost certainly a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2026, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/287 "2026-02-16T18:29:31Z")
It was my comment, and not a joke, but I was amused when I googled Ellery Queen. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2026, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/288 "2026-02-16T18:31:38Z")
I literally lost the thread on this one. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2026, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/289 "2026-02-16T18:44:12Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Ellery Queen is fairly well known as a team of male writers and the male character is even more well known. Among mystery fans, I would believe this. Among the general public, probably not so much. The last new Ellery Queen story was published 55 years ago, and the last significant media adaptation of the character and the stories was 50 years ago (the TV series starring Jim Hutton). It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if the name, and the series, has largely faded from general public knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2026, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/290 "2026-02-16T18:52:05Z")
I was hoping to get a pass because I’m a Millennial. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2026, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/291 "2026-02-16T19:52:21Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Ellery Queen is fairly well known as a team of male writers and the male character is even more well known One of the things I’ve noticed on these boards, as well as elsewhere, is that it’s almost never safe to assume that everybody else shares your knowledge of whatever you think is basic information. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2026, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/292 "2026-02-16T20:10:03Z")
“I do not love thee, Doctor Fell. The reason why I cannot tell. But this I know, I know too well— I do not love thee, Doctor Fell.” —apparently you’re not alone! ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2026, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/293 "2026-02-16T20:15:34Z")
Oh, you should definitely get a pass! I know Ellery Queen’s output because I was a) a mystery fan and b) devouring mystery stories as a teenager in the seventies, when the cousins were dying and the novels and short stories came to an end—leaving a LOT for an obsessive kid like me to read though. and for many years I continued to read Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, which had stories, some of them excellent, and reviews of novels. But that really was a long time ago, and many better mystery writers have come (and gone in some cases) and so it’s no surprise to me that Queen is an unfamiliar name for tons of people these days. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2026, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/294 "2026-02-16T21:24:13Z")
I was a fairly avid mystery reader years ago, and I’d heard of both Ellery Queen and the magazine. But I’d never read any of that series. I just learned that it was written by a pair of men. (I’d never really wondered about the gender of the author, but had assumed it was a single person.) And i just learned that the books featured a detective of that name, i thought it was the name of the author. 🤷‍♀️ ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2026, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/295 "2026-02-16T21:37:36Z")
I once turned in a paper with something like this as one of the answers: Magister Fell, non amo te Et _something something_ nec quare Sed eto scio, et scio bene, Magister Fell, non amo te. Got me a check mark, but not a higher grade. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2026, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/296 "2026-02-16T21:54:18Z")
There was an Ellery Queen TV series back in the 70s, created by the same team who made Columbo. I remember it being pretty terrible, and had no idea they made this many episodes. > **[Ellery Queen (TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellery_Queen_(TV_series))** > > Ellery Queen is an American TV drama series, developed by Richard Levinson and William Link, who based it on the fictional character of the same name. The series ran for a single season on NBC from September 11, 1975, to April 4, 1976. Jim Hutton stars as the eponymous sleuth, along with David Wayne as his father, Inspector Richard Queen. > Each episode revolves around author Queen investigating a murder, usually with the assistance of his father. The series uses some of the same dramatic devic... Oops, I see it is mentioned up thread. Anyway, have a link! ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2026, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/297 "2026-02-16T22:31:51Z")
Aw, I’d have given you a higher grade! ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2026, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/298 "2026-02-16T22:33:29Z")
Thanks! You might have liked my translation of Patti Smith’s “Birdland” into Latin, amateurish as it was. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2026, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/299 "2026-02-16T22:38:04Z")
I’m sure I would’ve! in HS I translated a chapter of _Alice in Wonderland_ into German. I think I got a good grade. It was a great deal of fun and I thought for maybe fifteen seconds about becoming a translator. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2026, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/300 "2026-02-16T22:51:39Z")
Nice. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157.md?page=16)