# Eleven or twelve puzzle **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 27, 2026, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eleven-or-twelve-puzzle/1034184 "2026-10-27T01:54:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [October 27, 2026, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eleven-or-twelve-puzzle/1034184/1 "2026-10-27T01:54:36Z")
This is based on an online thing I saw. I’m paraphrasing the original. Are there eleven or twelve X’s in the following line? X X X X X X X X X X X X The total number of X’s in this line is twelve. But some people were arguing that eleven is also a correct answer because any group of twelve objects must inherently contain eleven objects (and ten and nine etc.). What is your answer to these questions: “Are there eleven X’s in the following line?” X X X X X X X X X X X X "Are there ten or eleven X’s in the following line? X X X X X X X X X X X X Or are the correct answers to these questions yes or no? ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2026, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eleven-or-twelve-puzzle/1034184/2 "2026-10-27T02:06:27Z")
First question Is there 11 or 12 Xs? Answer: YES 😉 In Boolean algebra, OR is inclusive, computer (and probably other folks) extend that to common things. In fact if the question was are there 12 or 42 Xs the answer would still be yes. Brian “Technically correct, the best kind of correct “ ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2026, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eleven-or-twelve-puzzle/1034184/3 "2026-10-27T02:08:54Z")
“Twelve” is a correct answer. “Yes” is also a correct answer, though probably snarky in most contexts. And “Yes” can also be a correct answer, depending on context, to the question “Are there eleven Xs?”. But “Eleven” cannot be a correct answer to the original question. The “or” can be parsed as “Which one of these two options is correct?”, in which case “both” is syntactically disallowed. Or the “or” can be parsed as “is at least one of these things true”, in which case the answer is “yes”. But there is no parsing of “or” that makes “eleven” correct. ---
**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:** [October 27, 2026, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eleven-or-twelve-puzzle/1034184/4 "2026-10-27T02:16:40Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > But there is no parsing of “or” that makes “eleven” correct. What about the argument that a group of twelve objects must inherently contain a group of eleven objects? Or are you saying that if the question was “Are there eleven and twelve X’s in the following line?” then the correct answer would be 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:** [October 27, 2026, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eleven-or-twelve-puzzle/1034184/5 "2026-10-27T02:19:44Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > In fact if the question was are there 12 or 42 Xs the answer would still be yes. If the question was “Are there eleven or forty-two X’s in the following line?” would the correct answer still be yes?