# How many minutes in a quarter hour? What's 3x3x3? College students try (and fail) to answer the important questions of our time! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 24, 2025, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358 "2025-09-24T14:41:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Zoobi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/13edae/32.png) [@Zoobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoobi)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/61 "2025-09-26T22:00:52Z")
No. > **[East Asian age reckoning](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asian_age_reckoning)** > > Traditional East Asian age reckoning covers a group of related methods for reckoning human ages practiced in the East Asian cultural sphere, where age is the number of calendar years in which a person has been alive; it starts at 1 at birth and increases at each New Year. Ages calculated this way are always 1 or 2 years greater than ages that start with 0 at birth and increase at each birthday. Historical records from China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam have usually been based on these methods, whos... Remember, everyday is an opportunity to learn. [![](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/ten_thousand.png) ](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/ten_thousand.png) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/62 "2025-09-26T22:10:13Z")
> [@Zoobi](#): > > Remember, everyday is an opportunity to learn. Learning about anthropological curiosities may be interesting to some, but others prefer to be grounded in science and hard facts. Understanding that the latter has tremendous value is part of the learning experience, too. P.S.- In the enlightened spirit of learning, I hope that today you learned that the word “everyday” and the phrase “every day” are not the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/63 "2025-09-26T22:39:24Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Nope. Bread. Or Pop-tarts, or a bunch of legit toaster foods. Bagels, English muffins. All before being toasted. Huh. I guess that makes sense, lol. I always thought toast was just a particular shape of square-ish, thin bread, as opposed to a roll or a loaf or whatever. Maybe if somebody paid me $50, I’d have realized it had to do with, well, _toasting_… ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/64 "2025-09-26T22:41:12Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Maybe if somebody paid me $50, I’d have realized it had to do with, well, _toasting_… 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/65 "2025-09-29T02:51:54Z")
Thinking about the thread topic, it occurs to me that if you grew up with digital clocks instead of analog clocks, it would take some thought to answer the question “How many minutes in a quarter hour.” They should still have been able to figure out the answer. But for somebody like me, who grew up with analog clocks, when I read that question, I immediately picture a quarter of a circle and know it’s 15 minutes. In fact, I usually picture an analog clock face when I have to be somewhere. If I have to be somewhere in 10 minutes a picture a small pie wedge. If I have to be there in 20 minutes I picture a pie wedge that comprises one-third of the clock face and I know immediately it’s 20 minutes. I own digital clocks and I wear a digital watch but I still use the visual cues of an analog clock face when calculating time. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2025, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/66 "2025-10-03T16:19:02Z")
I didn’t read through the entire thread but I suspect the people that answered the questions correctly are on the cutting room floor. Because correct answers are not nearly as funny. ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2025, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/67 "2025-10-04T14:30:05Z")
While there are usually 15 minutes in a quarter hour, there have been 27 instances since 1972 in which a quarter hour contained 15 1/60 minutes. > **[Leap second](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_second)** > > A leap second is a one-second adjustment that is occasionally applied to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), to accommodate the difference between precise time (International Atomic Time (TAI), as measured by atomic clocks) and imprecise observed solar time (UT1), which varies due to irregularities and long-term slowdown in the Earth's rotation. The UTC time standard, widely used for international timekeeping and as the reference for civil time in most countries, uses TAI and consequently would r... ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2025, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/68 "2025-10-05T11:37:52Z")
Having reflected on the situation in the video a bit, I am not sure I would not have shown a deer in the headlights reaction myself - because I’d have doubted the correct answers, as they were too obviously correct, so there _must_ have been some catch. For example on the “how old are you if you were born seven years ago?” question I would have strongly suspected there must be a fence post error somewhere, for there to be a reason to ask the question. ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2025, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/69 "2025-10-05T14:24:53Z")
How many weeks are in a year? It’s not **exactly** 52 weeks and the answer depends on which year you are talking about. The guy that said there are 366 days in a year was correct for some years. Which continent is Jamaica on? There are several definitions of continent and the one I prefer would exclude Jamaica from any continent. Sheeps as a plural of sheep would be correct if you are talking about different varieties or breeds of sheep. Could you argue that there are 100 stars on a U.S. flag, 50 on one side and 50 on the other? I “knew” the past tense of seek but in the heat of the moment my brain kept trying to tell me it was seeked even though that didn’t sound right. As **Mops** pointed out, what seems to be an easy question may not be so easy if caught in an ambush interview. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2025, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/70 "2025-10-05T14:32:41Z")
> [@Ynnad](#): > > I “knew” the past tense of seek but in the heat of the moment my brain kept trying to tell me it was seeked even though that didn’t sound right. “Trick question: ‘Sikh’ is a noun!” ---
**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:** [October 5, 2025, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/71 "2025-10-05T14:46:41Z")
I agree with you on just the Jamaica one. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2025, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/72 "2025-10-05T17:04:04Z")
> [@Mops](#): > > Having reflected on the situation in the video a bit, I am not sure I would not have shown a deer in the headlights reaction myself - because I’d have doubted the correct answers, as they were too obviously correct, so there _must_ have been some catch. While overthinking a question is not usually productive, it does tend to be a sign of intelligence. These fucking morons were just totally clueless! ---
**Author:** ![Ancient\_Nerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed655f/32.png) [@Ancient\_Nerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ancient_Nerd)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2025, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358/73 "2025-10-05T21:18:56Z")
Walking up to someone, pointing a video camera at them, holding a microphone in their face, and asking a question can be very intimidating. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-minutes-in-a-quarter-hour-whats-3x3x3-college-students-try-and-fail-to-answer-the-important-questions-of-our-time/1023358.md?page=3)