# It is an enigma . **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 2, 2009, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466 "2009-06-02T07:05:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![JFLuvly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac91a4/32.png) [@JFLuvly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JFLuvly)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/81 "2009-06-10T03:32:05Z")
When I opened the Twitter page the name in the taskbar says Gina M. A. Stein, pretty obvious but I thought I’d throw it out there just in case. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/82 "2009-06-10T04:07:21Z")
> [@JFLuvly](#): > > When I opened the Twitter page the name in the taskbar says Gina M. A. Stein, pretty obvious but I thought I’d throw it out there just in case. I checked that gmail address (by going to the registration page and checking for availabilty.) It says the name [ginamastein@gmail.com](mailto:ginamastein@gmail.com) is available, so that’s not it. (Although I was tempted to register it, just to see how many people would send me random messages because of the puzzle.) ---
**Author:** ![JFLuvly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac91a4/32.png) [@JFLuvly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JFLuvly)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/83 "2009-06-10T04:12:28Z")
Yeah I tried a few different combinations with underscores but they kept coming back. I thought maybe thats what they meant by proper punctuation. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/84 "2009-06-10T04:12:36Z")
Missed edit: i just tried ginam.a.stein and gina.m.a.stein as well, both untaken. ---
**Author:** ![JFLuvly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac91a4/32.png) [@JFLuvly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JFLuvly)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/85 "2009-06-10T04:19:09Z")
hey, ginamastein is an anagram for enigma saint which is not available at gmail. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/86 "2009-06-10T04:37:55Z")
> [@JFLuvly](#): > > hey, ginamastein is an anagram for enigma saint which is not available at gmail. Interesting. I came across that anagram, but only tried it as twitter names. Hmm…time to drop an email? ---
**Author:** ![JFLuvly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac91a4/32.png) [@JFLuvly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JFLuvly)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/87 "2009-06-10T04:40:33Z")
I sent a quick one just to see if there would be a response. I changed the font to times new roman, but I am wondering what they mean by using proper punctuation. ---
**Author:** ![JFLuvly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac91a4/32.png) [@JFLuvly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JFLuvly)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/88 "2009-06-10T04:43:59Z")
pulykamell, is that l at the end of riddle in P578 a typo or is that the way it worked out? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/89 "2009-06-10T04:44:51Z")
> [@JFLuvly](#): > > pulykamell, > > is that l at the end of riddle in P578 a typo or is that the way it worked out? Are you talking about the “I”? That leads into the next sentence starting “Suggest.” ---
**Author:** ![JFLuvly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac91a4/32.png) [@JFLuvly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JFLuvly)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/90 "2009-06-10T04:49:45Z")
Ahhh yes, my bad. It’s 2 AM here where I am and I’ve been on the go since 7 AM. Starting to get a little stupid! ---
**Author:** ![badlyburnttoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@badlyburnttoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badlyburnttoast)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/91 "2009-06-10T04:53:23Z")
Pretty obvious, but just in case no-one noticed, ginamastein is an anagram for ian gaitsmen, the pseudonym mentioned in the riddle text. iangaitsmen and ian.gaitsmen are both available at gmail, fwiw. Edit: when you got imagineants was it a new spiral or did it just line up and spell that? if it was a new spiral, try doing it backwords? we got something from the other one backwards (even if it was a dead end) maybe this will have something? (sorry if I’m misunderstanding here) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/92 "2009-06-10T04:54:30Z")
> [@badlyburnttoast](#): > > Pretty obvious, but just in case no-one noticed, ginamastein is an anagram for ian gaitsmen, the pseudonym mentioned in the riddle text. iangaitsmen and ian.gaitsmen are both available at gmail, fwiw. Yeah, I saw that. I was wondering if there’s yet another name that anagrams to. ---
**Author:** ![badlyburnttoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@badlyburnttoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badlyburnttoast)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/93 "2009-06-10T05:16:48Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, I saw that. I was wondering if there’s yet another name that anagrams to. Smiteangina, the red herring from above, is an anagram of it too. So is imagineants, but I suppose that’s obvious. Tried plugging a few other random anagrams into twitter and didn’t get anything. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/94 "2009-06-10T10:51:36Z")
Recommending TNR and punctuation suggests a readabilty issue. TNR is a good font if you need to distinguish “Iirn” from “l1m”, for example. So can you do do a direct cut and paste from the message into word and change the font to TNR to see if there are any apparent typoes. For example is “IANGAITSMEN” really “lan gatesrnan” or something like that? ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/95 "2009-06-10T11:42:29Z")
A couple possibilities: ItsAnEnigma is unavailable on gmail. Also, in case she’s being sneaky, TimesNewRoman is unavailable. (I didn’t email either one because I’d rather not use my work email). ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/96 "2009-06-10T12:01:25Z")
> [@zut](#): > > ItsAnEnigma is unavailable on gmail. Shouldn’t that be “It’sAnEnigma”, with proper punctuation? ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/97 "2009-06-10T12:04:09Z")
Just on a lark, [noparse]Imaintainandalwayscheck@gmail.com[/noparse] doesn’t seem available… (Though that’s probably a tad obvious and it’s just a prankster piggybacking on the riddle.) ---
**Author:** ![ClintPhoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@ClintPhoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ClintPhoenix)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/98 "2009-06-10T14:13:36Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > Just on a lark, [noparse]Imaintainandalwayscheck@gmail.com[/noparse] doesn’t seem available… (Though that’s probably a tad obvious and it’s just a prankster piggybacking on the riddle.) I checked that one last night and it was available. Does checking an address tie it up for a while? Or is our riddler grabbing up some emails? Last night I checked imagineants and imagine.ants on gmail, and both were unavailable. ---
**Author:** ![JFLuvly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac91a4/32.png) [@JFLuvly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JFLuvly)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/99 "2009-06-10T14:23:13Z")
BEGIN RIDDLE TEXT IAN GAITSMEN IS NOT MY REAL NAME, BUT WE ALL COULD USE A GOOD PSEUDONYM EVERY NOW AND THEN TOKEEP EVERYONE GUESSING. THAT SAID WHEN YOU ARE PREPARED TO DECIPHER THE NEXT RIDDLE, **I SUGGEST YOU WRITE TO THE GENUINE EMAIL ADDRESS: I MAINTAIN AND ALWAYS CHECK AT GMAIL DOT COM.** END RIDDLE TEXT P.S. I RECOMMEND USING TIMES NEW ROMAN AND PROPER PUNCTUATION. I think the punctuation is right…anyone want to verify? I sent a quick email to [imaintainandalwayscheck@gmail.com](mailto:imaintainandalwayscheck@gmail.com). I did not hear anything back from [enigmasaint@gmail.com](mailto:enigmasaint@gmail.com) so far. ---
**Author:** ![Here\_Come\_Dots](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cc9497/32.png) [@Here\_Come\_Dots](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Here_Come_Dots)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/100 "2009-06-10T14:32:15Z")
> [@JFLuvly](#): > > IAN GAITSMEN IS NOT MY REAL NAME, BUT WE ALL COULD USE A GOOD PSEUDONYM EVERY NOW AND THEN TOKEEP EVERYONE GUESSING. THAT SAID WHEN YOU ARE PREPARED TO DECIPHER THE NEXT RIDDLE, **I SUGGEST YOU WRITE TO THE GENUINE EMAIL ADDRESS: I MAINTAIN AND ALWAYS CHECK AT GMAIL DOT COM.** > . I think you’re missing a comma: Ian Gaitsmen is not my real name, but we all could use a good pseudonym every now and then to keep everyone guessing. That said, when you are prepared to decipher the next riddle, I suggest you write to the genuine email address I maintain and always check at Gmail dot com. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466.md?page=6)