# Puzzle: Movie Inaccuracies **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 27, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzle-movie-inaccuracies/587036 "2011-06-27T16:36:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzle-movie-inaccuracies/587036/1 "2011-06-27T16:36:04Z")
This puzzle consists of a list of 22 movie titles with something in common. The movie titles have been broken into “doublets”, and the doublets then alphabetized. **Example** : GREEN LANTERN GR EE NL AN TE RN AN EE GR NL RN TE **Problems** : 1. Mistakes were made with the common factors. Each letter of the common factor is off by one-- either a letter too high or too low. So if the one of the common factors was “GREEN”, it might have been entered instead as “HQDDO”. These miscues occurred prior to the titles being broken up. Sorry about that, but errors do arise. Flubs happen. 2. Nine of the movie titles have an odd number of letters, making it impossible to break these titles into even doublets. In such cases it was necessary to add an extra letter at the beginning of the titles so that they could be broken up properly. These extra letters, therefore, are not really part of the titles at all. **Mitigating Circumstance** : The extra nine letters in order of occurrence spell out a description of the common factor mistakes. * * * Can you find the titles of the movies as well as the extra description? \*\* As a solving aid, the number of letters in the common factor has been generously given. * * * 1. AN AN DT EE EE GR HE NE NG RZ SS TA (3) 2. AN CI EL ES HE IM NS OP PR TH (4) 3. AM AW BM CE ER IC LD LI OR PO UD (3) 4. BA CO EN ES GT HE NS NT RE SA (4) 5. AL DS ER FM MA NA NO NO NT NX OA ON RY SI TE TI TI US YS (5) 6. AM BB HE LO RP US (5) 7. CH HO IO OC OO (3) 8. BI FA FO KH NE NX OF OL RC UM (7) 9. CI EG FF FI GH NE TA TE TH TY UN (5) 10. BT ER ER ES FR ND NU OW SD TH (3) 11. AR BM ED KB SZ TH TS (7) 12. BA CR DE HE MI NT OS SI ST ST WI (4) 13. AD BB BR EM HT IG IM OI ON RS (5) 14. AK ES IL LI LY ME NG RN (4) 15. BO DO ES FT HE HE HS LT NE NI TI VA (4) 16. EA ED FR GG HH IS KS LD LE (5) 17. AL CH CI CL DN FZ HE NE SO ST UB (3) 18. AN BA CA ES FB FT GE HE ID NS OO PI RA RI RT SO TE TR (4) 19. EA IT LE NX OF OR RR TA TE TO WH (4) 20. AN BE BS DB DK HD LS NO OM RO RU (5) 21. BH EH ND NG OF RO ST (8) 22. ED NB SB TD TR (10) ---
**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:** [June 27, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzle-movie-inaccuracies/587036/2 "2011-06-27T18:04:24Z")
I’m not clear on “common factors”, here. Would that mean that, say, “Green Lantern” and “Green Hornet” (or “The Green Mile”, or some other green movie) were both on the list, making “green” a common factor? Should we expect such pairs of movies to appear together, or are they scattered around the list? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzle-movie-inaccuracies/587036/3 "2011-06-27T18:12:50Z")
Here’s a [similar puzzle](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=598336) the OP posted a while ago, which should give you some idea what he’s on about. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzle-movie-inaccuracies/587036/4 "2011-06-27T18:13:32Z")
All the movie titles have something in common. For example: That Darn Cat All Dogs Go to Heaven Mr. Popper’s Penguins Jackass Common factor: “Animals” ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzle-movie-inaccuracies/587036/5 "2011-06-27T18:26:43Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > 1. Mistakes were made with the common factors. Each letter of the common factor is off by one-- either a letter too high or too low. So if the one of the common factors was “GREEN”, it might have been entered instead as “HQDDO”. These miscues occurred prior to the titles being broken up. Sorry about that, but errors do arise. Flubs happen. Question: I can tell from your example that all of the letters in the word did NOT change in the same direction (G -\> H is +1 but E -\> D is -1), but do repeated letters (in this case, “D”) all change in the same direction? That is, could you have changed “GREEN” to “HQDFO” just as easily? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzle-movie-inaccuracies/587036/6 "2011-06-27T18:32:43Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Question: I can tell from your example that all of the letters in the word did NOT change in the same direction (G -\> H is +1 but E -\> D is -1), but do repeated letters (in this case, “D”) all change in the same direction? That is, could you have changed “GREEN” to “HQDFO” just as easily? Alas, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzle-movie-inaccuracies/587036/7 "2011-06-27T18:36:07Z")
I think #3 is: Team America World Police But I guess I don’t understand what the deal is with the wrong letters. Is it just to make the puzzle a little more difficult? Does " the number of letters in the common factor" mean the number of incorrect letters? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzle-movie-inaccuracies/587036/8 "2011-06-27T18:41:31Z")
Presumably there’s some sort of pun that pulls the words together - in #3, UDB becomes TEA - maybe they’re all names of drinks? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzle-movie-inaccuracies/587036/9 "2011-06-27T18:55:00Z")
18: AN BA CA ES FB FT GE HE ID NS OO PI RA RI RT SO TE TR (4) PI RA TE SO FT HE CA RI B(A FB O)O NS TR AN GE RT ID ES Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (bean) Common factor is plant products? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzle-movie-inaccuracies/587036/10 "2011-06-27T18:59:22Z")
18: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides “bean” is the altered element, which changed to AFBO Edit: :shakes fist: ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzle-movie-inaccuracies/587036/11 "2011-06-27T19:06:25Z")
1. BO DO ES FT HE HE HS LT NE NI TI VA (4) (L)T HE BO N(E HS D)O FT HE VA NI TI ES The Bonfire of the Vanities (Fire) - extra letter is L I guess fire could be a plant product sort of - or is it all things related to brewed drinks? Or cooking? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzle-movie-inaccuracies/587036/12 "2011-06-27T19:28:49Z")
1. BT ER ER ES FR ND NU OW SD TH (3) TH ER ES (BT F)R SD OW NU ND ER The Rescuers Down Under (Cue) I’m now totally clueless what the common factor is supposed to be. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzle-movie-inaccuracies/587036/13 "2011-06-27T19:35:32Z")
OH, ok, I get what the incorrect letters are now. I misunderstood before. 1. BI FA FO KH NE NX OF OL RC UM (7) (K)H FA NX OF FO RC OL UM BI NE (K)B OW LI NG FO RC OL UM BI NE Bowling For Columbine (Bowling) ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzle-movie-inaccuracies/587036/14 "2011-06-27T19:36:44Z")
Ahh, they’re all words that combine with “ball” (Teaball, cueball, fireball, beanball) ETA - also works with Barkis’s answer, which cross posted. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzle-movie-inaccuracies/587036/15 "2011-06-27T19:39:44Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > OH, ok, I get what the incorrect letters are now. I misunderstood before. > > 1. BI FA FO KH NE NX OF OL RC UM (7) > > (K)H FA NX OF FO RC OL UM BI NE > (K)B OW LI NG FO RC OL UM BI NE > > Bowling For Columbine (Bowling) slight correction [spoiler]letters should be in a bit different order for the first 8 - they have to be one letter off in the alphabet (F)A NX KH OF works, making the spare letter F[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzle-movie-inaccuracies/587036/16 "2011-06-27T19:50:00Z")
1. CH HO IO OC OO (3) (O)(O HO) OC CH IO Pinocchio Pin, extra letter O Giving it a rest for a while now. So we have 3, 7, 8, 10, 15, 18. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzle-movie-inaccuracies/587036/17 "2011-06-28T05:50:05Z")
Everyone is doing so well with this one. I’ll be interested to see who gets #22. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzle-movie-inaccuracies/587036/18 "2011-06-28T13:53:21Z")
1. BA CO EN ES GT HE NS NT RE SA (4) (G)T HE BA RE (EN NS) CO NT ES SA The Barefoot Contessa (Foot) ; extra letter G ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzle-movie-inaccuracies/587036/19 "2011-06-28T13:57:22Z")
Common factor words so far: foot, pin, bowling, tea, cue, bean, fire Spare letters: F, G, L, O ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzle-movie-inaccuracies/587036/20 "2011-06-28T14:02:41Z")
1. CI EG FF FI GH NE TA TE TH TY UN (5) TH EG UN FI GH TA T(E NE FF) CI TY The Gunfight at Dodge City (Dodge) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzle-movie-inaccuracies/587036.md?page=2)