# Really Bad Encyclopedia Brown Solutions (or Other Kid Lit. Items That Ticked You Off) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 19, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-bad-encyclopedia-brown-solutions-or-other-kid-lit-items-that-ticked-you-off/322400 "2005-09-19T18:26:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-bad-encyclopedia-brown-solutions-or-other-kid-lit-items-that-ticked-you-off/322400/121 "2005-09-22T21:52:24Z")
I think that this one was from _Two Minute Mysteries_. Really pissed me off when I was a third grader. A guy makes a bet with a blind man, claiming that he can sneak unnoticed into a room where the blind man is waiting and replace his glass of ice cubes with one filled with ginger ale. The trick, of course, is that he had brought his own bag of ice cubes made from frozen ginger ale. He puts them into the glass instead of the regular ice, waits half an hour, and _voila_. Yeah, very clever. But here’s the kicker. The final clue was that the trickster had commented “Wow, this ice is cold” while filling the glass. \*Obviously \* that was such a useless thing to say that he \*must \* have been speaking to cover up the sound made by opening an insulated bag. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-bad-encyclopedia-brown-solutions-or-other-kid-lit-items-that-ticked-you-off/322400/122 "2005-09-22T22:02:33Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > And that’s another scene I recall. Bear with me on this: Shortly after he arrived at the Academy, Tom wrote to the Vatican (!), complaining against Fr. Rodriguez, the headmaster. Well, he didn’t get an answer until January, but by that time he’d reconsidered, plus the letter only told him to take the matter up with the local bishop. So when Rodriguez gave him the letter, but assured him he wouldn’t read private correspondence from the Vatican, Tom glibly said, “Oh, I asked permission to start a basketball team here at the Academy, and they said yes!” Almost. The letter back from the Vatican was a form letter that said His Holiness gets “hundreds” of letters and cannot possibly reply to them all. But Tom was careful not to lie, exactly, to a priest: when Father asked about the letter, Tom said, “Well, I can’t discuss exactly what was in it … but I think His Holiness would like it if we started a basketball team here.” > [@](#): > > So they did start the team. But before their first game, the ax fell: the local bishop, a very scary guy who made Rodriguez look like Ned Flanders, demanded to see the letter. Upshot was, Tom was to be expelled for the compound lie. He didn’t protest, but before he left the office, pleaded for Rodriguez’s forgiveness. “I just wanted the Academy to be someplace the boys _cared_ about, not just someplace their parents _make_ them go.” Rodriguez was so touched, he didn’t expel Tom after all. :::snif::: (They also won the game against the other school. And I think Tom had some point-shaving scheme there, too…) Here I remember almost the exact dialog: > [@](#): > > “I am your bishop,” said the man in a commanding tone. “Fr. Rodriguez tells me you have received permission from the Holy Father to start a basketball team here. I find that very difficult to believe. So will will show me the letter you received from the Holy Father.” Those books stuck with me! ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-bad-encyclopedia-brown-solutions-or-other-kid-lit-items-that-ticked-you-off/322400/123 "2005-09-22T22:14:43Z")
Well, apparently they stuck with you guys better than with me…:smack: Still, I wasn’t entirely wrong… ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-bad-encyclopedia-brown-solutions-or-other-kid-lit-items-that-ticked-you-off/322400/124 "2005-09-22T22:32:40Z")
How many _Mad Scientists_ books were there? I only recall two, one of which had on its back cover a write-up that talked about the “six” wacky geniuses, oddly forgetting the seventh member - the narrator! ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-bad-encyclopedia-brown-solutions-or-other-kid-lit-items-that-ticked-you-off/322400/125 "2005-09-22T23:36:14Z")
How about Alvin Fernald? Anyone remember him? Heck, he was even a television anchorman once, found a kid a dad (whom he then cleared of past bank robbery charges), and talked with Walter Cronkite (who, I believe, promised Alvin some ice cream). ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-bad-encyclopedia-brown-solutions-or-other-kid-lit-items-that-ticked-you-off/322400/126 "2005-09-22T23:41:29Z")
I’m proud of this thread. I thought it would get 5 or 6 posts…or less. Glad to see I wasn’t alone in my frustration! ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-bad-encyclopedia-brown-solutions-or-other-kid-lit-items-that-ticked-you-off/322400/127 "2005-09-22T23:43:56Z")
> [@Podkayne](#): > > There has got to be Encyclopedia/Sally fanfic somewhere on the internet. If he corrects her pronunciation of “clitoris,” will he still be gettin’ some? ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-bad-encyclopedia-brown-solutions-or-other-kid-lit-items-that-ticked-you-off/322400/128 "2005-09-23T01:53:21Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > If he corrects her pronunciation of “clitoris,” will he still be gettin’ some? You could start an IMHO poll, you know. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-bad-encyclopedia-brown-solutions-or-other-kid-lit-items-that-ticked-you-off/322400/129 "2005-09-23T01:58:48Z")
> [@](#): > > I remember one solution stated that it was impossible to put something (a pocket knife I think) into one’s right back pocket with one’s left hand. Bull I says. Its’ impossible to do it crossing over your right arm (I believe the framed kid had his arm in a cast), but its’ child’s play to do it behind one’s back. You missed the crucial part. He was supposed to have done it while running. Trying to put something in your back right pocket with your left hand would be quite difficult. That story was actually quite neat, because it started with Bugs Meany hiring Encyclopedia to solve some crime. > [@](#): > > “The Case of the Stuttering Parrot” is the only title I remember. “To-to-to be, or not to-to-to be, that is the question.” (which was actually a clue directing people to house 222B) is all I remember from those books. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-bad-encyclopedia-brown-solutions-or-other-kid-lit-items-that-ticked-you-off/322400/130 "2005-09-23T02:26:50Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > How many _Mad Scientists_ books were there? I only recall two, one of which had on its back cover a write-up that talked about the “six” wacky geniuses, oddly forgetting the seventh member - the narrator! Two collections of stories (published in magazines originally, as I remember), one novel _The Big Kerplop_, which had a very limited original printing but is now much more available in a [new printing](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1930900228/qid=1127340833/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-2036334-3732937?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) (as hinted above :smack: ), and an unpublished book, _The Big Chunk of Ice_, which will be [printed for the first time this November.](The Big Chunk of Ice ) ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-bad-encyclopedia-brown-solutions-or-other-kid-lit-items-that-ticked-you-off/322400/131 "2005-09-23T03:04:18Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Almost. The letter back from the Vatican was a form letter that said His Holiness gets “hundreds” of letters and cannot possibly reply to them all. “Thank you for contacting the Vatican. Your plea to the Pope is important to us. Please stay on the line, and His Holiness will help you as soon as possible. [peppy Muzak version of _Ave Maria_ plays]” Okay, I’m going to Hell. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-bad-encyclopedia-brown-solutions-or-other-kid-lit-items-that-ticked-you-off/322400/132 "2005-09-23T03:08:58Z")
I mentioned it before, but while we’re on the subject of kid brainteasers, does anyone recall Mindtrap? I believe it’s still sold in stores, but I remember playing with it a good 10 years ago myself. It’s a massive deck of square cards, each of which have some kind of brainteaser or another involving all sorts of knowledge. There was a game that went along with it, but I had fun just going through the cards and trying to solve them. Some of them were detective stories; literally only a paragraph or two because of the size of the card. Because of the economy of space, they were written far more cleanly, but the solution was often tricky anyway. The writers were much more clever than Sobol. One of the ones I recall (paraphrasing from memory): > [@](#): > > John turned the key to unlock the door to his uncle’s house. “I haven’t heard from him in days,” he said to the detective. “I hope he’s okay.” As the two went inside, they saw it was quite dark. “Let me find a light,” John said. He went into the next room and switched on a lamp, revealing his uncle laying on the floor, dead. John let out a yell, stepping back over the body to stand next to the detective. “Who could have done this?” “I’ve got a pretty good guess.” With that, the detective arrested John for the murder of his uncle. Why? Some of them were harder than that, but that’s the one that sticks in my head. Sobol did better with the story aspect, but I always preferred the problem-solving aspect more. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-bad-encyclopedia-brown-solutions-or-other-kid-lit-items-that-ticked-you-off/322400/133 "2005-09-23T05:08:39Z")
> [@BayleDomon](#): > > With that, the detective arrested John for the murder of his uncle. Why? He stepped over the body to turn on the light, which would imply he already knew it was there. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-bad-encyclopedia-brown-solutions-or-other-kid-lit-items-that-ticked-you-off/322400/134 "2005-09-23T07:17:14Z")
I remember one where it was something like “What’s-his-name-big-shot-detective-guy was driving down the road. All of a sudden, the car shifted by itself. WHSBSDG smiled and kept on driving. Why?” He was driving an automatic. My thought at the time, and still now, is what the hell of kind of question is that? So the man doesn’t know how to drive a stick. Big freaking deal. How is that little-question-card worthy? ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-bad-encyclopedia-brown-solutions-or-other-kid-lit-items-that-ticked-you-off/322400/135 "2005-09-23T13:10:29Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > I remember one where it was something like “What’s-his-name-big-shot-detective-guy was driving down the road. All of a sudden, the car shifted by itself. WHSBSDG smiled and kept on driving. Why?” > > He was driving an automatic. > > My thought at the time, and still now, is what the hell of kind of question is that? So the man doesn’t know how to drive a stick. Big freaking deal. How is that little-question-card worthy? My view is that the point is to encourage critical thinking. The question is phrased in an uncommon way in order to suggest something strange is happening. If you let yourself be led by the phrasing, you can find yourself going down a weird path, but if you can step back and look at the situation objectively, the answer’s obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2005, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-bad-encyclopedia-brown-solutions-or-other-kid-lit-items-that-ticked-you-off/322400/136 "2005-09-28T22:23:12Z")
Does anyone remember this one? I’ve only got a partial memory. As a child I once read a book, the hero was a sickly boy pretty much confined to bed, who sent his friends out to search for clues, then solved the mystery from his bedroom. His name was Peter Brayne, or possibly Paul or Phillip,m definitely somethingm bbeginning with ‘P.’ He adopted the nickname ‘Peabrain.’ That’s all I remember. I only read one book, but I got the impression it was one of a series. It was probably British, and maybe was never published anywhere else. Anyone know it? ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-bad-encyclopedia-brown-solutions-or-other-kid-lit-items-that-ticked-you-off/322400/137 "2005-09-29T16:05:38Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > They also won the game against the other school. It was actually within the school. Tom’s class vs. the older class (which included his brother Sweyn). That’s why Tom had to resort to “covering the spread” in order to make his class feel like winners…no matter what his class did, the others were inevitably taller and faster (longer-legged), there was no way his class was going to manage a victory against them. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-bad-encyclopedia-brown-solutions-or-other-kid-lit-items-that-ticked-you-off/322400/138 "2005-09-29T16:50:16Z")
> [@Valerieblaise](#): > > And to stick to the topic, an annoying point throughout the entire series is that Trixie ALWAYS solved the mystery, and yet even by the 30th or so mystery her parents and friends still mocked her when she found someone or something suspicious. Come on, the girl obviously knows from mysteries, let her do her thing and quit with the “I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation” garbage. Well, maybe she was _always_ finding things suspicous, and they only made books out of the ones where she was right. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Valerieblaise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@Valerieblaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valerieblaise)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-bad-encyclopedia-brown-solutions-or-other-kid-lit-items-that-ticked-you-off/322400/139 "2005-09-29T19:49:43Z")
> [@Podkayne](#): > > Well, maybe she was _always_ finding things suspicous, and they only made books out of the ones where she was right. 😉 Hee, that didn’t occur to me. But the girl was always finding jewel thieves and counterfeiters and whatnot, you’d think they’d have a LITTLE faith. I know that when I was 14 I didn’t foil a single counterfeiting ring. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-bad-encyclopedia-brown-solutions-or-other-kid-lit-items-that-ticked-you-off/322400/140 "2005-09-29T20:07:17Z")
> [@Valerieblaise](#): > > Hee, that didn’t occur to me. But the girl was always finding jewel thieves and counterfeiters and whatnot, you’d think they’d have a LITTLE faith. I know that when I was 14 I didn’t foil a single counterfeiting ring. Hell, when I was a 14 year old girl, I used to foil a counterfeiting ring every morning before I even pissed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-bad-encyclopedia-brown-solutions-or-other-kid-lit-items-that-ticked-you-off/322400.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-bad-encyclopedia-brown-solutions-or-other-kid-lit-items-that-ticked-you-off/322400.md?page=8)