# Trick Questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 21, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851 "2005-01-21T02:31:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/61 "2005-01-22T23:50:45Z")
> [@LifeOnWry](#): > > I’m not British, and I suck at history, but being that this IS a trick question thread… WAS there a Norman Conquest? I’ve heard Norman Invasion, but I don’t think I’ve heard “conquest.” Since the coronation of William the Conqueror in 1066, all English monarchs (except Jane Grey, Edward V and Edward VIII, who were not coronated) have been crowned in the Abbey. All but one of those, Queen Mary, were crowned on King Edward’s Chair. The chair sits on the Stone of Scone, which is scottish, but I don’t know if it is technically in Scotland at the time. So… what, 31 were in Scotland, and 1 in England? ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/62 "2005-01-23T01:50:09Z")
> [@](#): > > One for my fellow Brits: approximately how many kings have been crowned in England since the Norman Conquest? None. Just a shot. I’ll hold off on a poser of my own until my brilliance in this area is generally accepted. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/63 "2005-01-23T02:15:44Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > I hope it’s not some silly argument that since the question asked _how many kings have been crowned,_ rather than _how many men have been crowned king_ there’s only been one - James I, who at the time of his coronation as King of England had already been crowned as King James VI of Scotland. In fact it might be two by that interpretation, since I think Charles II may also have been crowned separately in Scotland too. If that’s the argument, I don’t think it holds any water. Good insight into a catch, if that’s what **ianzin** was up to with the question. However, there’s a big problem with it, and also a detail you missed. William III was also Stadtholder of the United Provinces (effectively King of the Netherlands) when he became King, so it would be two (or three with Charles II). That’s the detail. But also, remember “The King is dead; long live the King!” A monarch accedes to the throne _immediately_ on the death of his/her predecessor; the Coronation is a formal ceremonial _recognizing_ that fact and marking the exchange of oaths between monarch and subjects, not the “making” of a king. So therefore all Kings, of England, England-and-Scotland, Great Britain, and the U.K., were already kings at their coronations. It’ll be interesting to see in what way **ianzin** ’s question is a trick, presuming it was. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/64 "2005-01-23T02:40:45Z")
Hmph. It’s been almost 24 hours, and no attempts at post #51 ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/65 "2005-01-23T02:47:45Z")
Oh, sorry. The temperature, as I recall. Water works by cooling the fuel below combustion temperatures. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/66 "2005-01-23T02:56:38Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > Oh, sorry. The temperature, as I recall. Water works by cooling the fuel below combustion temperatures. No. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/67 "2005-01-23T10:42:26Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Good insight into a catch, if that’s what **ianzin** was up to with the question. However, there’s a big problem with it, and also a detail you missed. > > William III was also Stadtholder of the United Provinces (effectively King of the Netherlands) when he became King, so it would be two (or three with Charles II). That’s the detail. > > But also, remember “The King is dead; long live the King!” A monarch accedes to the throne _immediately_ on the death of his/her predecessor; the Coronation is a formal ceremonial _recognizing_ that fact and marking the exchange of oaths between monarch and subjects, not the “making” of a king. So therefore all Kings, of England, England-and-Scotland, Great Britain, and the U.K., were already kings at their coronations. > > It’ll be interesting to see in what way **ianzin** ’s question is a trick, presuming it was. I agree **Polycarp**. The maxim “the king is dead - long live the king” is what I was referring to when I was arguing that, if my suggested interpretation is indeed the trick behind \*\*ianzin’s \*\* question, then I think the trick is incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/68 "2005-01-23T13:17:04Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > What’s in water that puts out fires? Okay, before this frustrates the hell out of **danceswithcats** and the rest of us, is the answer here: Fireboats? ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/69 "2005-01-23T14:09:46Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > What’s in water that puts out fires? WAG pseudo-chemistry answer: the carbon dioxide resulting from the mixture of smoke and water. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/70 "2005-01-23T14:49:10Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > What’s in water that puts out fires? I would say that there’s nothing intrinsically in water that puts out fires. It merely smothers it. Sand could do just as well, but it’s not as easily pumped in large amounts. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/71 "2005-01-23T16:30:46Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Okay, before this frustrates the hell out of **danceswithcats** and the rest of us, is the answer here: > > Fireboats? Very good, **Polycarp**! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/72 "2005-01-23T16:53:28Z")
Okay, a variant on an earlier question: How many Kings of England (Great Britain, U.K., etc.) have been crowned since the Normandy Invasion? ---
**Author:** ![dontknowmuch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/41988e/32.png) [@dontknowmuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dontknowmuch)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/73 "2005-01-23T17:18:37Z")
> [@Punoqllads](#): > > If I flip a coin 10 times, and each time it comes up heads, what are the odds that that just happened? 1/1024 ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/74 "2005-01-23T17:37:59Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > I agree **Polycarp**. The maxim “the king is dead - long live the king” is what I was referring to when I was arguing that, if my suggested interpretation is indeed the trick behind \*\*ianzin’s \*\* question, then I think the trick is incorrect. Hi everyone. I got the question and the answer from “OMNI Games: The Best Brainteasers From Omni Magazine”, edited by Scott Morris. The answer given is: “One. All of England’s kings were princes or dukes, etc., when crowned, with one exception: King James VI of Scotland, who was crowned king of England in 1603.” The argument concerning ‘long live the king’ and immediate accession is an interesting twist on the answer. I think it’s a bit metaphysical, but I see the point. I wonder if anyone has ever mentioned this to Scot? Funny aside: I was once showing an American friend around Westminster Abbey, and I explained about the Coronation Chair. “Oh,” she said, “is that where they get coronated?”. Regardless of what you think of the merits of this answer, I’d just like to say that the book is definitely the best book of mind games and puzzles that I’ve ever seen, and that Scott Morris is the king of this kind of thing. If you’re into puzzles and you come across a copy of the book, get it! ---
**Author:** ![Chimpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@Chimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimpy)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/75 "2005-01-23T17:42:53Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Okay, a variant on an earlier question: How many Kings of England (Great Britain, U.K., etc.) have been crowned since the Normandy Invasion? One, Queen Elizabeth II, crowned 2nd June 1953, the Normandy Invasion being 6th-25th June 1944. ---
**Author:** ![Chimpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@Chimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimpy)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/76 "2005-01-23T17:44:07Z")
> [@Chimpy](#): > > One, Queen Elizabeth II, crowned 2nd June 1953, the Normandy Invasion being 6th-25th June 1944. Oh, wait damn. Zero, just one Queen. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/77 "2005-01-23T17:50:08Z")
> [@Chimpy](#): > > Oh, wait damn. Zero, just one Queen. 🙂 Your turn to pose one! ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/78 "2005-01-23T22:49:09Z")
> [@ianzin](#): > > Hi everyone. I got the question and the answer from “OMNI Games: The Best Brainteasers From Omni Magazine”, edited by Scott Morris. The answer given is: “One. All of England’s kings were princes or dukes, etc., when crowned, with one exception: King James VI of Scotland, who was crowned king of England in 1603.” > > The argument concerning ‘long live the king’ and immediate accession is an interesting twist on the answer. I think it’s a bit metaphysical, but I see the point. I wonder if anyone has ever mentioned this to Scot? > > Funny aside: I was once showing an American friend around Westminster Abbey, and I explained about the Coronation Chair. “Oh,” she said, “is that where they get coronated?”. > > Regardless of what you think of the merits of this answer, I’d just like to say that the book is definitely the best book of mind games and puzzles that I’ve ever seen, and that Scott Morris is the king of this kind of thing. If you’re into puzzles and you come across a copy of the book, get it! Thanks **ianzin**. I thought that would be the answer. I still think it’s wrong and not just on a metaphysical plane, but also based on common sense. Edward VIII wasn’t crowned during his 11 month reign in 1936, but nobody has ever suggested that he wasn’t a “real king”. Otherwise, why was there all of the fuss about the Abdication? If he wasn’t really king, why didn’t Parliament just tell him to nick off? Similarly, George VI died on 6 February 1952 and his elder daughter succeeded as Queen Elizabeth II instantly, even though she was up a tree in a game park in Africa at the time. She wasn’t actually crowned until over a year later, on 2 June 1953. Again, nobody ever suggests that during the first 16 months of her reign she was only a semi, uncrowned queen and that her various constitutional acts (such as giving royal assent to legislation) were invalid. Otherwise, that Omni puzzle book sounds very interesting. I must dig up a copy. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/79 "2005-01-23T23:43:34Z")
Trick: -When did you stop beating your wife? How is it noone has put that up yet? -If Mr Smith’s peacock lays an egg in Mr Jones’ yard, who owns the egg? -Name the most recent year in which New Year’s preceded Christmas. -Why are 1968 pennies worth more than 1967 pennies? -Who had the title role in the 1931 movie Frankenstein? -If there are 6 apples and you take away 4, how many do you have? -There are two coins which total 55 cents (read: $0.55). One of them is not a nickel. What are the two coins? -Do you say “Loo-iss-vill” is the capital of Kentucky, or do you say “Loo-ee-vill” is the capital of Kentucky? -Exactly how many slices of 1.5 cm each can you cut from a whole loaf of bread which is 22.5 cm long? Trivia: -How many lines are on the edge of a quarter? Of a dime? 118, 117 ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/80 "2005-01-23T23:45:07Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > Trick: > -When did you stop beating your wife? > How is it noone has put that up yet? > -If Mr Smith’s peacock lays an egg in Mr Jones’ yard, who owns the egg? > -Name the most recent year in which New Year’s preceded Christmas. > -Why are 1968 pennies worth more than 1967 pennies? > -Who had the title role in the 1931 movie Frankenstein? > -If there are 6 apples and you take away 4, how many do you have? > -There are two coins which total 55 cents (read: $0.55). One of them is not a nickel. What are the two coins? > -Do you say “Loo-iss-vill” is the capital of Kentucky, or do you say “Loo-ee-vill” is the capital of Kentucky? > -Exactly how many slices of 1.5 cm each can you cut from a whole loaf of bread which is 22.5 cm long? Googled for trick questions, eh? /found the same site… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851.md?page=5)