Secret Spot · Puzzle #35 · Tuesday, November 3
Secret Spot: the answers
Seven prompts, one answer each, and the fewer surfers who said yours, the more it scored. Here are the prompts with the answers we expected to be most common, and the rarest. Play today's Secret Spot, or play this day as practice (never counted).
1. Name a kind of tea
Each tea counts once, typed with or without "tea": a style (green, oolong), a named tea (Earl Grey, sencha), a herbal tea (chamomile, rooibos) or a tea drink (chai, bubble tea). A version counts as its tea: Lady Grey is Earl Grey, a matcha latte is matcha.
The answer sheet for this prompt accepts 174 different answers. The obvious picks are Black tea, Chamomile and Earl Grey tea: party waves on the sheet, worth 1.0 each. Rooibos and Oolong look like clever picks, but the sheet marks them as kook moves, worth only 1.5. For a big score you need something like Yaupon tea, Builder's tea and Gyokuro, which the sheet rates Locals only, worth up to 8.5. One deep cut: Yaupon tea is brewed from a holly native to the US Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, a cousin of yerba mate.
Most common
- Black tea
- Chamomile
- Earl Grey tea
Rarest
- Golden Monkey tea: Golden Monkey tea uses only the bud and first leaf, which give its leaves their pale gold threads. Source: Wikipedia, “Golden Monkey tea” (CC BY-SA)
- Dongfang meiren: Oriental Beauty oolong is made from leaves nibbled by a tiny insect, which gives the tea a honey-like taste. Source: Wikipedia, “Dongfang meiren” (CC BY-SA)
- Kukicha: Kukicha, or twig tea, is brewed from the stems, stalks and twigs that most teas leave out. Source: Wikipedia, “Kukicha” (CC BY-SA)
Before the crowd came in: the answers we expected to be most and least common, from how well known each one is.
2. Name a Shakespeare play
Plays Shakespeare wrote or co-wrote count, lost ones too. A play in parts counts once (Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2 are Henry IV). His poems don't count.
The answer sheet for this prompt accepts 39 different answers. The usual answers are Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth, the party waves, worth 1.0 each. Watch out for The Tempest and Titus Andronicus: however original those picks seem, the sheet marks them as kook moves, worth 1.5. The big scores sit further out: The Two Noble Kinsmen, King John and Henry VIII are rated Locals only or Secret spot on the sheet, worth up to 10.0. One deep cut: the Two Noble Kinsmen takes its plot from Chaucer's The Knight's Tale.
Most common
- Hamlet
- Romeo and Juliet
- Macbeth
Rarest
- Love's Labour's Won: Love's Labour's Won is a lost play: no copy of it is known to survive. Source: Wikipedia, “Love's Labour's Won” (CC BY-SA)
- The History of Cardenio: Cardenio is a lost play, likely based on an episode in Cervantes's Don Quixote. Source: Wikipedia, “The History of Cardenio” (CC BY-SA)
- Sir Thomas More: The Sir Thomas More manuscript holds a three-page handwritten revision widely credited to Shakespeare. Source: Wikipedia, “Sir Thomas More (play)” (CC BY-SA)
Before the crowd came in: the answers we expected to be most and least common, from how well known each one is.
3. Name a water sport
Each sport counts once; a style or discipline counts as its sport (open water swimming is swimming, cave diving is scuba diving, sculling is rowing). Kitesurfing is kiteboarding.
The answer sheet for this prompt accepts 69 different answers. The obvious picks are Swimming, Water polo and Surfing: party waves on the sheet, worth 1.0 each. Synchronised swimming looks like a clever pick, but the sheet marks it as a kook move, worth only 1.5. For a big score you need something like Logrolling, Picigin and Underwater rugby, which the sheet rates Locals only, worth up to 8.5. One deep cut: in the United States, an official logrolling contest is called a roleo.
Most common
- Swimming
- Water polo
- Surfing
Rarest
- Skurfing: Skurfing, towed behind a boat on a small board, is often called the forerunner of wakeboarding. Source: Wikipedia, “Skurfing” (CC BY-SA)
- Biribol: Biribol, volleyball in a pool, comes from Brazil and is named after the city of Birigüi. Source: Wikipedia, “Biribol” (CC BY-SA)
- Blobbing: In blobbing, a friend jumps onto a giant air bag and launches you into the water. Source: Wikipedia, “Blobbing” (CC BY-SA)
Before the crowd came in: the answers we expected to be most and least common, from how well known each one is.
4. Name a programming language
Each language counts once; dialects and versions count as their language. Markup and style languages like HTML and CSS count too.
The answer sheet for this prompt accepts 461 different answers. The obvious picks are Python, JavaScript and HTML: party waves on the sheet, worth 1.0 each. COBOL and Fortran look like clever picks, but the sheet marks them as kook moves, worth only 1.5. For a big score you need something like Logo, Tcl and APL, which the sheet rates Locals only, worth up to 8.5. One deep cut: Logo is famous for turtle graphics: you steer a little turtle around the screen to draw.
Most common
- Python
- JavaScript
- HTML
Rarest
- Luau: Luau is the scripting language Roblox games are written in. Source: Wikipedia, “Luau (programming language)” (CC BY-SA)
- Ladder logic: Ladder logic began as a way to draw the wiring of factory relay racks. Source: Wikipedia, “Ladder logic” (CC BY-SA)
- G-code: G-code, short for geometric code, tells 3D printers and CNC machines how to move. Source: Wikipedia, “G-code” (CC BY-SA)
Before the crowd came in: the answers we expected to be most and least common, from how well known each one is.
5. Name a famous woman from history
Each woman counts once, by full name, a famous single name (Cleopatra) or a surname when one woman is far better known by it (Curie, Earhart). Women from any country and era count if they were born before 1950 or are no longer living; living legends born later and fictional women don't.
The answer sheet for this prompt accepts 4,290 different answers. The obvious picks are Amelia Earhart, Cleopatra and Joan of Arc: party waves on the sheet, worth 1.0 each. Ada Lovelace and Boudica look like clever picks, but the sheet marks them as kook moves, worth only 1.5. For a big score you need something like Junko Tabei, Mary Anning and Nellie Bly, which the sheet rates Locals only, worth up to 8.5. One deep cut: Junko Tabei was the first woman to reach the top of Mount Everest, and to climb the Seven Summits.
Most common
- Amelia Earhart
- Cleopatra
- Joan of Arc
Rarest
- Bessie Coleman: Bessie Coleman was the first African-American woman to hold a pilot license. Source: Wikipedia, “Bessie Coleman” (CC BY-SA)
- Grace Hopper: Grace Hopper helped create COBOL, an early programming language that is still in use today. Source: Wikipedia, “Grace Hopper” (CC BY-SA)
- Juliette Gordon Low: Girl Scouts celebrate their founder Juliette Gordon Low's birthday, October 31, as Founder's Day. Source: Wikipedia, “Juliette Gordon Low” (CC BY-SA)
Before the crowd came in: the answers we expected to be most and least common, from how well known each one is.
6. Name a lake
Any lake or reservoir, typed with or without "Lake" (Tahoe is Lake Tahoe). Salt lakes called seas count (the Caspian Sea, the Dead Sea). Lakes that share a name count once.
The answer sheet for this prompt accepts 278 different answers. The obvious picks are Lake Erie, Lake Michigan and Lake Superior: party waves on the sheet, worth 1.0 each. Lake Titicaca and Loch Ness look like clever picks, but the sheet marks them as kook moves, worth only 1.5. For a big score you need something like Lake Ohrid, Lake Winnipesaukee and Mono Lake, which the sheet rates Locals only, worth up to 8.5. One deep cut: Lake Ohrid is one of Europe's oldest lakes, and NASA named a lake on Saturn's moon Titan after it.
Most common
- Lake Erie
- Lake Michigan
- Lake Superior
Rarest
- Lake Retba: Senegal's Lake Retba, the Lac Rose, owes its pink water to an alga called Dunaliella salina. Source: Wikipedia, “Lake Retba” (CC BY-SA)
- Lake Hillier: Lake Hillier, on an island off the south coast of Western Australia, is famous for being pink. Source: Wikipedia, “Lake Hillier” (CC BY-SA)
- Lonar Lake: India's Lonar Lake fills a crater made by a meteorite. Source: Wikipedia, “Lonar Lake” (CC BY-SA)
Before the crowd came in: the answers we expected to be most and least common, from how well known each one is.
7. Name a clothing brand
Each brand counts once, however it's written (Levi's is Levi Strauss & Co., Polo is Ralph Lauren). Fashion houses, sportswear and clothing chains with their own label all count; department stores don't.
The answer sheet for this prompt accepts 939 different answers. The obvious picks are Nike, Inc., Adidas and Gap Inc.: party waves on the sheet, worth 1.0 each. Fruit of the Loom and Patagonia, Inc. look like clever picks, but the sheet marks them as kook moves, worth only 1.5. For a big score you need something like OshKosh B'gosh, Members Only and Spanx, which the sheet rates Locals only or Secret spot, worth up to 10.0. One deep cut: OshKosh B'gosh's first kids' overalls were meant to let parents dress their children just like their fathers.
Most common
- Nike, Inc.
- Adidas
- Gap Inc.
Rarest
- Hypercolor: Hypercolor T-shirts and shorts changed color with heat. Source: Wikipedia, “Hypercolor” (CC BY-SA)
- Marimekko: Finland's Marimekko is famous for brightly colored printed fabrics, used in both clothes and home furnishings. Source: Wikipedia, “Marimekko” (CC BY-SA)
- Jockey International: Jockey invented the first men's Y-Front brief in 1934. Source: Wikipedia, “Jockey International” (CC BY-SA)
Before the crowd came in: the answers we expected to be most and least common, from how well known each one is.