bonanova

Stevebcincy, Thanks for your contribution [reverse alpha word]. You're right - it should be in the mix. Why not post it - either as a question: what is ... or what is special about this word ___? - bn

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A tank is 5 feet deep. A and B are fill pipes. Four feet from the bottom is drain pipe C. A foot below that is drain pipe D. A foot below that is drain pipe E. A foot below that is drain pipe F. If the drain pipes are closed, A can fill the tank in 8 minutes, and B can fill the tank in 12 minutes. C can drain the the tank at a rate of 1 tank per hour. D can support a flow that would drain a tankful of water in 30 minutes. E would need 10 minutes, and F 15 minutes. The drains are all opened, and the fill pipes go into action. When will the water reach F? How much later will the water reach E, if it does? How much later will the water reach D, if it does? How much later will the water reach C, if it does? How much later will the water fill the tank, if it does?

Good point.. Spoiler refers to the content, not to the package. But the package [which doesn't spoil, but hides,] is named for its content. Like when you give someone a present, it's in a box - you hand them a box and call it a present - which actually is the content. Maybe that convention is just a convenient way to save words...?

As I've heard it used, the phrase relates to wanting -- you can't do both, but you want to -- and the first thing you want is to eat it. If I hear you correctly, there's a sense in which the first desire is to have [keep] the cake, and, secondly, to eat it. Interesting perspective. And then the phrase makes sense as is. Thanks!

Duh Puck and imran have it. Good job. Wow Duh Puck - great resource. I think you've destroyed any future VD [that's in the logical sense] puzzles. Great find.

You're absolutely right. And I thought of that as I posted. But my silliness still seemed worth publishing [iMHO] ... When Puzzle Grandmasters are silly they're clever. When others are silly they get warned. Because those are the rules...

LIS, Duh Puck and imran have it. Great job.

Heh heh ... look again, there's a white ball right next to it. Wait. The paper is white. You can't see it. But it's there.

This puzzle can be done without pencil and paper. But if you like to doodle, it's allowed. You have two bags. In one bag there are 4 black balls and 4 white balls. In the other, there are 4 black balls and 4 white balls. You take a ball from each of the bags. What are the chances at least one of the balls you drew is black?

A tad high. Nice try tho.

There's an island in the middle of a deep lake. The lake is 80 yards in diameter, and on the the island is a tree. A non-swimmer wishes to get across to the island, but all he has is a length of rope, 300 yards long. There is also a large tree on the mainland. How does he get across? Stay within the boundaries of the OP. No Navy Seals, no helicopters. You get the idea. Good luck.

There are 189 members of the tennis club: 8 have been at the club less than three years; 11 are less than 20 years of age; 70 wear glasses; 140 are men. What is the minimum number of players who had been members for three years or more, were at least 20 years of age, wore glasses and were men?

My inclusion criteria were loosely given, and the examples were only suggestive. So I'll give you most of your points - like through a door instead of through a doorway. The main kinds of common usage that intrigued me for this puzzle were those where the opposite of what was meant was said. I could care less. Head over heels. a** backwards. near miss. missed not seeing you. Or a clearly different meaning [if not opposite] from that intended. a hot cup of coffee. hot water heater. huge bottleneck. Or something clearly impossible. watch my head. non stop flight. or just the unintended time sequence hit and run play. have cake and eat it. That's why I said in the OP: Because it's filled with phrases and stuff that either imply something nonsensical or logically mean the opposite of what's intended. Much spoken English is imprecise or redundant but still understood. I purposely sprinkled this with things like "no way" and other colloquialisms, in part to mask the "real" gems. An exception would be best foot instead of better foot. About some others, none too soon, my gosh [euphemism for My God!], small ball [bunting and stealing], at work [at designates place, not time] I find nothing remarkable.... Anyway, the idea was to have some fun; and, pedagogically, inspire a little thought about one's own usage. Some, like yourself and Duh Puck, aren't in need.

Since all 20 have been found, I'll add them now to the spoiler on the OP. Without attribution, altho I'd like to; I have some "real" work to finish tonight. The game's still open for others to play - I'll keep that current while I'm logged on. Great job all.

Wow!!! Duh Puck rings the bell. He got 14/15 with spot-on explanations [missing only #13] with only three non-official guesses! Running out of time, he did not get to the text with the last five. Great job.!

Nikyma Got 19/20 missing only [13] with only 14 guesses not on the official list, she is the first to register a positive score! Some perfectly OK English-isms, that have understandable, logical meanings are in the mix to keep us all "honest." A mine field to navigate, so to speak. Great job.

Itachi-san found 18 of the 20 official English-isms. [all by 5 and 15] He also guessed 31 that weren't on the official list. That's most likely because the OP did an imprecise job of defining what we're looking for. But it's possibly also true that "Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while." Just kidding - I will have my fun. Good job.

onethruth found 12 of the 20 "official" English- isms [all but 2 4 5 7 8 13 14 and 20] He also had 12 misses ... guesses that weren't on the official list. I'll post the solutions to the spoiler in the OP when they're all found.

Good questions. I'll edit a few examples of what I mean back into the OP. Thanks. OK they're added. Hope it helps. And spoilers would be good. Check out what onetruth did - without reading it, of course He quoted the post and highlighted the relevant passages. Any way you like.

So you're in flight with your wireless notebook, ready to do some serious work when inexplicably your computer connects with the guy's two rows up, as he sends his girlfriend a note. Wouldn't you know their names are John and Mary. Well that's boring, so I'm changing them to Boris and Natasha. Well forget all that. And forget the fact that you're eavesdropping on two lovers as they eagerly await their reunion after being apart for a year. Forget all that because you are a puzzle solver. You're much more concerned with the strangeness of the English language. Really. Because it's filled with phrases and stuff that either imply something nonsensical or logically mean the opposite of what's intended. So, secretly hoping one day to become a highly paid copy editor, you comb through Boris' note looking for English-isms. How many can you find? Time to get picky! And most of all, Enjoy. Aha - by popular demand [see following posts] here are a few examples of "Englishisms" Daylight Savings Time - not a second of daylight is actually saved here. The first century BC - this meaning is never what is meant. Usually people mean the last century, B.C. Underwater - things we call underwater are actually surrounded by it. I lucked out. Sounds like you're out of luck. Maybe it should be I lucked in? I'm speaking tongue in cheek. How can anyone understand you? Hope that helps. -------------- Dearest Natasha, We just boarded, and I have time to send you this note on my laptop. I had to watch my head coming through the boarding door. Either I'm still growing, or they're making these planes smaller every year. I had to wait for a hot water heater delivery, and then I hit a huge bottleneck of traffic coming to the airport and barely made it on time. But I was fortunate to get a non-stop flight; so I'll actually be in town earlier than planned. Wow! we just took off, and it was white knuckles all the way. Here I am, literally glued to my seat as I watch a near miss with an incoming plane out my window! I can hardly wait to get there. I've so missed not seeing you. Some people at work, who apparently have nothing better to do, have been whispering behind my back that we we're just a one night stand. I could care less what they think. I'm head over heels in love, and I'd go to the ends of the earth to see you. And now it's happening! I'll arrive none too soon! The snacks on these flights are ridiculous. They think a hot cup of coffee and some powdered donut holes are a meal! But you know me, I'm rarely satisfied; I want to have my cake and eat it too. Did I tell you I interviewed for a new position? Yesterday afternoon. I did everything I could to put my best foot forward, and I'm really hopeful. My boss is such a dweeb. He does everything a** backwards. Last year he let three of my great ideas fall between the cracks, and then resurrected them and pretended they were his own! Oh my gosh! Jeter scored all the way from first on a hit and run play! Girardi has those Yankees playing small ball this year. Maybe we'll get #28 in November - ya think? Sorry for the distraction; the game's on in-flight TV. What? Can you believe it? Newsflash just in; some nameless administration official just announced that Bush is revoking the presidential term limits. No way that can happen! Ah, the captain has announced our landing approach. I'll send this, log off, and soon you'll be in my arms. I can hardly wait! XXOOXX - Boris