Friday, January 23, 2009

Your mission, should you decide to accept it,...

...is to look carefully at the buildings in the thirteen photos below, and then, without cheating (such as enlarging the photos or peeking at the HTML source code), to answer two questions:

Question #1: What do the thirteen buildings have in common? It’s not their architecture, obviously. Here’s a hint: Although it has nothing to do with the thirteen original colonies, it has everything to do with the thirteen original colonies.

Question #2: Which building doesn’t belong in the group, and why doesn’t it?

You will receive extra credit if you know the location of each building. As you should all know by this time, when you have amassed enough extra credit, something wonderful will happen to you. I have no idea what.

If you are killed or caught during the execution of this mission, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions.

This post will self-destruct in five parsecs.





















































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Update, 1/24/2009: Thanks to everyone who participated! I achieved a first by completely stumping Ruth Hull Chatlien! However, Angela and Pat (An Arkansas Stamper) are both right; the pictures show Presidential Libraries. But neither Angela nor Pat provided any identifying details. Yorkshire Pudding in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England gets a bye because, well, because he is in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England and so is not expected to be all that familiar with the minutiae of American life. Dr. John had no idea and kept Ruth company, which turned out to be fairly easy because he is in Wisconsin and she is so far north in Illinois as to be practically in Wisconsin. And I knew I could count on Putz to come through with something different; he was correct and still wrong when he offered “They all are heated. And have plumbing.” Maybe the Great Salt Lake has caused saline intrusion into all the drinking water in Utah. Reamus out in California got the big picture (no pun intended) but the devil was in the details. Wrong, wrong, wrong, unless I just don’t understand his numbering system.

The answers will appear in my next post on January 26, 2009.

9 comments:

  1. You've completely stumped me on this one.

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  2. I think they are all Presidential Libraries...I'm not sure whose, and I'm not sure which one doesn't belong, although I'm leaning heavily towards the first photo... I'll get back with you later...

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  3. Presidential libraries is my guess, but I have no idea which is where or which one doesn't fit in. A nice puzzle.

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  4. As my wife will often say to me -That's too damned hard!

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  5. they are all heated. and have plumbing.

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  6. They were all, but one, built for or by U.S. Presidents.

    1. The Truman Home in Independence MO
    2. The Hebert Hoover Home and Museum in Iowa
    3. The LBJ Ranch, Johnson City TX
    4. NO idea
    5. Part Of the Eisenhower Library and homestead
    6.The Carter Center, Atlanta
    7. LBJ Library Austin TX
    8. The Nixon Library, Calif.
    9. The Clinton Library (entrance) Little Rock AR
    10. The Kennedy School of Public Policy, Boston(Cambridge) Mass
    11.The Reagan Library, Simi Valley CA.
    12. I have no idea
    13. I have no idea but It may not belong here.

    I have by the way, not seen the movie you mentioned on my blog, but know of it.

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  7. I don't understand my numbering system!

    I was trying to just identify them since I have been to most...some looked strange...but then they are.

    I look forward to the "correct." list!

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  8. I'm happy to see you've included the Hoover Library in West Branch, Iowa. He may not have been the greatest president, but he has a nice library.

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<b>Always true to you, darlin’, in my fashion</b>

We are bombarded daily by abbreviations in everyday life, abbreviations that are never explained, only assumed to be understood by everyone...