Not Like The Others (Trivia)

Question #22

2009-07-03T18:22:00.001-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

Triangulation
Translation
Reflection
Rotation

Answer #21

2009-07-03T18:14:00.002-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

Goofy
Jokey
Brainy
Vanity

Please go to the Question #21 post if you haven't had a chance work on this one yet, since the text below contains the solution.

At first glance, the answer might seem to be that the first three are adjectives and the last is a noun, but that's not a particularly interesting or compelling solution. The better solution is that Jokey, Brainy and Vanity are all Smurfs, while Goofy is not.

Question #21

2009-06-30T15:37:00.000-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

Goofy
Jokey
Brainy
Vanity

Answer #20

2009-06-30T15:24:00.002-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

Dodo
Coelacanth
Apatosaurus
Wooly Mammoth

Please go to the Question #20 post if you haven't had a chance work on this one yet, since the text below contains the solution.

The coelacanth is a type of fish which was believed to be extinct (for over 65 million years!), but was discovered in 1938 to still be around. The other three animals listed aren't still around -- they're actually extinct. So as the only living animal on the list, the coelacanth does not belong.

Question #20

2009-06-28T22:39:00.000-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

Dodo
Coelacanth
Apatosaurus
Wooly Mammoth

Answer #19

2009-06-28T22:28:00.002-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

En passant
J'Adoube
Touché
FIDE

Please go to the Question #19 post if you haven't had a chance work on this one yet, since the text below contains the solution.

The french is a bit of a red herring here. "En passant" ("in passing")is a term in chess which refers to special pawn capture. "J'Adoube" (or "I adjust") is something a chess player would say if they want to adjust the position of a piece on the board, and not actually make a move. And FIDE stands for Fédération Internationale des Échecs -- The World Chess Federation.

The remaining term has nothing to do with chess. "Touché" is a term in fencing used to acknowledge a hit. It is not like the others, so it does not belong.

Question #19

2009-06-26T21:06:00.002-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

En passant
J'Adoube
Touché
FIDE

Answer #18

2009-06-26T20:52:00.002-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

12 1/2
33 1/3
45
78

Please go to the Question #18 post if you haven't had a chance work on this one yet, since the text below contains the solution.

Whenever people see a list of numbers like this, the first instinct is to find a mathematical relationship between them. In this particular puzzle, that would lead you astray. It's actually a music question!

Three of these are record formats. The number is the speed (in RPMs) that you play the record. The "45" is probably the most familiar in this context, since that number at one point became synonymous with the fact that these records were "singles". Other records are played at 33 1/3 RPMs, and 78 RPMs. But there was never a record format played at 12 1/2 RPMs, so that is what does not belong.

Question #18

2009-06-24T01:14:00.001-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

12 1/2
33 1/3
45
78

Answer #17

2009-06-24T01:06:00.002-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

"General Kenobi, years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars."
"He has too much of his father in him."
"Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son."
"Your father he is."

Please go to the Question #17 post if you haven't had a chance work on this one yet, since the text below contains the solution.

Each of the quotes is from the Star Wars films.

The first is spoken by Princess Leia (or a holographic image of her, anyway) in the original 1977 film. She is asking for Obi-Wan Kenobi to help the rebellion, based on the fact that he had helped her (adoptive) father years previous.

The second quote is spoken by Aunt Beru, referring to how Luke Skywalker is too much like his father (Anakin) to simply be a farmer. This quote is also from the original Star Wars film ("Episode IV").

Darth Vader speaks the third quote to Luke in The Empire Strikes Back, in the scene in which he reveals that he is Luke's father.

The last quote is from Yoda, in Return of the Jedi, confirming to Luke that Vader was telling the truth -- he is indeed Luke's father.

The commonality is who the "father" refers to in each of the quotes. Darth Vader / Anakin Skywalker is the father in the last three quotes. Princess Leia, however, was certainly not referring to Vader when she tried to enlist Kenobi's help. So that is the quote which does not belong. It is not like the others.

Question #17

2009-06-21T16:22:00.002-04:00

Answer #16

2009-06-21T16:13:00.003-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

white
black
cyan
magenta

Please go to the Question #16 post if you haven't had a chance work on this one yet, since the text below contains the solution.

Over on Twitter, several people chose black, with the quite-reasonable explanation that the others all come from emitted or reflected light, while black comes from the absence of light.

Perhaps a better choice for the list would have been white, yellow, cyan, magenta, given this alternate solution.

The intended solution relates to the color model used in four-color printing presses. Computer monitors and televisions use additive colors, where the combination of the component colors (Red, Green, and Blue -- RGB) add up to white. That works with light. But with ink or paint, adding all the component colors together produces black. To get richer blacks in print, a fourth color of ink is included -- Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and blacK -- CMYK.

Question #16

2009-06-19T18:34:00.000-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

white
black
cyan
magenta

Answer #15

2009-06-19T18:26:00.002-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

fir
pine
maple
spruce

Please go to the Question #15 post if you haven't had a chance work on this one yet, since the text below contains the solution.

These are all kinds of trees, of course. Fir, pine and spruce are coniferous, while maple is deciduous, so it does not belong. It is not like the others.

Question #15

2009-06-17T18:56:00.001-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

fir
pine
maple
spruce

Answer #14

2009-06-17T18:46:00.003-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

Willow
Kendra
Faith
Buffy

Please go to the Question #14 post if you haven't had a chance work on this one yet, since the text below contains the solution.

All the names on the list are characters on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but only three of them were actually Slayers. Willow was not, so she does not belong.

Question #14

2009-06-15T19:19:00.001-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

Willow
Kendra
Faith
Buffy

Answer #13

2009-06-15T18:56:00.003-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

up
odd
bottom
strange

Please go to the Question #13 post if you haven't had a chance work on this one yet, since the text below contains the solution.

For such common words, it may be surprising that the answer involves something rather arcane. Three of the items on the list are types (or "flavors") of quarks -- subatomic particles not believed to have any further sub-structure.

Up and down quarks are by far the most common. The four other types are up, down, strange, and charm. The word on the list which is NOT a quark type is "odd", so it does not belong. It is not like the others.

Question #13

2009-06-14T02:30:00.002-04:00

I'm a few hours late for posting this one. I thought I'd put up a tough one for the thirteenth!

One of these things is not like the others

up
odd
bottom
strange

Answer #12

2009-06-12T19:34:00.002-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

femtosecond
fortnight
millennium
parsec

Please go to the Question #12 post if you haven't had a chance work on this one yet, since the text below contains the solution.

A femtosecond is one millionth of one billionth of a second. A fortnight is 14 days. And a millennium is one thousand years. The fourth item on the list, parsec, is not a measurement of time, but rather of distance. So, parsec does not belong. It is not like the others.

Question #12

2009-06-11T18:22:00.000-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

femtosecond
fortnight
millennium
parsec

Answer #11

2009-06-10T19:46:00.001-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

melancholic
sanguine
esoteric
phlegmatic

Please go to the Question #11 post if you haven't had a chance work on this one yet, since the text below contains the solution.

Most of the items on the list are temperaments -- specifically, those related to the ancient theory of bodily humors. It was once believed that imbalances in these humors was the source of disease. An excess of blood caused one to be sanguine. Black bile would make you melancholic. And phlegmatic personality types were caused by an excess of ... yes ... phlegm.

The fourth humor which I left off the list was is choleric. Esoteric is not a bodily humor, or a temperament, so it does not belong. It is not like the others.

Question #11

2009-06-09T17:02:00.000-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

melancholic
sanguine
esoteric
phlegmatic

Answer #10

2009-06-08T18:25:00.000-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

Esperanto
Aramaic
Volapük
Klingon

Please go to the Question #10 post if you haven't had a chance work on this one yet, since the text below contains the solution.

A couple of people on Twitter got this one right. All of the items on the list are languages, but most of them are invented -- deliberately designed languages. The Klingon language was invented by Marc Okrand for the Star Trek films. Esperanto and Volapük were designed as attempts to create a universal language.

The last language on the list is Aramaic, which is much older than the others on the list. It developed naturally, as did most languages. For this reason, Aramaic does not belong. It is not like the others.

Question #10

2009-06-07T15:27:00.000-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

Esperanto
Aramaic
Volapük
Klingon

Answer #9

2009-06-06T20:08:00.000-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

Calgary
Vancouver
Atlanta
Salt Lake City

Please go to the Question #9 post if you haven't had a chance work on this one yet, since the text below contains the solution.

Vancouver will soon be the host of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Similarly, Calgary has hosted the Winter games, and Salt Lake City has as well. Although Atlanta has also hosted the Olympics, they were the Summer games. Therefore, Atlanta does not belong. It is not like the others.

Question #9

2009-06-05T19:42:00.000-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

Calgary
Vancouver
Atlanta
Salt Lake City

Answer #8

2009-06-04T19:31:00.000-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

Ikiru
Usagi
Yojimbo
Kagemusha

Please go to the Question #8 post if you haven't had a chance work on this one yet, since the text below contains the solution.

Most of these should be familiar to fans of Japanese films. Ikiru, Yojimbo, and Kagemusha are all movies directed by Akira Kurosawa.

The stand-out is Usagi, which is the Japanese word for rabbit (which I only know because of Stan Sakai's anthropomorphic comic book hero Usagi Yojimbo.) So, Usagi does not belong. It is not like the others.

Question #8

2009-06-03T16:46:00.000-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

Ikiru
Usagi
Yojimbo
Kagemusha

Answer #7

2009-06-02T15:47:00.000-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

Barbie
Hot Wheels
Intellivision
Colecovision

Please go to the Question #7 post if you haven't had a chance work on this one yet, since the text below contains the solution.

Over on Twitter, some users (@ohmoemusic first) chose Barbie as the item that isn't like the others. I'm always open to hearing about alternative solutions, so I asked the reason behind this answer, since it wasn't my intended solution. The answer was that the toys/games are not gender-specific, except for Barbie, which is primarily intended for girls.

While I can understand the impulse to see the puzzle in that way, I personally disagree, as I've never really understood the idea of seeing toys as exclusive to one sex. In any case, even if we accept this, I think there is a much stronger answer to the puzzle.

Three of the items on the list are or were created by Mattel. Colecovision was not. It does not belong.

Question #7

2009-06-01T15:44:00.000-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

Barbie
Hot Wheels
Intellivision
Colecovision

Answer #6

2009-05-31T23:28:00.000-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

Mark Zuckerberg
Ashton Kutcher
hashtags
fail whale

Please go to the Question #6 post if you haven't had a chance work on this one yet, since the text below contains the solution.

On the days that I post a new puzzle, I also send out a message on Twitter announcing the new question. In this particular case, the readers who were directed here through Twitter had a large advantage, since that is the key to the answer. Three of the items are associated with Twitter. Mark Zuckerberg isn't -- he's the CEO of Facebook.

Ashton Kutcher was in the news recently for being the first Twitter member with 1 Million followers (he's well past that now, and still has the most followers). Hashtags are words or phrases added to messages which tag them as being on certain subjects. And the fail whale is the image that you get when Twitter is (far too often) unavailable.

Since Mark Zuckerberg isn't associated with Twitter the way that the other three are, he doesn't belong. He is not like the others.

Question #6

2009-05-30T22:46:00.000-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

Mark Zuckerberg
Ashton Kutcher
hashtags
fail whale

Answer #5

2009-05-29T19:47:00.000-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

5.11a
figure 8
fisherman's
overhand

Please go to the Question #5 post if you haven't had a chance work on this one yet, since the text below contains the solution.

Yesterday, I added a new element to the blog. I had been a little hesitant to do so, because I don't have direct control over this particular element. And, due to the nature of this new element, I had a suspicion that it could act as a spoiler for some of the puzzles. Sure enough, that very thing happened here.

Yes, I am being deliberately vague. Just to be safe, I won't even mention why I'm being vague. Suffice it to say that, from time to time, some of the elements on the page might give you a clue about the answer to the puzzle.

The answer this time, by the way, has to do with knots. You can tie a figure 8 knot, a fisherman's knot, and an overhand knot, but you can't tie a 5.11a knot because there's no such thing. Rather, 5.11a is a difficulty rating for rock climbing, in the Yosemite Decimal System.

Question #5

2009-05-28T16:16:00.000-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

5.11a
figure 8
fisherman's
overhand

Answer #4

2009-05-27T19:06:00.000-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

Spock
Deanna Troi
Quark
B'Ellana Torres

Please go to the Question #4 post if you haven't had a chance work on this one yet, since the text below contains the solution.

As I wrote in the question, there are a couple of good solutions to this one.

Questions of the "not like the others" type often can have multiple solutions, although the good ones are designed so that only one of the solutions stands out as the best. In a way, this reminds me of the research done by Douglas Hofstadter on how the ability to think in analogies is central to human cognition.

I will leave the specifics of these similarities to a later post. For now, let's get to the the solution to the problem at hand.

The solution that was posted in the comments section was that Quark doesn't belong because he is the only character who is not half-human. Spock, Torres, and Troi each have one human parent and one parent of a different species. Quark, on the other hand, is all Ferengi.

This was the solution that I had in mind when I designed the puzzle, but an alternate solution which seemed just as valid to me was that everyone on the list except for Quark is a Starfleet Officer.

In either case, Quark is the one who does not belong. He is not like the others.

Question #4

2009-05-26T16:33:00.000-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

Spock
Deanna Troi
Quark
B'Ellana Torres

There are actually two good reasons why one of these characters doesn't fit in with the rest of them. For brownie points, name both reasons.

Update: Answer posted by Mel in the comments.

Answer #3

2009-05-25T18:41:00.000-04:00

One of these things is not like the others

new
old
full
half

If you haven't had a chance to work on this one yet, you should go to Question #3, to avoid the text below (it contains the answer).

What I like about these "not like the others" puzzles is that sometimes they become more difficult the more you know. Some, like this one, are perfectly obvious after you find out the solution, but seem particularly difficult to solve beforehand.

Three of the items on the list are phases of the moon. (At least, as they are colloquially called.) "Old" is not a moon phase so it does not belong. It is not like the others.

Question #3

2009-05-23T21:26:00.000-04:00

One of these things is not like the others.

new
old
full
half

Answer #2

2009-05-23T20:00:00.000-04:00

One of these things is not like the others.

honey
gelatin
silk
cotton

Please go to the Question #2 post if you haven't had a chance work on this one yet, since the text below contains the solution.

Unlike the previous question, this time none of the words should be unfamiliar. The solution here relates to the sources of each of the substances. Three of the four items are animal products, while the fourth is not.

Honey, of course, is produced by bees. Silk is made by silkworms. Gelatin is made from the collagen in the skin and bones of various animals. But cotton is not an animal product, so it does not belong on the list. It is not like the others.

Question #2

2009-05-22T18:36:00.000-04:00

One of these things is not like the others.

honey
gelatin
silk
cotton

Answer #1

2009-05-21T20:45:00.000-04:00

One of these things is not like the others.

umlaut
ampersand
macron
cedilla

Please go to the Question #1 post if you haven't had a chance work on this one yet, since the text below contains the solution.

The challenge in this question is largely that the words on the list aren't very common. Most people would probably know that an "ampersand" is the symbol used to signify "and" -- &. Of the other words, perhaps "umlaut" is the next most likely to be known, particularly by fans of Mötley Crüe. (The little dots above the o and u are umlauts. Who knows why these are so popular with heavy metal bands.)

The macron is similar, but it is a solid bar, indicating that the vowel over which it sits should be long (e.g. Māori). And the cedilla is a little curl that you would most likely find under the letter c (comme ça).

So three of the four words are symbols which alter the pronunciation of letters -- diacritical marks. That leaves ampersand as the correct answer. It is not like the others.

Question #1

2009-05-20T20:46:00.000-04:00

One of these things is not like the others.

umlaut
ampersand
macron
cedilla