Puzzle of the Day
Thursday, April 2
Albert Uderzo, creator of the Astérix comic book series, recently died at the age of 92. His most famous characters are Astérix and Obélix, both of whose names work as puns in both French and English; in particular, both can be obtained by modifying English words in precisely the same way, leading to an -ix ending (found in the names of many real Gaulish kings). There is one other multisyllabic English word* that can be modified in that exact way. What would the result be?
* Technically there are at least three such words, but one is a rather obscure shrub and another is a Norwegian dish that is only questionably an English word (though well-known in parts of Minnesota). UPDATE: Some of you have pointed out that certain obsolete media formats also fit the bill. Those aren't the answer I'm going for either, but never underestimate a Proofnik's creativity!
Check back tomorrow for the answer, a shoutout to all the solvers, and a new puzzle!
Yesterday's puzzle:
What famous tongue-twister is widely thought to commemorate the woman seen at right, a pioneering 19th century paleontologist who supported herself by purveying marine fossils?
Triple bonus points if you can tell me her name!
Answer:
She sells seashells by the seashore.
The portrait is of Mary Anning. I highly recommend reading this short account of her life story! (The linked page also contains the rest of the tongue-twister, which Spencer knew in its entirety.)
There seem to be slightly different versions of the tongue-twister in circulation: I got answers with "Sue sells seashells" (which might be a typo) and "Sally sells seashells" (this one appears to be somewhat widespread).
Good job to yesterday's solvers (with a 🌟 for those who knew her full name): 🌟Maddy, Lucia, Annas K. and J., Hazel, 🌟Reade, Spencer, 🌟Harper, Josh M., Nicholas, Jessica, Charlie, Aditi, Aiden, Leo S., and Kathy!
Jessica gets a half star for remembering her first name and deciding that Mary Shelley was a fitting completion. 🐚🐚🐚