More than one correct answer?

[TimmyTee]

No doubt this has been asked and answered many times before, but ...

Are there any examples of "quotes" that can be answered correctly with other letters that generate a completely different quote, but it all fits? I'm guessing that there are probably some really elegant examples floating around somewhere.

[LLapp]

There have been plenty of comments offering slightly wrong solutions that are more hilarious than elegant, and once in a while there's a slightly wrong solution that makes more sense than the original. But I don't recall ever seeing a wrong solution that was a completely different quote. Given the number of quotes on this site, it seems likely that maybe there's one out there.

[Eureka]

I'm assuming, TimmyTee, that you mean people come up with a perfectly logical sentence that is grammatically correct and fits the puzzle but is not actually the right solution. Sometimes I come up with some pretty wacky sentences that don't make much sense but do make me laugh. I've often thought it would be great to have a forum thread for quotes we thought were right. I agree that sometimes the incorrect guesses are better than the actual quote. And certainly funnier.
Hey folks, feel free to leave your incorrect versions of quotes here. Include the actual quote so we can appreciate how much better your version is! Just yesterday I solved a puzzle where nearly everyone thought the correct word should be "fossil". I wish I could remember the quote and what the actual word was. If anyone comes across that quote, please post it here!

[LLapp]

Hey folks, feel free to leave your incorrect versions of quotes here. Include the actual quote so we can appreciate how much better your version is! Just yesterday I solved a puzzle where nearly everyone thought the correct word should be "fossil". I wish I could remember the quote and what the actual word was. If anyone comes across that quote, please post it here!

Eureka, I love that idea! And I'm not sure, but I believe the correct word in place of "fossil" may have been "gossip."

[TimmyTee]

There was one the other day that I ran into where the letter pattern suggested "football," the two double letters of course sending folks down different paths to solutions. And it turned out NOT to be football. That was what set me off thinking about alternative solutions.

It's kind of like a math equation where there are several different possibles correct answers to "x." Clearly, in cryptos, one can find interesting single words, perhaps. I'm wondering if smart folks might be able to engineer a short quote that can be done two ways, with both ways making at least some sense. A meta layer to this kind of puzzle!!

The key to engineering such a pair of quotes might be the use of a lot of letters which only get used once.

[azhang941]

I'm pretty sure the only way to do this is to treat the quotes as "patristocrats" rather than "aristocrats" (basically all spaces and punctuation are taken out). Then if you look at perfect panagrams, they do work, however it is debatable if they make sense. Some examples of perfect panagrams are found here: https://medium.com/@FallingForFallac...h-8c8d0f621bee.
With single words, there obviously is possible alternative solutions (off the top of my head, goodness also works for the football pattern), but the solutions are severely limited after even a single word or two that it would basically be impossible to have quotes more then a few words that have multiple completely different answers.

[Eureka]

Thank you, LLapp! You are right. "Historians are gossips who tease the dead" (Voltaire) vs. "Historians are fossils who tease the dead." (our brilliant crypto-solvers) "Fossils" definitely sounds better!

[Eureka]

I just came across this and thought it was funny, particularly since Andy451 is not usually known for his brevity.

"Much of the wisdom of one age is the folly of the next. "
— Charles Simmons

Andy451
May 4, 2017, 3:22 pm
My solution is possibly better: "Much of the wisdom of one ape is the folly of the next."

[montyb]

"When we lose God, it is not God who is lost."
— Unattributed

Substitute “you” for “God”.

[Eureka]

Changing one word inspired many comments. The original quote inspired none. Jnoodles for the win.

"A hundred years cannot repair a moment's loss of honor. "
— Proverb

jnoodles
April 23, 2015, 4:00 pm
bears

LLapp
June 11, 2015, 10:44 am
A hundred bears? That's funny! It even sounds like a nursery rhyme.

haverwench
June 12, 2015, 5:10 pm
A hundred bears in the bed, and the little one said, "I'm crowded! Roll over!"

LLapp
December 9, 2015, 10:10 pm
So they all rolled over and one fell out...
.
wigoddess
March 14, 2017, 10:38 pm
Ninety-nine bears on the bed and the little one said...

abra
July 22, 2018, 2:06 pm
And the doctor said, no more bears jumping on the bed.

[TimmyTee]

Just ran across this one.

Quote: "To greed, all nature is insufficient."
~Seneca

lainecap
April 4, 2017, 10:31 am
breed, greed
abra
July 10, 2017, 9:44 am
^ I know, and even more.

And, "To Greek, all nature is insufficient."

[Descifrador]

Have fun!

WildeQuote.png

[montyb]

...BaLDness.

[Eureka]

DAMPNESS. (That musty smell is really hard to get out of your car after you leave the sunroof open during a rainstorm. True story.)

[Descifrador]

...BaLDness.

DAMPNESS.

Tried them both, plus DAFTNESS. The correct response is "CALMNESS".

(That musty smell is really hard to get out of your car after you leave the sunroof open during a rainstorm. True story.)

I assume something like that qualifies as "neglect" from an insurer's perspective.