Saturday, March 21, 2009

THE PUZZLE CORNER: MARCH 21st. 2009

It may not seem like Spring has sprung everywhere weather wise, but I still have plenty of fresh puzzles to keep the mind occupied.
To wit...

TRIVIA TIME
Although the moniker did not come into serious use until the Viet Nam war, who coined the nickname "Tricky Dick" in reference to then President Richard Nixon?

THE LETTER SHUFFLE
How many words can you make out of the following phrase?

SPRING HAS SPRUNG

And please note, the words of the phrase itself do not count!

The solutions will appear next weekend. But now, here are the answers to our quiz from last weekend celebrating the 50th anniversary of Barbie.

01 and 02.
While anyone who said that the dolls were named after Ruth Handler's daughter and son are correct, their full names are Barbara Millicent Roberts and Ken Carson. Of course those who imagine Barbie getting married would make her name Barbara Carson (nee Roberts).
03. To shake things up, and hopefully increase sales, Barbie started “dating” Blaine in 2004. But that romance has pretty much been over since Ken returned in 2006 between consumer/fans demands and Blaine not raking in the sales figures Ken did.
04. In 1971, Mattel's first official change to Barbie was altering the eyes to look forward instead of being more demure. Of course, how many bad haircuts she might have received at the hands of would-be stylists of the day remains unknown.
05. Barbie’s figure has been altered several times since the 1990s since the original measurements, translated to human terms, would make her 5-foot-6, weigh about 110 pounds, wearing a size 7 shoe and measure 39-18-33. Ms. Roberts has since gained a couple of inches in the waist and a little more weight accordingly to give girls a more realistic role model image.
But the actual answer to the question is: Since 2000, Mattel has started adding indications (an indentation, not a true one) of a belly button. If parents were concerned in the past about the unrealistic measurements in regards to their daughter's self image, I wonder how they will react if Mattel ever decides to keep up with current trends and starts piercing Barbie's belly button!

As for me, being a guy, I have had enough of dolls. I'm going to go raid my old toy chest and play with some of my ancient action figures awhile.

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