4 ms·

Seems like statistics would help figure out if it was coincidence. What are the odds that ~6 months worth of daily crossword answers will contain 6-7 specific c

Seems like statistics would help figure out if it was coincidence. What are the odds that ~6 months worth of daily crossword answers will contain 6-7 specific commonly used words?

brk 5y ago
From TFA it sounds like it was not coincidence at all.
- addingnumbers 5y ago
  I'm skeptical of that Ronald French story. Wikipedia, and all the journalists recently covering the story, take all his assertions at face value and don't seem to question whether it's a simple spotlight-seeking tall tale. It seems like he told his story after everyone who could corroborate or disprove it was already dead.
  - csilverman 5y ago
    I was wondering about that. The idea that a kid could wander into a military base at the height of the war and just wander around unchallenged—and that these top-secret codenames would be bandied about by low-level soldiers—seems very odd. He did say he was wearing a uniform (albeit, I assume, a British one) and most of those soldiers were basically kids anyway, so maybe he really did just walk in there and nobody noticed. Does sound pretty wild, though.
    - Archelaos 5y ago
      > The idea that a kid could wander into a military base at the height of the war and just wander around unchallenged I grew up in a small village just a few kilometers from the Iron Curtain. At one of the heights of the cold war, during the big NATO manoeuvres in the early 80s we had often American camps next to the village. After school or during weekends we kids went to the camp every day. I remember that we secretly brought beer (as a present) to the GIs so that their officers didn't notice and that I played chess with them in their tents. So the part of the story about kids wandering around military camps sounds pretty convincing to me.
      - skinkestek 5y ago
        > After school or during weekends we kids went to the camp every day. I remember that we secretly brought beer (as a present) to the GIs so that their officers didn't notice and that I played chess with them in their tents. So, now you kids today know another reason why we old timers are like we are. I didn't do exactly this, but I will admit now, 25 years later that I collected unused cartridges after military exercises and brought loads of them in my bag at the plane :-)
fred_is_fred 5y ago
I've thought about this some. Utah and Juno are specific place names in the United States. Would the average British person in 1944 have even known what Juno is (or where)? This not "New York City" and "Miami". Overlord is not a common word either. The others are more common in usage. Edit: missed the roman goddess not alaska town bit my fault
- adsche 5y ago
  Juno (as the name of a Roman goddess) is a common crossword answer, as also noted in the article.
joezydeco 5y ago
If you do enough daily crosswords you see a lot of the same words, especially ones that have atypical placement of vowels. Omaha. Utah. Juno. Mulberry. I recall seeing "Charlie Chaplin's wife" ("Oona") almost once a month. Get yourself painted into a corner? Oona. I'd say it was selection bias.

Seems like statistics would help figure out if it was coincidence. What are the odds that ~6 months worth of daily crossword answers will contain 6-7 specific commonly used words?

brk 5y ago

From TFA it sounds like it was not coincidence at all.

addingnumbers 5y ago
I'm skeptical of that Ronald French story. Wikipedia, and all the journalists recently covering the story, take all his assertions at face value and don't seem to question whether it's a simple spotlight-seeking tall tale. It seems like he told his story after everyone who could corroborate or disprove it was already dead.
- csilverman 5y ago
  I was wondering about that. The idea that a kid could wander into a military base at the height of the war and just wander around unchallenged—and that these top-secret codenames would be bandied about by low-level soldiers—seems very odd. He did say he was wearing a uniform (albeit, I assume, a British one) and most of those soldiers were basically kids anyway, so maybe he really did just walk in there and nobody noticed. Does sound pretty wild, though.
  - Archelaos 5y ago
    > The idea that a kid could wander into a military base at the height of the war and just wander around unchallenged I grew up in a small village just a few kilometers from the Iron Curtain. At one of the heights of the cold war, during the big NATO manoeuvres in the early 80s we had often American camps next to the village. After school or during weekends we kids went to the camp every day. I remember that we secretly brought beer (as a present) to the GIs so that their officers didn't notice and that I played chess with them in their tents. So the part of the story about kids wandering around military camps sounds pretty convincing to me.
    - skinkestek 5y ago
      > After school or during weekends we kids went to the camp every day. I remember that we secretly brought beer (as a present) to the GIs so that their officers didn't notice and that I played chess with them in their tents. So, now you kids today know another reason why we old timers are like we are. I didn't do exactly this, but I will admit now, 25 years later that I collected unused cartridges after military exercises and brought loads of them in my bag at the plane :-)

fred_is_fred 5y ago

I've thought about this some. Utah and Juno are specific place names in the United States. Would the average British person in 1944 have even known what Juno is (or where)? This not "New York City" and "Miami". Overlord is not a common word either. The others are more common in usage. Edit: missed the roman goddess not alaska town bit my fault

adsche 5y ago
Juno (as the name of a Roman goddess) is a common crossword answer, as also noted in the article.

joezydeco 5y ago

If you do enough daily crosswords you see a lot of the same words, especially ones that have atypical placement of vowels. Omaha. Utah. Juno. Mulberry. I recall seeing "Charlie Chaplin's wife" ("Oona") almost once a month. Get yourself painted into a corner? Oona. I'd say it was selection bias.