This week’s puzzle by Quiz Guy John Chaneski is inspired by the drawings used by logicians — that is, each answer rhymes with the term Venn Diagram. For example, a map of nearby marshlands isn’t a Venn Diagram, it’s a… This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Venn Diagram Brain Teaser”
You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it. I’m Grant Barrett.
And I’m Martha Barnette, and joining us on the line from New York City is our quiz guy, John Chaneski. Hi, John.
Hi, Martha. Hi, Grant. I have something very interesting to talk about today. You know what I love? I love Venn diagrams. You know what they are, right?
Sure.
There are two or more circles, each representing a set, sure, that overlap where the items in those sets overlap.
For example, if I have a circle representing male radio hosts, that would include Grant, and a circle representing female radio hosts, that would include Martha, and where those two circles overlap represents hosts of A Way with Words.
Of course, that’s a Venn diagram.
Now, this puzzle isn’t about Venn diagrams.
This is about diagrams that rhyme with Venn diagrams.
For example, I have here in my hand a map of the nearby wetlands, and that isn’t a Venn diagram.
It’s a Fenn diagram.
Oh, Lord.
Okay.
Got it?
Yes.
I’ll describe the diagrams I have here.
You can hear them.
I have them right here.
I’m painting a word picture right here.
You just tell me what they are.
Here we go.
Now, this, this is a floor plan of a specific room of a house.
A den diagram?
A den diagram.
Yes, perfect.
How about this one?
This is a chart of eggs by size, weight, and color.
A hen diagram.
A hen diagram.
Yes, very good.
Let’s look at this one.
These are the specifications for a male doll for children.
A hen diagram.
Yes, a hen diagram.
Nicely done.
Let’s see.
What do I have here?
This is the migration patterns of a small songbird.
A wren diagram.
A wren diagram.
Yes.
Let’s see what’s next.
Here’s a list comparing the box office earnings of actors Affleck, Stiller, and Kingsley.
A bend diagram.
A bend diagram, yeah.
Well, that’s very interesting about that.
Okay, let’s see what’s next.
Oh, this is an elevation, or rather the lack of elevation, of a long, deep valley.
A glenn diagram?
A glenn diagram, yes.
What’s this?
These are instructions for engraving a portrait of Alexander Hamilton for use on U.S. Currency.
A 10 diagram.
A 10 diagram, yes.
Let’s see.
This is a chart of the estimated gene counts in a human Y chromosome.
A MEN diagram?
MEN diagram, yeah.
How did I get a hold of that?
I have no idea.
Let’s see.
What’s this?
Oh, this is more like it.
This is a map of meditation centers used by practitioners of a school of Mahayana Buddhism.
A Zen diagram.
A Zen diagram, yeah.
Here’s the last one.
This is a census estimate of a certain Scandinavian boy’s name.
A Sven diagram.
A Sven diagram, yes.
Well, I have to go home and organize all my diagrams now, so that’s it for me this week.
Nice talking to you guys.
All right.
Thanks very much.
We appreciate it, John.
It’s always a pleasure to talk with you and take your fun quizzes.
And thank you for the softball one this week.
Thanks, John.
Bye-bye.
Bye.
You can join us on the radio with your language questions, 877-929-9673.
Email words@waywordradio.org or talk to us on Twitter @wayword.
John Chaneski is wrong about how Venn diagrams work. The region where the two circles overlap contains things that belong to *both* sets (not *either* set). Grant only belongs to one of the sets; Martha only belongs to one of the sets; the overlapping region (the “intersection”) doesn’t have anything in it.
A better example would be if one circle represented “people who talk about linguistics” and the other represented “people who are NPR hosts”. Then the intersection would include both of you.