This puzzle often appears when a speaker doesn’t arrive for a meeting and the organiser wants a fill-in Quiz.
It first appeared in it’s present form in Games magazine in 1981. When it was put in the puzzles section of the Daily Express newspaper in 1999 it was given the name of one of the earliest clues, Ditloid. Not a great name.
The clue the name came from was “1 = D in the L of I D” and the answer was “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” which is the title of an old short novel by the Russian author, Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn.
I have discovered it is very easy to make the clues inpossibly difficult. Two examples - 22 N H in T has the answer ‘Named Highways in Tasmania’ or 14 E in S A is ‘Electrons in a Silicon Atom’
I have put together a set of simple clues. The Hints in blue just make the whole thing more ingenious. And of course click or tap on Answers to show the last few you may have missed.
| 1. | 1 = D at a T | how to live life | Day at a Time |
| 2. | 2 = W on a B | pedal power | Wheels on a Bicycle |
| 3. | 3 = L on a T | a support | Legs on a Tripod |
| 4. | 4 = H on a Z | African animal | Hooves on a Zebra |
| 5. | 5 = S on a P | geometry | Sides on a Pentagon |
| 6. | 6 = S on a G | strum a chord | Strings on a Guitar |
| 7. | 7 = C in a R | after rain | Colours in a Rainbow |
| 8. | 7 = W of the W | ancient history | Wonders of the World |
| 9. | 8 = L on a S | animal | Legs on a Spider |
| 10. | 8 = N in an O | music | Notes in an Octave |
| 11. | 11 = P in a F T | sport | Players in a Football Team |
| 12. | 12 = S of the Z | astrological | Signs of the Zodiac |
| 13. | 13 = U N | superstition | Unlucky Number |
| 14. | 15 = M of F | what everyone deserves | Minutes of Fame |
| 15. | 18 = H on a G C | sport | Holes on a Golf Course |
| 16. | 21 = G S | fired at ceremonies | Gun Salute |
| 17. | 29 = D in F in a L Y | calendar | Days in February in a Leap Year |
| 18. | 52 = W in a Y | big time | Weeks in a Year |
| 19. | 60 = S in a M | small time | Seconds in a Minute |
| 20. | 64 = S on a C B | 2-player game | Squares on a Checkers/Chess Board |
| 21. | 76 = T led the B P | movie tune | Trombones led the Big Parade |
| 22. | 206 = B in th H B | anatomy | Bones in the Human Body |
| 23. | 360 = D in a C | geometry | Degrees in a Circle |
| 24. | 24 = H in a D | time | Hours in a Day |
| 25. | 25 = S W A | a couple’s special day | Silver Wedding Anniversary |
| 26. | 26 = L in the A | - - - | Letters in the Alphabet |
| and 26 = C in this Q | - - - | Clues in this Quiz |
The Puzzle Page thumbnail answers are:
10 Commandments, 12 Apostles, 30 Days hath September, 36 Black Keys on a Piano and 50 States in the United States.