Monday, 4 July 2011
Numbers, Numbers
I occasionally have idle thoughts. And today's idle thought was 'I wonder if I can think of an author's name of every length from 1 to 20 letters.' Using the names under which they published, this is what I've come up with... fancy having a go? Can you fill in my gaps?
1. Q
2.
3.
4. Saki
5. Ouida
6. Sapper
7. A. A. Milne
8. E. F. Benson
9. Roald Dahl
10. Enid Blyton
11. E. M. Delafield
12. Lewis Carroll
13. Frances Burney
14. Charles Dickens
15. Richmal Crompton
16. Arthur Conan Doyle
17. Ivy Compton-Burnett
18. William Shakespeare
19.
20. Sylvia Townsend Warner
Well, that was worthwhile, wasn't? Happy Monday!
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How about the poet Ai? Susan E
ReplyDeleteOr HD? (Hilda Doolittle).
ReplyDeleteThis is going to bother me now. (Thanks!) You did well!
I can give you a couple of candidates for 19: Beatrice Kean Seymour and Apsley Cherry-Garrard.
ReplyDeleteProbably way off your radar, but 3 letters could be American author Avi. He's written a lot of award winning children's and YA books.
ReplyDeleteVery neat idea, by the way!
I love your blog. And I love this way of making our grey matter stretch a bit! Can't think of any names to fit your requirements - unless you accept Kenzaburo Oe (Japanese author) for the two letter one.
ReplyDeleteI've got a 21-letter one too! Good ole Frances Hodgson Burnett.
So, I have fulfilled none of the rules of the challenge, but I did have a jolly time listening to my brain cells shuffling into gear....
How about Harriet Beecher Stowe for 19?
ReplyDeleteBoz? As in 'Sketches by Boz'? Or is it cheating to use a nickname? (Not to mention the fact that you already have him down for number 14)
ReplyDeleteIf you go over to the 'carbon copy's' blog today you can meander off on a tour of some brilliant word exchanges from 'Yes, Minister' and 'Yes, Prime Minister' - another pleasant way to start a Monday!
Josephine Tey or Xialou Guo for 3.
ReplyDeleteSorry - mis-read. Thought 3 was too easy! Will think harder now.
ReplyDeleteHow about Avi for the three letter one?
ReplyDeleteI know that, strictly speaking, it's not her name but I'm sure you would be pleased to note that "Duchess of Devonshire" consists of 19 characters.
ReplyDeleteSusan E - Not heard of him/her... well done!
ReplyDeleteAudrey HD! She was on the tip of my tongue - or rather, I knew there was a writer with a two-initial name, but I couldn't for the life of me remember who.
Karyn - well done! Now do the other 19 too ;)
sequesterednooks - indeed, off my radar - thanks!
Anon - thanks very much - I love pointless little exercises like this; my aunt and I used to exchange them all the time.
Daniel - oo, another good one.
OVW - hmmm.. I think I'll let Boz pass :) Yes, Col and I have both done fairly entertaining/silly posts on this day. Twins!
Annabel - nice try ;)
hungrybookworm - well done!
David - oddly I am very pleased about that!!
For a two letter name, how about Dario Fo, the Italian Noble prize winner in literature?
ReplyDeleteFor your author of 2 letters, how about BB, the pen name of Denys Watkins-Pitchford.
ReplyDelete