h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Never mind dead presidents - that always seams to be the playlist down the union on slow nights...

(Just kidding).

...since we've page-flipped, I thought that we maybe ought to reiterate Granny's magnanimous offer.

Master B - your self-professed Wonderquestion is required, please.
(This one conceived in Boots, Scunthorpe too? That retail establishment is destined to be the subject of a future creation-myth, I shouldn't wonder...)

*unlurks after 5 days in London including a terrific meet*

Master B.
My answer - as usual - is 42

*lurks*

OK, I tried to post this once before the Proxies went down. Let's try again:

----

Put these names in logical order (and, no, not the alphabetical one they're already in )

Angus (this one's a bit iffy)
Bird
Coleman
Gray
Meier
Monte
Rowntree
Wall
Wiseman

----

Have fun!

B

Is this an Anglocentric q or should I/we be thinking further afield?

I think I see at least 4 or 5 brand names

Angus (this one's a bit iffy)- beef/aberdeen
Bird - custard
Coleman - mustard
Gray
Meier
Monte - fruit as in Del Monte
Rowntree - sweets
Wall - ice cream
Wiseman - milk retailer

Are they all puddings? apart from the mustard

Could be Angus Steak Houses

Earl Grey ?

But Master B's spelling is Gray, not Grey ...

*working*
I still think we are on the right lines but no inspiration yet

They seem to make up a meal?

aberdeen ANGUS --> WALL's sausages and COLEMAN's mustard
WISEMAN dairies --> BIRD's custard (WALL's ice cream?)
del MONTE fruit --> ROWNTREE's jelly

MEIER's Morsels?
GRAY's restaurants? (el eggy in a spanish churchyard?)

Ooh look at all these question marks, this calls for a drink..

You're pushing the right lines.

First, I would suggest finding all the products that make these names famous. Then see if you can see a connection. There's (as ever) an oblique clue in the subject line.

B

WALL'S - have ears.

COLEMAN's have balls....hey I think we're onto something here.

Is it the 6 Hundred Dollar Man, reconstructed from leftover food wrappings?

There is a glorious connection which you're not picking up on...

B

These *pick up* lines have me flummoxed... what gets picked up?

Take-out pizza?
Parcels?
Girls/Boys?
Dumb-bells?

BTW Master B, is it really Gray, or perhaps Grey - as in ?

Definitely Gray.

That one might take a bit of research - it's a fairly obscure foodstuff you're looking for.

B

The old 'Pick up a Penguin' slogan wouldn't be relevant by any chance? Guess they could well be manufactured by Rowntrees, say.

No, you're really barking up the wrong ice floe there.

Weren't they made by Nestle, in any case?

B

Talking of barking up the wrong ice-floe...

* rolls off this one with a splash *
Pin

Maybe I will go shopping tonight and do some market research