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

Really? It's amazing what you can learn randomly quoting Kevin Smith.

::sploshes dorsal fin around lovely bubbly foot-spa::

Er - would you mind getting your fin out of my foot-spa?

ohmygoshI'meversosorry I didn't realise it was your foot-spa!

::Removes fin from foot-spa and searches for his ::

Oh that's all right, didn't mean to be grumpy, look as long as you've brought a feel free.

Is there some sort of quiz meant to be going on around here?

Oh dear. It's my question, isn't it?

Please tell me which team occupies the missing gap in this league table:

Portsmouth
Southampton
Carlisle
Manchester City
?
Cardiff City
?
Scunthorpe United
Tiverton
Leeds United

One of the above does not quite follow the rules...

B

There was a quiz, but Master B answered the last question 3 days ago.

Footrace anybody?

sorry

damn my slow dial-up

Hello everyone. Hello Master B.

Nice to see Pompey top of the table for once. Shame about the runners up, but we'll take the glory.

Hmmm, is it anything to do with Alan Ball or Kevin Keegan?

Icy

On a similar sort of table, Kevin Keegan would be near, if not at, the top.

B

Hmmm,

The only connection I can see is that many (but not all) of the names are aggregated from smaller words.

Ports + mouth,
South + amp + ton,
Car + lisle,
Man + chest + er (er?) + city, etc.

Is this relevant?

I didn't see Liverpool or Blackpool or Millwall or Newcastle though.

Which smaller words is Scunthorpe made out of?

*slaps hiw wrist*

You're certainly thinking along the right lines.

Try taking just the first two letters...

And no, nothing to do with rude words.

B

First two letters? Sounds like it could be chemical symbols, but I can't quite match it to the periodic table. The best section looks like elements 15 to 23:


Portsmouth = P = 15 (Phosphorus)
Southampton = S = 16 (Sulphur)
Carlisle = Cl = 17 (Chlorine)

It breaks down here. Manchester City doesn't fit into 18, Ar, Argon

The missing one would be K (Kidderminster?) = 19, Potassium

Cardiff = Ca = 20 (Calcium)

The second missing one has no answer, but there is a space in the periodic table between 20 and 21.

Scunthorpe = Sc = 21 (Scandium)
Tiverton = Ti = 22 = (Titanium)

It breaks down again at the end. Leeds United doesn't fit with 23, V, Vanadium.


Coincidence?

Icy

You're pretty close to the right answer.

But stop looking at the Periodic Table.

B

Hmmmm....American states?

Nope.

I'm not saying that Science is the wrong way to go, mind you. Bear in mind my (newly found) job.

B

Evening Master B. Congrats on the job!

Am I seeing significance in 'team' and 'gap' rather than 'teams' and 'gaps'?

Not that this will sort out my own puzzlement, mind.

Hang on - 'missing' gap?

(Suppose I shouldn't be thinking out loud on the thread. Ha! - 'thinking' he calls it. Be better off back in the footspa)

Trin - feel free to talk out loud, becaue I haven't the foggiest what you're on about.

B

Let me be clearer.
Two question marks, denoting two gaps - but you only refer in the preamble to a single gap and a single team. Not only that but you refer to it as a 'missing' gap i.e. that there is a third unindicated gap and the other two are red herrings.

*Under the shade of the right tree, Master B sits smiling as he listens to barking from a remote part of the forest*