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

It's not a '16' - it's an I (letter) and then a 6...

Well that makes things a little clearer, but how did you then know that a single instance of each of the letters made up a word? Is this a well-known (but not to me!) type of puzzle?

k
Not afraid to ask the stupid questions, it's the only way to learn.

Kelli, the important thing about Greebo's puzzles is that they don't come with instructions provided! That's what makes it an IQ challenge rather than just "fastest finger" although it is essential to be in quickly. The correct answer is usually posted within 10 minutes of the question, and sometimes as quickly as within 10 seconds.

Having said that, there are certain things that Greebo likes and questions have been based on them a few times. Counting the vowels and consonants in a word is a common one, as is numbering the letters in a word. Greebo nearly always provided enough information for you to figure out what she's on about. Here there are four lines in the poem. The first word gives it away because it has four letters. If can't be ACORN so it has to be SEED. If you can guess what the second line means, the rest is easy.