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

I am serious about this question and the riddle does have an answer. I cannot offer an h2g2 T-Shirt as a prize, only the glory of solving it.

I can offer clues along the way like:


It does not involve the date time zone change.

Other similar dates can also be also be true and the question "When is the 26th of September really the 25th of September" is just one example date of many.

Their may be an answers out there which are also true to the question. Commendations to anyone finding one but don't bank on it being the answer I am looking for.

I expect that this thread will drift as thinking out of the box could be an asset.


Good luck and "May your h2g2 Research be with you without encountering Vogons".

vegiman

Oh I meant not

vegiman

During a Leap year?

Good answer Paulh but no, sorry

Thanks for trying

Look at the 4 clues at the start of the thread

I will answer questions truthfully, so ask away

vegiman

When one gets ill, drunk or stoned and sleeps thru
a 24 hour period, waking a full day out of sync.

When reading yesterday's newspaper without realising it.

When viewing recorded TV programs the 'next' day.

When the date stamp on a watch or clock fails to turn.

When processing or posting accounts from the day before.



~jwf~

Generally, according to the Royal Mail claims service.

B

When, a few days after an equinox, the sun (at noon) is directly over a country that uses a calendar appropriate to this question

?

~jwf~

I did say I would answer questions

Your last two questions are tracking well - wont say more than that or it will be a total give away.

vegi

Hot Mu Beta but cold at the same time.

Rod - If I understood that I would give you a pat on the back. Now that is what I call thinking out of the box.

vegiman

The 25th *what* of September - that's the key. All you have to do is find an ordinal sequence of which members are not necessarily unique.

Days? No - they're unique and exhibit temporal perishability.

Drinks? Possibly. My 25th and 26th drinks of September could both have been bottles of Old Peculier.

"Hot Mu Beta but cold at the same time."

Do you know my wife?

B

Well , vegiman.

OK, the same course but on a slightly different tack:

The year is 365 1/4 days (approximately), which is why we have leap years every (approximately) 4 years.

So, the answer is due to:
the catching-up of the not-quite-exact match between solar time and our mantelpiece clocks

?

Questions? You want questions?
OK how about this:
http://xkcd.com/394/

So is the Kelly-Bootle standard involved in this at all?


~jwf~

Well thought out Icy but the question is in its entirety - no adding bits

B, it's a terrible lie we just happened to be down the same road at the same time.

Rod - I thought that is where you were heading but cold but deserves

vegiman

Hey, the only bits I added were the answer

I'm sure yours is almost as good.

Kelly-Bootle bites back or bytes back

or is it Kelly-Bootle who worked with Cilla Black in the 60's
neither of those.

Look to the original clues the last two questions in you list and
the Mu Beta guess

and ask away.

On a different day it the question could quite easily have been.

When is the 24th of September really the 21st of September.

confused - I was on the 25th but then it's easy to confuse me.

vegiman

Icy 2 browny points for your cheek

Making the facts fit the answer - Now that is more than thinking out of the box

vegiman

See you in the morning - may be a nights sleep will do us all some good. - Different time zones precluded - that is not a clue

LivLove&Bhappy
vegiman

When you're reading the date as written by someone with really bad handwriting, of course! I've seen plenty of 5s that look like 6s, and it doesn't half complicate filing things by reference number.
Alternatively, it could be that 26/9 is the 25th time someone has experienced September, i.e. their 25th birthday. By extension, it could be the 25th in any sequence of Septembers, so the 25th anniversary of almost anything.