Braingle: 'Letter Multiplication' Brain Teaser

Letter Multiplication

Language brain teasers are those that involve the English language. You need to think about and manipulate words and letters.

Puzzle ID:	#24851
Fun:	(3.11)
Difficulty:	(2.42)
Category:	Language
Submitted By:	phrebh

If E times ILE equals BANISH, and TE times T equals BOOK, what does TO times IN equal?

A. BREATH
B. TEASER
C. RUTABAGA
D. POISON
E. COPPER

Show Hint

Answer

POISON

Replace every instance of the word "times" with an 'X'.
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Comments

sftball_rocks13 Jul 25, 2005	wow i never would have figured it out!
smarty_blondy Jul 25, 2005	very funny! made my faves also
Javian Jul 25, 2005	I think the e-ile gave it away, so it was easy, but I love the idea.
Swordoffury1392 Jul 25, 2005	That's going in my favs.
GarnetLover Jul 25, 2005	awesome! love it!
onlyeeyore Jul 25, 2005	Very nice! Had my calculator out for a couple minutes before it dawned on me! Now to make a hasty E times IT!
froggygg Jul 25, 2005	Great teaser!
zonahobo Jul 25, 2005	Just the anitdote for boredom! Brilliant--huuuzahh
drussel3 Jul 26, 2005	Really liked it...
toxic_happiness Jul 29, 2005	whoa, i'm scared. great teaser.
jajajaja Jul 31, 2005	That is a really fun teaser. It is totally fabulous wow it's really funky and clever and yay
fshncrzy Jul 31, 2005	It confuses me! I did have fun trying to figure it out.
luveddyc Aug 01, 2005	COOL! i really like this one, it actually made me think about but i got it!
gummbypal Aug 01, 2005	phooey, you should never tempt math nerds with such skulduggery. Great Job! Highest marks.
MAroxmysoxonice Aug 02, 2005	OMG i LOVE it!!! it is so clever. awesomely awesome dude!!!!!! GREAT job!!!!! into my favorites it goes!!!!!
babybabe1 Aug 03, 2005	I thought it woz breath because all the words have b's in tat the begining.
adioskater Aug 13, 2005	i got as far as toxin and i didnt get it from there. lol great...also going to my favorites
butterflyboy Aug 14, 2005	I'm glad I cheated and looked at the hint before breaking out the pencil.
HatGuy07 Aug 26, 2005	Wow a combo of spelling and math all the subjects rapped into one. Thats why i really didn't like it.
SolidTux Aug 26, 2005	I like it a lot! If it weren't for the hint, I never would've figured it out.
ccgx Aug 26, 2005	Good one!
mbunap Aug 26, 2005	If it weren't for the fact that I now have a few weeks of Braingle teasers under my belt, the answer probably would have eluded me -- or taken some time to solve. Very nice.
tnewton Aug 26, 2005	Wow! Now THAT is what a teaser should be! Good work!
timon_dmlybots Aug 26, 2005	nice!
bookworm05 Aug 26, 2005	Great job! I actually got the answer without reading the hint. Maybe thats why I loved it so much!
Bam_Bam Aug 26, 2005	I didnt get it
semibogus Aug 26, 2005	after scratching my brain for an hour or so I finally gave up. Reading the answer was kind of like the feeling one gets when someone feeds you a real groaner. Good one!!!
PENANDINK Aug 26, 2005	That was really good! It sure got me.
jflan Aug 26, 2005	I actually got this one, much to my surprise. Very clever.
jimmyb Aug 26, 2005	Two people are in a book discussing a banishment. Horns are locked. Who will be banished? Ans. C RUTABAGA I will never eat rutabaga ever again!!! (that was the most foul poison that ever sat on my plate)
2sandwoman Aug 26, 2005	I don't understand.
rmd2006 Aug 26, 2005	I LOVED THIS TEASER!! It took me a couple of minutes to figure it out but I got it without even using the hint It was a perfect mix between challenging and fun. GREAT TEASER
redneck_woman Aug 26, 2005	One of the BEST!!! Goes in my favourites,
iteachkids Aug 26, 2005	Sandwoman - the times sign in multiplication is an X, so when you put an X in the place suggested, you get the word - a toXin is a poison. Now get it?
NorthWord Aug 26, 2005	This is my first one & I really don't understand how it works. Maybe I'll just have to wait until I get some more under my breath. However, I'm going to spend time on it trying to work out the key to it & how it actually works. Great way to keep my brain in shape!
NorthWord Aug 26, 2005	I must've just suddenly woken up! It suddenly came to me! Wow! Anyway, I'll pass it on & see if some of my family & friends'll get it.
turtlesrock44 Aug 26, 2005	that was hard but it made it to my favs
karma48 Aug 26, 2005	COOL Pretty easy but LOTS of fun. A little out of the box. WELL DONE!
gumdrop480 Aug 26, 2005	I loved it! even if I didn't get it!
chaskey Aug 26, 2005	I didn't stay with it long enough, so I didn't get it, but when I saw the answer, I was very impressed with the brain-power used therein! Timescellent!
Ozymandias Aug 26, 2005	I absolutely loved this one!
limitless Aug 26, 2005	after I took the phone out & made the corrilation between the #'s and letters(I was sure the answer was there) and actually WROTE everything out it was like....DING got it.... That was GREAT!
pat56 Aug 26, 2005	That was a good teaser,even though I didn't get it right.If I can enough time to concentrate on it,I think I would have got it.Great job!
MonkeyJoe Aug 26, 2005	i didnt get it
ladyflow Aug 26, 2005	I think before you submit a teaser you need to know how to spell the words correctly. It's toxic, not toxin.
pemullijn Aug 26, 2005	Like some have said, I was going to do some hard math until I wrote it down and the words appeared -- nice job!
kandd Aug 26, 2005	What a wonderful teaser! I got it right away because I wrote it out right away. Lots of fun!
Pelikan Aug 26, 2005	Wahey!!! I loved it...!!! i didnt get it...but still loved it! thats the first language teaser in my faves!!!!...Very clever!!!
lorelle_b Aug 26, 2005	Wow! Nice teaser. This is one of the best ones I've seen
POPS Aug 26, 2005	way above my head^^^^,just could not figure it out.
jacstop Aug 26, 2005	Quite possibly, one of the most enjoyable teasers that I have ever done while working on a Friday afternoon thinking about the next Happy Hour. and
mekaboo27 Aug 26, 2005	nice one!
Katelin Aug 26, 2005	Yay, I actually got this one right within a few seconds, and I didn't even need the hint! Great one, phrebh, keep'm coming!
jabdr Aug 26, 2005	I liked it..easy one..but fun. Let's have more!!
Winner4600 Aug 26, 2005	very cool
hit_the_sand Aug 26, 2005	wow, i really liked this teaser...very awsome...i didn't get, but i don't feel so bad, because my bro, who is like, a nerd, didn't get it either...goin straight to my faves! keep em comin!
jimmym Aug 26, 2005	good one...i tjhink
teaser55 Aug 26, 2005	wow! that was alot of fun. kinda like so simple it was almost difficult. cool.
schatzy228 Aug 26, 2005	BRILLIANT!! YOU HAVE NAILED THE CONCEPT OF TEASER B R A V O !
gottalovetacsc Aug 26, 2005	wow...i didnt get it
Aarghonauts Aug 27, 2005	I LOVE this one! It's the best. I've added it to my favorites By the way, I didn't get it
phrebh Aug 27, 2005	Thanks, all! And, Ladyflow, something that is toxic is poisonous, while a toxin is a poison.
gotabody Aug 28, 2005	toxin is correct. I loved it Gud job.
nathalia Aug 30, 2005	This was an extremely good teaser. Keep it up
sudokulvr Sep 03, 2005	CUTE IDEA!!! it got me, but great teaser!
sudokulvr Sep 03, 2005	CUTE IDEA!!! it got me, but great teaser!
Celanba Sep 05, 2005	I don't get it!!!!!!!
deadeye823 Sep 15, 2005	Very good one phreb! Iliked it a lot, I just might put it into my faves.
brainster Oct 18, 2005	One of the best teasers I have read on Braingle so far... its great !
FulanitoGM Oct 25, 2005	I GOT IT!!! I GOT IT!!! WITHOUT THE HINT, EVEN!!! I'm mostly excited because it's rated as relatively difficult. Most of the ones I figure out hover above the 1.5 level of difficulty and not much higher. Very good one. It's getting a one-way ticket to my faves list...
redraptor50 Nov 12, 2005	Very well done, although I didn't get some of it oh well next time
peppamintp Nov 25, 2005	I don't get it at all Can someone please explain
mrtickles Dec 11, 2005	Excellent. One of the better one's I've seen on the site.
Ouchy1 Feb 14, 2006	this can almost go into the trick section, lol
smiley_lover Mar 17, 2006	I got it by guessing...
teen_wiz Mar 25, 2006	THAT WAS PURE AWESOMENESS! Definitely, DEFINITELY going into my faves!
keosborne May 16, 2006	Great teaser!! I enjoyed it!
teen_wiz Jul 14, 2006	This may well be the best teaser on the site! Creative and fun unlike many other language teasers. This one is for SURE going into my faves!
tintiniscool Aug 26, 2006	It was fun, but really easy.... oh well, good teaser anyway!
calmsavior Aug 27, 2006	hey! i've seen a replica of this teaser in this one "Puzzles for the High IQ" book! so, what do you have to say for yourself?
phrebh Aug 28, 2006	I don't need to say anything for myself since I didn't copy it from a book, or any other source.
vbguy101 Aug 29, 2006	The symbol for that is X. That was sooo easy.
lmurray Aug 29, 2006	AN OLDIE BUT A GOODIE. I LIKED IT.
bobiscool134 Aug 29, 2006	wow that was awsome! I just made a random guess and I guessed right.
GebbieRose Aug 29, 2006	One of the cleverest I've seen here in ages. Good job!
Badger Aug 29, 2006	Very fun. E times CELLENT teaser! Thanks for submitting.
utnative Aug 29, 2006	i didn't even understand the answer it was a great teaser anyway
shawneeo Aug 29, 2006	Wait a sec! How can you think it's a great teaser, which it IS, if you didn't even understand the answer??? The answer is kind of an important element in a teaser, no? lol! And, calmsaveyourownas... saveyourownself, um, I think it is VERY VERY WRONG, to just publicly post an accusation of plageurism like you did above. You should PM the person, and provide TOTAL information. Even IF the same teaser was in a book, it still doesn't prove that a person copied it. There are basic ideas for teasers, and its not at all unusual for more than one peep working with the same concept to come up with the same teasers, or ones close to the same. SHAME on you! saveurown! I thought it was a GREAT teaser, and... I GOT IT! I GOT IT! Yay!!! Took me a minute, but I didn't look at the hint, I just figged that if it did invovlve math it wouldn't be in the language tsr. category. Oh, and, I have my own theiry, but Phrebh: Since in your handle, "ph" equals "F", why did you choose "bh" to equal "d" ? Thanks for the wonderful teaser!
bradon182001 Aug 29, 2006	Had to really give it some thought even after looking at the answer and then the light bulb went on. That's the object of a braingle teaser, Good job. Very clever.
builder Aug 29, 2006	good teaser, wasn't sure what to do without hint, then very easy
marschie Aug 29, 2006	Beautiful teaser! It's worth an email to a few friends -- is that okay to do??
kimberlykay Aug 29, 2006	Very clever my friend...
Pizzazz2u Aug 29, 2006	A totally Superb teaser! Easy as can be, yet hilarious to work out. OMG! lmurray liked this one! Oh my! It's a big one Is he high on something? I enjoyed the teaser, immensely, but to hear something positive come from this character, makes this teaser Overly Awesome It goes on my favorites, as something that can totally surprize anyone. Excuse me, while I go shake my head, in total disbelief.
Pizzazz2u Aug 29, 2006	Utterly Amazing, phrebh! WTG, for getting a positive from lm
OldChinaHand Aug 29, 2006	It is a very good teaser. The "x" factor was particularly cleaver. Original, what really is original, in one form or other, 'there is nothing new under the sun.' But many of the old teasers and formats around here have been reworked and adapted for the next generation. Which is pretty cool and creative when you think about.
RRAMMOHAN Aug 29, 2006	Very clever, makes one think out of the box. Well done! Got it too, and I am happy.
tonjawithaj Aug 29, 2006	Very clever!
zaya Aug 29, 2006	I was clueless until the hint, nice one!!
Qrystal Aug 29, 2006	Wow, awesome, that really ALMOST got me!! But didn't! So I win! And I'm happy!! So yeah, I'm a math nerd like gummbypal, and so I first thought this was one of those math-crypto-things ... but then, I puzzled, why would this be in the Language category? Hmm... but I decided to ignore that hint for the time being. And I was reading this in email, so I didn't have the option to read the actual given hint, and I decided to plug away at the first "multiplication". One digit times three digits gives six digits? What kind of math is this? --- ohhhhh okay, maybe not math. So I started to worry that I might not get it... I started talking through it out loud .... Eee Ile. Eh-Ile. OHHHH!! EXILE! Yes! That = BANISH! And TEXT = BOOK! And lastly -- TOXIN!! I ROXIN!!! I mean, U ROXIN because this was a great teaser.
scallio Aug 29, 2006	That is a truly fabulous teaser!
CatSmw Aug 29, 2006	Awesome teaser. I figured it out right away but I love the idea.
calmsavior Aug 29, 2006	fine, shawnnearstup...shawneeo , i apologize if i thought he plaguerized a book. but it does seem suspicious. the book's teaser also uses TO times IN, one of the choices being POISON, and it also uses the same format to arrange the words: A. a word B. another word C. another word ok?
saleprice Aug 29, 2006	Oh very clever, I never got it but, I like it after seeing the answer LOL
saleprice Aug 29, 2006	WOW no comment from lmurray he cant have got it LOL
heyman Aug 29, 2006	E times CITED = GREAT
ItsJustWildman Aug 29, 2006	Very Good! Very hard (for me anyway)... Going into favorites.
cathykranich Aug 29, 2006	Good teaser, but I would have not been able to figure it out without the hint.
calmsavior Aug 29, 2006	actually i did not in fact accuse phrebh of plaguerizing. i simply noticed that phrebh's teaser is very similar to a teaser in a book i read.
calmsavior Aug 29, 2006	i actually like the teaser in the book, therefore i like this one too.
shawneeo Aug 29, 2006	Well, you said it was a "replica" and then you said "what do you have to say for yourself?", and, although Im glad to know that you liked it and werent actually accussing phrebh of plaguerism, you didnt say anything about liking it or not. Im sorry if I was kinda mean, I just think that when people think something is copied they shouldnt just accuse the person in a public forum, especially since its possible that wherever the basic idea came from, the specific teaser could very well be totally original, even if it uses the same idea, and the teaser you saw in the book may not have been totally unique either, there may be similar teasers in other books that were published before that one. Its just the public accusation that is a buggaboo of mine. Sometimes in the morning I can get a little extreme, heeehee
idiot_man92 Aug 29, 2006
jcann Aug 29, 2006	Good teaser! I didn't get it even after I read the hint. I guess I waited till too late in the day and my brain didn't want to think so hard. Why do so many of you pick on Imurray? I agree that some of his comments have been a bit untactful, but even when he says something good, or at least not offensive, there always have to be comments on his comments. Why not ignore him (or anybody) when you don't like a comment, and why make such a big deal when he says something nice? I would rather just read comments on the teasers.
ava199345 Aug 29, 2006	i totally guessed(somehow i got it right)
thimblenoggin Aug 29, 2006	As soon as I wrote down EXILE I had it. Great teaser.
Icecream-Queen Aug 29, 2006	HA HA this one has got to be one of my favorite teasers yet!!
(user deleted) Aug 29, 2006	Ok, you got me. I had to sign up just to comment! That one was wonderful, once I read the answer! I even read the hint and STILL could not get it! LOL, talk about over thinking it! I think I would have gotten it, had there been an example, but then, that would have made it too easy! Great one, I will pass this one along if you don't mind.
MurfQ Aug 30, 2006	Superb! I must admit that up until I read the hint, I was playing with numbers that the letters might represent. Once I looked at it with math off my brain though, it hit me like a ton of bricks! Well done!!
shawneeo Aug 30, 2006	lmurray has made very rude and negative comments every single day for months, maybe even almost a year by now. And, he has a "good twin" who always writes in capitals but isn't as consistently rude as he is. In the past, his comments have been more than just a little rude. So, eventually, he became known as a naysayer, a scrooge, who never had anything good to say, yet said it every single day! So, if anyone picks on poor little lmurray, believe it, he asked for it, I think he actually wanted it and likes being a "negative celebrity", LOL!
Badger Aug 30, 2006	DITTO Shawneeo.
calmsavior Aug 30, 2006	and i'm sorry for being so random
tdbrsun Aug 30, 2006	Good I got one ! It may have been an easy one . One needs these from time to time. I liked it!
luvdoritos706 Aug 31, 2006	humm....i must be really out of it 2day...i dont seem 2 get it....o well...it was a good one though
vlerma Aug 31, 2006	You are still the man! But boy this one went right over my head until I read almost all of the comments before it finally sunk in and then I felt like DUH! Good one as usualy. In fact I would say GREAT!
FeaerFactorY666 Sep 02, 2006	very nice!
mercenary007 Sep 04, 2006	nice one... was obvious after the clue though... the clue is necessary unless u are very observant
love_____xoxo Sep 09, 2006	I loved it voted hard and fun!!!!
4kai2lyn6 Oct 13, 2006	I got it in a matter of seconds! Granted, it was pretty easy, but it's still going in my favorites!!! Very cute! Great job!
yongrenjie Nov 24, 2006	after i saw the hint i knew the answer. nice teaser and keep it up!
liser Mar 01, 2007	E times cellent. this one was really hard! Awesome job.
4demo Apr 25, 2007	Clever! I loved it! (I didn't get it though ).
labgeek Feb 04, 2008	I like it
auntiesis Aug 30, 2009	I more than liked it, I loved it. I didn't get it, but it was so clever and so obvious when I saw the answer. I was trying to work some kind of mathamatical solution, and then when I saw the hint I just gave up. Very good teaser.
pengzoid Aug 30, 2009	very nice teaser.
patiencewithaP Aug 30, 2009	Wow...good one! I didn't have a clue...even after reading the clue!
hubbamutt777 Aug 30, 2009	AWESOME TEASER!!!!!!!! GREAT IDEA!!! VERY CUTE!!
Barticus Aug 30, 2009	Excellent teaser. You caught me completely off guard. I couldn't ever remember reading a teaser like that. But three years ago I read every rebus on this site, so I know I read it. The great thing about senility is you get to experience things for the first time all over again.
UptheHill Aug 30, 2009
Shadows Aug 30, 2009	I found it very easy and very creative. Great teaser!
katie384 Aug 30, 2009	I got it without looking at the hint! wow im so proud. It was lots of fun
dalfamnest Aug 30, 2009	Excellent teaser - didn't get it the first time so I left it on the desktop. Then this morning it just hit me as obvious! The "AHA-OF-COURSE" feeling is a great early Monday morning tonic.
JQPublic Sep 11, 2010	Super cool!
JQPublic Sep 26, 2010	I mean, e times cellant!
Akao Aug 04, 2011	Short, creative and simple.
Babe Aug 31, 2012	Thanks to "iteachkids" for the explanation, or I would not have figured it out. .After that it became clear and I liked it. Sometimes these are hard to know what the author is looking for.
jaycr Aug 31, 2012	Very clever
gaylewolf Aug 31, 2012	Good one - very clever! I loved it! Have a great weekend, folks!
Ginnyrox Aug 31, 2012	Real clever!!😄 totally +ing this to my faves
TheWhizKid Sep 02, 2012	Awesome!!!!!!!!!! In my favorites