[Sarisberie] Here Comes Bod

[Sarisberie]

My sister Kate thought we were pranking Mrs Carr. Actually, I was pranking my sister.
No tortoises were harmed in the making of this puzzle.

[Biograd1]

No tortoises were harmed--did you mention that because tortoises are in fact involved somehow in this puzzle?

Was Mrs. Carr a friend of yours? a neighbor? a teacher at a school that one or both of you went to? someone who worked at a local business?

[Sarisberie]

No tortoises were harmed--did you mention that because tortoises are in fact involved somehow in this puzzle? yes, one

Was Mrs. Carr a friend of yours? a neighbor? yes, next-door neighbour a teacher at a school that one or both of you went to? someone who worked at a local business?

[Biograd1]

Did you and your sister have a pet tortoise? Mrs. Carr? Did the prank involve putting a tortoise somewhere unexpected?

[Sarisberie]

Did you and your sister have a pet tortoise? no Mrs. Carr? yes Did the prank involve putting a tortoise somewhere unexpected? no

[GalFisk]

Were any tortoises relevantly: fed? Moved? Seen? Talked about? Was Mrs. Carr in on the prank? Did she know about the prank? Were you pranking Kate? Another sister? Were any other humans involved? Other animals?

[Sarisberie]

Were any tortoises relevantly: fed? Moved? Seen? yes Talked about? yes Was Mrs. Carr in on the prank? Did she know about the prank? Were you pranking Kate? yes Another sister? Were any other humans involved? Other animals? no to the rest

Edit: tortoise, singular

[Nomophobe1989]

Just to clarify, are you saying that Mrs Carr knew about / was in on the prank?

Is the novel Esio Trot relevant at all? i.e. in the book, one character convinces another character that the same tortoise is getting unnaturally bigger, whereas actually the tortoises are just being secretly replaced now and again. Is this general concept relevant at all?

In pranking Kate, did you get her to say something? do something? refrain from saying or doing something? believe something? that made her look silly?

Does the prank require that a third person is involved? (e.g. if you? or Kate? owned the tortoise?) Would this prank work if Mrs Carr didn't exist, and the tortoise belonged to your family (as in your parents/household that you both share)? Belonged to extended family (e.g. cousins that you visit regularly)? If it was in a pet shop? If it was in a zoo?

[GalFisk]

Was the tortoise indoors? Outdoors? Relevantly moving? Is it important to the prank that your sister thinks you're pranking someone else? Would the prank work with a different type of animal? No animal? A different individual tortoise? Is the size of the tortoise relevant? Color? Age? Diet? Habits?

[Sarisberie]

Was the tortoise indoors? Outdoors? yes Relevantly moving? sometimes but irr Is it important to the prank that your sister thinks you're pranking someone else? yes Would the prank work with a different type of animal? yes No animal? no A different individual tortoise? yes Is the size of the tortoise relevant? Color? Age? Diet? Habits? no

[GalFisk]

Would it work with any pet? Any animal? A dog? Two tortoises? Do you let Kate in on the supposed prank? Try to hide it? Neither? Does Kate want the supposed prank to succeed? Fail? Is the neighbor involved in the prank on Kate? If so, actively? As a bystander?

[Sarisberie]

Would it work with any pet? no, explore... Any animal? no A dog? yes Two tortoises? Yes, but 2nd irrel Do you let Kate in on the supposed prank? yes Try to hide it? Neither? Does Kate want the supposed prank to succeed? yes Fail? Is the neighbor involved in the prank on Kate? If so, actively? As a bystander? this

[JenBurdoo1]

Was anything specific done to the tortoise? By the tortoise? To its surroundings? Did Kate have a misconception about tortoises? Or about some particular aspect of the prank?

Was Mrs. Carr aware of the prank? Of your interaction with each other? With her tortoise? Could your actions have actually resulted in a prank on Mrs. Carr had you desired it, or was the only possible end product a prank on your sister?

Would the prank work with a fish? A bird? A confined creature? Was any preparation necessary? Any materials or crafts?

WMG: Had either of you been reading Roald Dahl's Esio Trot?

Anything to do with food? Weather? Did this occur outside? Inside?

[Sarisberie]

Was anything specific done to the tortoise? no By the tortoise? no To its surroundings? no, but surroundings relevant Did Kate have a misconception about tortoises? no Or about some particular aspect of the prank? yes

Was Mrs. Carr aware of the prank? no Of your interaction with each other? not sure... rephrase? With her tortoise? irrel Could your actions have actually resulted in a prank on Mrs. Carr had you desired it, With a change or was the only possible end product a prank on your sister? As designed, yes

Would the prank work with a fish? no A bird? no A confined creature? define ‘confined’? Was any preparation necessary? no Any materials or crafts?no

WMG: Had either of you been reading Roald Dahl's Esio Trot? no

Anything to do with food? Weather? Did this occur outside? yes Inside?

[GalFisk]

Would your sister become aware of the prank by talking to you? Talking to Mrs. Carr? Interacting with the tortoise? Seeing something? Doing something? Hearing something? Speaking to someone else?
Does your sister think Mrs. Carr would become aware of the supposed prank by talking to you? Talking to your sister? Interacting with the tortoise? Seeing something? Doing something? Hearing something? Speaking to someone else?

Is the supposed prank mean-spirited? Good-natured? Same q for the actual prank. Is the actual prank revenge for something? Done to teach your sister a lesson?

[Sarisberie]

Would your sister become aware of the prank by talking to you? She was aware of the supposed prank - on Mrs Carr - from the beginning. She became aware of the actual prank - on herself - only recently.
Talking to Mrs. Carr? this Interacting with the tortoise? and this in particular Seeing something? Doing something? Hearing something? Speaking to someone else? all are possible
Does your sister think Mrs. Carr would become aware of the supposed prank by talking to you? Talking to your sister? Interacting with the tortoise? Seeing something? Doing something? Hearing something? Speaking to someone else? Idk.. I don't think we even considered that.

Is the supposed prank mean-spirited? Good-natured? yes Same q for the actual prank. slightly less good-natured but still harmless Is the actual prank revenge for something? no Done to teach your sister a lesson? no

[trebor2]

Did the prank occur recently? Did it happen a while ago, but your sister only recently realized it was a prank on her? Was the prank completed recently, but set in motion some time ago? (Rather long-lasting, like a tortoise?)

Relevant aspect of the tortoise: that it has four legs? That it moves on land? That it is slow? Something about its behaviour? That tortoises are long-lived? That they're not liable to fly away? Or cough up a hairball? (As far as we know.)

Are you and your sister close in age? Is Mrs. Carr's age relevant? Is anything else about her relevant (other than that she owns a tortoise)?

[Sarisberie]

Did the prank occur recently? No. We were about 7 and 9. Did it happen a while ago, but your sister only recently realized it was a prank on her? yes Was the prank completed recently, but set in motion some time ago? (Rather long-lasting, like a tortoise?) no

Relevant aspect of the tortoise: that it has four legs? That it moves on land? That it is slow? Something about its behaviour? That tortoises are long-lived? That they're not liable to fly away? Or cough up a hairball? (As far as we know.)

Are you and your sister close in age? Is Mrs. Carr's age relevant? Is anything else about her relevant (other than that she owns a tortoise)? all irrel

[Sundowner64]

Was the tortoise in a place where it usually used to be? Was it in the garden? in the staircase? on the driveway? on the sidewalk?
Had your sister seen the tortoise before that moment? Did she know that it is Mrs Carry's tortoise? Did the tortoise have a name? Relevant?
Is the tortoise still alive? Did your sister relevantly interact with the tortoise again when she realized that the prank was on her? Did she relevantly interact with Mrs Carr?
Did Mrs Carr know about the prank? Was she actively involved?

[GalFisk]

Is the name of the tortiose relevant? Is it still alive? Relevant? Is Mrs. Carr still alive? Relevant? Are any of you still neighbours? Relevant? Relevant how she realized it was a prank on her? How much later she relized it? If so, was it: seconds? Minutes? Hours? Days? Weeks? Months? Years? Decades?

[Sarisberie]

MY APOLOGIES! I seem to have missed your post

Just to clarify, are you saying that Mrs Carr knew about / was in on the prank? Neither

Is the novel Esio Trot relevant at all? i.e. in the book, one character convinces another character that the same tortoise is getting unnaturally bigger, whereas actually the tortoises are just being secretly replaced now and again. Is this general concept relevant at all? no to all

In pranking Kate, did you get her to say something? do something? refrain from saying or doing something? believe something? this that made her look silly? but no

Does the prank require that a third person is involved? Yes (e.g. if you? or Kate? owned the tortoise?) assume no Would this prank work if Mrs Carr didn't exist, and the tortoise belonged to your family (as in your parents/household that you both share)? Belonged to extended family (e.g. cousins that you visit regularly)? If it was in a pet shop? If it was in a zoo? It's possible that some of these scenarios could be made to work, but completely irrelevant.

[Sarisberie]

Was the tortoise in a place where it usually used to be? yes Was it in the garden? yes, Mrs Carr's in the staircase? on the driveway? on the sidewalk?
Had your sister seen the tortoise before that moment? Assume this was the day we met the tortoise Did she know that it is Mrs Carry's tortoise? yes Did the tortoise have a name? Not at first Relevant? very much so
Is the tortoise still alive? Irrel... this was about 50 years ago Did your sister relevantly interact with the tortoise again when she realized that the prank was on her? she never realised Did she relevantly interact with Mrs Carr? yes
Did Mrs Carr know about the prank? no Was she actively involved? no

Is the name of the tortiose relevant? yes Is it still alive? idk - this was c. 50 years ago... Relevant? no Is Mrs. Carr still alive? no Relevant? no Are any of you still neighbours? Relevant? no Relevant how she realized it was a prank on her? she never realised, relevant How much later she relized it? If so, was it: seconds? Minutes? Hours? Days? Weeks? Months? Years? Decades?

[Nomophobe1989]

Did you get your sister to believe that tortoises don't have names? Something specific about how they acquire a name? That you could somehow engineer a name (or lack thereof) onto the tortoise before Mrs Carr could come up with one herself?

Is this in the general category of: "Someone gets a kid to believe something silly, but because the kid is young they believe it unquestionably, and often have no reason to question it for many many years afterwards"?

[Sarisberie]

Did you get your sister to believe that tortoises don't have names? Something specific about how they acquire a name? That you could somehow engineer a name (or lack thereof) onto the tortoise before Mrs Carr could come up with one herself? no to all

Is this in the general category of: "Someone gets a kid to believe something silly, but because the kid is young they believe it unquestionably, and often have no reason to question it for many many years afterwards"? yes

[Biograd1]

Did you lead your sister to believe that giving the tortoise a certain name would magically give him/her some special ability? would otherwise change some inherent characteristic of the tortoise? that something else would happen once the tortoise was named (or would fail to happen until the tortoise was named)?

[Sarisberie]

Did you lead your sister to believe that giving the tortoise a certain name would magically give him/her some special ability? no would otherwise change some inherent characteristic of the tortoise? no that something else would happen once the tortoise was named yes (or would fail to happen until the tortoise was named)? irrel

[Nomophobe1989]

For some reason, I asked these questions about the actual prank, and not the one your sister thought you were pulling, so here goes:

If the prank was / succeeded as your sister was anticipating, would Mrs Carr have said something? Done something? Have someone else say/do something to her? Refrain from saying or doing something? Believed something? That made her look silly? That caused her an inconvenience of some kind?

As far as your sister knew at the time, was your prank on Mrs Carr successful?

[Nomophobe1989]

Some more questions I just thought of:

If Mrs Carr never named the tortoise ever, would the (supposed) prank (i.e. that your sister thought you were pulling) work?

Is it relevant who she would have to register the name with, e.g. the vet, some government agency perhaps, etc.?

I don't know if there's an equivalent for decades ago, but there's an XKCD cartoon of a parent naming their child some computer programming code that, when entered into a school database, might cause the school's list of pupils to be deleted. Any similarity to this here?

[Sarisberie]

For some reason, I asked these questions about the actual prank, and not the one your sister thought you were pulling, so here goes:

If the prank was / succeeded as your sister was anticipating, would Mrs Carr have said something? yes Done something? nothing else Have someone else say/do something to her? Refrain from saying or doing something? Believed something? yes That made her look silly? no, but explore That caused her an inconvenience of some kind? no

As far as your sister knew at the time, was your prank on Mrs Carr successful? yes

Some more questions I just thought of:
If Mrs Carr never named the tortoise ever, would the (supposed) prank (i.e. that your sister thought you were pulling) work? no
Is it relevant who she would have to register the name with, e.g. the vet, some government agency perhaps, etc.? she wouldn't have registered the pet with anyone in those days, unless he subsequently needed care. Irr.

I don't know if there's an equivalent for decades ago, but there's an XKCD cartoon of a parent naming their child some computer programming code that, when entered into a school database, might cause the school's list of pupils to be deleted. Any similarity to this here? Haha! Is that the Bobby Tables one? But no, anyway.

[Nomophobe1989]

Yes, Bobby Tables, along with his sister, Help I'm trapped in a driving license factory Elaine Roberts

Okay, so here's a list of things people might do with pet tortoises - are any of them relevant here?

Going through the actual mental process of coming up with a name?
Writing that name on any cages/food bowls/other paraphenalia one may have?
Telling other people what the tortoise's name is?
Using it in regular conversation?

Did the supposed prank involve you doing any of these things? Trying to do them instead of Mrs Carr? (Or before she could do it herself?)

You said to explore the "making Mrs Carr look silly" part: is the idea that other people (that Mrs Carr is talking to about her tortoise, perhaps) will look silly? That Mrs Carr will look weird / a bit strange, but not quite "silly"? (e.g. if she called her tortoise "Fido", a traditional dog name, I wouldn't call that silly but certainly a bit weird)

[Sarisberie]

Yes, Bobby Tables, along with his sister, Help I'm trapped in a driving license factory Elaine Roberts

Okay, so here's a list of things people might do with pet tortoises - are any of them relevant here?

Going through the actual mental process of coming up with a name? no
Writing that name on any cages/food bowls/other paraphenalia one may have? yes
Telling other people what the tortoise's name is? this in particular
Using it in regular conversation? also this in particular

Did the supposed prank involve you doing any of these things? so yesTrying to do them instead of Mrs Carr? she did it herself, mostly, i.e. telling other people the tortoise's name, and using it in regular conversation (Or before she could do it herself?) she did this too

You said to explore the "making Mrs Carr look silly" part: is the idea that other people (that Mrs Carr is talking to about her tortoise, perhaps) will look silly? That Mrs Carr will look weird / a bit strange, but not quite "silly"? not this, or not per se (e.g. if she called her tortoise "Fido", a traditional dog name, I wouldn't call that silly but certainly a bit weird)

[GalFisk]

Is there relevant writing with the tortoise's name? Relevant what it's name is? Can your sister read when she is being pranked? Relevant? Does she think you two tricked Mrs. Carr into giving the tortoise a specific name? If so, a silly name? Does your sister think that the tortoise was named after something? That something was named after it? Does she think a word has a different meaning than it actually does?

[Sarisberie]

Is there relevant writing with the tortoise's name? It could be on food bowls, its house etc, but not so relevant as... Relevant what it's name is? yes Can your sister read when she is being pranked? yes Relevant? no Does she think you two tricked Mrs. Carr into giving the tortoise a specific name? Yes If so, a silly name? yes, explore Does your sister think that the tortoise was named after something? That something was named after it? Does she think a word has a different meaning than it actually does? YES

[GalFisk]

Does the relevant writing say the tortoise's actual name? Does it say something else? Does it say what you pretend the actual name to be? Do you pretend that the actual name means something silly? Such as "tortoise" in Latin?

[Sarisberie]

Does the relevant writing say the tortoise's actual name? yes Does it say something else? no Does it say what you pretend the actual name to be? yes Do you pretend that the actual name means something silly? yes Such as "tortoise" in Latin?not this

[GalFisk]

Is it silly in its own right? Silly as a name for a tortoise? Is it a human name? Would it help to figure out what the name is? Children's culture relevant? Such as cartoons? Nursery rhymes?

[Sundowner64]

Does the sillyness of the name come into play when it is read on some item? is it homonymous with some other word?
or, rather, does it sound silly when the name is spoken? when the tortoise is called with this name? (apart from the fact that tortoises can't hear)
Is the name a homophone of some other funny word, or does rhyme with one?
Was the name actually ever used? Did Mrs Carry use it? Did you? your sister?
WAG: Did you call the tortoise "Mrs Carry"? (or after some other person known to you?)

[Sarisberie]

Is it silly in its own right? Silly as a name for a tortoise? Is it a human name? no to all Would it help to figure out what the name is? actual name irrel... we called him 'Bod'. Children's culture relevant? Such as cartoons? this, but irrel Nursery rhymes?

Does the sillyness of the name come into play when it is read on some item? we found it hilarious is it homonymous with some other word? no
or, rather, does it sound silly when the name is spoken? not per se, but see my reply to Galfish above ^^ when the tortoise is called with this name? aside from the prank, no (apart from the fact that tortoises can't hear) I didn't know that! Irrel.
Is the name a homophone of some other funny word, or does rhyme with one? no, irrel
Was the name actually ever used? yes Did Mrs Carry use it? Did you? your sister? yes to all
WAG: Did you call the tortoise "Mrs Carry"? no (or after some other person known to you?) no

[Sundowner64]

Did you tell your sister that you tricked Mrs Carry into calling her tortoise Bod?
Did you tell her that "Bod" has a specific meaning? a meaning that is particularly funny when applied to a tortoise?
Bod as an acronym? (broken on delivery)

[Sarisberie]

Did you tell your sister that you tricked Mrs Carry into calling her tortoise Bod? yes, and Kate was there
Did you tell her that "Bod" has a specific meaning? yes a meaning that is particularly funny when applied to a tortoise? yes, or indeed to any pet
Bod as an acronym? (broken on delivery) no

[GalFisk]

Does the alleged meaning refer to a person? Object? Situation? Work of art/culture? Abstract concept? Place?

[Sarisberie]

Does the alleged meaning refer to a person? Object? this Situation? Work of art/culture? Abstract concept? Place?

[GalFisk]

Object made from: glass? Plastic? Rubber? Wood? Metal? Tooth/bone? Skin/leather/fur? Plant material? Animal product? Fabric? Ceramic? Paper/cardboard? Wool/hair? Gel/liquid? Gas? Something electric? Electronic? Useful? Decorative? Edible? A tool? Something bigger than a tortoise? Breadbox? Microwave? Washing machine? Car? House? Something Mrs. Carry owns? Uses? Likes? Dislikes?

[Sarisberie]

Object made from: glass? Plastic? Rubber? Wood? Metal? Tooth/bone? Skin/leather/fur? Plant material? Animal product? yes, but beware FA Fabric? Ceramic? Paper/cardboard? Wool/hair? Gel/liquid? Gas? Something electric? Electronic? Useful? Decorative? Edible? A tool? Something bigger than a tortoise? Breadbox? Microwave? Washing machine? Car? House? Something Mrs. Carry owns? Uses? Likes? Dislikes? possibly this

[GalFisk]

FAable animal product: stuffed animal? Animal droppings? Dead animal? Food made from animal? A tortoise product? A cartoon tortoise? Other figure?

[Sarisberie]

FAable animal product: stuffed animal? Animal droppings? this Dead animal? Food made from animal? A tortoise product? A cartoon tortoise? Other figure?

[GalFisk]

Droppings: relevant from which animal? If so: tortoise? Dog? Cat? Cow? Horse? Human? Did you essentially trick your sister into believing that Mrs. Carr had named the tortoise "[insert animal] crap"?

[Sarisberie]

Droppings: relevant from which animal? no; generic If so: tortoise? Dog? Cat? Cow? Horse? Human? Did you essentially trick your sister into believing that Mrs. Carr had named the tortoise "[insert animal] crap"? Yes!

******************************$POILER********************************************
When we were kids, the old lady next-door asked us to name her new tortoise. Kate and I told her to call him ‘Bod’. For months to come, Mrs Carr would call Bod in at night to get into his box. We would giggle whenever she mentioned the tortoise’s name; I had told my sister that ‘Bod’ meant ‘poo’. Of course, it doesn’t, so I was pranking my sister instead of Mrs Carr.
 We kept giggling all summer, until Bod went into his box for the winter. 
Kate went on to prank our little brother Jon that his favourite TV cartoon ‘Here Comes Bod’* was about a man who was made of poo… except that she didn’t know she was pranking him. He was not happy!

* There really was a TV series called 'Here Comes Bod'.