[WiZ] This Title Contains Thirty-four Letters

[WiZ]

A man is standing in a dark, crowded room. He hears a woman say 'Thank you' and knows he is in big trouble. What is going on?

FMOI. No caveat.

[Enjay]

Is the woman in the room with the man? Is she saying thank you to the man?
Is the room pitch black?
Is the man in legal trouble? Financial trouble? Relationship trouble? Health trouble? Is his life at risk?

[WiZ]

Is the woman in the room with the man? yes Is she saying thank you to the man? no
Is the room pitch black? not quite
Is the man in legal trouble? yes Financial trouble? Relationship trouble? Health trouble? no to rest Is his life at risk? no

[GalFisk]

Relevant why the room is dark? Has the man committed a crime? Witnesses relevant? Victims? Is the room crowded because it's small? Because it has lots of people inside?

[Enjay]

Does he the man only find out he is in trouble when he hears the woman say thank you? Does he suspect it, but her saying that confirms it?

Is the woman saying thank you to someone else in the room? To multiple people? Is she saying thank you for a gift? For a service someone has performed? In response to something someone else has said?

Is the fact she specifically said thank you relevant? Just the fact she spoke? Eg the man thought he was alone/nobody could hear him/the woman was deaf but now realises that isn't true?

[WiZ]

GalFisk

Relevant why the room is dark? yes Has the man committed a crime? yes Witnesses relevant? no Victims? no Is the room crowded because it's small? no Because it has lots of people inside? yes

Enjay

Does he the man only find out he is in trouble when he hears the woman say thank you? yes Does he suspect it not as an inevitability, but her saying that confirms it?

Is the woman saying thank you to someone else in the room? yes To multiple people? yes Is she saying thank you for a gift? no For a service someone has performed? noish In response to something someone else has said? no

Is the fact she specifically said thank you relevant? yes Just the fact she spoke? no Eg the man thought he was alone/nobody could hear him/the woman was deaf but now realises that isn't true? incorrect

[Balin]

Is the language in which she says "thank you" relevant?

[trebor]

Is the man a burglar? Does the woman know the man is in the room? Do the other people? Do they know he has committed a crime? Does the woman? Is the man in the process of committing the crime? Trying to escape?

Does the room have modern lighting? Has the lighting been turned off? Power been cut? If the room weren’t dark, would the main light source be electrical? Windows? Fire? Is the man the person who made the room go dark?

[irishelk]

I the man among the multiple people she is thanking? Is she thanking everyone generally?

Did they help her in some way? Maybe to find something in the dark? Did anyone else say anything first? "Bless you"?

Did the man recognize her voice? Someone else's?

[WiZ]

Balin

Is the language in which she says "thank you" relevant? нет

Trebor

Is the man a burglar? no Does the woman know the man is in the room? at the time she says 'Thank you'? no Do the other people? yes Do they know he has committed a crime? no Does the woman? no (at the time) Is the man in the process of committing the crime? yes Trying to escape? yope!

Does the room have modern lighting? yes Has the lighting been turned off? no Power been cut? no If the room weren’t dark, would the main light source be electrical? no Windows? yes Fire? no, except in rare, unfortunate circumstances Is the man the person who made the room go dark? no

Trebor

I the man among the multiple people she is thanking? no Is she thanking everyone generally? no, she is thanking people individually

Did they help her in some way? yope Maybe to find something in the dark? no Did anyone else say anything first? irrelevant "Bless you"? no

Did the man recognize her voice? not necessarily Someone else's? no

[Enjay]

Is it nighttime? Are the curtains drawn?

Is the man committing the crime in the room? Has he already committed it when she says thank you?

Does she say thank you multiple times to multiple people?

Is the room supposed to be dark? Are the other people surprised it is dark?

Are the people all attending some kind of event? Are they all in the room for the same reason? Are they staying within the room, or are people entering and exiting?

Is the man's crime theft? Murder? Fraud? A violent crime? Does the crime have a victim or victims? If so, the woman? Someone else in the room? Mutiple people?

Is the man in trouble because his crime will be discovered? Because his guilt, specifically, will be discovered? Because his crime turns out to be more serious than he had realised?

[WiZ]

Is it nighttime? no Are the curtains drawn? no

Is the man committing the crime in the room? yes Has he already committed it when she says thank you? yes

Does she say thank you multiple times to multiple people? yes

Is the room supposed to be dark? yes Are the other people surprised it is dark? no

Are the people all attending some kind of event? no Are they all in the room for the same reason? yes Are they staying within the room yes, for the relevant timeframe of this puzzle, or are people entering and exiting? no

Is the man's crime theft? Murder? Fraud? A violent crime? no to all - Fraud is closest Does the crime have a victim or victims? yes If so, the woman? Someone else in the room? no (to any direct or meaningful extent) Mutiple people? yes

Is the man in trouble because his crime will be discovered? yes Because his guilt, specifically, will be discovered? yes Because his crime turns out to be more serious than he had realised? no

[Enjay]

Will the crime be discovered immediately after the woman says thank you? Some time after? Will it be discovered by the woman? By one of the people she is thanking? By someone else in the room?

Is it one specific instance of the woman's multiple thank yous that lets the man know he is in trouble?

Is there something blocking the windows? Is there an eclipse? Has the room been made dark artificially? Is the man using the darkness to cover up his crime? Does the woman's thank you indicate that the room will soon become light?

[WiZ]

Will the crime be discovered immediately after the woman says thank you? no Some time after? yes Will it be discovered by the woman? yes By one of the people she is thanking? no By someone else in the room? no

Is it one specific instance of the woman's multiple thank yous that lets the man know he is in trouble? no

Is there something blocking the windows? no Is there an eclipse? no Has the room been made dark artificially? no Is the man using the darkness to cover up his crime? no Does the woman's thank you indicate that the room will soon become light? no

[gregoryuconn]

What does нет mean? Is that Russian?

Is the room a prison? And he's trying to escape from the prison? Which is a crime? Is it dark because it's night so no light is coming in through the windows?

[WiZ]

What does нет mean? Is that Russian? It's 'no' in Russian. The language is not relevant.

Is the room a prison? no And he's trying to escape from the prison? Which is a crime? n/a to both Is it dark because it's night no so no light is coming in through the windows? But this much is true

[trebor]

So the room has modern lighting? Is it relevant why that lighting, presumably - given that the primary source of light in the room would be the window(s) - isn’t used?

Is there an eclipse happening? Is something outside blocking light from entering the window? Something inside? Is it a normal window? A stained glass window?

Is the room stationary? Is it a coach on a train? Is the woman a ticket-taker? Is her profession relevant? Do the people give something to her before she thanks them? Say something to her? Show her something?

[GalFisk]

Is the room dark so that something can be seen better? Is it a movie theater? Did the crowd expect it to be dark? Did it recently become dark? Will it become bright soon?
WAG: are they looking for the person who spilled the glow-in-the-dark paint, and are thanking the owners/operators of the room for helping them turning off the lights so they could spot the culprit?

[WiZ]

So the room has modern lighting? yes Is it relevant why that lighting, presumably - given that the primary source of light in the room would be the window(s) - isn’t used? yes

Is there an eclipse happening? no Is something outside blocking light from entering the window? yes Something inside? no Is it a normal window? yes A stained glass window? no

Is the room stationary? no! Is it a coach on a train? yes! Is the woman a ticket-taker? yes! Is her profession relevant? yes (see previous) Do the people give something to her before she thanks them? yes Say something to her? no Show her something? yes!

***** SPOILER *****

The man is on a commuter train, overcrowded due to a delay. The train has entered a tunnel. He does not have a ticket. He is hoping that, due to the delay and the crowding, the conductor will not go through and check tickets (as often happens). But he hears the conductor thank the passengers for presenting their tickets, and knows he will be discovered and slapped with a hefty fine.

Congratulations, Trebor, on the solution (and some significant strides in the last round of questions), and thank you everyone for playing!

[trebor]

Sometimes it all just clicks. Heh heh.

[peter365]

Nice puzzle WiZ , i'm picturing him doing an Indiana Jones 'no ticket' routine.

[invisiblemimsy]

It doesn't though. It contains 36, or 37 if you include the hyphen. Why? This has been keeping me awake at night!

[Balin]

I double-counted and got 34 (excluding the hyphen).