mmcirvin: (Default)
mmcirvin ([personal profile] mmcirvin) wrote2006-05-30 11:06 pm

Statistically Improbable Phrases, the lightning round

Following [livejournal.com profile] ronebofh, I've added extra clues (where possible) for the still-unguessed books. Where Amazon came up dry, I've added phrases picked manually (with asterisk):

1. curriculum commission, six desserts, combination wheel, cargo cult science (Richard Feynman, Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! - guessed by [livejournal.com profile] ckd)
2. war sphere, ice ring, apostolic delegate, sidereal engineering (Stanisław Lem, Fiasco - guessed by [livejournal.com profile] uniformedlayman)
3. contour chair, real commanders, adhesive plaster, space eternal
4. pig suit, pig mask, abreaction research facility* (Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow - guessed by an anonymous commenter)
5. charming soubrette, seaside girls, quaker librarian (James Joyce, Ulysses - guessed by Crgre Jvyyneq)
6. borderline science, solar sailing, high surface temperature (Carl Sagan, Broca's Brain - guessed by [livejournal.com profile] mujib)
7. yes suh, post office corner (Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird - guessed by Ashley Silverburg)
8. alef null, thought balloon, astral body (Rudy Rucker, White Light - guessed by [livejournal.com profile] factitiouslj)
9. mercury drum, singularity sphere, control booth, telemann works
10. green bullet, brass pole, mechanical hound* (Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 - guessed by [livejournal.com profile] plorkwort)

[identity profile] uniformedlayman.livejournal.com 2006-05-31 09:26 pm (UTC)(link)
I believe #2 is from "Fiasco", by Lem.

[identity profile] mmcirvin.livejournal.com 2006-05-31 11:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Indeed! (This is the only Lem novel of the lot.)