An Asimov story where the fact that "committee" has three double letters plays a role

Question

This is not really an SF question, but about a short story by Isaac Asimov, so I think it fits. In one of his many "mysteries", someone asks for a rather short word with three double letters in it.
I have been racking my brain about Paulie_D vs Clara Diaz Sanchez, and something came back.
The fact that the word was "committee" rather than bookkeeper or any other one was not important per se. The point was that there was a brilliant but surly kid who had a clue but he refused to tell it to adults, considering them all as idiots. Until one adult was bright enough to guess his enigmas, I think there were more than just the one about "committee", and he agreed to tell him his clue.
I don't remember  whether it is among the Black Widowers, or the Union Club or any other series of this kind. Or maybe even among the Azazel ones, in which case it would be either Fantasy of SF, (depending on whether Azazel is a demon or a creature from a more advanced civilisation, an ambiguity the Good Doctor insists on maintaining).
Anyway, I would like to find the title of this story.

Pete · Accepted Answer

Twelve Years Old. (AKA The 12 Year Old Mystery)
The Union Club Mysteries.

Griswold manages to outsmart a twelve-year-old smart alek who knows an English word which is short, simple, common and cannot be pronounced if written all in capitals.
The word, of course, is “POLISH,” because it’s pronounced one way if spelled “polish” and another if spelled “Polish,” as any twelve-year-old smart alek knows. Asimov dealt with innumerable such creatures over the course of his career—including, alas, myself—so this is one way for him to get back at them. It’s relatively pleasant as Union Club mysteries go.

I don't recall if "committee" was part of it. It's possible that you are conflating two stories. But I think the smart-alec kid is the one you want.

Yaroslav Kornachevskyi · Answer

It could be Encyclopedia Brown by  Donald J. Sobol
Encyclopedia Brown is a series of books featuring the adventures of boy detective Leroy Brown, nicknamed "Encyclopedia" for his intelligence and range of knowledge

A contest is held in which contestants complete a quiz for 3 secret
prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. The first place winner receives the
best prize: a watch, which he discovers has been broken. The theory of
the crime is one of the contestants secretly examined the prizes and
played with the watch and broke it. The culprit turns out to be the
2nd place girl that purposely missed a question she should have gotten
right: "Name a word that has three double-letters." The girl referred
to herself as a "bookkeeper". Assuming she remembered such a fact, the
solution fails to prove why she threw the contest or definitively
eliminate her from the suspect pool of the other contest losers.

An Asimov story where the fact that "committee" has three double letters plays a role

2 Answers

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question