This question of the four sports makes a fascinating
party game. There are many reasons for picking the
various answers, and one has only to read the question
aloud to start a party off in high gear, with everyone
joining in the fun. Any number can play. There is only
one drawback: after a while the fun suddenly stops and
the party becomes indignantly serious. This happens as
soon as someone asks what sense there is in giving chil-
dren such questions on tests; for then, right away, the fat
is in the fire. Parents begin recalling similar questions that
their own children had on tests. College students complain
that such questions are by no means confined to children.
Graduate students and older people push the age limit
higher as they recount their own experiences. And soon
there is an awed realization that there may, in fact, be no
age limit at all.

But before the party reaches this solemn stage -- and
before this book does -- there is fun to be had. Even the
staid London Times could not resist enjoying it. On March
19, the day after the appearance of Mr. Batty's letter, it
printed the following two letters, in this order, without
comment:

Sir, -- "Billiards" is the obvious answer...because it is
the only one of the games listed which is not a team game.
Because the answer is so simple and does not require the
child answering it to have a detailed knowledge of the games
referred to, I should have thought it a very suitable question
for an intelligence test.

Sir, --...football is the odd one out because...it is
played with an inflated ball as compared with the solid ball
used in each of the other three [games].

At this stage I managed to tie myself into an intellectual
knot that still has me slightly bewildered. When I had read
these three letters it seemed to me that good cases had

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