Uncle Mefi's Big Book of Beans

April 1, 2021 12:09 PM

Cooped up because of reasons, and need something to distract yourself? Spend a little time with Uncle Mefi's Big Book of Beans [PDF], a collection of paper and pencil activities for MeFites of all ages. Word puzzles! Coloring! Money counterfeiting! Graduate-level logic problems! More coloring!

This little April Fun thing features ideas and contributions from a bunch of folks on staff; thanks everybody for helping put this thing together.

Here's Uncle Mefi's Big Book of Beans as a single big PDF.

Or you can access it as individual page images:
Cover page
Spot the differences puzzle: At the crouton farm
Crossword time
Maze: Help cortex get to his donut
Jumble word puzzle
Coloring page: MF initials
Word Wasp game
Rebus corner
Doodle page: fill in the million dollar bill
Word search
Logic LSAT puzzle
Coloring page: plate of beans
Answers page

Or if images don't work for you, there's a text version, with brief descriptions of the pages and with the crossword, jumble and logic puzzles written out. There's also text-only answers page for those puzzles.

posted by cortex (staff) to MetaFilter-Related at 12:09 PM (33 comments total)

Obviously please post for us your coloring pages so that we can see what brilliant designs you've done!
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 1:09 PM on April 1, 2021

I don't know why cortex isn't abusing the IMG tag for this, considering that W3C is bringing back BLINK.


posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:12 PM on April 1, 2021 [13 favorites]

that's a very hilberty donut maze
posted by scruss at 1:35 PM on April 1, 2021 [2 favorites]

Outstanding. Gonna go do activities!
posted by rmd1023 at 1:56 PM on April 1, 2021

Metafilter: Gonna go do activities!
(This is super cute)
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 2:35 PM on April 1, 2021 [2 favorites]

I would like to brag that I stumped my husband with the logic game, as he scored one point higher than me on the LSAT 20 years ago and it is a sore point.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 2:43 PM on April 1, 2021 [10 favorites]

This rules. Thanks, everyone!
posted by michaelh at 2:48 PM on April 1, 2021

Speaking of (what I thought were) innocent childhood activities, a jokey comment someone left on a YouTube video about "The Great Olive Poisoning of 1919":

For a moment, I thought Popeye would be kicking butt trying to find out who poisoned Olive Oyl.

has somehow just made me realize after all these years that 'Popeye being in love with Olive Oyl' is actually an off-color joke about the deprivations sailors face on long sea voyages!

It's like a depth charge suddenly exploded way, way down in my childhood memories.

I mean, the joke's probably been around since Roman times if not earlier, and OK I'm probably the only person my age who didn't get it, but the cartoonists must have done that on purpose, right?
posted by jamjam at 4:42 PM on April 1, 2021 [3 favorites]

I have thoughts!

1) Do not believe I've ever heard the term "dead goating" on the site.
2) I knew what you were going for, but I was never able to get the "Treaty of Westphalia". Always came out as "Treaty of Westphaultralia" or "Treaty of Westphaul" I think you needed a "-tra" in there
3) The LSATs logic test only works if you are specific that this is over a single day. There are other possible permutations as the shifts break across multiple days.
4) This was fun! Thank you!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:44 PM on April 1, 2021 [1 favorite]

Well done, especially the coloring page!

Bonus question, in keeping with the plate of beans theme: Is it pronounced Mee Figh, Meh Phi or Meffy? Show your work.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 5:00 PM on April 1, 2021

Well, that was a delight! Thank you!
posted by umwhat at 5:35 PM on April 1, 2021

Dead goating was apparently a thing for a minute in 2018/2019. I didn't recognize it.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 6:08 PM on April 1, 2021 [1 favorite]

This is adorable.
posted by The corpse in the library at 6:26 PM on April 1, 2021 [1 favorite]

I remembered it as a thing on the internet, just never really associated it with MetaFilter. Seemed not of a kind with the other references. But I'm over thinking a plate of milkshake ducks.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 6:27 PM on April 1, 2021

Because of course I am. It's what I do.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 6:28 PM on April 1, 2021 [1 favorite]

(Also I'm very, very tired, so probably not thinking clearly.)
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 6:32 PM on April 1, 2021

I’m absolutely delighted!

But wait: you’re not supposed to post 7 Down on fanfare??? I have been fanfaring wrong!
posted by mochapickle at 8:17 PM on April 1, 2021

This is so good!
posted by donatella at 8:37 PM on April 1, 2021

Are there 11 differences or am I a crouton-hallucinator?
posted by Night_owl at 10:04 PM on April 1, 2021 [2 favorites]

(SHHHHHHHHH!)
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 10:05 PM on April 1, 2021

(It was meant for there to be ten differences, but there was a technical snafu, so there's a bonus one that's not listed on the answer page.)
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 12:19 AM on April 2, 2021

At least I get how all these puzzles work. I've never been able to understand Exquisite Corpse.
posted by JanetLand at 6:08 AM on April 2, 2021

Oh, this is so awesome. Once I have some time I am totally sitting down to do the logic puzzle, that is completely my jam.
posted by cgg at 9:22 AM on April 2, 2021

"Cooped up", eh? I've embraced Cooper Black during the pandemic for some reason. Maybe because of Why this font is everywhere, at Vox. Every two months or so, I've made a 'Plague N' CD, saving off my tunes of the day (the Plague 7 playlist is almost stable enough for burning) and once complete, I print out the playlist using Cooper Black. Now the font pops up here - but I've never associated it with MeFi before (although there was a previously back in 2002).
posted by Rash at 9:46 AM on April 2, 2021 [1 favorite]

This is fun! Thanks for making it...I am reminded of how soothing I found mazes as a child. Ahhhh.
posted by theatro at 10:16 AM on April 2, 2021

"Cooped up", eh?

*bows slightly*
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:48 AM on April 2, 2021 [1 favorite]

I don't know why cortex isn't abusing the IMG tag for this, considering that W3C is bringing back BLINK.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 4:12 PM on April 1

the beans in the image look like Type 4 on the Bristol Stool Chart
posted by cynical pinnacle at 1:27 PM on April 2, 2021

To me, they look like blue cashews.
posted by Rash at 2:17 PM on April 2, 2021

"Once I have some time I am totally sitting down to do the logic puzzle, that is completely my jam."

There are generally two kinds of people in the world, those who read this sort of logic puzzle and go "what. the fuck. is wrong. with you." and people who read this sort of logic puzzle and go, "oooooooooooooh, goodie!"

I am type 2. :)
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 2:45 PM on April 2, 2021 [1 favorite]

I just ordered some colored pencils to play with, so I am very excited for this!
posted by blurker at 2:52 PM on April 2, 2021

This is the most adorable thing ever.
posted by SLC Mom at 10:49 AM on April 3, 2021

Surprisingly hard to explain the Hilbert curve to a three-year-old who doesn't understand why you've started laughing at the maze she's solving!
posted by wjt at 2:19 PM on April 4, 2021

This is delightful.
posted by Wretch729 at 5:28 PM on April 5, 2021