Four thousand five hundred different words can be made out of the letters in "Planter's Peanuts," according to Philip R. Harper '49 and Harold J. Holt '50. They each spent about 40 hours thumbing through an unabridged dictionary to find out.
Semantical interest was not the reason, but the $50,000 worth of prizes awarded weekly for six consecutive weeks by the peanut company in Wilkes Barre, Pa. Holt got a cigarette lighter for his eyestrain, but Harper came up a week ago with the number one award, a Hudson sedan.
According to Holt the task wasn't as formidable as it looked. With only nine different letters in the base words, the wear and tear on Webster was considerably reduced.
Advertisement
Want to keep up with breaking news?
Subscribe to our email newsletter.
Read more in News
Univ. of Wash. Professors Concur on Miller's Stand
