Urban Legend Puzzle – Answer: FOOL – By Christine Chang

 

Each urban legend is either a true story or a bogus story. The heavy dot characters in the heading and the long dashes are a hint to map the true and false to Morse code that spells out FOOL.

Did You Hear...

 

— On the Larry King show Monica Lewinsky said “I've learned not to put things in my mouth that are bad for me.”

F

0

— Eelskin wallets can cause credit cards to be demagnetized.

F

0

— One of the Marlboro Men died from lung cancer.

T

1

— Several shipments of bananas from Costa Rica have been infected with necrotizing fasciitis or flesh eating bacteria.

F

0

— Dan Quayle once said, “It is wonderful to be here in the great state of Chicago.”

T

1

— Monkee Mike Nesmith's mother invented Liquid Paper correction fluid.

T

1

— An episode of the Pokemon TV show caused over 700 children in Japan to have an epileptic attack.

T

1

— The theme music for the original Star Trek TV series when first written included lyrics.

T

1

— Eating one leaf from a poinsettia plant will likely not kill you.

T

1

— A student collected over $20,000 for college by solicited donations of one cent each.

T

1

— Recent medical reports have linked use of antiperspirants to breast cancer in women.

F

0

— Coca Cola used to contain cocaine as an ingredient.

T

1

— New crime ring is targeting business travelers, harvesting their kidneys and leaving them in bathtubs full of ice with instructions to call 911.

F

0

— Dead scuba diver was found in a burnt forest, having been lifted out of the water by a helicopter used to douse a forest fire.

F

0

 

F

O

O

L

..-.

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FFTF

TTT

TTT

FTFF