The puzzle has no clear answer, as there are no other common English words that end in -gry. Interpretations of the puzzle suggest it is either an answerless hoax; a trick question; a sincere question asking for an obscure word; or a corruption of a more straightforward puzzle. The ultimate origin is presumably an oral tradition or a lost book of puzzles.
About -gry puzzle in brief
The puzzle has no clear answer, as there are no other common English words that end in -gry. Interpretations of the puzzle suggest it is either an answerless hoax; a trick question; a sincere question asking for an obscure word; or a corruption of a more straightforward puzzle. Merriam-Webster, publishers of the leading American dictionaries, first heard of this puzzle in a letter dated March 17, 1975, from Patricia Lasker of Brooklyn, New York. The ultimate origin is presumably an oral tradition or a lost book of puzzles. The most likely source is the talk show of Bob Grant, from some program in early or mid March 1975. More recently, the word hangry—a blend of ‘hungry’ and ‘angry’—has been used to refer to an irritable state induced by lack of food. Oxford Dictionaries added hangry on 27 August 2015, and the full Oxford English Dictionary added Hangry in 2018.
The puzzle has had occasional bouts of popularity: after its initial popularity in 1975, it was popular in 1978, again in 1995, and then again in 1996. One enterprising librarian found an eight-page pamphlet entitled Things About, probably dating to the 1940s, filled with riddles. The question has nothing to do with angry, hungry or any other word. The third word is a very common word, and you often use it often. What is the third word? Think very carefully! The answer is the word I have told you that I have given you. The word is gry, an obsolete unit of measure invented by John Locke. It is unclear whether this was the answer given on the Grant show, or what the precise wording had been.
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This page is based on the article -gry puzzle published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 06, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
