[net.puzzle] The Infamous -GRY Puzzle

dim@whuxlm.UUCP (McCooey David I) (10/10/85)

	Here is a simple riddle that I heard a long time ago, but one
	that I could never get the whole solution to (even after asking
	hundreds of people).  Maybe somebody out there knows.

	"What three words in the English language end in -gry?"

	It's that simple (to say).  The first two words should be easy.
	I'll leave it at that.....

hes@ecsvax.UUCP (Henry Schaffer) (10/13/85)

> 
> 	Here is a simple riddle that I heard a long time ago, but one
> 	that I could never get the whole solution to (even after asking
> 	hundreds of people).  Maybe somebody out there knows.
> 
> 	"What three words in the English language end in -gry?"
> 
> 	It's that simple (to say).  The first two words should be easy.
> 	I'll leave it at that.....
  Two common words fit, but since I couldn't think of a third, I grepped
an on-line dictionary I found.  It didn't have any other words ending in
gry, and only one other (gryphon) with gry embedded.
  Could this be a trick question?  (Actually, my first guess would be a
rare word.)
--henry schaffer

cynthiak@zaphod.UUCP (Cynthia Kelly) (10/16/85)

I finally broke down and sought professional help to the -GRY Puzzle:
according to Information Services at Frances Morrison Public Library in
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (card file of answers-to-obscure-questions),

	1. angry
	2. hungry
	3. anhungry
are the three words in the English language ending in -GRY.

The last word is an obsolete term used by Shakespeare, and hence still found
in some dictionaries (although NOT in my Webster's Collegiate); actually, it
may be spelled "annhungry" as I only got a brief glimpse at the word.

Sorry to spoil the puzzle, but curiosity got the better of me,
Cynthia Kelly

P.S. this my first (and probably my last) posting, please forgive any
breach of network etiquette