Leigh Mercer (1893–1977) was a noted

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

wordplay Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, phone ...

and

recreational mathematics Recreational mathematics is mathematics carried out for recreation (entertainment) rather than as a strictly research and application-based professional activity or as a part of a student's formal education. Although it is not necessarily limited ...

expert.

Career

Palindrome

Mercer is best known for devising the

palindrome A palindrome is a word, number, phrase, or other sequence of symbols that reads the same backwards as forwards, such as the words ''madam'' or ''racecar'', the date and time ''11/11/11 11:11,'' and the sentence: "A man, a plan, a canal – Panam ...

" A man, a plan, a canal: Panama!".Published in ''Notes and Queries,'' 13 Nov. 1948, according to ''The Yale Book of Quotations,'' F. R. Shapiro, ed. (2006, ).

Mathematical limerick

The following mathematical limerick is attributed to him: :

\frac + (5 \times 11) = 9^2+0

This is read as follows: : A

dozen A dozen (commonly abbreviated doz or dz) is a grouping of twelve. The dozen may be one of the earliest primitive integer groupings, perhaps because there are approximately a dozen cycles of the Moon, or months, in a cycle of the Sun, or year ...

, a gross, and a score : Plus three times the square root of four : Divided by seven : Plus five times eleven : Is nine squared and not a bit more.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercer, Leigh 1893 births 1977 deaths Recreational cryptographers Word games Word play Mathematical humor Palindromists