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The Obvious Factor

136 statements
25 feature instances
4 referencing feature instances

The Obvious Factor	type	TVTItem
The Obvious Factor	label	The Obvious Factor
The Obvious Factor	page	TheObviousFactor
The Obvious Factor	comment	The 6th story in the Black Widowers case files, Isaac Asimov wrote it for Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine (May 1973 issue).Trumbull is host, and his guest is Dr. Voss Eldridge, who investigates paranormal claims for a living. As dinner starts, Trumbull uses his position as host to ban Halsted from reciting his new limerick so Drake reads it for him. The members briefly discuss the meaning before dinner arrives. The discussion during dinner turns to Pulp Fiction, when Rubin and Drake debate over Secret Service Operator 5 and Secret Agent X.After dinner, Rubin grills Mr Eldridge, and he tells the group about an example of paranormal activity that he hasn't yet disproven with mundane evidence. Henry, naturally, is able to uncover a perfectly reasonable explanation that satisfies him.This story has been reprinted three times; Tales of the Black Widowers (1974), The Best Mysteries Of Isaac Asimov (1986), and The Return of the Black Widowers (2003).
The Obvious Factor	fetched	2024-01-16T14:32:45Z
The Obvious Factor	parsed	2024-01-16T14:32:45Z
The Obvious Factor	processingComment	Dropped link to PickyEater: Not a Feature - ITEM
The Obvious Factor	processingComment	Dropped link to SherlockHolmes: Not a Feature - ITEM
The Obvious Factor	processingComment	Dropped link to TroilusAndCressida: Not a Feature - ITEM
The Obvious Factor	isPartOf	DBTropes
The Obvious Factor / int_18d15922	type	Title Drop
The Obvious Factor / int_18d15922	comment	Title Drop: The exact phrase doesn't occur, but Henry is referring to the most obvious factor to be eliminated. Mr Eldridge could be lying.
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The Obvious Factor / int_18d15922	featureConfidence	1.0
The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	The Obvious Factor / int_18d15922
The Obvious Factor / int_1e1afc1b	type	Framing Device
The Obvious Factor / int_1e1afc1b	comment	Framing Device: The Fancy Dinner gives the audience a setting and characters to hear about a precognitive who foresaw a fire occur on the other side of the country before it happened.
The Obvious Factor / int_1e1afc1b	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	The Obvious Factor / int_1e1afc1b
The Obvious Factor / int_1eabee5d	type	Master of Delusion
The Obvious Factor / int_1eabee5d	comment	Master of Delusion: Conversational Troping, while Drake and Rubin debate the finer points of Secret Service Operator 5 versus Secret Agent X, Rubin claims that there are too many traits for anyone to effectively hide themselves. Such disguises really only work because nobody really tries to break the disguise.
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The Obvious Factor / int_1eabee5d	featureConfidence	1.0
The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	The Obvious Factor / int_1eabee5d
The Obvious Factor / int_3bebfcc0	type	Living Lie Detector
The Obvious Factor / int_3bebfcc0	comment	Living Lie Detector: Discussed Trope, Mr Eldridge wonders if Henry is able to determine when people are lying through some special talent. Henry assures him that it was simply more reasonable to assume he was lying than the existence of Psychic Powers.
The Obvious Factor / int_3bebfcc0	featureApplicability	1.0
The Obvious Factor / int_3bebfcc0	featureConfidence	1.0
The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	The Obvious Factor / int_3bebfcc0
The Obvious Factor / int_499499e6	type	Written-In Absence
The Obvious Factor / int_499499e6	comment	Written-In Absence: Gonzalo is mentioned as absent from the meeting tonight, and the next story gives the reason why.
The Obvious Factor / int_499499e6	featureApplicability	1.0
The Obvious Factor / int_499499e6	featureConfidence	1.0
The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	The Obvious Factor / int_499499e6
The Obvious Factor / int_5a40d6a	type	Adaptation Distillation
The Obvious Factor / int_5a40d6a	comment	Adaptation Distillation: In-Universe, Halsted is adapting The Iliad into limericks, one book at a time. The fourth book goes as follows:
The Obvious Factor / int_5a40d6a	featureApplicability	1.0
The Obvious Factor / int_5a40d6a	featureConfidence	1.0
The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	The Obvious Factor / int_5a40d6a
The Obvious Factor / int_5ce7dbb9	type	Central Theme
The Obvious Factor / int_5ce7dbb9	comment	Central Theme: The idea that deception begins with the person wanting to be fooled is mentioned several times before it is used as the solution to the mystery.
The Obvious Factor / int_5ce7dbb9	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	The Obvious Factor / int_5ce7dbb9
The Obvious Factor / int_5d7cfc66	type	The Jeeves
The Obvious Factor / int_5d7cfc66	comment	The Jeeves: Henry has Trumbull's scotch and soda ready on a tray as soon as Trumbull calls for him.
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The Obvious Factor / int_5d7cfc66	featureConfidence	1.0
The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	The Obvious Factor / int_5d7cfc66
The Obvious Factor / int_5f4c3290	type	Skeptic No Longer
The Obvious Factor / int_5f4c3290	comment	Skeptic No Longer: Mr Eldridge tells the group about a situation involving claimed paranormal powers that he's been unable to dismiss. As he tells the story, gradually each member of the club is convinced, except for Henry.
The Obvious Factor / int_5f4c3290	featureApplicability	1.0
The Obvious Factor / int_5f4c3290	featureConfidence	1.0
The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	The Obvious Factor / int_5f4c3290
The Obvious Factor / int_640a7996	type	Fancy Dinner
The Obvious Factor / int_640a7996	comment	Fancy Dinner: The Black Widowers meet every month at the Milano, a fancy restaurant in New York City, tonight's entrÃ©e is London broil, and the dessert is an ice-cream parfait.
The Obvious Factor / int_640a7996	featureApplicability	1.0
The Obvious Factor / int_640a7996	featureConfidence	1.0
The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	The Obvious Factor / int_640a7996
The Obvious Factor / int_6891554e	type	Parlor Games
The Obvious Factor / int_6891554e	comment	Trumbull interrupts Rubin to stop playing Twenty Questions and asks Henry to explain clearly.
The Obvious Factor / int_6891554e	featureApplicability	1.0
The Obvious Factor / int_6891554e	featureConfidence	1.0
The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	The Obvious Factor / int_6891554e
The Obvious Factor / int_7012424f	type	Stealth Hi/Bye
The Obvious Factor / int_7012424f	comment	Stealth Hi/Bye: Trumbull shouts for Henry, only to find the incredible waiter at his elbow before he's finished calling.
The Obvious Factor / int_7012424f	featureApplicability	1.0
The Obvious Factor / int_7012424f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	The Obvious Factor / int_7012424f
The Obvious Factor / int_7175cb16	type	Clark Kenting
The Obvious Factor / int_7175cb16	comment	Clark Kenting: Conversational Troping, while Drake and Rubin debate the finer points of Secret Service Operator 5 versus Secret Agent X, Rubin claims that there are too many traits for anyone to effectively hide themselves. Such disguises really only work because nobody really tries to break the disguise.
The Obvious Factor / int_7175cb16	featureApplicability	1.0
The Obvious Factor / int_7175cb16	featureConfidence	1.0
The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	The Obvious Factor / int_7175cb16
The Obvious Factor / int_8151ec48	type	Driving Question
The Obvious Factor / int_8151ec48	comment	Driving Question: What evidence is needed to prove the supernatural?
The Obvious Factor / int_8151ec48	featureApplicability	1.0
The Obvious Factor / int_8151ec48	featureConfidence	1.0
The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	The Obvious Factor / int_8151ec48
The Obvious Factor / int_959a9947	type	Phone-In Detective
The Obvious Factor / int_959a9947	comment	Phone-In Detective: Henry is able to deduce the mystery of Alice's precognition merely from listening to Mr Eldridge's explanation.
The Obvious Factor / int_959a9947	featureApplicability	1.0
The Obvious Factor / int_959a9947	featureConfidence	1.0
The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	The Obvious Factor / int_959a9947
The Obvious Factor / int_9ebca7d9	type	Mr. Smith
The Obvious Factor / int_9ebca7d9	comment	Mr. Smith: Mr Eldridge explains that he will be calling the young woman with precognition Alice, but it isn't her real name.
The Obvious Factor / int_9ebca7d9	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	The Obvious Factor / int_9ebca7d9
The Obvious Factor / int_9fda81a7	type	The Summation
The Obvious Factor / int_9fda81a7	comment	The Summation: When Mr Eldridge asks if the lightning strike disproves Henry's theory, the waiter informs him that it serves, instead, as confirmation and announces Mr Eldridge as a liar who invented each part of the story as he was going.
The Obvious Factor / int_9fda81a7	featureApplicability	1.0
The Obvious Factor / int_9fda81a7	featureConfidence	1.0
The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	The Obvious Factor / int_9fda81a7
The Obvious Factor / int_a164f37d	type	Fair-Play Whodunnit
The Obvious Factor / int_a164f37d	comment	Fairplay Whodunnit: The clues are all presented during the grilling, and, in conjunction with the Central Theme, the audience can deduce the solution by the time Henry coughs. The lightning strike is an additional clue, but can be deduced earlier.
The Obvious Factor / int_a164f37d	featureApplicability	1.0
The Obvious Factor / int_a164f37d	featureConfidence	1.0
The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	The Obvious Factor / int_a164f37d
The Obvious Factor / int_b1dde8fd	type	Loophole Abuse
The Obvious Factor / int_b1dde8fd	comment	Loophole Abuse: Trumbull uses his position as host to ban Halsted from reciting his new limerick so Drake reads it for him.
The Obvious Factor / int_b1dde8fd	featureApplicability	1.0
The Obvious Factor / int_b1dde8fd	featureConfidence	1.0
The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	The Obvious Factor / int_b1dde8fd
The Obvious Factor / int_b4a6ae4c	type	Everyone Has Standards
The Obvious Factor / int_b4a6ae4c	comment	Everyone Has Standards: Henry shoots down the suggestion that the "predicted" fire was set by saying that a group of people trying to fake a psychic prediction would not go so far as to kill a bunch of people, including a child, to carry out the hoax.
The Obvious Factor / int_b4a6ae4c	featureApplicability	1.0
The Obvious Factor / int_b4a6ae4c	featureConfidence	1.0
The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	The Obvious Factor / int_b4a6ae4c
The Obvious Factor / int_c75df49a	type	Shout-Out
The Obvious Factor / int_c75df49a	comment	Shout-Out: Medieval versions of the Troilus tale are referenced for having influenced modern recollection of Pandarus, obscuring his deed in the original Greek. The plot of Troilus and Cressida, by Shakespeare, is confused for the plot of the fourth book in The Iliad. Drake and Rubin debate the finer points of Secret Service Operator 5. Drake and Rubin debate the finer points of Secret Agent X. Mr Eldridge quotes from Sherlock Holmes: "When the impossible has been eliminated, then whatever remains, however improbable, is the truth." Trumbull interrupts Rubin to stop playing Twenty Questions and asks Henry to explain clearly. Henry quotes from Thomas Jefferson: "I would sooner believe that a Yankee professor would lie than that a stone would fall from heaven."
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The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	The Obvious Factor / int_c75df49a
The Obvious Factor / int_e5400274	type	Ahem
The Obvious Factor / int_e5400274	comment	Ahem: When Trumbull points out that Henry is grinning, he uses a cough to help school his face back to a neutral expression.
The Obvious Factor / int_e5400274	featureApplicability	1.0
The Obvious Factor / int_e5400274	featureConfidence	1.0
The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	The Obvious Factor / int_e5400274
The Obvious Factor / int_fb724048	type	Real After All
The Obvious Factor / int_fb724048	comment	Real After All: Defied Trope, while the rest of the Widowers are willing to believe in the existence of paranormal powers, Henry would rather believe Mr Eldridge is lying. He admits that's exactly what he was doing. In the afterword of the story for Tales of the Black Widowers, Dr Asimov states his dislike for the end-of-mystery reveal that the supernatural does exist.
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The Obvious Factor / int_fb724048	featureConfidence	1.0
The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	The Obvious Factor / int_fb724048
The Obvious Factor / int_fdbd6162	type	With Friends Like These...
The Obvious Factor / int_fdbd6162	comment	With Friends Like These...: Trumbull introduces the rest of the members to Dr Eldridge by insulting their ability to do their jobs.
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The Obvious Factor / int_name	type	ItemName
The Obvious Factor / int_name	comment
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The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	The Obvious Factor / int_name
The Obvious Factor / int_name	itemName	The Obvious Factor

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	American Literature (# to D) / int_f6399d12
The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	Driving Question / int_f6399d12
The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	Fancy Dinner / int_f6399d12
The Obvious Factor	hasFeature	Limerick / int_f6399d12

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