explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3092: Baker's Units

2025-05-22T01:22:45Z

162.158.91.60: goes here; more cats

{{comic
| number = 3092
| date = May 21, 2025
| title = Baker's Units
| image = bakers_units_2x.png
| imagesize = 349x310px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 169 is a baker's gross.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a baker's bot. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

A {{w|Dozen#Baker's_dozen|baker's dozen}} is 13 units of bakery goods, as opposed to the normal dozen meaning 12. That tradition began when salesmen in medieval times had to pay penalties (in some regions, draconian ones) when customers were sold one item short, or not enough weight. To avoid the customer complaints and the penalty, bakers added a safety margin that allowed them to still serve a dozen in a hurry: If a miscount happens the baker would have given out twelve rolls just as ordered; if no miscount happens the baker is just short of one inexpensive item).

Randall proceeds to apply this principle to other things comprised of 12 units, some with bizarre results:
* Imperial feet are 12 inches long; a baker's foot would be 13 inches long.
* Noon is 12:00 o'clock ("twelve hundred hours/Juliett" in 24-hour {{w|24-hour clock#Military time|military parlance}}); baker's noon would be 1 o'clock PM ("thirteen hundred hours", etc).
* Dodecahedrons have 12 faces (the shape that most {{w|Dice#Polyhedral dice|d12}}s take the form of), baker's ones are tridecahedrons (which are not Platonic solids, which introduces problems with there being any equal chance of landing on each side, as well the game probably being designed to expect a range of only 12 possible numbers according to chance), rendering dice-based games unbalanced.
* Years have 12 months; a baker would celebrate New Year's Eve on January 31 (meaning that their New Year would shift forward each year).
* Octaves are comprised of 12 half-steps (a half-step is the distance between F and F#). A baker’s octave would have 13 half-steps (corresponding to a minor ninth) and cause problems in musical composition, as octaves (of the baker’s variety) are would be dissonant, instead of being consonant. However, Randall's example is actually a ''major'' ninth, with ''fourteen'' half-steps. If he wanted thirteen half-steps, Randall could have used D♭ instead of D or drawn a bass clef instead of a treble clef.
* Trial juries in the Anglo-Saxon law tradition ({{w|Common Law}}) consist of 12 peers. The baker’s jury has 13 peers. This might be considered to make little practical difference, though it does mean that (in situations where a jury is allowed to present a majority verdict instead of requiring unanimity), the odd number of jurors would prevent exact ties. (Note that {{w|Trial by jury in Scotland|Scottish juries}}, in particular, start with the expectation of there being 15 jurors, and may well end up reduced to 13 or even 12.)
* The {{w|Flag of Europe}} has 12 stars forming a circle (as a symbol of harmony; unlike in the US flag, the stars do not represent member states. The flag was first adopted by the Council of Europe in 1955, when it already had 13 members - today there are over 40. The European Communities adopted the Flag of Europe in 1986 before the EC turned into the European Union. A 13th star (or a bread roll) could potentially be added to the baker's EU flag nevertheless without major damage to the symbol.
* Magnesium is the element with the ordinal number 12, aluminum is number 13 and a very different material.{{Citation needed}} "Baker's magnesium" actually has more applications in baking (namely, tinfoil, which is actually made of aluminum, not tin).
* In the title text, 144 (12x12) is a gross. 169 (13x13) would be a baker's gross, an addition of not just one but 25 units.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]
[[Category:Math]]

3092: Baker's Units

2025-05-22T01:22:01Z

162.158.91.60: /* Explanation */ copyedit

{{comic
| number = 3092
| date = May 21, 2025
| title = Baker's Units
| image = bakers_units_2x.png
| imagesize = 349x310px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 169 is a baker's gross.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a baker's bot. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

A {{w|Dozen#Baker's_dozen|baker's dozen}} is 13 units of bakery goods, as opposed to the normal dozen meaning 12. That tradition began when salesmen in medieval times had to pay penalties (in some regions, draconian ones) when customers were sold one item short, or not enough weight. To avoid the customer complaints and the penalty, bakers added a safety margin that allowed them to still serve a dozen in a hurry: If a miscount happens the baker would have given out twelve rolls just as ordered; if no miscount happens the baker is just short of one inexpensive item).

Randall proceeds to apply this principle to other things comprised of 12 units, some with bizarre results:
* Imperial feet are 12 inches long; a baker's foot would be 13 inches long.
* Noon is 12:00 o'clock ("twelve hundred hours/Juliett" in 24-hour {{w|24-hour clock#Military time|military parlance}}); baker's noon would be 1 o'clock PM ("thirteen hundred hours", etc).
* Dodecahedrons have 12 faces (the shape that most {{w|Dice#Polyhedral dice|d12}}s take the form of), baker's ones are tridecahedrons (which are not Platonic solids, which introduces problems with there being any equal chance of landing on each side, as well the game probably being designed to expect a range of only 12 possible numbers according to chance), rendering dice-based games unbalanced.
* Years have 12 months; a baker would celebrate New Year's Eve on January 31 (meaning that their New Year would shift forward each year).
* Octaves are comprised of 12 half-steps (a half-step is the distance between F and F#). A baker’s octave would have 13 half-steps (corresponding to a minor ninth) and cause problems in musical composition, as octaves (of the baker’s variety) are would be dissonant, instead of being consonant. However, Randall's example is actually a ''major'' ninth, with ''fourteen'' half-steps. If he wanted thirteen half-steps, Randall could have used D♭ instead of D or drawn a bass clef instead of a treble clef.
* Trial juries in the Anglo-Saxon law tradition ({{w|Common Law}}) consist of 12 peers. The baker’s jury has 13 peers. This might be considered to make little practical difference, though it does mean that (in situations where a jury is allowed to present a majority verdict instead of requiring unanimity), the odd number of jurors would prevent exact ties. (Note that {{w|Trial by jury in Scotland|Scottish juries}}, in particular, start with the expectation of there being 15 jurors, and may well end up reduced to 13 or even 12.)
* The {{w|Flag of Europe}} has 12 stars forming a circle (as a symbol of harmony; unlike in the US flag, the stars do not represent member states. The flag was first adopted by the Council of Europe in 1955, when it already had 13 members - today there are over 40. The European Communities adopted the Flag of Europe in 1986 before the EC turned into the European Union. A 13th star (or a bread roll) could potentially be added to the baker's EU flag nevertheless without major damage to the symbol.
* Magnesium is the element with the ordinal number 12, aluminum is number 13 and a very different material.{{Citation needed}} "Baker's magnesium" actually has more applications in baking (namely, tinfoil, which is actually made of aluminum, not tin).
* In the title text, 144 (12x12) is a gross. 169 (13x13) would be a baker's gross, an addition of not just one but 25 units.

[[Category:Math]]

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

3028: D&D Roll

2024-12-24T04:19:54Z

162.158.91.60: /* Transcript */ cats

{{comic
| number = 3028
| date = December 23, 2024
| title = D Roll
| image = dnd_roll_2x.png
| imagesize = 312x313px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Under some circumstances, if you throw a D8 and then a D12 at an enemy, thanks to the D8's greater pointiness you actually have to roll a D12 and D8 respectively to determine damage.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a D20. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is a scene from a tabletop roleplaying game, probably {{w|Dungeons & Dragons}}. The player [[Cueball]] announces "I roll D20... 18," referring to rolling a 20-sided die and getting the relatively high score of 18, presumably while in a fight with a {{w|kobold}} (a small reptilian humanoid creature in D&D.) The {{w|gamemaster}}, [[Ponytail]], responds that the kobold is unaffected, but humorously suggests using a sword instead, pointing out the absurdity of trying to defeat an enemy by rolling dice at them.

Cueball made the mistake of assuming that Ponytail would understand which of his weapons or other {{w|melee}} attacks he intended to use, but she had no way of knowing that, so she decided to gently tease him about the omission. This is a common mistake, and being gently made fun of is a common result. The player will usually be allowed to state the specific attack intended and roll again.{{cn}}

The title text suggests that if you literally threw dice as weapons, an eight-sided die (D8) would do more damage than a twelve-sided die (D12) because of its pointier shape, so ironically, you might need to roll the D12 to determine the D8's damage and vice versa, in "some circumstances."

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[Cueball, Megan, Ponytail, White Hat, and Knit Cap are sitting around a table in a tabletop gaming session. Objects such as dice, miniatures, books, and papers are on the table.]

Cueball: I roll D20... 18.

Ponytail: The kobold is unaffected. Honestly, I don't know why you thought dice would help. You should probably try a sword or something instead.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Dice]]
[[Category:Games]]

3028: D&D Roll

2024-12-24T04:18:51Z

162.158.91.60: /* Transcript */ name spelling

2984: Asteroid News

2024-09-11T22:59:20Z

162.158.91.60: Replace a dead link to Wikipedia with a link to a NASA article about the asteroid mentioned.

{{comic
| number = 2984
| date = September 11, 2024
| title = Asteroid News
| image = asteroid_news_2x.png
| imagesize = 376x288px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Their calculations show it will 'pass within the distance of the moon' but that it 'will not hit the moon, so what's the point?'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by JUST A BORING BOT LIKE ALL THE OTHERS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is probably about the recently discovered asteroid 2024 MK [https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/asteroids/near-earth-asteroid/nasas-planetary-radar-tracks-two-large-asteroid-close-approaches].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[A newscaster with long hair speaks, alongside an image of an asteroid passing by Earth.] "Astronomers initially said there was a one-in-6,000 chance that the newly-discovered asteroid might 'do something cool' in 2063, but further observations determined it will be 'Just a boring dot like all the others.'"

{{comic discussion}}

2965: Chili Tornado Quake

2024-07-30T04:29:23Z

162.158.91.60: /* Transcript */ cats

{{comic
| number = 2965
| date = July 29, 2024
| title = Chili Tornado Quake
| image = chili_tornado_quake_2x.png
| imagesize = 302x252px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Buildings constructed from softer materials were damaged by chili pepper impacts to the storm's high Richter-Fujita-Scoville-Mohs hardness rating.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a TREMBLING GHOST PEPPER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball news reporter next to headline reading "breaking news" with an image of a tornado and earthquake striking a building, with pieces of the building flying off]
:Cueball: A tornado that struck a chili pepper processing plant during an earthquake was rated 55,000 on the Richter-Fujita-Scoville scale.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category: Food]]
[[Category: Tornadoes]]
[[Category: Weather]]

405: Journal 3

2024-07-15T06:07:14Z

162.158.91.60: /* Explanation */ not necessary quickly

{{comic
| number = 405
| date = April 2, 2008
| title = Journal 3
| image = journal 3.png
| titletext = Oh, and, uh, if the Russian government asks, that submarine was always there.
}}

==Explanation==
In [[374: Journal]], [[Black Hat]] explains to [[Cueball]] that a hobby of his is to pretend to write in a journal while on the subway, acting embarrassed if anyone sees. He then proceeds to silently scorn the person once they give him any kind of reassurance.

In [[377: Journal 2]], however, [[Danish]] sees through his ruse. She counteracts it by proving that she understands him, and attempts to resign him to the fact that he will never see her again, thus stripping him of the satisfaction and confidence of a proper social connection. She decamps, abducting his hat in the process. (We also explored the fact that she might be even better than Black Hat. But Black Hat shows his true power and ingeniosity.)

Initially vanquished, Black Hat seems to have recovered and tracked Danish down, even to the extreme fringes of the Earth. He tells Danish that although she was able to read him impossibly adequately she blundered one "inconsequential" detail. We are led to believe that this is some mistake in the disguising of her tracks, but then he explains that it was simply how much he values his hat. It may also be the possibility that Black Hat placed a tracking device of some sort on his hat. This way he trampolines her wrath back at her. She thought that he would agonise the loss of her - the only person who understands him - but he subdues her ego when claiming that he likes his hat (implicitly saying that he doesn't care for her). The series continues in [[432: Journal 4]]. He leaves, taking “her hat" from her.

The title text continues the theme of Black Hat's supernatural ability to troll and to deftly dodge the consequences: If Black Hat stole a military submarine, said military is probably going to be hot on his tail, but he writes it off with: "just tell them it was always here," as if it is no big deal. Black Hat will even be blamed for stealing the submarine in [[496: Secretary: Part 3]]. However, since this is (presumably) the American Senate reviewing him, it may be that he simply has stolen two submarines. It is also possible that the submarine is the American submarine and the title text refers to the Russian Government because their current location is in their territory, and he is shifting any reason for the submarine being there away from himself.

It perhaps may be significant that this comic includes the line "So, you found me after all", given that the previous comic number [[404: Not Found]] was skipped, leading instead to an HTTP 404 Not Found error page.
The destiny of Black Hat is fully known in [[:Category:Journal|The Journal]].

The whole "[[:Category:Journal|Journal]]" story is:
*[[374: Journal]]
*[[377: Journal 2]]
*[[405: Journal 3]]
*[[432: Journal 4]]
*[[433: Journal 5]]

==Transcript==
:[Two women ice-skating outside.]
:Ponytail: Wait up!
:Danish (wearing Black Hat's Hat): Skate faster!

:[Danish sees cracking ice.]
:''Crack Crack''

:[Danish on chunk of ice broken off.]
:''Crack Rumble''

:[Submarine dorsal fin emerging.]
:''AWOOGA''

:[Black Hat (without hat) coming out of hatch.]
:''CREAK''
:Black Hat: Hi.

:Black Hat: That's my hat you're wearing.

:Danish (wearing Black Hat's Hat(stolen in [[Journal 2]])): So, you found me after all.
:Black Hat (out of frame): You didn't make it easy.

:Black Hat: You saw through me, all right. But not quite well enough.

:Black Hat: Because if you wanted to stay lost forever, you made one mistake.

:[Black Hat climbing out of hatch.]

:[Black Hat sliding down a sheet of ice.]

:[Black Hat taking back his hat from Danish's head as he slides by on the ice.]

:[Black Hat skidding to a stop and putting hat back on his head.]

:Black Hat: You took my hat.

:Black Hat: I '''LIKE''' my hat.

:[Black Hat walking away.]

:[Danish left standing, feeling like Black Hat in [[Journal 2]].]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Journal|03]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|Journal]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Danish]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

Talk:2917: Types of Eclipse Photo

2024-04-09T18:25:25Z

162.158.91.60:

The 'standard' and '2x' sized images had unexpected sizes, so a Trivia section has been automatically generated, and an imagesize parameter has been added (at half size) to render the image consistently with other comics on this website. --[[User:TheusafBOT|TheusafBOT]] ([[User talk:TheusafBOT|talk]]) 06:16, 9 April 2024 (UTC)

8920x6909?! [[User:JLZ0kTC5|JLZ0kTC5]] ([[User talk:JLZ0kTC5|talk]]) 06:21, 9 April 2024 (UTC)
Title text likely refers to this image [https://science.nasa.gov/resource/earth-eclipses-the-sun-apollo-12/], and may also refer to Alan Bean destroying the color tv camera on that same mission by pointing it inadvertently at the sun.
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.140.145|172.69.140.145]] 07:03, 9 April 2024 (UTC)

Cleveland, Ohio Science Center had a terrific view and NASA research and public relations teams were out in force. It was terrific. All of my photos are of the Focus and Crowd variety.[[User:Iggynelix|Iggynelix]] ([[User talk:Iggynelix|talk]]) 12:00, 9 April 2024 (UTC)

I've seen one in 1999. It was glorious. Huge shadow crossing a large lake at a million miles an hour.

Lots of pixels today [[User:MrCandela|MrCandela]] ([[User talk:MrCandela|talk]]) 09:26, 9 April 2024 (UTC)

Why did Munroe do this??? I opened the email (I get it emailed because I'm too lazy to check the website) and it crashed my computer. Three times. Surely it wasn't intentional... [[User:No Idea If There's A Character Limit LMAO|By me.]] ([[User talk:No Idea If There's A Character Limit LMAO|talk]]) 10:25, 9 April 2024 (UTC)

Is it just me, or is "solar earth eclipse" just a synonym for things like "sunset" and "night"? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.174.209|172.70.174.209]] 11:17, 9 April 2024 (UTC)

-Yes, but these things are more interesting when you are as far away as the moon and Earth's "night" still reaches you. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.111.174|172.70.111.174]] 16:45, 9 April 2024 (UTC)

I think the 'Solar Earth Eclipse' is a reference to the Earth eclipsing the Sun for the Apollo 12 crew. That must have been spectacular.
As someone who witnessed his first total solar eclipse in Western Australia in April 2023, I'm very much looking forward to the 2028 eclipse across Australia. Seriously considering driving past the mountains if the forecast looks cloudy for Sydney... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.36|108.162.249.36]] 12:07, 9 April 2024 (UTC)

The '''partial''' photo looks more like a projection onto a sheet of paper with a pinhole camera than a direct shot of the eclipse. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.60|162.158.91.60]] 18:25, 9 April 2024 (UTC)

Talk:1756: I'm With Her

2016-11-07T18:56:22Z

162.158.91.60:

Instead of comic, post contained a political statement. I am not amused. I want a refund. I don't vote, and I don't even live anywhere near USA. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.96.102|141.101.96.102]] 18:40, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

The "I'm with her" and H with an arrow are CLEARLY the respective campaign slogan and campaign logo for Hillary Clinton, not some vagueness having to do with bringing a significant other. --[unsigned]
:I see it more as him endorsing voting regardless of who you vote for (as evidenced by half the comic is about "Here's how you vote" without any mention of candidates or issues) and the endorsing Clinton part is an add-on as if to say "This is how I'm voting; vote for her if you agree with me." [[User:Jeudi Violist|Jeudi Violist]] ([[User talk:Jeudi Violist|talk]]) 18:39, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

Has Randall endorsed a presidential candidate before? --[[User:Dfeuer|Dfeuer]] ([[User talk:Dfeuer|talk]]) 17:14, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
He supported Obama on his blog in '08, not in the comic though.

He could have said any number of clever things about the election, and all he did was put up a campaign sign. Disappointing. [[User:Gmcgath|Gmcgath]] ([[User talk:Gmcgath|talk]]) 17:37, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

what a cuck --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.63|172.68.51.63]] 17:45, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
:: leaving aside the most ridiculous slur of the past few years, I don't know what else did you expect from Randall. I guess you must have stumbled upon this wiki by chance and have never heard of xkcd before.--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.130|141.101.98.130]] 17:59, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

This is the first time I still don't get the joke even after reading the explainxkcd page [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.123|108.162.219.123]] 18:09, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
== Bit disappointing... ==

I was hoping for a comic today. oh well. Interesting to see how he's planning to vote, though - it's a shame that there are no candidates this year in favor of strong encryption.

Funny how females outdo males in this 'comic' but in terms of frequency and of elevation. Oh well. xkcd has long been overrepresenting females, it was to be expected. <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>

Seriously? You're whinging 'what about the men?' in a geek web comic?! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.212|108.162.215.212]] 18:21, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

The only disappointing this are comments like those two above. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.201.96|162.158.201.96]] 18:11, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

A little disappointing to have a normally lighthearted comic dive seriously into politics, if even for one strip. Not really a fan of either candidate, but would like to see stuff like this stay above the fray.
:Completely agreed. [[User:SeanAhern|SeanAhern]] ([[User talk:SeanAhern|talk]]) 18:27, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

This is a first... comics 500 and 1130 (possibly 1131 too) were related to the election, but didn't endorse a candidate. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.89|108.162.219.89]] 18:41, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

I came here to see what the tone of the comments were going to be. I was half expecting to find an all-out flamewar in progress. I was happy to see that the comments have not devolved into the kind of attacks that one would expect to find pretty much anywhere else on the Internet. Geeks are the best people. :) [[User:Mwburden|mwburden]] ([[User talk:Mwburden|talk]]) 18:47, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

I'm very dissappointed. Randall never took sides before and - be it as it may - this comic is not a comic but plain out political campaign. Up until now I held xkcd in EXTREMELY high esteem - this comic put a serious dent in that opinion..
--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.60|162.158.91.60]] 18:56, 7 November 2016 (UTC)