explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3139: Chess Variant

2025-09-10T00:57:45Z

207.195.86.18: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3139
| date = September 8, 2025
| title = Chess Variant
| image = chess_variant_2x.png
| imagesize = 310x344px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The draw-by-repetition rule does a good job of keeping players from sliding a tile back and forth repeatedly, but the tiles definitely introduce some weird en passant and castling edge cases.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently by an IMMOVABLE CHESS BOARD. Confirm the explanation of the title text and relevant chess moves are understandable to the layperson. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
A {{w|Sliding puzzle|sliding puzzle}} is a puzzle with movable pieces that challenges players to slide the pieces around the board to get them into a certain pattern or to move a certain piece into a certain position. Patterns can be anything from a completed image to a series of numbers. One of the most common variants, the {{w|15 puzzle}}, is a square board with 15 square pieces (usually numbered 1 through 15, to be placed in obvious order, but can also feature segments of a larger picture that needs to be correctly assembled) and one empty space in a 4×4 grid. The goal is to order the numbers (or reassemble the picture) without lifting any piece, only sliding adjacent pieces into the empty space. [[Randall]] contemplates making a {{w|Chess variant|variant of chess}} in which 2x2 sections of the board can be moved around, possibly as an alternative to moving your own pieces. It is possible that “sliding number chess puzzle” is a pun on actual {{w|chess puzzles}} in which pieces are set up in a position and the player must find the best move or sequence of moves in that position.

A similar concept exists in {{w|Three-dimensional chess#Star Trek Tri-Dimensional Chess|Star Trek 3D chess}}. Although there's no official rule set by the show creators, the rules were invented by Star Trek fans. In this variant, the board has several 2x2 "attack boards" that can be moved around. For a more prosaic analog, the game {{w|Labyrinth (board game)|Labyrinth}} uses a board composed of tiles that players use to rearrange the playing arena, and features a similar prohibition against reversing the change made by the previous play.

The title text states that because of the {{w|threefold repetition}} rule in chess, sliding a tile back and forth will result in a draw, just as would already happen with the moving of the ''pieces'' back into an overall state of the board. This may discourage unimaginative 'stalling' play by one player, in allowing the other player to claim a draw and avoid a loss. However, this rule would probably lead to more draws, as it allows the player in the losing position to move tiles in an attack that could easily be avoided by moving the tile back. Thus, it gives a small extra advantage to the player in the losing position, as the player who is winning is not likely to draw their position. However, it's also mentioned that there are logistical challenges involving ''en passant'' pawn capture and castling with the tiles involved.

''{{w|En passant}}'' is a unique interaction between adjacent pawns of opposing sides. Normally, pawns can only move straight ahead, one space at a time, and can only capture pieces that are placed one square diagonally forward. However, an unmoved pawn can choose to advance two spaces rather than the usual one. If such a pawn thus bypasses the threatened area of an opposing pawn, that opposing pawn may then capture the pawn that moved two spaces ''en passant'', treating as vulnerable as it would be if it had only moved one space. Since the sliding chess puzzle is separated into 2x2 boards, a pawn positioned on one of those pieces would be able to move two spaces rather than the usual one, and it could be argued that such a pawn moving past an opposing pawn should be vulnerable to ''en passant'' capture.

{{w|Castling}} is a defensive move involving the king and rooks. Normally, the king can only advance one square at a time in any direction, while a rook can move on either axis but cannot pass through other piece. If neither the king or rook have been moved in the current game, and there are no pieces between them, a player may choose to "castle", moving the king two spaces towards a rook and then placing the rook directly past the king. It could be argued that a king and rook placed on one of the 2x2 boards of the sliding puzzle, which has been moved since the start of the game, have not themselves moved and thus should be eligible to castle.

It is also left unclear whether the wider-ranging pieces are allowed to effectively move through the missing/virtual spaces in the board where there currently is no tile, beyond merely being unable to ''end'' their move in the current 'hole' where no traditional chess squares exist at that moment. It also brings up the question of whether pawns promote if the tile that they are on gets moved to the last rank of tiles with the pawn on the last rank of squares. If so, who would get to choose which piece to promote, if the player whose pawn it isn't moved the piece?

One interpretation of the game shown is that white played e4, black e5, continuing with Nf3 and Nc6, then white played d4 (all normal moves, so far, the [https://lichess.org/opening/Scotch_Game Scotch Game]). In response, black slid the puzzle-square starboard to make white’s knight on the rim 'dim', and decentralize white’s pawn.

An early example of Randall depicting a 'movable' fragment of chessboard was used in [[839: Explorers]]. Though that one was of size 3x3, and had become entirely separated from the 'home board' (perhaps not even being originally part of it, having initially been assembled adjacent to it) and under its own motive power.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[A chessboard is shown with the white pieces at the bottom of the screen. The pieces are illustrated in the basic design of standard computer chess. The chessboard is divided into 16 2x2 sliding squares with the e3-f4 sliding square currently being moved to the g3-h4 spot. Otherwise the opening is a standard Scotch Opening, with the pieces in the e3-f4 tile like how they are supposed to be in a scotch opening.]
:[Text below the panel]
:Sliding number puzzle chess

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Chess]]

3132: Coastline Similarity

2025-08-25T23:03:47Z

207.195.86.18: /* Explanation */ I don't really see how else this could be expanded, so I think we can call this one complete.

{{comic
| number = 3132
| date = August 22, 2025
| title = Coastline Similarity
| image = coastline_similarity_2x.png
| imagesize = 553x219px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Hey! A bunch of the early Cretaceous fossils on each coast seem to have been plagiarized, too!
}}

==Explanation==
This comic depicts a classroom, likely relating to geography, geology or history, in which the teacher ([[Miss Lenhart]]) is discussing the similar coastlines of Africa and South America, and the way that modern understanding has revealed the cause. [[Cueball]] initially assumes that one coastline plagiarized the other before Miss Lenhart continues by revealing that it was {{w|continental drift}} that explained the similarity.

Continental drift is the widely accepted theory that Earth's continents were once all connected, and have been moving relative to each other due to {{w|plate tectonics}}. One of the clues that actually led to this discovery was that the shapes of the coastlines of South America and Africa that are separated by the Atlantic Ocean are similar. The similarity is much greater for the submerged {{w|continental shelf|continental shelves}} than for the visible coastlines; they're like adjacent pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

{{w|Plagiarism}} is the act of claiming credit for another individual's work, usually by duplicating the results. The discovery of plagiarism in an already-renowned body of work is often cause for scandal, and Cueball's reaction to the assumed plagiarism of the African/South American coastlines reflects this. Of course, continents are inanimate objects, and have no concept of plagiarism, let alone know how to perform it{{Citation needed}}. It would take an extremely broad definition of plagiarism for this to count as such, based on neither continent giving "credit" to the other. That would apply equally well (or poorly) any time a thing was broken into pieces large enough that they could be fit back together.

The title text continues the joke about plagiarism. Additional corroborating evidence of continental drift is that there are similar species of plant and animal fossils on the two sides of the Atlantic, dating to the time when they were connected (which, contrary to Randall's claim, is actually the Triassic period, not the Cretaceous). Cueball thinks that the progenitors of these species also plagiarized each other, as opposed to the more mundane explanation which is that the progenitors were the ''same'' for both. The younger fossils are descendants of some species that existed across the once-connected lands, the older ones ''are'' the species that did not yet have the nascent Atlantic Ocean in their lives.

This is a very rare example where it is not Miss Lenhart that makes a joke as the teacher, but actually teaches the accepted truth, and it is instead here one of her pupils that makes the joke (intentionally or not). A much more typical scenario for her teachings could for instance be seen in [[1519: Venus]].

The theory of continental drift was originally proposed by Alfred Wegener in 1912, based on such fossil evidence and other geological features common to the two continental borders, in addition to the similarities in shoreline shapes. It's significant to the history of science as a general subject, as a proposal that was originally met with strong opposition (not to mention mockery) but eventually became accepted by almost everyone. Modern cranks and crackpots sometimes point to it in support of their own implausible "theories", as though universal rejection of a "theory" by all of the experts somehow proves that it will someday be accepted and its originator proven right all along. In fact, Wegener's original theory did have a serious flaw, in that it lacked a plausible mechanism, though it was otherwise correct. Modern cranks' "theories" generally lack both plausible mechanisms ''and'' good analysis of supporting evidence. ("Yes, they laughed at Galileo... but they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.")

==Transcript==
:[Miss Lenhart is holding a pointer pointing to a wall map. The map shows South America and Africa, with the east coast of South America and the southwest coast of Africa highlighted in red.]
:Miss Lenhart: People had long noticed that South America and Africa had similarly-shaped coastlines.

:[A side view of the classroom. Jill and Cueball are sitting at school desks, looking at Miss Lenhart. The wall map is visible behind Miss Lenhart.]
:Miss Lenhart: In the 20th century, geologists finally found the explanation:

:[The same scene, with Cueball having his hands on his face.]
:Cueball: ''Plagiaris''--
:Miss Lenhart: Continental drift.
:Cueball: Oh.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Jill]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Geography]]

3132: Coastline Similarity

2025-08-25T10:44:26Z

207.195.86.18: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3132
| date = August 22, 2025
| title = Coastline Similarity
| image = coastline_similarity_2x.png
| imagesize = 553x219px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Hey! A bunch of the early Cretaceous fossils on each coast seem to have been plagiarized, too!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a HUMAN, BUT IT WAS PLAGIARIZED BY A BOT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic depicts a classroom, likely relating to geography, geology or history, in which the teacher ([[Miss Lenhart]]) is discussing the similar coastlines of Africa and South America, and the way that modern understanding has revealed the cause. [[Cueball]] initially assumes that one coastline plagiarized the other before Miss Lenhart continues by revealing that it was {{w|continental drift}} that explained the similarity.

Continental drift is the widely accepted theory that Earth's continents were once all connected, and have been moving relative to each other due to {{w|plate tectonics}}. One of the clues that actually led to this discovery was that the shapes of the coastlines of South America and Africa that are separated by the Atlantic Ocean are similar. The similarity is much greater for the submerged {{w|continental shelf|continental shelves}} than for the visible coastlines; they're like adjacent pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

{{w|Plagiarism}} is the act of claiming credit for another individual's work, usually by duplicating the results. The discovery of plagiarism in an already-renowned body of work is often cause for scandal, and Cueball's reaction to the assumed plagiarism of the African/South American coastlines reflects this. Of course, continents are inanimate objects, and have no concept of plagiarism, let alone know how to perform it{{Citation needed}}. However, depending on your definition of plagiarism, because the continents don't give "credit" to the other continent, this may be viewed as plagiarism with a very broad definition of plagiarism.

The title text continues the joke about plagiarism. Additional corroborating evidence of continental drift is that there are similar species of plant and animal fossils on the two sides of the Atlantic, dating to the time when they were connected. Cueball thinks that the progenitors of these species also plagiarized each other, as opposed to the more mundane explanation which is that the progenitors were the ''same'' for both. The younger fossils are descendents of some species that existed across the once-connected lands, the older ones ''are'' the species that did not yet have the nascent Atlantic Ocean in their lives.

This is a very rare example where it is not Miss Lenhart that makes a joke as the teacher, but actually teaches the accepted truth, and it is instead here one of her pupils that makes the joke (intentionally or not). A much more typical scenario for her teachings could for instance be seen in [[1519: Venus]].

The theory of continental drift was originally proposed by Alfred Wegener in 1912, based on such fossil evidence and other geological features common to the two continental borders, in addition to the similarities in shoreline shapes. It's significant to the history of science as a general subject, as a proposal that was originally met with strong opposition (not to mention mockery) but eventually became accepted by almost everyone. Modern cranks and crackpots sometimes point to it in support of their own implausible "theories", as though universal rejection of a "theory" by all of the experts somehow proves that it will someday be accepted and its originator proven right all along. In fact, Wegener's original theory did have a serious flaw, in that it lacked a plausible mechanism, though it was otherwise correct. Modern cranks' "theories" generally lack both plausible mechanisms ''and'' good analysis of supporting evidence. ("Yes, they laughed at Galileo... but they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.")

==Transcript==
:[Miss Lenhart is holding a pointer pointing to a wall map. The map shows South America and Africa, with the east coast of South America and the southwest coast of Africa highlighted in red.]
:Miss Lenhart: People had long noticed that South America and Africa had similarly-shaped coastlines.

:[A side view of the classroom. Jill and Cueball are sitting at school desks, looking at Miss Lenhart. The wall map is visible behind Miss Lenhart.]
:Miss Lenhart: In the 20th century, geologists finally found the explanation:

:[The same scene, with Cueball having his hands on his face.]
:Cueball: ''Plagiaris''--
:Miss Lenhart: Continental drift.
:Cueball: Oh.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Jill]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Geography]]

Talk:3132: Coastline Similarity

2025-08-24T03:13:28Z

207.195.86.18:

Lol what [[User:SectorCorruptor|SectorCorruptor]] ([[User talk:SectorCorruptor|talk]]) 16:20, 22 August 2025 (UTC)
:Lol what --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]][[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']][[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 17:30, 22 August 2025 (UTC)
::Lol what [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 18:13, 22 August 2025 (UTC)
:::Lol what [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 18:52, 22 August 2025 (UTC)
::::Lol what [[Special:Contributions/24.54.131.250|24.54.131.250]] 19:24, 22 August 2025 (UTC)
:::::Lol what [[Special:Contributions/2001:67C:2564:A301:C26:D05F:D5AA:CA02|2001:67C:2564:A301:C26:D05F:D5AA:CA02]] 21:46, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

^^^Plagerism at work^^^ [[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 02:18, 24 August 2025 (UTC)

npcs [[user:lett‪herebedarklight|raeb]] 14:29, 23 August 2025 (UTC)

Plagiarism might refer to the designer of one of the coastlinescopying the design of the other one (a reference to The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy).
[[Special:Contributions/147.234.73.125|147.234.73.125]] 22:56, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

I'm the comic "Coastline similarity" is likely a roof on "Cosine Similarity" which is used in software industry to measure how close two images are. This method is also used to detect plagiarism. {{unsigned ip|108.76.190.132|23:00, 22 August 2025}}

F***ing vandals. Best of luck, I'm gonna bunker down until this blows over. [[Special:Contributions/207.195.86.18|207.195.86.18]] 01:47, 24 August 2025 (UTC)

EDIT: To the dumbs*** who apparently doesn't know how curse words are used: referring to "f***ing X" is a way of expressing HATRED towards X, not love.

Talk:3132: Coastline Similarity

2025-08-24T01:47:59Z

207.195.86.18:

Lol what [[User:SectorCorruptor|SectorCorruptor]] ([[User talk:SectorCorruptor|talk]]) 16:20, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

Lol what --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]][[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']][[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 17:30, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

Lol what [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 18:13, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

Lol what [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 18:52, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

Lol what [[Special:Contributions/24.54.131.250|24.54.131.250]] 19:24, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

Lol what [[Special:Contributions/2001:67C:2564:A301:C26:D05F:D5AA:CA02|2001:67C:2564:A301:C26:D05F:D5AA:CA02]] 21:46, 22 August 2025 (UTC)
:npcs [[user:lett‪herebedarklight|raeb]] 14:29, 23 August 2025 (UTC)
Plagiarism might refer to the designer of one of the coastlinescopying the design of the other one (a reference to The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy).
[[Special:Contributions/147.234.73.125|147.234.73.125]] 22:56, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

I'm the comic "Coastline similarity" is likely a roof on "Cosine Similarity" which is used in software industry to measure how close two images are. This method is also used to detect plagiarism. {{unsigned ip|108.76.190.132|23:00, 22 August 2025}}

F***ing vandals. Best of luck, I'm gonna bunker down until this blows over. [[Special:Contributions/207.195.86.18|207.195.86.18]] 01:47, 24 August 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3132: Coastline Similarity

2025-08-24T01:47:41Z

207.195.86.18:

Lol what [[User:SectorCorruptor|SectorCorruptor]] ([[User talk:SectorCorruptor|talk]]) 16:20, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

Lol what --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]][[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']][[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 17:30, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

Lol what [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 18:13, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

Lol what [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 18:52, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

Lol what [[Special:Contributions/24.54.131.250|24.54.131.250]] 19:24, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

Lol what [[Special:Contributions/2001:67C:2564:A301:C26:D05F:D5AA:CA02|2001:67C:2564:A301:C26:D05F:D5AA:CA02]] 21:46, 22 August 2025 (UTC)
:npcs [[user:lett‪herebedarklight|raeb]] 14:29, 23 August 2025 (UTC)
Plagiarism might refer to the designer of one of the coastlinescopying the design of the other one (a reference to The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy).
[[Special:Contributions/147.234.73.125|147.234.73.125]] 22:56, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

I'm the comic "Coastline similarity" is likely a roof on "Cosine Similarity" which is used in software industry to measure how close two images are. This method is also used to detect plagiarism. {{unsigned ip|108.76.190.132|23:00, 22 August 2025}}

****ing vandals. Best of luck, I'm gonna bunker down until this blows over. [[Special:Contributions/207.195.86.18|207.195.86.18]] 01:47, 24 August 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3132: Coastline Similarity

2025-08-24T01:44:36Z

207.195.86.18: Undo revision 384846 by 68.183.198.131 (talk) Vandalism

Lol what [[User:SectorCorruptor|SectorCorruptor]] ([[User talk:SectorCorruptor|talk]]) 16:20, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

Lol what --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]][[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']][[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 17:30, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

Lol what [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 18:13, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

Lol what [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 18:52, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

Lol what [[Special:Contributions/24.54.131.250|24.54.131.250]] 19:24, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

Lol what [[Special:Contributions/2001:67C:2564:A301:C26:D05F:D5AA:CA02|2001:67C:2564:A301:C26:D05F:D5AA:CA02]] 21:46, 22 August 2025 (UTC)
:npcs [[user:lett‪herebedarklight|raeb]] 14:29, 23 August 2025 (UTC)
Plagiarism might refer to the designer of one of the coastlinescopying the design of the other one (a reference to The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy).
[[Special:Contributions/147.234.73.125|147.234.73.125]] 22:56, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

I'm the comic "Coastline similarity" is likely a roof on "Cosine Similarity" which is used in software industry to measure how close two images are. This method is also used to detect plagiarism. {{unsigned ip|108.76.190.132|23:00, 22 August 2025}}

3132: Coastline Similarity

2025-08-23T22:26:58Z

207.195.86.18: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3132
| date = August 22, 2025
| title = Coastline Similarity
| image = coastline_similarity_2x.png
| imagesize = 553x219px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Hey! A bunch of the early Cretaceous fossils on each coast seem to have been plagiarized, too!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a HUMAN, BUT IT WAS PLAGIARIZED BY A BOT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic depicts a classroom, likely relating to geography, geology or history, in which the teacher ([[Miss Lenhart]]) is discussing the similar coastlines of Africa and South America, and the way that modern understanding has revealed the cause. [[Cueball]] initially assumes that one coastline plagiarized the other before Miss Lenhart continues by revealing that it was {{w|continental drift}} that explained the similarity.

Continental drift is the widely accepted theory that Earth's continents were once all connected, and have been moving relative to each other due to {{w|plate tectonics}}. One of the clues that actually led to this discovery was that the shapes of the coastlines of South America and Africa that are separated by the Atlantic Ocean are similar. The similarity is much greater for the submerged {{w|continental shelf|continental shelves}} than for the visible coastlines; they're like adjacent pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

{{w|Plagiarism}} is the act of claiming credit for another individual's work, usually by duplicating the results. Though not, strictly, criminal in and of itself, it does constitute fraud, which can be punished as a crime. The discovery of plagiarism in an already-renowned body of work is often cause for scandal, and Cueball's reaction to the assumed plagiarism of the African/South American coastlines reflects this. Of course, continents are inanimate objects, and have no concept of plagiarism, let alone know how to perform it.{{Citation needed}}

The title text continues the joke about plagiarism. Additional corroborating evidence of continental drift is that there are similar species of plant and animal fossils on the two sides of the Atlantic, dating to the time when they were connected. Cueball thinks that the progenitors of these species also plagiarized each other.

The theory of continental drift was originally proposed by Alfred Wegener in 1912, based on such fossil evidence and other geological features common to the two continental borders, in addition to the similarities in shoreline shapes. It's significant to the history of science as a general subject, as a proposal that was originally met with strong opposition (not to mention mockery) but eventually became accepted by almost everyone. Modern cranks and crackpots sometimes point to it in support of their own implausible "theories", as though universal rejection of a "theory" by all of the experts somehow proves that it will someday be accepted and its originator proven right all along. In fact, Wegener's original theory did have a serious flaw, in that it lacked a plausible mechanism, though it was otherwise correct. Modern cranks' "theories" generally lack both plausible mechanisms ''and'' good analysis of supporting evidence. ("Yes, they laughed at Galileo... but they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.")

==Transcript==
:[Miss Lenhart is holding a pointer pointing to a wall map. The map shows South America and Africa, with the east coast of South America and the southwest coast of Africa highlighted in red.]
:Miss Lenhart: People had long noticed that South America and Africa had similarly-shaped coastlines.

:[A side view of the classroom. Jill and Cueball are sitting at school desks, looking at Miss Lenhart. The wall map is visible behind Miss Lenhart.]
:Miss Lenhart: In the 20th century, geologists finally found the explanation:

:[The same scene, with Cueball having his hands on his face.]
:Cueball: ''Plagiaris''--
:Miss Lenhart: Continental drift.
:Cueball: Oh.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Jill]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Geography]]