Best Of MetaFilter

Raymond James Stuart illustration 'Chaw Beef'

Weirdly, I accidentally discovered a lot more about one of the central mysteries today: What the heck sort of prank is knotting a shirt?

In FanFare, maxsparber delves into a riddle, wrapped in an enigma, inside a Mystery Show podcast and unknots the origins of what turns out to be the "Chaw Beef" prank.

Fwd: ROLLER GREETING by Wonderlane (cc by)

Back in October of 2014, sarcasticah asked a simple question about an old 80s or 90s sitcom.

During the intro/ opening credits, there's a bit where one character is painting a wall or a door, and another character opens the door, and the first character rolls the paint roller over the other person's face. I can see this in my mind, but I cannot for the life of me figure out the show it came from.

Shockingly, Ask Mefi did not save the day, and apparently fans of the question have been on the edge of their seats ever since, so we are highlighting this cold case again, just in case there's a last minute lead before the thread closes in a couple of months.

So, "paint roller on the face opening credits": Mass Hallucination or True Thing? Do you know the answer?

(Also, we hired a pug to illustrate the suspense and anxiety surrounding the non-resolution of this issue, in case it helps.)

Helix desertorum. Forskal. From a living specimen in the British Museum, March, 1850.

In the mid-1800s, a snail spent years glued to a specimen card in the British Museum (now the Natural History Museum) before scientists realized it was still alive. What became of this snail? Ask Metafilter found out!

nicebookrack tracks down a gastropodean mystery and reports back on the amazing story of the snail that came back to life after years glued to a specimen card in the British Museum... and what happened next.

Cauliflower ear by tutincommon (cc by-nc)

I heard a story on This American Life ... about a sausage maker who inadvertently ruins their product by getting a new building. In the end, it turned out the problem was they had shortened the route of the final delivery of the sausages and removed what was thought to be the unimportant work of a clerk named Irving. I thought it was fascinating and I want to find other stories like that. Where would I look for them?

rileyray3000, ISO real life food mysteries.

soldiergrafitti3 by dkmonkey

My ancestral home was requisitioned by the US army to house many soldiers. My great-grandmother cooked for them and became fond of many of them. Enclosed is a sample, I know it is difficult to read but it says: "Edw Clark 9cd Co. 114th US INf, Camp McClellan, Anniston Ala. In nov, in Berlin."

I wanted to send these inscriptions left by their ancestors while serving in that horrible war, but have not been able to trace anyone, unless I am willing to pay for a research service. I do not know the hometown of these soldiers in the US. Camp McClellan, in Ala, was formed in 1917, so I should be able to obtain enrollees names and details, but no success.

A mystery AskMe with a very happy ending.