The feline and philosopher behind Calvin & Hobbes

Answers for Globle, Chronogram, Metazooa, and more from Nov 18 - Nov 24

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The feline and philosopher behind Calvin & Hobbes

Philosophers agree that Calvin’s vivid imagination would have put Thomas Hobbes’s empiricist worldview to the test. Image generated by DALL-E.

From 1985 to 1995, a comic strip about a 6 year old boy and his pet tiger captured the hearts of Americans. Calvin and Hobbes (Fictogram answer #370) were created by cartoonist Bill Watterson, and the comics focused on the relationships of the two main characters, their everyday philosophising, and the mischief they got up to. But did you know that Hobbes was based on 17th century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes, and Watterson’s cat Sprite?

Thomas Hobbes was a political philosopher, scientist, and historian. He created social contract theory, and believed that systemic political science would build more stable and productive societies. Hobbes’ philosophies inspire the worldview of the titular cartoon tiger, and play out in contrast to Calvin’s more innocent nature. Calvin himself is named after 16th century French theologian John Calvin, who developed Calvinism and was a prominent French Protestant reformer. 

The other influence behind Hobbes’ character design is Watterson’s pet cat Sprite. Sprite was a grey tabby cat. Many of Hobbes’ mannerisms and behaviours, such as his playfulness, facial expressions and intelligent and friendly demeanour were directly inspired by Sprite. Watterson described Sprite as “a sweet cat with an unnerving tendency to come out of nowhere at high speed”, much like Hobbes would pounce on Calvin when he came home from school.

Trivia

How many Calvin and Hobbes strips were published over the cartoon’s decade-long run?

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Answers to last week's games

Monday, November 18 to Sunday, November 24.

Globle

  • Nov 18 South Africa

  • Nov 19 San Marino

  • Nov 20 Israel

  • Nov 21 Uruguay

  • Nov 22 Morocco

  • Nov 23 Guinea

  • Nov 24 Liechtenstein

  • Nov 25 Play now!

Globle: Capitals

  • Nov 18 Bucharest

  • Nov 19 Tallinn

  • Nov 20 New Delhi

  • Nov 21 Vatican City

  • Nov 22 Brazzaville

  • Nov 23 Sofia

  • Nov 24 Bern

  • Nov 25 Play now!

Chronogram

  • #597 Sigmund Freud

  • #598 Joseph Haydn

  • #599 Catherine II

  • #600 Leonhard Euler

  • #601 George Orwell

  • #602 Maximilien Robespierre

  • #603 Leonardo da Vinci

  • #604 Play now!

Fictogram

  • #365 The Tramp

  • #366 Olive Oyl

  • #367 Jean Brodie

  • #368 Hannah Montana

  • #369 Auric Goldfinger

  • #370 Hobbes

  • #371 Sebastian Flyte

  • #372 Play now!

Metazooa

  • #476 anemone

  • #477 tapeworm

  • #478 praying mantis

  • #479 leech

  • #480 pig

  • #481 skink

  • #482 harvestman

  • #483 Play now!

Metaflora

  • #415 barrel cactus

  • #416 cardamom

  • #417 date

  • #418 spelt

  • #419 watercress

  • #420 forget-me-not

  • #421 orange

  • #422 Play now!

Linxicon

The following are the shortest paths from last week:

  • #280 category -> genre -> style -> impress

  • #281 ski -> sport -> sportful -> impactful -> significant

  • #282 found -> needed -> included -> including

  • #283 person -> human -> erotic -> enjoyable -> pleasure

  • #284 less -> more -> improvement -> advise

  • #285 summit -> highest -> smartest -> smart

  • #286 bike -> sports -> facts -> fact

  • #287 Play now!

Forgeous

Forgery of the week from Nov 20
86.8% accurate

Play Forgeous for Nov 25

That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading!

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