DIFFICULTY LEVEL: MODERATE

VIKTOR SEREBRIAKOFF, International President of the World Scientific Society, once made up a poem about hyperbolic acid, a substance so corrosive that it would eat its way through anything.

One day Sir Clive Sinclair, the inventor and British Chairman of the Society, phoned his old friend with some stunning news: “Victor, you’ll never believe this, but I have actually invented your hyperbolic acid! Stay where you are, and I’ll dash round to your house with a flask of it right now.” Victor replaced the phone and chuckled to himself. How could he tell Sir Clive wasn’t being genuine?

See also:

• Conundrum: ‘A statement issued at a conference on global warming’…
• Conundrum: Aviator’s headscratcher…