Long Story Short Play today

25 October 2026

Puzzle sentence and answer

The sentence

On the morning Winnie-the-Pooh turned 100, a black-bear got in at Mammoth Lakes, California, left the books alone and ate the library staff's honey, cookies and peanut butter.

Show the five-word answer
black-bearatelibrarystaff'shoney

Kept 'Winnie-the-Pooh'? The best wrong word here: it is why the day was funny, not what happened. Kept 'cookies' or 'peanut butter'? It ate those too, but honey is the one a bear is famous for. This one really happened. Early on the morning of 14 October 2026, the day Winnie-the-Pooh turned 100, a black bear walked into the Mammoth Lakes branch of the Mono County library in California, before it opened. It went straight for the staff snacks: peanut butter, peach cups, cookies and a jar of honey. It looked round the reference desk and the new releases, then left. No books were harmed. The library said the honey jar has not been returned. UPI and SFGATE, 15 October.

Every word, accounted for

OnA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
theA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
morningWhen.
Winnie-the-PoohWhy it is funny. The best wrong word here: it is the day, not what happened.
turnedGoes with 100.
100The birthday.
aA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
black-bearWho did it. Stays.
gotHow it got in. 'Ate' is what it did.
inA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
atA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
MammothWhere.
LakesGoes with Mammoth.
CaliforniaWhere.
leftWhat it did not touch.
theA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
booksWhat it left alone.
aloneGoes with left.
andA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
ateWhat it did. Stays.
theA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
libraryWhere. Stays.
staff'sWhose honey. Stays.
honeyWhat it ate, the Pooh joke. Stays.
cookiesIt ate these too. Honey is the one that matters.
andA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
peanutIt ate this too.
butterGoes with peanut.
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