this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2026
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xkcd

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xkcd #3271: The Princess and the Pea

Title text:

Once we've fully explored this space, we can start varying the number of princesses.

Transcript:

Transcript will show once it’s been added to explainxkcd.com

Source: https://xkcd.com/3271/

explainxkcd for #3271

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[–] Chais@sh.itjust.works 18 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Even the 1:1 ratio leaves endless room for variation. 2 mattresses on 2 peas, 7 mattresses on 7 peas, …

[–] nibbler@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

And this is just the postivie integers.... -i mattresses on -i peas ftw!

[–] sundray@lemmus.org 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

And then you've got the complex plane and its mattresses...

[–] Aneb@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

Isn't that Interstellar?

[–] SippyCup@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

A mole of mattresses and a mole of peas.

[–] probable_possum@leminal.space 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Forgot the number of princesses per mattress. Maybe some blood sucking bed bugs could be added to the plot?

[–] AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] probable_possum@leminal.space 1 points 1 month ago

Peas brother.

[–] GalacticGrapefruit@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I can't help but think of the time I saw Once Upon a Mattress at our local theater, and the actress playing Fred being just amazing.

(spits out mouthful of water, wet green prop weed in her hair, giant self-satisfied grin) "Nah. I swam the moat!"

[–] onnekas@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Now show me the same for the mattress-to-pee-ratio.

[–] Okokimup@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

OK, but I'll need to visit the White House to get a pic.

[–] Test_Tickles@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

"You'll notice a shift in movies starting from just before the 2030s. The movies that were portraying Mexico stopped using a yellow filter to indicate that you were supposedly in Mexico, and switched to portraying the US with a yellow filter. Can anyone tell me why?"

"Was it the pedophilia?"

"No, that was a good guess, but orange didn't come to represent a country overrun with pedophiles until the late 2030s."

"Was it because of the videos from 2029 that showed how the walls, floors, and ceiling of the Oval office and Executive Residence were all stained yellow?"

"That's right Bobby. In 2029 the administration had to move out of the Whitehouse and into T-buildings because the smell of urine had so deeply soaked into the structure of the Whitehouse that no matter what they painted it over with it would develop a yellow tinge within hours."