# Today’s Puzzler

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/today-s-puzzler/206287>\
**Category:** General Discussion\
**Created:** [September 22, 2026, 3:11pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/today-s-puzzler/206287 "2026-09-22T15:11:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Purebred](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/purebred/32/46796_2.png) [@Purebred](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Purebred)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 3:11pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/today-s-puzzler/206287/1 "2026-09-22T15:11:59Z")

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For those of you that get CarTalk Puzzler notifications. Today’s Puzzler calls for the use of a **fountain pen,** I last had a fountain pen around 1966! 😀

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**Author:** ![asemaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@asemaster](https://community.cartalk.com/u/asemaster)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 8:15pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/today-s-puzzler/206287/2 "2026-09-22T20:15:32Z")

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Fountain pens are alive and well these days. My wife has more than two dozen.

She goes to conventions and has nibs custom ground for her particular pressure and strokes. She buys ink from different sources, sometimes blended just for the color she wants. Some pens are for regular daily use and some are for calligraphy or hand-lettered cards. She has all the devices for proper cleaning and maintenance.

Don’t get me started on the Tomoe River Paper. 😀

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**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2026, 1:32am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/today-s-puzzler/206287/3 "2026-09-23T01:32:00Z")

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Yeah thats a good use but when we moved to a new school in 1955, the new desks didnt have ink wells any more.

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**Author:** ![oldtimer-11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e79b87/32.png) [@oldtimer-11](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldtimer-11)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2026, 11:55am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/today-s-puzzler/206287/4 "2026-09-23T11:55:17Z")

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Has anyone other than me been unable to resit the urge dip a blond pigtail into their inkwell?

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**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2026, 2:30pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/today-s-puzzler/206287/5 "2026-09-23T14:30:32Z")

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The inkwells were still present in the very-old school desks that we had when I was a kid, but they had gone dry several years previously. Ballpoints had become the predominant writing tool by the time that I was in elementary school.

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**Author:** ![oldtimer-11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e79b87/32.png) [@oldtimer-11](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldtimer-11)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2026, 7:03am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/today-s-puzzler/206287/6 "2026-09-24T07:03:17Z")

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Ball Point pens were in the stores, but we were not allowed to use them in school. We needed a wooden holder and metal “nibs” to put in the holder to make a pen that would be dipped in the ink and blotting paper to dry the ink so the paper could be handled. Lefties were firmly discourages from writing with their left hand because the hand would smudge the ink. WE could not substitutw a fountain pen for penmanship class. We had to learn to write with the wooden pen holder and nib.