American novelist Mark Twain recalled that he was once invited to play ten-pin bowling by friends. As he was a total novice, they gave him a lane to himself and taught him the basics, but stipulated that whoever scored lowest must stand oysters and beer for all. To his surprise and theirs, however, Twain’s every ball was a ten-strike.

Twain’s opponents gave up early and demanded to know why he had not told them that he was an expert bowler. Nothing he could say would convince them of his innocence. It was left to the alley’s owner to reveal that the lane they had given Twain had a groove designed to produce a ten-strike every time.

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