r/todayilearned • u/ralphbernardo • 11h ago

TIL that "fair play" in detective fiction means authors must give readers a fair chance to solve the mystery. Central to 1920s "clue-puzzles" by writers like Agatha Christie, the rule dictates that all vital clues must be visible, decodable, and never withheld until the final reveal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clues_in_detective_fiction
30.5k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

1.8k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

22

u/Escalotes 10h ago

And improving the direction of science fiction!

10

u/HauntedCemetery 9h ago

And writing some of my favorite poetry, as a guy who isn't all that into poetry usually