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Pinpoint Answer Today asks: what links Colon, Ellipsis, Morse code, Pointillist paintings, and Lowercase i's and j's — and what story do they share? Follow the spoiler-safe hints one by one, then reveal the final connection and see how each clue fits together.
Colon Ellipsis Morse code Pointillist paintings — What connects Colon, Ellipsis, Morse code, Pointillist paintings?
LinkedIn Pinpoint #567 Answer:
Detailed breakdown continues just below - keep scrolling
Today’s Pinpoint begins with punctuation, a familiar and concrete category. Seeing Colon and Ellipsis immediately suggests a grammatical theme, but the theory starts to fray when Morse code arrives. A system of dashes and dots doesn’t quite fit with punctuation marks used in prose. This left me searching for a more fundamental, perhaps even visual, characteristic that could unite such disparate elements.
I started out convinced the answer had to be related to grammar. A colon separates clauses, an ellipsis indicates a pause or omission… the theme felt obvious. I was already leaning toward a guess like ‘forms of punctuation’ when the third clue, Morse code, appeared. That was a major wrench in the works. While it uses punctuation marks, it’s fundamentally a communication system. My theory was breaking down.
I paused and reconsidered. What did a colon, an ellipsis, and Morse code truly have in common? I started thinking about their visual structure. A colon has two dots, an ellipsis is a series of dots, Morse code is made of dots and dashes. The word ‘dots’ felt right. Then clue four, Pointillist paintings, dropped, and it was a perfect, vivid confirmation of my new theory. The connection wasn’t about function, but about form. This realization made the final clue, Lowercase i’s and j’s, feel less like a curveball and more like a satisfying, final piece clicking into place.
Forms of punctuation
This is a strong first impression based on Colon and Ellipsis. Both are classic punctuation marks, so it's natural to group them. However, Morse code, Pointillist paintings, and Lowercase i's and j's are not punctuation, so the theme breaks on three of the five clues.
Things that separate information
A colon can separate parts of a sentence, and an ellipsis can separate thoughts. This functional theme seems plausible at first, but it completely falls apart with Morse code and Pointillist paintings, which don't serve a grammatical separating function in this context.
Systems of communication
Morse code and an ellipsis (implying text) fit this idea well, but it's a huge stretch for a colon, and it's entirely incorrect for Pointillist paintings and lowercase i's and j's, which are not communication systems.
| Word | Origin | In Context (Usage) | Meaning & Usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colon | — | “Two stacked dots” | A colon is made of two stacked dots, so the punctuation mark itself is defined by dots rather than lines or shapes. |
| Ellipsis | — | “Three dots in a row” | An ellipsis is three dots in a row, used to show something omitted or trailing off—again, the dots are the entire symbol. |
| Morse code | — | “Dots and dashes” | Morse code encodes messages with sequences of dots and dashes, making dots a fundamental building block of the system. |
| Pointillist paintings | — | “Painted dots” | Pointillist artworks are created from countless tiny painted dots that blend into full images at a distance. |
| Lowercase i’s and j’s | — | “Dots above the letters” | Each lowercase i and j carries a single dot above the stem; the letterform is literally named after this dot in phrases like "dot your i’s and j’s." |
Look for visual properties, not just function
Don’t assume the connection is based on what an item does. For clues like ‘Pointillist paintings’ and ‘Morse code’, asking ‘What does it look like?’ can be more productive than ‘What is it used for?’.
Don't marry your first theory
The ‘Forms of punctuation’ idea was a strong but ultimately wrong path. When a new clue like ‘Morse code’ challenges your initial hypothesis, be ready to pivot and find a new, more universal connection.
Use outliers to stress-test your idea
The clues that seem least related, like ‘Pointillist paintings’, are actually the most helpful. If you can make your theme work for the outlier, it will almost certainly work for the more obvious clues.
The connector is ‘Things with dots’. For example, a colon is punctuation made of two dots, and Pointillist paintings are art created entirely from dots.
While a colon and an ellipsis are forms of punctuation, the other three clues are not. Morse code is a communication system, Pointillist paintings are an art style, and lowercase i’s and j’s are letters.
No, some Morse code letters are represented by dashes only, while others use combinations of dots and dashes. However, the dot is one of the two fundamental building blocks of the entire system.
Yes, the small dot above a lowercase ‘i’ or ‘j’ is technically called a ‘tittle’.
