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I had read part of this puzzle (can't recall where). I added another part to it. Of course if you have seen this before please let others take a crack at it.

Why are numbers 1 and 40 uniquely different than all other integers (numbers)?

Please look at the tag before you answer it.

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17
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The letters are in alphabetic (FORTY) or reverse-alphabetic (ONE) order.

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  • $\begingroup$ This site makes the same claim for 40. A mental check of 1~20 seems to support the claim for 1. This sounds good to me. $\endgroup$ – Engineer Toast Dec 27 '17 at 18:09
  • $\begingroup$ This is an impressive answer, but I think there is another integer with this property, namely 0. "Zero" is only one of its names. Another one, which can be found in commonly used dictionaries, is "oh". $\endgroup$ – hvd Dec 28 '17 at 0:18
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    $\begingroup$ @hvd oh is a contraction. $\endgroup$ – Cœur Dec 28 '17 at 10:20
  • $\begingroup$ @Cœur Citation needed. merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oh lists it as a complete word. $\endgroup$ – hvd Dec 28 '17 at 10:24
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    $\begingroup$ Oh is indeed a word. And people might use it when writing the speech of someone who says o for the digit 0. But dictionary citation, please, for "oh" meaning the integer zero. $\endgroup$ – Rosie F Dec 28 '17 at 16:30
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The last letter of these numbers can be removed and a word remains.

I could not think of any other numbers that satisfy this criteria. Hint: You only need to check the smaller numbers to see that no other numbers satisfy this condition.

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    $\begingroup$ Interesting. +1 for unique thinking. Note Te is included in many dictionaries as a noun. Ten is the number of course $\endgroup$ – DrD Dec 27 '17 at 13:24
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks. Maybe I should have said valid Scrabble answers! $\endgroup$ – user43622 Dec 27 '17 at 13:30
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    $\begingroup$ Si also in Dictionaries. My answer is different. $\endgroup$ – DrD Dec 27 '17 at 13:32
  • $\begingroup$ Si (if you take it be the symbol for Silicon) is a proper noun. But here: dictionary.com/browse/si "si is the syllable used for the seventh tone of a scale and sometimes for the tone B" That's a lower case "s". Uh oh. $\endgroup$ – user43622 Dec 27 '17 at 13:37
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    $\begingroup$ 80 fits this as well. $\endgroup$ – Bass Dec 27 '17 at 14:26

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