Q. Did Edgar Allan Poe really get kicked out of West Point for showing up on the parade ground stark naked?

A. Doubt it. His 1831 discharge lists “gross neglect of duty.” Story was the parade uniform was announced as “white belts and gloves, under arms.” So Poe allegedly followed instructions, precisely.

Can you contradict the claim that a lot of hamsters blink only one eye at a time?

It has been said that most of the two-pack-a-day cigarette smokers reach for a cigarette every time they answer the telephone.

Pearls decay.

Q. If it’s true the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., has twice as many bathrooms as it needs, why …?

A. It was built in the 1940s when the state of Virginia still had segregation laws stipulating separate toilet facilities for blacks and whites.

Big hens don’t necessarily lay big eggs. Not from Aesop, this. Merely a chicken coop fact.

Q. What does a bricklayer mean by a “soldier”?

A. A brick laid upright.

Our Love and War man says you also can end your letters with this gentle Brandy Brandon line: “I always feel better when I have your picture in my frame of mind.”