A 1,000 times

I love puzzles and riddles and I hate puzzles and riddles. Let me explain: I love trying to solve the puzzles but the ones I get stuck on really make me furious and makes me wanna break things and I can't stop thinking about them until I manage to solve them. Even though I was aware of the risks I started playing this Nintendo DS game called "Professor Layton and The Curious Village" ( Note: Mr. Nintendo could you pleeeaese name the sequel Professor Layton and The Bi-Curious Village? kthanxbai).

Professor Layton (which I keep calling Clayton, don't know why as the only Clayton I "know" was Blanche's gay brother on The Golden Girls - such a great show that was, and to include a middle-aged non-stereotypical gay in a sitcom during the late 80s was really ahead of its time, but I digress) is a top-hat-wearing fellow who loves puzzle-solving. He has heard word about a mysterious village containing a special puzzle revolving around an object called The Golden Apple. Travelling with his young companion, Luke, he enters the curious village to discover a town populated by people obsessed with puzzles, and a lot of peculiar secrets.




You have this morbid and sweet story, involving murders, kidnappings, evil characters, mysterious towers and hidden treasures, as a framework for a collection of superb brainteasers and puzzles. I'm really addicted to this game (although sometime it makes me wanna smash my DS) and after showing it around in the office today, I thought "Why don't I share one of this puzzles on my blog?". So here it is! This puzzle is everything a puzzle should be: clever yet slightly frustrating, with a seemingly impossible answer that when you finally get it is just seems so obvious:

"The following is written on a piece of paper you picked up:

"_ is 1,000 times _ _"

To turn this strange message into a proper sentence, all you need to do is fill in the three "_ " with a single letter of the alphabet. But what could the letter be? You'll need to use the same letter for all three _s."

Any thoughts?? Feel free to send your answers/questions using the comments. I'll reveal the answer to this riddle in a couple of days. And remember what Professor Layton always says (with a posh british accent): Critical thinking is the key to success. (Of course one could also say "Google is the key to success" but where's the fun in that?)