We're all scratching our heads in the office today about illusionist Mike Super correctly predicting headlines in the Watertown Daily Times two months in advance.

In June, Mr. Super (...) said that he'd put his prediction in a lockbox, to unveil it only on Aug. 11.

And he nailed it.

As an ardent skeptic, I have to believe that there's some funny business going on here. There's no such thing as magic. (I'm repeating that to myself right now.)

He says that his prediction is based on looking at what's been written in the past and at events that could occur in the future.

But how in the world does someone predict "Stocks close lower on European jitters"? Even if you were intelligent enough to surmise that fears over Europe's economy could scare the markets, how could you be as lucky enough to phrase it just so? And not, "Stocks dive on European jitters," or, "Market shudders over Europe fears."

He also correctly guessed the first two lines of another headline about land donated for the Mercy project.

Perhaps you have some suggestions on how Mr. Super pulled this off. Meanwhile, I have a headline of my own: "Cynic to magician: Drop hed"

Thousands of readers like you have made Northern New York Newspapers the number one ranked website* for local news and sports coverage in the north country.

You can continue on to this article in a few seconds, or you can visit one of our websites:

• Watertown Daily Times
• The Ogdensburg Journal
• Daily Courier-Observer