Sixty-seven is the strangest phrase on the board: an octopus in a guitar. The reference lists gloss it as a figure for the sexual act and leave the imagery to look after itself.
It is also the clearest single example of the sources contradicting themselves. The standard Italian reference table prints il totano nella chitarra, the squid in the guitar, in its Italian column, and 'o purpo dint''a chitarra, the octopus in the guitar, in its Neapolitan column. Same row, two different animals. Neapolitan Wikipedia goes with the squid; English-language lists usually go with the octopus. Nobody has arbitrated.
- 67
- 'O purpo dint''a chitarra
- the octopus in the guitar
- Row 61–70 of the tabellone
Where the figure comes from
There is no attested origin for either the number or the image. The squid-or-octopus question is not a translation error but two live versions of the same phrase, and a page that picks one and hides the other is misreporting the tradition.
Other things filed on 67
In Neapolitan life
Guitar-shaped things are a small Italian genre: spaghetti alla chitarra are cut on a wire frame that looks like one. Whether the smorfia's guitar is an instrument or a kitchen tool, the lists do not say.
67 in the smorfia — frequently asked
Both are printed, and by the same source in adjacent columns. The Italian gloss says squid (totano), the Neapolitan says octopus (purpo). There is no authority to settle it.
The reference lists gloss it as an image of the sexual act. The board rarely explains itself; here it does.