Hi,

I’m not always the sharpest pencil in the box, but I’ve got a knack for knowing when people are trying to pull my leg. And so far as I could tell, Graham—or whoever he was—was on the level.

This is from the novella Einstein's Shadow. Does "the sharpest pencil in the box" here mean: the smartest people?

Thanks !

 

The brightest,smartest.
Another one is sharpest tool in the shed.

 

"He's not the brightest light on the Christmas tree."
There are a number of similar expressions used to say someone is stupid. Good examples of the rhetorical figure called litotes.

 

And these are almost always negative in actual use. You say someone is not the sharpest pencil in the box, not that they are the sharpest.

 

Right... not the sharpest. Thank you all !