Puzzles

A section to discuss matters not related to Chess in particular.
David Sedgwick
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Re: Puzzles

Post by David Sedgwick » Fri Mar 12, 2021 10:45 pm

Matthew Turner wrote:
Fri Mar 12, 2021 9:00 pm
John Clarke wrote:
Fri Mar 12, 2021 8:43 pm
E Michael White wrote:
Fri Mar 12, 2021 12:47 am
.... all those IQ tests we were forced to do as kids were all flawed on this type of question.
English humorist Paul Jennings once made a similar point, citing this question from H J Eysenck's Know Your Own IQ:

2 7 24 77 ?

Jennings reasoned "24 = 2x12; 77 = 7x11; so the next ought to be 24x10, or 240".

The actual "correct" answer is 238. I'll let readers figure out how.
723 up next?
Whereas Jennings would get 693. His solution seems equally valid to me.

Matthew Turner
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Re: Puzzles

Post by Matthew Turner » Fri Mar 12, 2021 11:23 pm

MJMcCready wrote:
Fri Mar 12, 2021 10:06 pm
Each die of a pair of non-identical dice has six faces, but some numbers are missing, others are duplicated, and some faces may have more than six spots.

The dice can roll every number from 2 to 12.

What is the largest possible probability of rolling a 7?
Interesting. I am tempted by the idea that you have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 on one die and the numbers 1 and 6 on the other. That covers all the possibilities 2 - 12. The other 4 faces can be any of the digits 1 - 6 and the probability of 7 is 1 in 6.
It would be same if you had the digits 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 on die 1 and 0 and 5 on die two.

Matthew Turner
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Re: Puzzles

Post by Matthew Turner » Fri Mar 12, 2021 11:30 pm

Ok so I think we can do better than 1 in 6' if we have

1,2,4,6,6,6

1,1,1,3,5,6

I think that is all the numbers covered and the probability of 7 is 1 in 3

Matthew Turner
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Re: Puzzles

Post by Matthew Turner » Sat Mar 13, 2021 12:12 am

1,2,3,3,3,3

1,4,4,4,6,9

Probability of 7 is 13/36

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MJMcCready
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Re: Puzzles

Post by MJMcCready » Sat Mar 13, 2021 12:22 am

Yes correct, and I thought that was really hard.

Neil Graham
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Re: Puzzles

Post by Neil Graham » Sat Mar 13, 2021 10:46 am

John Clarke wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:00 pm
Matthew Turner wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 1:49 pm
What word is pronounced differently if the first letter is a capital.
Home. (Pronounced "Hume", as in the 14th Earl of Home, who became prime minister as Sir Alec Douglas-Home.)
At a time when you forget your car keys/can't find the door key etc it's amazing what rubbish you can dredge up from the recesses of your memory. I clearly remember a news item from a comedy show sometime in the 1960s or early 70s which went something like this:-

"And now the News. The Foreign Secretary Lord Home is home...........I'm sorry I'll read that again.........The Foreign Secretary Lord Home is home, no the Foreign Secretary Lord Home is home............oh never mind." Read by John Cleese I think.

Fill in the variations yourselves.

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John Clarke
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Re: Puzzles

Post by John Clarke » Sat Mar 13, 2021 8:22 pm

Richard James wrote:
Fri Mar 12, 2021 9:01 pm
John Clarke wrote:
Fri Mar 12, 2021 8:43 pm
English humorist Paul Jennings once made a similar point, citing this question from H J Eysenck's Know Your Own IQ:
Was that from a piece called "I do not like you IQ" by any chance?

I remember being in hysterics reading that on a District Line train between Ravenscourt Park and Richmond at some point in the 60s. Good to know I'm not the only one with fond memories of reading Paul Jennings' Oddly books.
Spot on, Richard. I've got eight of the Oddlys, mostly discards from Wellington Library. Must try and source the rest some day ....
"The chess-board is the world ..... the player on the other side is hidden from us ..... he never overlooks a mistake, or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance."
(He doesn't let you resign and start again, either.)

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John Clarke
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Re: Puzzles

Post by John Clarke » Sat Mar 13, 2021 8:23 pm

Matthew Turner wrote:
Fri Mar 12, 2021 9:00 pm
John Clarke wrote:
Fri Mar 12, 2021 8:43 pm
E Michael White wrote:
Fri Mar 12, 2021 12:47 am
.... all those IQ tests we were forced to do as kids were all flawed on this type of question.
English humorist Paul Jennings once made a similar point, citing this question from H J Eysenck's Know Your Own IQ:

2 7 24 77 ?

Jennings reasoned "24 = 2x12; 77 = 7x11; so the next ought to be 24x10, or 240".

The actual "correct" answer is 238. I'll let readers figure out how.
723 up next?
Yep.
"The chess-board is the world ..... the player on the other side is hidden from us ..... he never overlooks a mistake, or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance."
(He doesn't let you resign and start again, either.)

Paul Habershon
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Re: Puzzles

Post by Paul Habershon » Sun Mar 14, 2021 2:17 pm

John Clarke wrote:
Fri Mar 12, 2021 8:45 pm
David Sedgwick wrote:
Thu Mar 11, 2021 10:07 am
Matthew Turner wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 11:19 pm


That is another really clever answer.
Indeed it is, but "Hume" is not the universal pronunciation of "Home" as a proper noun.

Home House is an upmarket private members' club in Marylebone which was mentioned as a victim of alleged fraud emanating from the Braingames World Championship Match in 2000. (No such fraud was ever proved.)

When I first heard of it, I called it "Hume House", only to be told immediately that it was "Home House".
Indeed, a partial refutation!

Let's try another Scottish one: scone/Scone.
That's a good one however you pronounce 'scone', since Scone in Scotland rhymes with moon.

I don't think younger generations would understand the snobbish nuances in the Betjeman poem below, which ends with 'scones' rhyming with 'stones'. The implication is that scones rhyming thus is the mark of a lower class person trying to be posh. I was brought up to imitate the Queen's supposed pronunciation which rhymes with 'gone'. My mother's other no-nos were 'Pardon?' (should be 'What did you say?') and 'Pleased to meet you' (should be 'How do you do?). Nowadays it tends to be 'You all right then?' - 'Yes, yourself?'


How To Get On In Society by John Betjeman

Phone for the fish knives, Norman
As cook is a little unnerved;
You kiddies have crumpled the serviettes
And I must have things daintily served.

Are the requisites all in the toilet?
The frills round the cutlets can wait
Till the girl has replenished the cruets
And switched on the logs in the grate.

It's ever so close in the lounge dear,
But the vestibule's comfy for tea
And Howard is riding on horseback
So do come and take some with me

Now here is a fork for your pastries
And do use the couch for your feet;
I know that I wanted to ask you-
Is trifle sufficient for sweet?

Milk and then just as it comes dear?
I'm afraid the preserve's full of stones;
Beg pardon, I'm soiling the doileys
With afternoon tea-cakes and scones.

David Sedgwick
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Re: Puzzles

Post by David Sedgwick » Sun Mar 14, 2021 2:27 pm

Paul Habershon wrote:
Sun Mar 14, 2021 2:17 pm
I don't think younger generations would understand the snobbish nuances in the Betjeman poem below, which ends with 'scones' rhyming with 'stones'. The implication is that scones rhyming thus is the mark of a lower class person trying to be posh. I was brought up to imitate the Queen's supposed pronunciation which rhymes with 'gone'. My mother's other no-nos were 'Pardon?' (should be 'What did you say?') and 'Pleased to meet you' (should be 'How do you do?). Nowadays it tends to be 'You all right then?' - 'Yes, yourself?'
If you hadn't been so well brought up, you wouldn't have been qualified to start the "Pedants United" thread on here decades later.

Kevin Williamson
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Re: Puzzles

Post by Kevin Williamson » Sun Jan 30, 2022 3:44 pm

Are any other forum members hooked on Wordle?
I only came across it a week ago and it's a nice daily challenge to look forward to.
I'm already thinking it would be useful to have a list of allowed words as I used up a go today on a word which is allowed in scrabble, but may not be in Wordle. As it had 4 letters in the correct place I got the answer on the next turn. Or maybe the software doesn't allow you enter words which are not allowed?, I don't know.

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IM Jack Rudd
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Re: Puzzles

Post by IM Jack Rudd » Sun Jan 30, 2022 5:00 pm

It doesn't allow you to enter words which are not allowed, no.

Richard Bates
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Re: Puzzles

Post by Richard Bates » Mon Jan 31, 2022 4:35 am

The list of guessable words (combinations of letters that won’t be rejected by the software) is larger than the list of solutions.

Kevin Williamson
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Re: Puzzles

Post by Kevin Williamson » Mon Jan 31, 2022 7:25 am

Now we have moved on a day I don't think I'm spoiling anything by revealing yesterday's answer was Wrung. After a couple of attempts I realised that both wrung and brung worked, but wasn't sure if brung would be on the list (I don't think the pedants would like it 😉). I tried it anyway and it was accepted, but incorrect.

Roland Kensdale
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Re: Puzzles

Post by Roland Kensdale » Tue Feb 01, 2022 5:27 pm

Wordle bought by New York Times, may not always be free, one story: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/technol ... NewsSearch

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