c4countdown

Joseph Bolas

Is there actually any attack on this except brute force? I believe this a trial and error type puzzle, but to make it more solveable I will give a hint towards the numbers. Imagine if the answer was 13, 29 and 67, these numbers are made up of 6 different digits (1, 2, 3, 6, 7 and 9). The 3 numbers ...

Joseph Bolas

I would like to see Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson or James May in Dictionary Corner.

Joseph Bolas

No problem reading them here as they are now. In fact I find the font here makes them more readable than they were on the old yahoo group. So please don't adjust them. I agree with howard on this. I did have to change it to the fixed-with font sometimes in the mailing list because it was hard to re...

Joseph Bolas

I'm not good at solving these puzzles so lets try setting one

. Hope this ain't too easy.

Find three different two-digit primes, where the average of any two is a prime, and the average of all three is a prime.

Joseph Bolas

To Joseph - how can you not like Phil Hammond?! He's a legend! Re your comment about introducing new DC guests - they already do, don't they? As far as I know they aim to bring in a new face every few weeks, but they can't have a newbie every week! I just don't find him funny at all really. Like Ri...

Joseph Bolas

How about if I simplify 63/256 rounding up to the nearest whole number and say is it approx 1/4?

EDIT: I will also say 1/16 or 1/64, but think these are wrong too, but I gave it a good shot

.

Joseph Bolas

This may sound weird but is there a 100% chance (so 1/1) that the next guy is shorter than he is?

Joseph Bolas

If you were to take all the possibilits of 10 people regardless of height then it should be 1024? Then if you take all the combinations out of those 1024 where there are 6-small & 4 large (first 9 in any order, the 10th being short) then that number, over 1024, simplified (if possible), should ...

Joseph Bolas

dinos_the_chemist wrote:Am I the only person who hasn't heard of Barry Bonds?

Nope, but then I don't remember most of the contestants

. My memory is crap basically.

Joseph Bolas

If you were to take all the possibilits of 10 people regardless of height then it should be 1024? Then if you take all the combinations out of those 1024 where there are 6-small & 4 large (first 9 in any order, the 10th being short) then that number, over 1024, simplified (if possible), should ...

Joseph Bolas

John has no idea how tall he is relative to other people, so he decides to compare his height with some. After nine random comparisons, he is taller than five and shorter than four. Assuming that no two people are exactly the same height, what is the probability that he will be taller than the next...

Joseph Bolas

Corby wrote:Rats, I really thought I had it there

This looks like an algebraic (sp?) puzzle to me.

Joseph Bolas

Sometimes we ditch the J Q Z for a few shows, other times we add or remove other letters. It all depends on how its going. By luck, we get the odd time when the selections fail to yield anything remotely juicy, so if we have a run of rounds like this, we'll fiddle about and change something. It is ...

Joseph Bolas

I think Joe was just being helpful, it's true my conundrums are weak but it's a little silly of Joseph to think I hadn't noticed ... ahem ... particularly when I posted, several times, that it is my weakest section :D As for James posting his scores, I find it interesting so there's no problem ther...

Joseph Bolas

Charlie Reams wrote: Yes, it's PM.

How often is this, for example will it be the first Sunday of every month or is this a one-off do you know?

Joseph Bolas

Martin Gardner wrote:Can't stand him myself, not my taste. I've been watching this week with the sound off.

Martin

After the 1st numbers I do mute the TV myself because Richard will just go on and on and on.

Joseph Bolas

It was a good game, but I think you need to get quicker at solving the conundrums. I know in the QF's onwards they are supposedly going to be harder than the prelims, but it could cost you the game if it comes down to a crucial conundrum.

Joseph Bolas

Again? Again? Again? I believe he is the DC guest with the most appearances, so I would expect him to make about 20 - 30 appearances this series (it will be more than any other DC guest for sure). I honestly think they should try getting in new people to be a DC guest. I am not too keen on Doctor P...

Joseph Bolas

Howard Somerset wrote:a.m. or p.m. ???

Its probably going to be PM.

Joseph Bolas

Conor wrote:What's the rule on negative numbers? I don't think they'd ever be useful, but I can't remember them ever being officially disallowed.

I think all totals achieved, when working out your solution, must be positive integers.

Joseph Bolas

Have actual totals of letters we use, but bear in mind my earlier post above. Consonants - B2 C3 D4 F2 G3 H2 J1 K1 L5 M4 N6 P4 Q1 RST9 VWXYZ1 Vowels U6 - then lost the will to live before the rest had been counted. I know you have spare sets in case some get marked/scratched and separate sets for c...

Joseph Bolas

Sometimes we ditch the J Q Z for a few shows, other times we add or remove other letters. It all depends on how its going. By luck, we get the odd time when the selections fail to yield anything remotely juicy, so if we have a run of rounds like this, we'll fiddle about and change something. It is ...

Joseph Bolas

I enjoyed beadles about but there are quite a few people that I would find funnier than him IMO.

Joseph Bolas

If they want to add an extra letter, then it should be a 2nd Z in my opinion. There are quite a few words with 'ZZ' at least so it would make for more interesting selections. Yes but what are the odds of those two Zs coming up in the same round as well as the other letters facilitating a double Z w...

Joseph Bolas

Nice, very good guys. I've clearly gone from too hard to too easy, next time I shall try and find a happy medium. Ben, I'd say it was trivial if you've seen this kind of problem before, but might cause a few headaches for those who haven't. I just thought it'd be a nice puzzle for Countdowners beca...

Joseph Bolas

Jo Brand I think - Damian said in 'Spreading the Word' that she was one of the very few DC guests who could probably beat a good proportion of contestants... Jo may come up with funny nonsense words, but I think she would be the eventual winner. I would include Stephen Fry and Alan Davies into the ...

Joseph Bolas

I am particularly annoyed with myself on this subject. When I was there back in November, myself and Mikey Lear made a point of asking the 'shuffler' what the letter distribution was and she very kindly gave us it and we noted it down. I said that I would keep it for such an occasion as this to pos...

Joseph Bolas

No offence to the lady (who seemed lovely) but how did she miss so much? Now I know it's much harder up there than at home (as I'm a bottling git) but to get 4s out of meaty selections and miss 191 when 100x2 - 9 was there and miss 810 when she had 807 and a 75/25 was left was unbelievable. Kirk Ma...

Joseph Bolas

On to the next mathematical conundrum

.

Joseph Bolas

I've just come across the Official Countdown Dictionary that was published in 2001 which mentions the following Letter Distribution: A - 15, B - 3, C - 3, D - 5, E - 20, F - 2, G - 4, H - 2, I - 14, J - 1, K - 1, L - 5, M - 3, N - 6, O - 11, P - 3, Q - 1, R - 6, S - 7, T - 7, U - 5, V - 2, W - 2, X ...

Joseph Bolas

Pick a number and then if the first number revealed is bigger than that number, say the second one is smaller and vice versa. If the two numbers are either both bigger or both smaller than the number you've picked, then there's a 50/50 you've won, if it's in the middle, then you've definitely won. ...

Joseph Bolas

Ginger Jono wrote:PROTEASE is a nice 8.

SEPARATE too in the same round I believe.

Joseph Bolas

Are you allowed to use the 2nd number in more than 1 game? if so, then my strategy then would be to ask you each time to use that ORIGINAL 2nd number, so you only write 1 new number. Say you have 2 numbers 'A' and 'B' and you turn over 'A', you will have a 50/50 shot at working out whether 'B' is hi...

Joseph Bolas

David O'Donnell wrote:Gulp!

Sorry, I call people kid if they are under 25. Actually, I made an exception for Martin Smith (my opponent on Monday) because although he is 26 he looks about 17.

I'm curious to know, what do you call people aged 25 or over.

Joseph Bolas

And you'd be right! I never looked much at the tricksy things you can do with four large, but when Jono explained the principle behind it, it seemed so obvious. I must have a proper look at Jerry's page sometime... Is this the link: http://www.jerryh.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/countdown/fourlargenumbers....

Joseph Bolas

Hi Folks, Have just received the 'new baby' card you all kindly signed at the Colin 08 event last week. Am sure Scotland Yard would pay a small fortune to get hold of it, bearing in mind the DNA samples that will be on there and the likelihood that at least two of you are murderers and serial rapis...

Joseph Bolas

Were the letters there for ARTEFACT?

Joseph Bolas

TRENAILS is fine. Kirk Ah, indeed it is. I knew there was a variant of TREENAIL which is a US spelling and therefore not allowed, but that's TRUNNEL. Anyway it's 14x8s to beat, if anyone's still interested... though I guess you're all at COLIN... Ahem, I believe my offering had 15*8 because Soo's p...

Joseph Bolas

ROUND EIGHT - 25 50 75 100 9 5 TARGET 207 Jono: (50 * 100 + 75) / 25 + 9 - 5 = 207 (10) Joe: - 62-22 Of course (25-100/50)x9 would be too easy! I think all the four large stuff must get to you in strange ways; in our game, Jono genuinely didn't see the obvious way on this one, but still got it righ...

Joseph Bolas

Interestingly, I saw that sheet on the table as I was walking round and did it Jono's way. It just jumps out at you - and I'm not being sarcastic for a change! It didn't for me :lol:. I think if there was a 2 in the selection (instead of the 5) so the sum was (25 - 2) x 9, then I might've got it, b...

Joseph Bolas

I still have to log in manually each visit (have tried the "keep me logged in" checkbox, and deleting cookies and all that shit but it's not making any difference). I use Firefox (version 2.0.0.11, if that helps). Funnily enough, I would always be automatically logged in when the forum wa...

Joseph Bolas

I am a little bit surprised that the conundrum went unsolved. I would've had the conundrum as WHOREMONE myself.

Joseph Bolas

Kirk Bevins wrote:CLAIM came out in order in round 12 yet both players offered something different: AURIC and LUCID. Did they miss the obvious?
Kirk

They may have seen it, but I think they tried to not focus on that and see if anything else stood out.

Joseph Bolas

I didn't spot any beaters, but I did get OVERDOES and I solved the 3rd numbers by doing (9 x 9) + ((7 + 5) x 3). I missed the 1st numbers though because I made the 125 incorrectly and got the same as David on the 2nd numbers.

Joseph Bolas

People have still been reporting cookie issues, and I've now experienced them myself. I think (hope!) that this is now fixed once and for all, as I've changed some stuff. But do let me know if it's still not fixed. I deleted all me board cookies and then signed in again. I then saved this to my fav...

Joseph Bolas

It would be interesting to see if Conor chose 1 large all the time or if he chose some harder selections for tactics and still managed the 117! Kirk I can tell you Kirk, that when he played against me, the numbers was 1 large, 5 small: 100, 5, 7, 4, 7, 9, Target 132. I actually liked this one, beca...

Joseph Bolas

My best performance of the day.. well, ever, in a competitive match, joint with the previous game against Jim Bentley where I also missed nothing. In fact, I went 23 maxes in a row, without really playing that well, but consistently. I then lost against Conor. I must admit, that wasn't my bast game...

Joseph Bolas

Sorry, I don't have my sheets. (They'd be useless anyway, I don't write down the selection or my opponent's offering.) Same here. I think my game with Conor though, might fall under 2 possible achievements (CT: 69 v JB: 15): 1) Conor got a winning margin of 54 points - not sure if this is the highe...

Joseph Bolas

1729 = 9³ + 10³ = 12³ + 1³. It's the smallest number that is the sum of two cubes in two different ways, which is the subject of a story about Ramanujan which has been retold so many times that most mathematicians want to scream and smash things when they hear it. Here it is, as told by another gre...

Joseph Bolas

It was a rather enjoyable day. It was nice to see everyone again and also meet and play against some new people. I have also learnt from the event, not to ask for 4 large numbers and to start learning words with the prefix FORE (and also remember EXORDIA and FEIJOA) :lol:. Thank you Ben, Jill and ev...

Joseph Bolas

Despite repeatedly checking the "log me in automatically" box as well, I keep finding that not only does it not log me in automatically, but also seems to randomly log me out mid-session from time to time.... I didn't have this problem when the forum was first set up, but now I have to ch...

Joseph Bolas

Kirk Bevins wrote:I'm not a fan of that test really although 1728 and 1729 do mean things to me!

I don't know what the numbers are but 1729 sounds like a cube to me, is that right?

Joseph Bolas

Ok so you're saying you'd've preferred to play him first regardless of whether you won or not - in which case, yes being first up is definitely best. I thought you were saying that you would've had a better chance of beating him if you'd played him 'cold', which is a different kettle of fish... Yes...

Joseph Bolas

I have a few more to add to the list. Selections with five possible 8's: ANALDRIES, ANTIASHES, CLEANPART, DARETILTS, EDITORSPI, ERODELINT, GALESRUIN, HISTANNER, MIRAGENUT, NOTICESUS, PIRATEDUS, PLEADSNOT, REVISEPOT, SEARCHRIM, TILESROOT, TOASUNDER, UNDOESTRY Selections with six possible 8's: ALERTRE...

Joseph Bolas

NACELLES was there in the first round if I remembered the letters right. Well spotted. I had a pretty good start today until the numbers, where I only got 127. I missed the 2nd numbers, but got the 3rd by going: ((75 - 4) x (9 + 1)) - (8 - 6) I got MENTALITY too. I missed TIRAMISU, GAROTTES but got...

Joseph Bolas

Ben wrote:
Corby wrote:I think SIGNATNRE has 13 x 8's and no nine...
Is GANNISTER not allowable with two Ns?

Sorry Ben, GANNISTER is not allowed.

Joseph Bolas

Janowsky wrote:The 721 solution was a very basic and easy method that any player who has looked at 4 large should know.

I have been recently practicing with 4 large, because thats what I was going to pick for my games in COLIN tomorrow, but I might have to change that as I didn't get 721

.

Joseph Bolas

Hmmm... yes I sympathize with that, but then again, if you'd gone into your match with Jack 'cold', with no idea of his ability, is it not equally possible that you'd have been 50-0 down before you knew what had hit you? And, assuming you had been first up, would you not have spoken to Jack (or oth...

Joseph Bolas

I am having trouble locating the recaps after 22/01. They don't seem to appear in the current recaps section, so where are they? (As I am computer illiterate, please forgive my stupidity, these recaps must be somewhere, surely?) At least I've been brave enough to try this forum! Mary They haven't b...

Joseph Bolas

so as well as the letters tiles being shuffled more randomly now than they were before (you're right about that Jono - Damian said so)... I agree - definitely more randomly, especially when in the last series an 'O' and 'U' made it into the Constonant pile and M's were being turned upside-down to m...

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