I've managed to get 3 of the 4 so far and I'll post the details in a bit. See how you get on.In the TV number quiz show Down for the Count, four contestants are challenged to combine each of five number cards exactly once to achieve a target number. They are allowed to use standard arithmetical operations +, –, × and ÷ (as well as brackets, if required).
“I’ll take five cards from the top row”, requested one of the contestants, and the presenter Anne-Marie obligingly revealed these five numbers:
10
100
1,000
10,000
100,000.
The studio computer then generated today’s challenge:
“Produce a whole number without any zeroes.”
No zeroes? Wow. Each of the four contestants thought hard, and after the timer ran out, each announced that they had used the five cards to produce a positive number smaller than 10. All four were different.
Which numbers did they get, and how?
Down for the count
Moderator: Michael Wallace
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Down for the count
This is another New Scientist puzzle, following on from Squarebot. I don't think I need to explain why it might be relevant on a Countdown forum.
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Re: Down for the count
Got them all (last one took much longer than the first three)
- Callum Todd
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- Adam Gillard
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Re: Down for the count
Got them all in about an even amount of time, maybe 90 seconds per answer. Good puzzle, thanks for sharing.
Mike Brown: "Round 12: T N R S A E I G U
C1: SIGNATURE (18) ["9; not written down"]
C2: SEATING (7)
Score: 108–16 (max 113)
Another niner for Adam and yet another century. Well done, that man."
C1: SIGNATURE (18) ["9; not written down"]
C2: SEATING (7)
Score: 108–16 (max 113)
Another niner for Adam and yet another century. Well done, that man."
Re: Down for the count
Nice puzzle
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Re: Down for the count
Happy to have cracked all four eggs in that Omelette!
I'm not dead yet. In a rut right now because of stress from work. I'll be back later in S89. I also plan to bring back the Mastergram - if I can find a way to run a timer or clock through pure MediaWiki without having to upload to Vimeo every time.
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Re: Down for the count
I'm too thick to get the fourth one.
- Callum Todd
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Re: Down for the count
The numbers you can make are:
1, 2, 5, and 9.
Now try.
Mark Deeks wrote:Callum Todd looks like a young Ted Bundy.
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Re: Down for the count
I was in the "got three of them quickly, but took ages on the final one" club, but would be interested to know if we all struggled on the same number. The one that took me longest was the third in Callum's list, possibly because with the others I sort of knew those numbers must be gettable, whilst I wasn't overly confident on what the final one would be (although it did turn out to be the one I would have guessed as most likely).
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Re: Down for the count
Also in that club, but for me it was the first number. Was the most obvious one to start off searching for but eluded me until long after I'd found the others!