[ITA]mich
Level: Goblin
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Uhm, it was their bar, so:

at the end of the tournament (or duriong the tournament) all the other partecipants spent a total of 110$ buying something to drink???

Bye.
--
[ITA]mich.

Schik
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The money they earned was from playing - not from drinks, cover charge, or anything like that. However, none of them won any games, or tied any games. How the heck do you tie in pool, anyways?

____________________________
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals.
--Mahatma Gandhi

YtterbiJum
Level: Goblin

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Schik wrote:
Six friends visited their local club to play at a pool tournament. The competition entry fee was $10 per person, and fifty people competed in the tournament. Prize money was $250 for the winner, $100 for the runner-up, and $50 for third-place. There were no other prizes. None of the friends won a single game. There were no disqualifications, and yet the friends came away collectively $150 in profit from having played. How?

I see a slight discrepency (sic?) here...

Unless, they bet that they were going to lose?

____________________________
YtterbiJum
This molecule of Yb and J is the strangest thing you've ever seen. The individual atoms don't appear to be bonded. Which isn't so strange in and of itself, except that it's also blocking out the sun.

Nillo
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Did they play something else, and got money for it?

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“Folks say that if you listen real close at the height of the full moon, when the wind is blowin' off Nantucket Sound from the nor' east and the dogs are howlin' for no earthly reason, you can hear the awful screams of the crew of the 'Ellie May,' a sturdy whaler Captained by John McTavish; for it was on just such a night when the rum was flowin' and, Davey Jones be damned, big John brought his men on deck for the first of several screaming contests.”

KevG
Level: Smiter

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You said they worked there, did this allow them to enter the tournament without paying the $10 entry fee?

Schik
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

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YtterbiJum wrote:

Schik wrote:
Six friends visited their local club to play at a pool tournament. The competition entry fee was $10 per person, and fifty people competed in the tournament. Prize money was $250 for the winner, $100 for the runner-up, and $50 for third-place. There were no other prizes. None of the friends won a single game. There were no disqualifications, and yet the friends came away collectively $150 in profit from having played. How?

I see a slight discrepency (sic?) here...

Unless, they bet that they were going to lose?

There's no discrepency. I like the "bet on themselves to lose" idea - that would be a good alternate solution, but that's not what I'm looking for. To prevent another good alternate solution that's not what I'm looking for, I'll tell you that the winners, and thus money awarded in the tourney, are decided by games won, not by balls pocketed.

____________________________
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals.
--Mahatma Gandhi

[ITA]mich
Level: Goblin
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Schik wrote:
I like the "bet on themselves to lose" idea - that would be a good alternate solution, but that's not what I'm looking for.

They bet on the winner(s) then???

Bye.
--
[ITA]mich.

YtterbiJum
Level: Goblin

Rank Points: 29
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You give me inspiration, Schik. Maybe they earned money based on how many balls they pocketed, but didn't actually win any games?

____________________________
YtterbiJum
This molecule of Yb and J is the strangest thing you've ever seen. The individual atoms don't appear to be bonded. Which isn't so strange in and of itself, except that it's also blocking out the sun.

Schik
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5453
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[ITA]mich wrote:

Schik wrote:
I like the "bet on themselves to lose" idea - that would be a good alternate solution, but that's not what I'm looking for.

They bet on the winner(s) then???

Bye.
--
[ITA]mich.

Nope, it says they got $150 from playing - not from someone else playing.

Good try though


____________________________
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals.
--Mahatma Gandhi

Schik
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YtterbiJum wrote:
You give me inspiration, Schik. Maybe they earned money based on how many balls they pocketed, but didn't actually win any games?

No no no, I just stated explicitly that they don't get money based on that. The only tourney money awarded is for the three people with the most games won.


____________________________
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals.
--Mahatma Gandhi

YtterbiJum
Level: Goblin

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Hmm, quite a riddle you've got there.

I'll be sure to put it in my "riddle record" when the answer is revealed. Meanwhile, time for lunch.

____________________________
YtterbiJum
This molecule of Yb and J is the strangest thing you've ever seen. The individual atoms don't appear to be bonded. Which isn't so strange in and of itself, except that it's also blocking out the sun.

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

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The six friends were playing music at the tournament and were paid for their performance.

Okay, here's one.

Fill in the missing letters:

M_EM_SUN_

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

Nillo
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 548
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Nillo wrote:
Did they play something else, and got money for it?

mrimer wrote:
The six friends were playing music at the tournament and were paid for their performance.

Am I allowed to feel gypped?

By the way, ph34r my new avatar

____________________________
“Folks say that if you listen real close at the height of the full moon, when the wind is blowin' off Nantucket Sound from the nor' east and the dogs are howlin' for no earthly reason, you can hear the awful screams of the crew of the 'Ellie May,' a sturdy whaler Captained by John McTavish; for it was on just such a night when the rum was flowin' and, Davey Jones be damned, big John brought his men on deck for the first of several screaming contests.”

Schik
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5453
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

Nillo wrote:

Nillo wrote:
Did they play something else, and got money for it?

mrimer wrote:
The six friends were playing music at the tournament and were paid for their performance.

Am I allowed to feel gypped?

By the way, ph34r my new avatar

Mike's answer is correct, and yes, you are allowed to feel gypped. I don't know if I just missed your response or what... sorry. +1 for effort.


____________________________
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals.
--Mahatma Gandhi

bibelot
Level: Smiter
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All right, I guess I'll pounce.

V, J, and P are the missing letters, completing the apocalyptic alignment.

Here's one for you.

Four frogs are sitting on the ground in a square, and since they're bored, they decide to play leapfrog (or I guess they just call it leap.) One frog can jump over another, landing the same distance away from it but on the opposite side. They jump one at a time, but there's no rule about what order they jump in or which frog is jumped over. Also, let's say there's no limit to how far they can jump. Is it possible for them to end up at some time at the corners of a square larger than the original?

[Edited by bibelot on 08-31-2004 at 05:28 AM GMT]

DiMono
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Okay, I'm just not seeing the 'apocalyptic alignment,' could someone please fill me in?

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Deploy the... I think it's a yellow button... it's usually flashing... it makes the engines go... WHOOSH!

Schik
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

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Looks like first letters of the planets in our solar system to me.


____________________________
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals.
--Mahatma Gandhi

DiMono
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And indeed it is.

Thanks, I'm going back to sleep now

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Deploy the... I think it's a yellow button... it's usually flashing... it makes the engines go... WHOOSH!

mrimer
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bibelot wrote:
All right, I guess I'll pounce.

V, J, and P are the missing letters, completing the apocalyptic alignment.

I'll confirm this first-hand: you've got it! Good job!

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

rowrow
Level: Smiter
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Noone is doing a puzzle for awhile so I thought i'd try one.Construct a garden plan to plant 5 rows of 4 trees each with only 10 trees. It might be tough or it might be extremley easy.

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B'hakhgra Du S'tra Moth'ness Ti!

bibelot
Level: Smiter
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Well, I'm not going to give up on mine so easily. Here's a hint:

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

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rowrow wrote:
Noone is doing a puzzle for awhile so I thought i'd try one.Construct a garden plan to plant 5 rows of 4 trees each with only 10 trees. It might be tough or it might be extremely easy.

The solution came easily to my mind. You can plant them in a 5-sided star shape (five points on a pentagon plus another point centered outside each side of the pentagon = 5 lines, and 10 trees).

How about we let Bibelot finish up his puzzle now.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

RoboBob3000
Level: Smitemaster

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The four frogs, always leaping the same distance away from eachother as when they started, have no way of changing the side lengths of their square. They cannot do it.

Give me a yes and I'll give you a puzzle.

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http://beepsandbloops.wordpress.com/

Mattcrampy
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I can get them to reform a square the same size as the one they were originally in. However, a square larger seems to be impossible, as the frogs seem to become stable in a triangular arrangement. You can make a diamond ou of them, but not a square.

(I originally thought you'd have to make a square that's tilted, say, 30 degrees, but that doesn't seem doable.)

Matt

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What do you call an elephant at the North Pole?

bibelot
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All right, I think this has been up long enough that I'll just give the answer.

RoboBob3000
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Okay, I'll just assume that the torch has been passed to me, since I have a puzzle ready to go.

Alice and Bob are boarding a flight that will take off with 100 passengers on board. Alice, who boards the plane first, forgot her boarding information. Not knowing where to sit, she chooses a seat at random. The rest of the passengers, who all know their boarding information, file in one at a time. They each sit in the seat they've been assigned to, unless the seat they're assigned to has already been taken, in which case they choose a seat at random.

Bob is the last passenger to board and takes the final remaining spot. What is the probability that he will sit in his assigned seat?

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DiMono
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I think this one falls under the realm of pure math puzzle, requiring knowledge of Finite mathematics to solve. Oneiromancer, a ruling if you please?

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Deploy the... I think it's a yellow button... it's usually flashing... it makes the engines go... WHOOSH!

Schik
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

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Oh, I don't think this requires anything too complex, does it?

Let's simplify the problem and say there are two seats. 50% of the time Alice will pick the right seat, and Bob will get his.

If there were three seats, then
- Alice would get her assigned seat 1/3 of the time.
- Alice would get Bob's seat 1/3 of the time.
- Alice would get passenger #2's seat 1/3 of the time.

If she picked her own seat, Bob gets his. If she picked Bob's seat, Bob does not get it. If she picked seat #2, it reduces to the 2 passenger case. Thus, the percentage is 33% + 1/2 * 33% = 50%.

So, if there are X seats,
1/X % chance that Alice picked her own seat
1/X % chance she picked Bob's seat
(X-2)/X % chance she picked someone else's seat, which reduces to the X-1 passenger case. It's been shown that for X = 2, the chance is 50%, so the probability for any number of passengers (greater than 1) would be 50%.

I'm pretty sure I'm right, but I'll wait for verification, mostly because I don't have a puzzle ready yet.


____________________________
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals.
--Mahatma Gandhi

Mattcrampy
Level: Smitemaster

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Actually, Schik, we don't need recursion.

If Alice picks passenger #x's seat, then that passenger will have to sit in someone else's seat. So whoever that person is, #(x+y), will also be displaced, and will have to sit in someone else's seat. If we extrapolate this, it means that there will always be one person who is sitting in a seat that's not theirs, while the 'owner' of the seat hasn't come in yet. Thus, if Alice doesn't sit in her own seat, and Bob is #100, Bob will have to be displaced.

So, the odds of Bob taking his own seat are the odds that Alice will take her own seat. That's 1/100.

Matt

[Edited by Mattcrampy on 09-14-2004 at 04:24 AM GMT: Clarified reasoning]

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What do you call an elephant at the North Pole?

Schik
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Actually, Matt, I think you're wrong.

If Alice picks passenger #x's seat, and passenger #x picks Alice's seat, then everyone else - including Bob - can pick their own seat.


____________________________
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals.
--Mahatma Gandhi