Curl
Residue
Art Gallery
Genus
Existence
Japanese
Ham sandwich
- Whose Last?
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Fermat's They are all proven mathematical theorems. Fermat's Last Theorem: A theorem first proposed by Fermat in the form of a note scribbled in the margin of his copy of the ancient Greek text Arithmetica by Diophantus. The scribbled note was discovered posthumously, and the original is now lost. However, a copy was preserved in a book published by Fermat's son. In the note, Fermat claimed to have discovered a proof that the Diophantine equation x^n + y^n = z^n has no integer solutions for n > 2 and x,y,z not equal to zero. Thanks for the blast from the past Mike. I remember several of these from my degree, 15 years ago. I could almost still prove the Residue Theorem. Curl Theorem: A special case of Stokes' theorem with a formula to complicated to reproduce here Residue Theorem: This amazing theorem says that the value of a contour integral for any contour in the complex plane depends only on the properties of a few very special points inside the contour. Art Gallery Theorem: Also called Chvátal's art gallery theorem. If the walls of an art gallery are made up of n straight line segments, then the entire gallery can always be supervised by [n/3] watchmen placed in corners, where [] is the floor function. This theorem was proved by Chvátal (1975). It was conjectured that an art gallery with n walls and h holes requires [(n+h)/3] watchmen, which has now been proven by Bjorling-Sachs and Souvaine (1991, 1995) and Hoffman et al. (1991). Genus Theorem: The Diophantine equation x^2 + y^2 = p can be solved for p a prime iff p=1 (mod4) or p = 2. Existence Theorem: A type of theorem stating the existence of an object, such as the solution to a problem or equation. Could this be specifically Picard's Existence Theorem, which is again too complex for this page Japanese Theorem: Let a convex cyclic polygon be triangulated in any manner, and draw the incircle to each triangle so constructed. Then the sum of the inradii is a constant independent of the triangulation chosen. Ham Sandwich Theorem: The volumes of any n n-dimensional solids can always be simultaneously bisected by a (n-1)-dimensional hyperplane. Neal |
Mike
A tale of two cities? Or is it?
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A tale of twin cities? Minneapolis / St.Paul, MN, USA and São Paulo, Brazil. Alan |
According to the traditional song how many people will turn up at your front door on the twelfth day of Christmas?
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Two possible answers here. Really, just 12, the drumming drummers, because all the rest is just the repetition of the chain refrain, telling who arrived yesterday, and the day before that, and so on. But if you take a more generous view of the donor, then: twelve drummers drumming, eleven pipers piping, ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, and eight maids a-milking, plus sundry birds, jewellery, and vegetation, for a total of 50 people, not including an unspecified number of delivery persons. Assuming, of course, my true love has the very good sense to stay away... Alan11 people. Apparently the "partridge in the pear tree" symbolizes Jesus and should be symbolized by the centrepiece and the remaining 11 items symbolize gifts to 11 guests. What crap!! Of course, if you are expecting the Magi, then there will be only 3 visitors at your front door on the twelfth day of Christmas. If you reading the song literally and "people" refer to humans, then there would be Eight maids a-milking, Nine ladies dancing, Ten lords a-leaping, Eleven pipers piping and Twelve drummers drumming = 50 visitors
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I see Venky covered all the angles with that answer (even though he got 49 on his first draft before I told him to check his addition!) which should serve as a good lesson, everybody is entitled to a little bit of a clue or a hint. If you give me some idea what you are struggling with I may be able to offer some help to ease the agony.
In a land far away, iron is called "farpsi". What is "fefsili"? What do they call tin?
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Take the numbers corresponding to the positions of the letters in the English alphabet. Substitute the number with the symbol of the chemical element whose Atomic Number it is. I-R-O-N would correspond to 9-18-15-14, which in turn would correspond to F-Ar-P-Si (Fluorine, Argon, Phosphorus and Silicon). So iron is called farpsi. Working backwards, "fefsili" = Fe-F-Si-Li (Iron, Fluorine, Silicon and Lithium), which would correspond to 26-9-14-3 which in turn would correspond to Z-I-N-C. So "fefsili" is zinc. Tin = T-I-N = 20-9-14 = Ca-F-Si (Calcium, Fluorine and Silicon). Tin would therefore be called cafsi. Venky |
This question caused much hair loss! Several people were given a clue to this in the form that it was something that could be deduced, which at least made it clear that it was a logic puzzle not a question of looking up some obscure dialect. Romany perhaps? Urdu? Lilliputian? Double-dutch?
Dadge
A contrary one from Pete:
Leave well enough alone
Clearly visible in the sky
Good riddance
Vegetables or minerals
The ceiling or the floor
Rough drafts
Which one is less?
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More. Pink Floyd Albums. Which one is less?......More 1969 Leave well enough alone......Meddle 1971 Clearly visible in the sky......Obscured by Clouds 1972 Good riddance.......Wish You Were Here 1975 Vegetables or minerals......Animals 1977 The ceiling or the floor......The Wall 1979 Rough drafts......The Final Cut 1983 Demar |
Pete Mitchell
Susanna, Michael and the sisters and JFK have a link via Paris to Azerbaijan. What is it?
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Susanna (Hoffs), Michael (Steele) and the sisters Vicki & Debbi (Peterson) constitute the music band "The Bangles" The link is Eternal Flame. The Bangles (Susanna, Michael and the Peterson sisters) wrote and performed the hit song "Eternal Flame". There is the Eternal Flame at the Arc de Trimphe in Paris lit in 1921. The JFK Eternal Flame at the Arlington National Cemetery was lit in 1963. There is a place called Atsegah at Suraxani, north of Baku in Azerbaijan. It is known as the fire temple, and thought to have been a sacred place to the Zoroastrians since the 6th Century AD for its Eternal Flame that comes from a gas vent. Venky |
Who painted this?
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Diego Velazquez. The painting is titled Las Meninas (The Maids of Honour). It is an oil on canvas painting, painted in 1656, size 125" x 108.6" and can be currently seen at Museo del Prado, Madrid. VenkyDiego Velázquez. "Las Meninas" ("The Ladies in Waiting"), 1656, Museo del Prado, Madrid "In "Las Meninas" ("The Ladies in Waiting") we have one of the greatest paintings in the world according to just about anybody's list, a work of subtle restraint and power in a time of excess. Commissioned by Philip IV in 1656 as a portrait of his daughter, Infanta (Princess) Margarita it was an immediate success and marvel of the court, a work of power by an artist at the height of his skills. Partially because this was well before the time of photography, the realism of the painting, the sense of opening a door and looking at a scene suddenly frozen (indicated by the younger dwarf just placing his foot on the dog, one lady in waiting just completing a courtsy, the courtier on the stairs in the background pausing in mid-step, the artist's brush stilled in its movement towards the palette, and the nun's arm in mid gesture) has struck observer's time and again. Yet there is far more here than a virtuoso rendition of a moment in the life of the court." http://mypage.uniserve.ca/~billa/fineart/velmeneg.htm Pete Mitchell |
A beautiful child, a stunning painting and outrageous costumes.
What do Peter Sellers, Anthony Hopkins, and Donald Moffat have in common? Suggest another actor to make up a foursome.
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Peter Sellers, Anthony Hopkins, and Donald Moffat are all British-born actors who have played a U.S. President in a major-release Hollywood film, as follows: Donald Moffat, born in Plymouth, Devon, England, UK, played President Lyndon B. Johnson in "The Right Stuff" and also fictional U.S. President Bennet in "Clear and Present Danger". Peter Sellers, born in Southsea, Hampshire, England, UK, played fictional U.S. President Merkin Muffley in "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb". Anthony Hopkins, born in Margam, West Glamorgan, Wales, UK, played U.S. President Richard M. Nixon in "Nixon" and also Former President John Quincy Adams in "Amistad". A fourth actor to fit the pattern would be Donald Pleasence, born in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England, UK, who played the U.S. President in "Escape from New York". Another possibility would be Frank Conroy, born in Derby, Derbyshire, England, UK, who played President William McKinley in the film "This Is My Affair", but this film is not as well-known as the others.. Pete Mitchell |
Russ
In my trusty old dictionary between very hot and the arms of a church I find an Irish robber, a tribal emblem, a tester of metal, a highly recommended hitch hiking accessory, a plaything, an instrument of religious propaganda, a predictable path, a state of insensibility and an act of copying.
Can you find a couple of drastic first aid treatments?
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Between torrid and transept you find Tory, totem, touchstone, towel, toy, tract, trajectory, trance and transcription. Also tourniquet and tracheotomy (I would have pointed out that the latter emergency first-aid procedure is technically called a cricothyroidotomy, but it stuck in my throat). AlanBetween Torrid And Transepts I find Tory (gaelic tóraidhe) Totem Touchstone Towel Toy Tract Trajectory Trance Transcription I can also find Tourniquet Tracheotomy (or Tracheostomy) Plus Toxin Extraction (put your mouth there and suck) Traction Tranquilisation Neal |
A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly, it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand combat; wrap it around you head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Trall (a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you -- daft as brush, but very very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.
More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (a non hitchhiker) discovers that the hitchhiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in posession of a toothbrush, washcloth, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet-weather gear, space suit, etc, etc.
Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitchhiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitchhiker might accidently have "lost". What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the Galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win througy and still know where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with.
Hence, a phrase that has passed into hitchhiking slang, as in, "Hey you sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There's one frood who really knows where his towel is."
sass: know, be aware of, meet, have sex with;
hoopy: really together guy;
frood: really amazingly together guy;
Douglas Adams
William
Geoffrey
Arthur
Frederick
Robert
George
See who's next?
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Rowan (Williams). The "see" is Canterbury: the list gives the first names of the last six archbishops: William Temple Geoffrey Francis Fisher Arthur Michael Ramsey Frederick Donald Coggan Robert Alexander Kennedy Runcie George Leonard Carey. Sgt Dudfoot |