To hassle your friend you decide to set a stupid screensaver into his system. But you find that his system is password protected. You’re about to give up when you find out there is a note that says password hint. The note says: (6) Goals Marcos; (3) Goals Cahil; (2) Goals Cesar; (5) Goals Hazard; (3) Goals Willian; (8) Goals Jorginho; (1) Goal Charley; (4) Goals Barkley.
What is the password?
THROUGHPUT
(Here are eight clues which are easy to Google but once you have the answers there’s something else you have to do to make them belong to a certain group. (1) Unfortunate second wife of Henry VIII; (2) This killed Moaning Myrtle; (3) The Scourge of God; (4) Winston Smith’s dreary country; (5) Birch film or attractive rose; (6) Romeo’s loyal, peacemaker cousin; (7) King Arthur’s island paradise; (8) Supreme and powerful Norse god.)
The initials of all answers begin with A, B, O, or AB. The answers also have either a positive or negative association, thus representing all eight blood group types. (1). Unfortunate second wife of Henry VIII: Anne Boleyn (AB -ve). (2) This killed Moaning Myrtle: Basilisk (B -ve). (3) The Scourge of God: Attilla (A -ve). (4) Winston Smith’s dreary country: Oceania (O -ve). (5) Birch film or attractive rose: Attractive Beauty (AB +ve). (No, American Beauty. – MS). (6) Romeo’s loyal, peacemaker cousin: Benvolio (B +ve). (7) King Arthur’s paradise island: Avalon (A +ve). (8) Supreme and powerful Norse god: Odin (O +ve). -- Charanjit Singh Pardesi, cspardesi@gmail.com
The clues lead to Anne Boleyn, Basilisk, Attila the Hun, Oceania, American Beauty, Benvolio, Avalon and Odin. Taking the first letters of every word we have ABBO, ABBO which are the blood groups of humans. This is the required answer. (No, not totally – MS) -- Shashi Shekher Thakur, shashishekher@yahoo.com
The above represent the eight blood groups AB, A, B and O, one for each +ve and -ve types. -- Murali S Lakshminarayana, murali_sl@yahoo.co.
(Then there was a problem about pulling a chain to turn off or on a fan and lots of gibberish after that. You know what I mean because you wouldn’t have answered correctly otherwise. – MS)
If the number of positions, N ≤ 4, then all you’ve to do is pull the string 11 more times so that you have operated it 12 times in all, 12 being the LCM of 2, 3 and 4. This will return the switch to its original position which has been stated as ‘OFF’. -- Leena Jolie, jolieleena1949@gmail.com
Since the maximum number of positions are limited to four, Twelve ( LCM of numbers up to four)consecutive pulls from any position will bring to the starting position and since you already yanked it once, you simply have to pull the cord another eleven times to make sure it is in the off position so that you can proceed to your clandestine business. No Great Pull Off. -- (Fortunately there are no five positions else you need to yank the cord another 59 times for making sure that it lies in off position.) -- A V Ramana Rao, raoavr@gmail.com
As the different settings of the fan can be either 2, 3 or 4 only, a total number of pulls of their LCM (12) will bring it back to the ‘off’ position for sure. As he had already pulled once, he has now to pull 11 more times to be with the peace of mind till he comes back. -- Sheikh Sintha Mathar, sheikhsm7@gmail.com
You pull the chain eleven more times and it will be back at the original position of “Off” having gone through full cycles whether there are two or three or four settings. -- J. Vaseekhar Manuel, orcontactme@gmail.com
BUT GOOGLE THIS NOW
There are a number people seated around a table. A plate of spaghetti starts at the head of the table. The person sitting there takes some spaghetti and passes it to his/her right or left. Thereafter each person getting the stuff takes some and passes it to his/her right or left. Diners who have already received the plate can simply pass it on, without taking any more. When all have finally received their spaghetti, the plate stops being passed, and the eating begins. What are the chances of being the last to be served, as a function of position?
Sharma is a scriptwriter and former editor of Science Today magazine.
(mukul.mindsport@gmail.com)