The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[Cec]

I came across this following "Test". For possible time restraints, rather than me responding individually to your answers, I'll simply post the answers tomorrow. For what it's worth I answered 7 questions correctly

How smart are you really? This Test has been used for over 50 years and has pretty much done it with great accuracy. If you don't score high, remember, you can always improve. It has been said Bill Gates once took this test and scored a 3 on it. Share your score with friends! Good Luck

(a) Do they have a 4th of July in England?

(b) How many birthdays does the average man have?

(c) Some months have 31 days; how many have 28?

(d) How many outs are there in an inning? *

(e) Is it legal for a man in California to marry his widow's sister?

(f) Divide 30 by 1/2 and add 10. What is the answer?

(g) If there are 3 apples and you take away 2, how many do you
have?

(h) A doctor gives you three pills telling you to take one every half
hour
How many minutes would the pills last?

(i) A farmer has 16 sheep, and all but 9 die. How many are left?

(j) How many animals of each sex did Moses take on the ark?

(k) How many two cent stamps are there in a dozen?

* Note: In question (d) I assume it meant "innings"

Cec

[keith]

I have never seen this "test" before, but let me try:

(a) Do they have a 4th of July in England? Yes

(b) How many birthdays does the average man have? One

(c) Some months have 31 days; how many have 28? All 12

(d) How many outs are there in an inning? * One

(e) Is it legal for a man in California to marry his widow's sister? Yes. I assume California law does not prohibit marriage by dead people.

(f) Divide 30 by 1/2 and add 10. What is the answer? 70

(g) If there are 3 apples and you take away 2, how many do you
have? 2

(h) A doctor gives you three pills telling you to take one every half
hour
How many minutes would the pills last? 60, plus a few seconds.

(i) A farmer has 16 sheep, and all but 9 die. How many are left? 9

(j) How many animals of each sex did Moses take on the ark? 1

(k) How many two cent stamps are there in a dozen? 12

* Note: In question (d) I assume it meant "innings"

[Cec]

"I have never seen this "test" before, but let me try:...."

You've done better than me as I suspect most would. Leaving aside question (d) you've missed out on one other question.

I would like to point out that I posted this "Test" direct from the source and frankly I don't understand what question (d) really means. Question (d) possibly should have been a riddle?

Answers will be revealed tomorrow where "debate" is likely on question (d). Leaving aside (d) I'm sure some will have correctly answered the remaining eleven questions and your humility is greatly appreciated

Cec

[Hud]

Cec, in baseball, there are 9 innings in a normal game. Each team gets 3 outs in one inning. Therefore there are 6 outs in a full inning. If the batter headbuts the pitcher, he gets to be MVP of the game.

[udosuk]

(d) How many outs are there in an inning? * One

(i) A farmer has 16 sheep, and all but 9 die. How many are left? 9

(j) How many animals of each sex did Moses take on the ark? 1

(d) could be 6 as Hud claimed... Or 3 if it's the last inning with the home team leading... From other questions it seems this set is more American-based...

(i) 9 living sheep are left. But if you count dead ones then 16 are left...

(j) Moses (the Biblical one) didn't take any animals onto the ark. Unless a modern man also named Moses decides to build an ark and takes some animals onto it, in that case the answer could be arbitrary...

If the batter headbuts the pitcher, he gets to be MVP of the game.

Unless the pitcher makes some racial remarks in Italian to the batter (and performs a perfectly executed backward 90 dive [difficulty 5.0] as the batter's head touches his chest), in that case the umpire becomes the MVP of the game...

[underquark]

If (d) refers to life as in "had a good innings" then one is the answer because you only check out the once. Even if you'd "died" and been CPR'd you're still only legally allowed to be dead once.

If you're talking golf and it's me coming in towards the clubhouse then there could be several outs (of bounds) on a bad day.

In (e) there probably would be some lawbreaking required to marry a dead person since both parties must appear together when filling in the application and it is illegal to exhume someone in California without appropriate authority.

the bride, groom, marriage officiant and witness if applicable, be physically present together in the same location for the marriage to be performed.

Both parties must appear in person and bring valid picture identification to the County Clerk’s Office to apply for a marriage license in California. Valid picture identification is one that contains a photograph, date of birth, and an issue and expiration date, such as a state issued identification card, drivers license, passport, military identification, etc. Some counties may also require a copy of your birth certificate.

[Cec]

"...Answers will be revealed tomorrow where "debate" is likely on question (d)......."

Following Hud's and udosuk's above comments and the answer provided by the Test "source" I would now conclude that question (d) was intended to relate to baseball and not cricket, although the wording of the question did not make this clear. Because the question is ambiguous I see it reasonable for anyone to change their answer to a "baseball" question if you had assumed, as I did, that the question related to cricket. If anyone wishes to retain their answer on the basis of the question relating to cricket then I'm unsure as to a "correct" answer.

Cec

(i) 9 living sheep are left. But if you count dead ones then 16 are left...

(j) Moses (the Biblical one) didn't take any animals onto the ark. Unless a modern man also named Moses decides to build an ark and takes some animals onto it, in that case the answer could be arbitrary..."

(i) An interesting answer on the sheep and one that I doubt even the "source" realized in compiling their "Test" answer which I'll post tomorrow morning.

(j)On the ark, again I'll post "Test source" answer tomorrow but, Heh!, is that an eraser and rustling paper I hear from altering answers?

underquark has also thrown in some interesting comments in line with some of the above on alternative answers.. Due to other tasks and allowing a bit more time for others, I'll "lock up shop" and post "source" answers tomorrow morning..

Cec

[udosuk]

About (d), in cricket we use "innings", in baseball we use "inning". Since the question specifically mentioned "inning" I think it's pretty clear baseball is the sport talked about and any assumption that it's about cricket by forcifully appending an "s" is too Englishly-egoish (sorry couldn't find a better word) IMHO...

As for (e), why assume the widow's sister is alive? If the dead man's wife wants to arrange something between him and her passed-away sister (so they could have a companion for each other in the underworld) I don't see it being too morally incorrect (especially if the widow herself could remarry)... In ancient China and other cultures, (symbolic) marriages between 2 dead persons were quite common... But whether it's legal in California I'm in no position to determine...

[MCC]

...(j) How many animals of each sex did Moses take on the ark?
Cec

Besides it being Noah not Moses on the Ark.

Genesis 7 (King James Version)

King James Version (KJV)
Public Domain

Genesis 7
1And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

2Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.

3Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.

So, according to the Bible:

Clean beasts - 14 of each species - 7 males and 7 female.
Unclean beasts - 2 of each species - 1 male and 1 female.
Fowl - 14 of each species - 7 males and 7 females.

The clean beasts were also for eating and for sacrifice.


MCC

[Cec]

With an unexpected busy day tomorrow it's best I now post the answers before I go to bed.

These were the answers given when I read about this "Test".

The Answer Key

(a) Is there a Fourth of July in England?
Yes, it comes after the third of July!

(b) How many birthdays does the average man have?
1 Just one!

(c) Some months have 31 days; how many have 28?
12, all of them!

(d) How many outs are there in an inning?
6, three per side! .... See comment below
.
(e) Is it legal for a man in California to marry his widow's sister?
No - because he is dead!

(f) Divide 30 by 1/2 and add 10. What is the answer?
70, 30 divided by 1/2 equals 60! Takes some thinking.....

(g) If there are 3 apples and you take away 2, how many do you have?
2, you took them, remember?

(h) A doctor gives you three pills telling you to take one every half
hour. How many minutes would the pills last?
60, Start with the 1st pill, 30 minutes later take the second
pill then 30 minutes later take the third pill.

(i) A farmer has 17 sheep, and all but 9 die. How many are left?
9... see comment below

(j) How many animals of each sex did Moses take on the ark?
0. Moses didn't have an ark, Noah did!

(k) How many two cent stamps are there in a dozen?. There
are 12 two cents stamps in a dozen.

These are my thoughts on "contentious" answers....

(d) I suspect Keith's answer of "1" assumed, as I did, that the question related to the innings of a cricket match - I initially answered "1" also but didn't know the rules of baseball. Keith of course had the option of reconsidering his answer as was suggested by me earlier.

9 living sheep are left. But if you count dead ones then 16 are left...

Yes..the question is ambiguous but where's the 17th sheep?

(j) Moses (the Biblical one) didn't take any animals onto the ark. Unless a modern man also named Moses decides to build an ark and takes some animals onto it, in that case the answer could be arbitrary

OK.. You obviously picked the flaw that Noah built the ark and not Moses.

.About (d), in cricket we use "innings", in baseball we use "inning". Since the question specifically mentioned "inning" I think it's pretty clear baseball is the sport talked about. ..."

Yes, I eventually acknowledged that baseball was the implied question but, as mis-spelling is not unusual, both in the forum and in other external posts, I did have initial reservations IMHO.

"If (d) refers to life as in "had a good innings".....

This won't get past usoduk

Thanks for the overall co-operation in waiting for the published answers.

Cec

[Cec]

"..So, according to the Bible:

Clean beasts - 14 of each species - 7 males and 7 female.
Unclean beasts - 2 of each species - 1 male and 1 female.
Fowl - 14 of each species - 7 males and 7 females.

The clean beasts were also for eating and for sacrifice."

Another interesting observation..Seems like this "Test source" needs to do a refresher course. I forgot to recheck the forum posts before I hit the "Submit" button in sending my above post.....it's a bad habit of mine.

Cec

[udosuk]

(d) I suspect Keith's answer of "1" assumed, as I did, that the question related to the innings of a cricket match - I initially answered "1" also but didn't know the rules of baseball. Keith of course had the option of reconsidering his answer as was suggested by me earlier.

Even for an innings in a cricket match, there could be 0 out (winning by 10 wickets)... But I maintain that it's a baseball inning not a cricket innings...

9 living sheep are left. But if you count dead ones then 16 are left...

Yes..the question is ambiguous but where's the 17th sheep?

In your initial post (top of the page) you wrote 16 sheep. Now you say 17?

About (d), in cricket we use "innings", in baseball we use "inning". Since the question specifically mentioned "inning" I think it's pretty clear baseball is the sport talked about...

Yes, I eventually acknowledged that baseball was the implied question but, as mis-spelling is not unusual, both in the forum and in other external posts, I did have initial reservations IMHO.

Depends, if it's a casual posting then mis-spelling is very usual (like those from you & me)... But I suspect this list is extracted from a published book (those questions are all very familiar), in that case it could have already been well proof-read by the editor... If it's being transferred/forwarded many many times then mis-spellings should be even rarer as any intermediate party would have corrected them...

"If (d) refers to life as in "had a good innings".....

This won't get past usoduk

Yes, unless there is also an idiom saying "I had a good inning (life)"...

Beside mis-spelling, mis-quoting somebody's user name is considered not very polite IMHO... My user name is udosuk (pronounced "U-doh-soak") not usoduk (you saw a duck?)... At least you didn't quote me as udosuck like someone else...

[emm]

Well, that's a revelation! I never once thought of pronouncing udosuk 'u-doh-soak'

BTW - mis-spelling is a misspelling of the word misspelling

[udosuk]

We know the current British Sudoku Champ is Miss Nina Pell... I wonder if a lady from the Pelling family line would mind being addressed as "Miss Pelling"... IMHO that's as interested as "Nosmo King"...

(Miss Pell, if you happen to read this please don't mind... )

[fermat]

BTW - mis-spelling is a misspelling of the word misspelling

Mis-spelling is a most rational form, of course that makes it invalid.