Unutterably Silly Quiz

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Bilbo1967

I thought it was a good set of questions FWIW; certainly more interesting than a bunch of mathematical formulae

But, but, but.... mathematical formulae are fun!

But I have put the working-out bit into spoiler tags.

[Kumabjorn]

1. Back in the day when they played two single matches, one player beat the Golden Bear in two straight matches, despite Jack Nicklaus specifically requesting a re-match. Who was that player?
Brian Barnes and he didn't have ice tea in his flask.
2. Who was the first player, since becoming US vs Europe to take all available 5 points in a Ryder Cup?
Larry Nelson, yet he still hasn't captained a US team. Point for Fbone
3. Who on the European team was voted out by his team mates because he had played most of his tournmaents outside Europe?
Severiano Ballesteros, yes the stalwart of European competitiveness in Ryder Cup was voted out of the team because he preferred to play in the US where purses were much larger. Point for Fbone
4. The first European win on US soil came after a US player was so disgusted with his putting that he broke the shaft of his putter in disgust and had to putt with a 1 iron. Who got so maddenly angry?
Gentle Ben Crenshaw, who knew so much anger boiled under the surface. Point for Fbone.
5. Who was the oldest player in the Ryder Cup and how old was he when he played?
Raymond Floyd at 51, Not a bad accomplishment to play the Senior Tour and Ryder Cup. Points for Fbone.
6. What golf course has hosted the most Ryder Cups?
Belfry, despite hosting all those Ryder Cups it still isn't considered one of the great courses, but Seve always went for the green on the par 4 tenth hole. Point for Bilbo1967.
7. What American player holds the record for most lost points for his team?
Phil Mickelson. He obviously has problems with match play despite his magical touch around the greens. Point for Fbone
8. In 2002 Phil Mickelson lost his singles match to a European, wht is his name?
Phillip Price. Never heard of again. Fbone one point
9. What was his world ranking at the time?
119th, no longer even on OWGR.

[Bilbo1967]

Well I never, I would never have guessed Seve as the answer to number 3.

And, to be fair to Phil Mickleson, I think he's probably played more matches than any other American so is bound to have lost more than most. I would guess that his win percentage isn't as bad as many others.

Thanks Kumabjorn.

[Kumabjorn]

His record is 11 wins, 17 loses and 6 ties.

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

His record is 11 wins, 17 loses and 6 ties.

So, quick mental calculation, about 43-44% win record. Not great, but I bet there are a number of Americans worse in the modern era.

I have a bit of a soft spot for Phil. He always comes across as an awfully amiable bloke.

ETA. Probably more like 41%, with more thought!

[Kumabjorn]

I'm a great fan of Phil too. His charity work for education is amazing, but considering his abilities as a golfer you kind of expect him to have a better Ryder Cup record. His game is sort of taylor made (pun intended) for match play.
Well, this concludes the golf portion of Quiz. Over to our Master (yet another pun) Fbone on the 18th green.

Well done on my question to both Daithi and pdurrant, and both correct (pdurrant arrived at the correct general formula in n). I wondered if anyone would use a computer program. I arrived at the same general formula in n by computing the formula for the sum from j=1 to j=n of j(n+1-j).

Those of us with mathematical minds think of all sorts of mathematical aspects of things. Like the fact that again for a generalization to n days, g(k) is the total number of gifts given of the type first given on day k. g(k) = k(n+1-k). This means that there will be a day or two days (dealing with integers, not a continuous function) where g(k) will reach a maximum; that being (n+1)/2. So for the Twelve Days of Christmas at total of 42 Geese-a-Laying will be given, 42 Swans-a-Swimming, but 40 Gold Rings and 40 Maids-a-Milking.

I know nothing about golf, except Tiger Woods is very good at golf and very bad at relationships with women. So onto Fbone with a good question then?

[Iznogood]

Originally Posted by Fbone

How many total gifts are given in the song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas?"

I know this is an old question, and more importently it's , but I really need to get this off my chest, so here comes...

<rant>
It's not christmas yet. Every year we see christmas season start earlier and earlier. Can we declare mobileread to be christmas-free zone, at least 'till December? Please?
</rant>

It's much nicer with Twelwe days of Star Trek instead...


As long as I can keep the Enterprise and 7 of 9, the rest of you can keep the rest of the gifts

Make it so
Beam me up, Scotty

[Fbone]

Ok, since we have a few mathematicians present here is another math quiz:

During a recent census, a man told the census taker that he had 3 children.
When asked their ages, he replied, "The product of their ages is 72."
"The sum of their ages is the same as my house number."
The census taker ran to the door and looked at the house number.
"I still can't tell," she complained.
"Oh, that's right. I forgot to tell you that the oldest one likes apple pie."
The census taker promptly wrote down the ages of the three children.
How old are they?

[Iznogood]

Since there are only a few ways to multiply three numbers and get 72, we have the following possibilities:

Child1 Child2 Child3 Sum of ages
2      2      18     22
2      3      12     17
2      6      6      14
2      4      9      15
3      3      8      14
3      4      6      13

I don't think I missed out some possible combinations.

Since knowing the sum of the ages did not provide an answer to the census taker, the sum of ages must have been 14 (it's the non-unique occurrance of the sums).
Since the father mentiones "the oldest" in singular form, the possibility of 2+6+6 is out, since it would have left the sensus taker with two oldest. There must therefore be twins at age of three, and one eight-year old.

[Stitchawl]

Mods... can we please have an emoticon for my jaw dropping in amazement?
How can people's minds function like this??????
Simply brilliant.


Stitchawl

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by norway1456

Since there are only a few ways to multiply three numbers and get 72, we have the following possibilities:

Child1 Child2 Child3 Sum of ages
2      2      18     22
2      3      12     17
2      6      6      14
2      4      9      15
3      3      8      14
3      4      6      13

I don't think I missed out some possible combinations.

Since knowing the sum of the ages did not provide an answer to the census taker, the sum of ages must have been 14 (it's the non-unique occurrance of the sums).
Since the father mentiones "the oldest" in singular form, the possibility of 2+6+6 is out, since it would have left the sensus taker with two oldest. There must therefore be twins at age of three, and one eight-year old.

Well done!

Your turn for the next question.

[Bookpossum]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Mods... can we please have an emoticon for my jaw dropping in amazement?
How can people's minds function like this??????
Simply brilliant.


Stitchawl

I'll second that suggestion!

[Billi]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Mods... can we please have an emoticon for my jaw dropping in amazement?
How can people's minds function like this??????
Simply brilliant.

Yep! Although in this case my jaw is still dropped in amazament because of Daithi's and pdurrant's abilities and explanations in the previous math question.

[Stitchawl]

Only in math problems can you buy 60 cantaloupes and nobody asks what the hell is wrong with you...


Stitchawl