Unutterably Silly Quiz

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Then again, you might take the last line as referring only to the penultimate line:

Kits, cats, sacks, and wives,
How many were there going to St. Ives?

Or again, choose to interpret the question as ignoring the sacks, as mere inanimate objects.

In which case the answer is 7+7^3+7^4 = 2751

[pdurrant]

And once more, looking just at the two lines, and taking my original interpretation as the man, wives, etc going away from St Ives, the answer would be None, as none of the kit, cats, sacks or wives are going to St Ives.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

OK, suppose "I" caught up with them, and they were also going the same way. Then you could say that nine people were going to St Ives. (I, the man and the 7 wives)

But you might also want to include the cats and kits, in which case the answer is 2753.

Yes, 9: There are nine people involved, who may be going to St. Ives. The animals are all in the sacks, so they, as well as the sacks themselves, are "being taken", rather than "going".

And another correct answer, 2753: The sacks are not a person or animal and therefore cannot be in the calculation. It was not the number of things, but of "persons" the narrator met. 49 adult cats 343 kittens per wife of whom he had seven (7 × 392) = 2744 plus the seven wives 2751 plus the man + the narrator → 2753 persons and animals.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Then again, you might take the last line as referring only to the penultimate line:

Kits, cats, sacks, and wives,
How many were there going to St. Ives?

In which case the answer is 7+7^2+7^3+7^4 = 2800

Yes, 2800: If the narrator and the group were all travelling to St. Ives, the answer could also be all except the narrator and the man, since the penultimate line of the rhyme specifies "kits, cats, sacks and wives". Thus the question is ambiguous about whether it is asking for the total number of entities travelling or just the number of kits, cats, sacks and wives. This would give an answer of 2800.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Or again, choose to interpret the question as ignoring the sacks, as mere inanimate objects.

In which case the answer is 7+7^3+7^4 = 2751

Not sure I get the reasoning/calculation on this one. 2751 is only 2 less than your previous answer of 2753.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And once more, looking just at the two lines, and taking my original interpretation as the man, wives, etc going away from St Ives, the answer would be None, as none of the kit, cats, sacks or wives are going to St Ives.

Yes again, 0: Yet another plausible answer is zero, once again playing on a grammatical uncertainty. The last line of the riddle states "kits, cats, sacks, wives ... were going to St. Ives?" Although the narrator clearly states he is going to St. Ives, by definition he is not one of the kits, cats, sacks, or wives, and based on the common assumption that the party was not going to St. Ives, the answer is zero.

I *think* you have 5 points so far (coming fast and thick).

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by orlok

Not sure I get the reasoning/calculation on this one. 2751 is only 2 less than your previous answer of 2753.

It's on the assumption that the question only applies to the "kits, cats, sacks, wives", but ignores the sacks as they are not something that should be generally included in totals going somewhere.

So yes, two less than the 2753 that inlcude "I" and the man.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by orlok

"As I was going to St Ives" is a traditional English-language nursery rhyme in the form of a riddle.

The most common modern version is:

As I was going to St. Ives,
I met a man with seven wives,
Each wife had seven sacks,
Each sack had seven cats,
Each cat had seven kits,
Kits, cats, sacks, and wives,
How many were there going to St. Ives?

Your challenge is to work out the answer to the riddle.

Another answer is 2. "I" met the man on the road, he was also going to St Ives, and he told me of his wives, sacks, cats and kits, but they weren't with him.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

It's on the assumption that the question only applies to the "kits, cats, sacks, wives", but ignores the sacks as they are not something that should be generally included in totals going somewhere.

So yes, two less than the 2753 that inlcude "I" and the man.

So the difference is the I and the man are not included? The lack of sacks mention was what puzzled me as the previous 2753 also lacked sacks, but it was not clear where the -2 came from. Not one of the answers I have, but I'll give it to you.

6 points.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Another answer is 2. "I" met the man on the road, he was also going to St Ives, and he told me of his wives, sacks, cats and kits, but they weren't with him.

Correct. 2: Two is also a plausible answer. This would involve the narrator meeting the man who is assumed to be travelling to St. Ives also, but plays on a grammatical uncertainty, since the riddle states only that the man has seven wives (and so forth), but does not explicitly mention whether the man is actually accompanied by his wives, sacks, cats, and kittens.

[pdurrant]

I suppose another answer is impossible to tell. We know something of some of the people going to St Ives, but there may well have been other (unmentioned) people in "I"s party going to St Ives. And then there's entirely unconnected people who might also be going to St Ives.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I suppose another answer is impossible to tell. We know something of some of the people going to St Ives, but there may well have been other (unmentioned) people in "I"s party going to St Ives. And then there's entirely unconnected people who might also be going to St Ives.

The answer I have that is closest to yours is, At least 1: With any certainty [as demonstrated by the multitude of possibilities above] we can only know that at least 1 person was traveling to St. Ives. Although if 0 is a plausible answer, then even 1 could be challenged...let's not go there for now.

Another point.

[orlok]

I think we (well, pdurrant) have milked as much out of this one as we can, and the only other answers I have left are variants on the others anyway:

7: There are nine people involved, who are the only ones who may be going to St. Ives, all the others "being taken" there. But since the question is limited to "Kits, cats, sacks, wives", this excludes the man and the narrator, leaving seven.

2802: If the narrator met the group as they were also travelling to St. Ives (and were overtaken by the narrator, plausible given the large size of the party), the answer in this case is all are going to St. Ives. The calculation is the same as for the 2800 answer, plus two.

So it's over to pdurrant.

[pdurrant]

And now I have to come up with something. Hmm...

1. Can a man marry his widow's sister? Answer and explanation.
2. Brothers and sisters have I none, but this man's father is my father's son. Explain.
3. Brothers and sisters have I none, but my son's father is not my father's son. Explain.
4. Can a parrot eat a carrot standing on its head? Complete.
5. How much wood could a wood-chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood?

Points for accuracy and amusement.

[edited to correct a flaw in 3.)

[Bilbo1967]

1. No. He's dead!