#135 You don’t know jackpot
I figured something was wrong with the slot machine in Pete’s Gas Station when I saw the peeling paint on top. But I knew for certain when I put in 50 cents, got three 7s, and nothing came out.
There are three possible symbols: cherries, a melon and a 7. It should have given me $5 for all three 7s, $2 for two 7s, and $1 if only the rightmost symbol was a 7.
“Oh, it’s fine,” said Pete. “Three 7s was the old jackpot setting. I’ve got the new jackpot written down… it’s here somewhere.” While he was searching, I saw a woman play five times and get the following:
“House always wins,” she muttered before leaving. Pete wandered in: “Sorry, can’t seem to find it.” “No problem,” I said. “I think I’ve got it.” What is the jackpot setting?
Solution next week
#134 No time to try
Solution
There are 24 ways of arranging four digits ABCD (such as ABDC, ACBD etc), but there are 36 ways of arranging three digits into a four digit number (AABC, ABAC, BBAC etc), so James Blond should go for Door 1 with the four worn digits as he will only need 24 attempts at most to crack the code.
Quick quiz #123
1 What name is given to a sudden, sharp increase in wind speed of 8 metres per second or more and that lasts for longer than a minute?
2 Who was the first person to spacewalk?
3 What unusual discovery took place on Similaun, a mountain on the Austrian-Italian border in 1991?
4 Transactinide elements have atomic numbers greater than what?
5 Which vital hormone is primarily produced by the pineal gland?
Answers
1 A squall
2 Alexei Leonov, during the 1965 Voskhod 2 mission
3 The discovery of Ötzi the Iceman, the naturally mummified body of a prehistoric man
4 103
5 Melatonin