Here's where my stumbling led:

sum(1:8)=36; put 3 in any box in the top or bottom rows and 6 in the diagonal and remove 3,6 from the set.
resum=27; put 2, 7 in middle row end-caps so they don't conflict with 3,6. Remove 7,2...
resum=18; put 1,8 in the middle row....
put 4,5 in the remaining spots so they don't conflict.

Any idea what I'm seeing with this? Seems to work but I have no idea why.

I think you have it, you seem to be on the right track. The hint I was saying was crucial to figure out was

That's how I initially solved it. But...

As a bit of an aside, I do a lot of variant sudoku puzzles with all sorts of different rule sets, which meant finding the logical way of solving this puzzle was very intuitive for me

I tried that. The problem is it's too easy.

I don't think Michael Penn's channel has been linked ITT yet:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6j...4eSkzT5Gx0HOAw

He is very fond of similar problems to the one above. Number theory is his "thing".

Nice channel!

The problem I posted was actually the first ever IMO question. It's almost laughably easy by modern standards. But I guess it's like sports; major leaguers in the 20s would just show up to the stadium and start playing where as now they have to train almost non stop to get to that level.

I mean, you're definitely not wrong. in fact, you're exactly right. Could not have put it better myself.

Btw, someone told me in a previous life you were "Max Raker". That true?

Yes, that was an old account before that big 2+2 hack

I assume not many people knew that, till now, at least.

Any idea who it was that told me? This is more fun than the maths problems.

It's a maths guy, I promise. In fact, he was a bit upset about a probability answer you offered me, and that is when he was like "I am gonna PM max about this". Which he never did. And I was like "who the **** is max?"

I thought most people knew who were around SMP and politics at that time. Sklansky knows. Unless he forgot. Not sure who you are talking to. No longer active here?

Frank.. It was Frank.

Do you know his user name?

Sounds familiar, but I’m drawing a blank.

Heehwaw. One of the best probabilists on this whole forum.

Out of the 40,320, 1-8 combinations 5,242 sequences have no adjacent and consecutive numbers according to A002464. Of the latter....

Since this thread is not moving quickly I will pose a Science Theory/fiction question to see where people lie.


You are tested and found to be one of the only people likely able to achieve and survive a future travel tip. As such you are offered the opportunity to be the sole human to travel 1000 thousands years into the future.

We have a singular tested and functional experimental craft that can achieve light speed and it will make one lap around the earth as light speed in which you will age about 50 days but when the vehicle stops you will be 1000 in the future.


Some additional considerations:


- you are confident of the crafts ability to make the journey so fear of death in that regard is absolutely minimal
- once you come out of your light speed trip the vehicle will be depleted and unable to do any more travel unless you encounter a society with the ability to fix it (or likely they have their own and better tech).
- If there are advanced humans there, they will detect, see, identify and understand your craft easily. So you will not be able to avoid detection. You will instantly become a known entity, good or bad in that society.
- when you come out of your lap around the earth the planet you discover could be in any state from post Apocalyptic hell zone with all humans dead, or forced back to near stone age living, to Utopian wonderland. Perhaps humans are no longer the dominant lifeform (ie aliens or Planet of the Apes type scenario)




Would you being one of the only ones able to make this journey become a willing test pilot knowing you would likely never be able to go back and likely would never be able to let anyone in your past know if you succeeded or what you found?

If anyone does decide to play with the above hypothetical I will take away the two easiest 'No's' to this question.

This takes place at a time where if you have kids they are adults and if you were married you are either divorced or a widower.

I'd have a go at the science part, which I don't think works in the sense you describe (i.e. future time travel at near c, twin paradox etc.), but pretty sure you're more interested in the philosophical part, which is not really my bag.

Yes i understand the science might not hold up but in this hypothetical it does via it being defined as true due to the hypothetical!

But any posting on the 'science' as a tangent, absent my hypothetical is welcome.

I once read an article on how many Star Trek TOS technologies that were completely or mostly theoretical at the time of shooting that now exist in some fashion and i find that trip from science fantasy to science fact fascinating.

I also understand many of those writings come from real scientists extrapolating and theorizing and are not just out of fiction writers minds and whole cloth musings.

Tbh, while I've read a bunch of books on this and watched countless youtube clips (esp the "Fermilab" youtube channel has a couple of really good & detailed vids on the twin paradox), I'm 99.9% sure that Ec'd can explain this much, much better than I can, with my pretty rudimentary understanding of special relativity.

The Alcubierre drive ("real life" warp drive) is pretty cool, and I understand there have actually been some recent theoretical developments in this area since it was first introduced as a thought experiment in the mid 90's.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive

Yes in a heartbeat. Total no-brainer. i might even get to live for ever

That's the only potential upside for me. I mean I'd take the risk providing some immediate reward to humanity resulted but not to satisfy my curiosity or for the experience.

I would take the trip too.

With an apology to kids and future grandkids, who I hope would understand both the grandness of the adventure and the potential importance of the value of such a journey, I would gladly take that history making journey.

Two questions?

Can this be my future gf?

Any chance I can have more clothes? Sun's rays kinda deadly in the future, right?