by GarySutherland » Wed Jan 18, 2006 3:02 pm
OK, some of you have sussed that the computer isn't really reading your mind and that there is some trick to it. Some of you have even worked out how it works, or so you say.
Well, yes there is a trick and here's how it works...
Regardless of which 2-digit number you choose, after you've subtracted the sum of its component digits the range of results you can get is strictly limited to numbers in the series 09, 18, 27, 36, 45, 54, 63, 72 and 81.
None of the other numbers on the chart can be reached by following the calculation in the puzzle. Try it and see.
It's then a simple job for the computer to choose a symbol at random and make sure that those numbers in the series are all given that symbol when it's drawing the chart; the other numbers are given a random symbol which acts to camouflage the patter.
It's still a pretty good puzzle though.
Cheers
Gary