Posts

Showing posts from December, 2014

Library hours

Happy holidays, everyone! The library will be closed from December 20, 2014 until January 4, 2015. Enjoy your winter break; we know we will!

And the winners are...

Image
We received many responses to the last Mathville puzzle. From all the correct responses, 10 winners were drawn randomly. There are two first places, four second places, and four third places. The winners of The Advertising Executive puzzle are: 1st place ($30 gift card to the bookstore) Paula Woods Miranda Elliott Rader 2nd place ($15 gift card to The Mermaid Cafe) Robert Porter Tess Meadows Brian Quinlan Ashley London 3rd place (a big Hershey's milk chocolate bar) Michelle Stanislaus Veronica Deighan Sarah Dolan Matthew Jordan And now the answer to the puzzle The question was:  If Joachimsthal's Notations Office is assigned to the seventh slot, then which of the following MUST be assigned to the fifth slot? The answer is: Keith Numbers, Attorney at Law (choice E) MUST be placed in the 5th slot. We start by placing Joachimsthal's Notations Office in the 7th slot.  Next we place Fibonacci's and Hypercube in the fourth slot. But Hypercube c

Library showcase: A Season of Giving

Image
Source: Pixabay Thanksgiving has come and now that even the leftovers are gone, most of us are eagerly looking forward to the winter holidays! We often think of this time of year as a season of holiday parties, festive decorations, and shopping, but it can also be a season of giving. The holidays are a great time to volunteer, help out at a charity event, or give a donation to a non-profit organization. Amid the commercialism of our modern Christmas traditions, let's strive to practice principles of generosity and compassion. For a great book on the importance of giving, check out Showing Up For Life: Thoughts on the Gifts of a Lifetime by Bill Gates Sr., or Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World by Bill Clinton. Discover how even a single person can make a world of difference through the inspiring stories of visionary humanitarians in The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World by Jacqueline Novogratz, Leaving Microsoft to Ch

Mathville puzzles: the advertising executive

Image
Aliquot Part is an advertising executive with Abelian Group Advertising, located at 31416 Adams Circle in Mathville. Mr. Part is in charge of scheduling the commercial breaks for the show Chain Rule , a top rated TV show in Mathville. For the first commercial break there are seven slots available for advertisements. These slots are numbered 1 through 7, in the order in which they will be aired. Mr. Part has lined up the following commercials to air during the first commercial break: Bary Center Housewares Cantor's Point Realty Data Structure Computers Fibonacci's Italian Restaurant Hypercube Builders Joachimstahl's Notations Office Store Keith Numbers, Attorney at Law Mr. Part must schedule only one commercial per time slot, and the arrangement of the spots is subject to the following rules: (1)The Bary Center Housewares and Data Structure Computers commercials must occupy consecutive time slots. (2)The Bary Center Housewares commercial must be aired du

And the winners are...

Image
Mrs. Blivet's final exam turned out to be quite challenging for non-Mathvillians. None of the respondents got all the questions right, so Mrs. Blivet threw out one question, and this yielded 4 qualifying entries, with 7 responses each. One first place and 3 second places were drawn randomly from these entries. The winners are: Peter Kleeman -- $30 gift certificate to the PVCC bookstore. Seth McElroy -- $15 gift certificate to the Mermaid cart. Robert Porter -- $15 gift certificate to the Mermaid cart. Alexander Mertz -- $15 gift certificate to the Mermaid cart. Winners must pick up their prizes at the library by December 5th at 4 p.m. And now for the answers to all eight questions. What USA state is surrounded by the most water? Hawaii. The clue is in the question. "Surrounded" means "all around." Only Hawaii has water all around. You have only one match. You enter a dark room in which there are an oil lamp, a wood burning stove, and a cand