Dear Readers,
As my previous post was given on February 6, it was just slightly tempting from a mathematical point of view to wait until we had had February 7, 8, 9 and 10 before publishing Blog Post #34=7+8+9+10, but love will always be far more important than logic, and we should never wait until tomorrow to kindly offer the good that we could give today.
NORWAY TODAY BRAINTEASER
Which two letters (apart from Y) do NORWAY and TODAY have in common?
Remove just those two letters from LOVING DAY.
Rearrange the remaining seven letters (of LOVING DAY) to make a lovely seven-letter Norwegian first name beginning with Y. (It is a female first name.)
If you’re Norwegian, that puzzle was probably much easier for you than for others, who might have had to research a bit to figure out the answer YNGVILD, after removing O and A from LOVING DAY.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISHES, TODAY FOR TOMORROW, YNGVILD!
Tomorrow, 10 February, is the birthday of Yngvild, the wife and mother in a lovely Norwegian family who are among my good friends. Please join with me in wishing Yngvild a wonderful, happy birthday by enjoying the following super-fun sequence designed especially for her.
- Choose any number at all, that you like
- As we’re sharing now in February, divide your chosen number by 2
- Multiply what you now have by today’s blog post number, 34
- Multiply what you now have by my favourite number, 3
- To emphasize sharing and love, divide what you now have by the number of letters in LOVES
- Divide what you now have by the number you chose at the very start
The final result is to wish Yngvild a brilliant birthday tomorrow, 10.2
=10 February.
THINKING OF TONY
Though my middle name is Anthony, right now I am more thinking of Tony, a friend in Dundee who has an important meeting tomorrow. Lots of friends will be thinking of you, dear Tony.
Tony, always a kind and supportive friend to others, is on my immediate left in the photo above, from January 1979.
BLOG POST 34 CHECKMATE: DO WE NEED 3 MOVES, OR 4?
From the given position, does White (to play) need 3 moves, or 4, to force checkmate?
HALVES OF EIGHT, JOKE/RIDDLE!
Q: What do you have if you add three different halves of 8 together!!?
A: 4 (traditional half of 8) +3 (vertical slicing) + 0 (horizontal slicing) = 7.
PUZZLE SOLUTIONS (other than ones already given earlier)
BLOG POST 34 CHECKMATE: DO WE NEED 3 MOVES, OR 4?
White could of course win in 4 moves with 1 Qg6+ Kh8 2 Qxh6+ Qh7 3 Qf6+ Qg7 4 Qxg7#, but an alternative forced and quicker way is 1 Rg6!!, intending 2 Rxh6+ and 3 Rh8#.
To finish, please enjoy via the link below a beautiful piece of James Bond music lasting not more than 24 x 007 seconds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8ONwQaC-YA
Paul Motwani 