Blog Post #119: Love Whispers So Our Hearts Can Sing

Dear Readers,

“Every heart sings a song incomplete, until another heart whispers back” are deeply moving words from Plato…but the perfect heart of God is whispering lovingly to us. When we take the time to turn down the busyness and distracting noise of the world, then we can hear God whispering tenderly to guide us gently along the paths that He knows will ultimately lead us safely and joyfully home, to Heaven. This Advent is the perfect time to pause well, to listen, to hear and respond to God’s personal call to each of us.

Let Our Hearts Sing Together With Thanks To God ♥ ♪ 😊 ♪ ♥

“Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving”–Psalm 147:7

“Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord”–Ephesians 5:19

“I fine-tuned my ear to the sayings of the wise, I solve life’s riddle with the help of a harp”–Psalm 49:4, The Message Bible.

I know that I am really blessed to be teaching Mathematics in the beautiful Musica Mundi School. So, here in Blog Post #119 exactly 19 days before Christmas, I offer a selection of fresh riddles for everyone’s enjoyment.

Rearrange the letters of WISE + HARP to make A + a proper 7-letter word.

A Modern Harp has 47 strings & 7 pedals and is shaped somewhat like a number 7 😊

Congratulations for discovering that WISE + HARP = A + WHISPER !

2. The prime number 7 equals 3 squared – 2

and the prime number 47 equals 7 squared – 2.

What is the smallest positive whole number that is 2 less than the square of an odd number but is NOT prime?

3. Think of the oldest type of woodwind instrument. Remove its first letter. You now have a different musical instrument! Which one is it?

Here in this blog post, it’s nice that 119 is the answer to the second puzzle, above. 11 squared – 2 = 121 – 2 =119. It might plausibly ‘look’ prime at first sight, but it’s actually a composite number since 119 = 7 x 17.

4. Q: How can you get the most beautiful music ever?

A: Compose it!

Q: Make a proper nine-letter word using all the letters of COMPOSE IT.

A: 119 is a clue; it’s COMPOSITE! 😊

5. Can I rely on you to think of a musical instrument that is an anagram of RELY !?

I would like to round off now by wishing everyone a very happy period of Advent leading to a joyful Christmas coming soon.

With kindest wishes as always,

Paul M😊twani xxx

Michael wrote down the total number of dots on all the faces of the dice *except for the bottom*. I wrote down the total number of dots on *just the top and bottom* faces. What is the correct result for Michael’s number *multiplied by* my number?

Congratulations for figuring out 17 x 7 = 119, a fun finish to Blog Post #119 😊

Author: Paul A. Motwani

My name is Paul Motwani, but my colleagues, my students and their parents mostly call me "Mr. Mo"! My middle initial, A, stands for Anthony, because I was born on the official feast day of St. Anthony of Padua, the patron saint of miracles and of lost souls. I love teaching Mathematics and Chess, and giving fun-packed talks and shows in schools and clubs. The popular ingredients of Math, Chess, Mystery and Magic are my "Fantastic Four", and I give prizes too! I am an International Chess Grandmaster, and (loooooong ago!) I was the World Under-17 Champion. I am the author of five published chess books and hundreds of newspaper articles. I live with my wonderful wife and son in Belgium. I also love music, movies and puzzles. I blog at paulmotwani.com. My e-mail address is pmotwani141@gmail.com. You can find me on Facebook, too. View all posts by Paul A. Motwani