Comments (15)

1. Um, isn’t the solution 17 not 13?

   posted by Chris on 8-18-2009 at 8:25 am

2. You totally lost me, Sandy. I gotta think more like you when trying to solve these things.
   BTW – @ Chris – Thirteen has an “I”.

   posted by SlackJack on 8-18-2009 at 9:16 am

3. Not Chris’ fault, SJ; the original text of the answer spelled out “seventeen” but had “13″ as the number, and that was my keying error.

   And please don’t try to think like me. I wouldn’t wish that ability on my worst enemy.

   posted by Sandy Wood on 8-18-2009 at 9:35 am

4. 3 + 7 = 10, 3 + 8 = 11, 3 + 9 = 12, so wouldn’t it make sense that 13 be the next number since 3 + 10 = 13?

   posted by Doug on 8-18-2009 at 10:06 am

5. Good thought, Doug, but it doesn’t quite solve the puzzle.

   Using your formula, 13 could be the “next” number, yes, but we asked for the “final” number in the sequence. So the answer would be a single number that has something in common with the numbers already given.

   If you added 3+7, 3+8, 3+9 and 3+10, there’d be no reason not to continue with 3+11, 3+12 and so on.

   posted by Sandy Wood on 8-18-2009 at 10:33 am

6. Good thought Sandy, but doesn’t “twenty” count? (Not treating ‘w’ and ‘y’ as pseudo-vowels.)

   posted by Jonathan on 8-18-2009 at 10:51 am

7. Good thought, Jonathan. ;) I considered that, but “y” really is a vowel in both “twenty” and “seventy.”

   Besides, there was no way to say “we consider Y a vowel” in the preface without giving away the answer. I would have done so if it were possible!

   posted by Sandy Wood on 8-18-2009 at 11:05 am

8. i’m slow, how and why is ‘y’ considered a vowel?

   posted by dillon on 8-18-2009 at 1:41 pm

9. @Doug- How does 7 fit in the list then? By your formula, it would go (3+0), (3+4), (3+7), etc. So there would be no formula.

   @Dillon- Think words like “my” and “sly”.

   posted by Ethan on 8-18-2009 at 2:01 pm

10. What do you mean only numbers with e as the only vowel? What about Twenty? Twenty three etc.

    posted by Matt Allcorn on 8-18-2009 at 3:01 pm

11. @Ethan, thanks I get the idea

    posted by dillon on 8-18-2009 at 3:19 pm

12. Ethan’s right. The rule of thumb is that vowels are “A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y.”

    In certain words, “y” is considered a vowel. The easiest way to tell is if the letter “y” makes a vowel sound in the word. In both “twenty” and “seventy,” the “y” sounds like an “e” – so in those words, “y” would be considered a vowel.

    In words like “yesterday,” where “y” does not make a vowel sound, it’s a consonant.

    posted by Sandy Wood on 8-18-2009 at 4:03 pm

13. The answer is 42.

    If x is a given number on the list, and y is the next consecutive number on the list, the numbers can be generated with the following polynomial formula:

    y = (1/5(x^5))-(23/8(x^4))+(187/12(x^3))-(321/8(x^2))+(3133/60x)-22

    posted by gmsc on 8-18-2009 at 4:39 pm

14. The solution’s context had less to do with the mathematical relationship of the numbers and more to do with the vowel availability of the number’s text?

    posted by anonymous on 8-18-2009 at 4:43 pm

15. I got schfourteen-teen

    posted by Travis on 8-24-2009 at 5:17 pm

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