A quick riddler resolution during a committee meeting (!) of a short riddle: 36 houses stand in a row and collapse at times t=1,2,..,36. In addition, once a house collapses, the neighbours if still standing collapse at the next time unit. What are the shortest and longest lifespans of this row? Since a house with […]
![maximal spacing around order statistics [#2]](https://xianblog.files.wordpress.com/2018/06/riddler0106.jpeg?w=450&h=280)
The proposed solution of the riddle from the Riddler discussed here a few weeks ago is rather approximative, in that the distribution of when the n-sample is made of iid Normal variates is (a) replaced with the distribution of one arbitrary minimum and (b) the distribution of the minimum is based on an assumption of […]
![Le Monde puzzle [#1051]](https://xianblog.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/sieglemond.jpg?w=450&h=192)
A combinatoric Le Monde mathematical puzzle of limited size: When the only allowed move is to switch two balls from adjacent boxes, what is the minimal number of moves to return all balls in the above picture to their respective boxes? Same question with six boxes and 12 balls. The question is rather interesting to […]
The riddle from the Riddler for the coming weeks is extremely simple to express in mathematical terms, as it summarises into characterising the distribution of when the n-sample is made of iid Normal variates. I however had a hard time finding a result connected with this quantity since most available characterisations are for either Uniform […]
The riddle from the Riddler for the coming weeks is extremely simple to express in mathematical terms, as it summarises into characterising the distribution of when the n-sample is made of iid Normal variates. I however had a hard time finding a result connected with this quantity since most available characterisations are for either Uniform […]
The riddle from the Riddler for the coming weeks is extremely simple to express in mathematical terms, as it summarises into characterising the distribution of when the n-sample is made of iid Normal variates. I however had a hard time finding a result connected with this quantity since most available characterisations are for either Uniform […]
The riddle from the Riddler for the coming weeks is extremely simple to express in mathematical terms, as it summarises into characterising the distribution of when the n-sample is made of iid Normal variates. I however had a hard time finding a result connected with this quantity since most available characterisations are for either Uniform […]
The simple riddle of last week on The Riddler, about the minimum number of urinals needed for n men to pee if the occupation rule is to stay as far as possible from anyone there and never to stand next to another man, is quickly solved by an R code: ocupee=function(M){ ok=rep(0,M) ok[1]=ok[M]=1 ok[trunc((1+M/2))]=1 while […]
![practical Bayesian inference [book review]](https://i1.wp.com/www.mpia.de/homes/calj/pbi/cover.jpg)
[Disclaimer: I received this book of Coryn Bailer-Jones for a review in the International Statistical Review and intend to submit a revised version of this post as my review. As usual, book reviews on the ‘Og are reflecting my own definitely personal and highly subjective views on the topic!] It is always a bit of […]
An algorithmic Le Monde mathematical puzzle with a direct Alice and Bob play a game by picking alternatively one of the remaining digits between 1 and 10 and putting it in either one of two available stacks, 1 or 2. Their respective gains are the products of the piles (1 for Alice and 2 for […]
