A Conversation for The Myth Of 42 [(5-3+0+5) * (6+0) = 42]
If all else fails, read the instructions
Mund Started conversation Apr 24, 2001
My number is 96950, so I shuffled the digits to get
9 * 5 - (9 - 6) + 0
Easy!
Then I read the instructions - the digits have to be in order. Oops!
So I got hung up on the idea that I had to find a 7 in there somewhere, and I wandered through factorials (I keep wanting to type fractals (!)), but to no avail.
On the way round, though, I did briefly invent a notation to remove a zero from a number which happens to end in a zero. This was a cheat, and I gave it up quickly, but sneaky mathematicians might find it useful:
x /iff\(y) meaning x divided by y if and only if it divides by y
Then there came the detour into base 11, courtesy of my wife's base 11 calculator. Don't ask, or maybe do ask - if she has no objection I might write a short entry on the subject.
It still wasn't working. I contemplated writing a program to try all possible permutations of arithmetical operations on the said string of digits, but...
a) that's cheating
b) that's boring
c) I bet it's been done 42 times before
d) I'd only get bogged down in designing the most beautiful form
And then I read the instructions again...
[AT THIS POINT I HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL, BECAUSE THIS IS THE SECOND TIME I HAVE ATTEMPTED TO TELL THE STORY. THE FIRST TIME ENDED SOMEWHERE AROUND THIS POINT WHEN I STUMBLED ON THE KEYBOARD - FINGER TROUBLE, THEY CALL IT, BUT THERE ARE TIMES WHEN IT SEEMS TO BECOME MORE LIKELY. AND ALL MY WORDS DISAPPEARED AND I WAS PARACHUTED IN HALFWAY DOWN ONE OF THE DISCUSSION THREADS. TYPE CAREFULLY AND CARRY A BIG FROWN. THINGS ARE LOOKING CLEARER. I THINK WE MIGHT HAVE GOT THROUGH THE PROBLEM AREA IN SPACE/TIME.]
Subconsciously, I had still carried the digits forward in the order of my first calculation. "Of course!" I cried, the scales fell from my eyes and - FINGER TROUBLE PERMITTING - the simple solution presented itself:
(9 - 6) * (9 + 5) + 0 = 42
I'm all asweat.
Mund
If all else fails, read the instructions
Argon0 (50 and feeling it - back for a bit) Posted Apr 24, 2001
Well done Mund! 
Would you like a link?
If all else fails, read the instructions
Mund Posted Apr 25, 2001
Why not? It's always nice to be noticed.
If all else fails, read the instructions
Argon0 (50 and feeling it - back for a bit) Posted Apr 25, 2001
Done! I've put off putting this article forward for editting until end of THIS week as I keep adding new people to it. I'm thinking of adding a 2nd article as OVERFDLOW from the Myth of 42 - what do you think?
Key: Complain about this post
If all else fails, read the instructions
More Conversations for The Myth Of 42 [(5-3+0+5) * (6+0) = 42]
Write an Entry
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."