h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Was he writing in the sky? In an airplane in smoke?
If so, I don't quite know how he was disturbed (other than an extreme form of disturbance, by someone crashing in to his plane).

Correct - the answer I had was:
"He was a skywriter whose plane crashed into another plane..."
Your post

At your local hardware store, you can buy candles in boxes of 6, 9 or 20. What is the largest number of candles that you cannot buy in combinations of complete boxes?

34?

36?

sorry, I meant 35

No Patches and czardene, there is a larger number that cannot be purchased.

Surely there's no upper bound on the largest number? We could be talking something in the billions here. Or infinity even.


Geggs

it's the highest prime number, isn't it?

or maybe it's 1081. a multiplication of 6, 9 and 20, plus 1.

Or 1082. That's the multiple add 2.

Or 1084. That's the multiple add 4.

Geggs

1085, the multple add 5.

It doesn't even have to be prime. Just not divisible by 3 or 20. Could be pretty much anything.

This one seems as if the answer can be infinite.

The answer is not infinite. The higher the number that you think about, the more chance that it can be achieved by a combination of 6, 9 or 20 in a box.
As a clue, the number is higher than 35 (as guessed previously), but less than 100.

It is - I think - 43???

Having just tried it out in Excel I see what you mean.

43, then.


Geggs

That's rather funny, considering it's here in hootoo. (42?)

Correct PBS - it is 43.

Your go.

Actually I spent longer trying to make sure that I hadn't made a mistake and thet the answer should be 42 not 43, than solving the problem in the first place.

OK then

A woman is dead on an island and there is nothing else on the island with her. How did she die?