If you simply turn the cards round so that one of the other two sides is
nearest to you this will not count as different, for the order will be
the same. Also, if you make the 4, 9, 5 change places with the 7, 3, 8,
and at the same time exchange the 1 and the 6, it will not be different.
But if you only change the 1 and the 6 it will be different, because the
order round the triangle is not the same. This explanation will prevent
any doubt arising as to the conditions.
[Illustration]
385.--"STRAND" PATIENCE.
The idea for this came to me when considering the game of Patience that
I gave in the _Strand Magazine_ for December, 1910, which has been
reprinted in Ernest Bergholt's _Second Book of Patience Games_, under
the new name of "King Albert."
Make two piles of cards as follows: 9 D, 8 S, 7 D, 6 S, 5 D, 4 S, 3 D, 2
S, 1 D, and 9 H, 8 C, 7 H, 6 C, 5 H, 4 C, 3 H, 2 C, 1 H, with the 9 of
diamonds at the bottom of one pile and the 9 of hearts at the bottom of
the other. The point is to exchange the spades with the clubs, so that
the diamonds and clubs are still in numerical order in one pile and the
hearts and spades in the other. There are four vacant spaces in addition
to the two spaces occupied by the piles, and any card may be laid on a
space, but a card can only be laid on another of the next higher
value--an ace on a two, a two on a three, and so on. Patience is
required to discover the shortest way of doing this. When there are four
vacant spaces you can pile four cards in seven moves, with only three
spaces you can pile them in nine moves, and with two spaces you cannot
pile more than two cards. When you have a grasp of these and similar
facts you will be able to remove a number of cards bodily and write down
7, 9, or whatever the number of moves may be. The gradual shortening of
play is fascinating, and first attempts are surprisingly lengthy.
386.--A TRICK WITH DICE.
[Illustration]
Here is a neat little trick with three dice. I ask you to throw the dice
without my seeing them. Then I tell you to multiply the points of the
first die by 2 and add 5; then multiply the result by 5 and add the
points of the second die; then multiply the result by 10 and add the
points of the third die. You then give me the total, and I can at once
tell you the points thrown with the three dice. How do I do it? As an
example, if you threw 1, 3, and 6, as in the illustration, the result
you would give me would be 386, from which I could at once say what you
had thrown.
387.--THE VILLAGE CRICKET MATCH.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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