Play Petals Around the Rose.

You can only be told three things: the name of the game, the fact that the answer is always even or zero, and the answer for any particular throw. If you figure it out, don't tell anyone else how, let them get it themselves. The theory is that the smarter you are, the longer it will take you to figure it out.

Play it here: http://www.borrett.wattle.id.au/computing/petals-j.htm
Read about how long it took Bill Gates to figure it out here: http://www.borrett.wattle.id.au/computing/petals-bg.htm

Figured it out in about 10 seconds before I even took the first roll. Piece of cake. Guess I'm a blithering idiot.

Interesting! The only downside is that while Rush is great, MIDI Rush is not

What was your score?

The theory is that the smarter you are, the longer it will take you to figure it out.

Maybe if "smart" means "book smart", but if you're "street smart" or have some common sense, you should figure it out within a few rolls.

Hehe, I am at work so I have the sound off. There is another version sans music at http://personal.baker.edu/web2/cdavis09/roses.html

Personally, took me like 3 or 4 minutes.

The only downside is that while Rush is great, MIDI Rush is not

Au contraire. You haven't seen Midi-Town Dreams yet.

Here is a proper MIDI file of that same song (Red Barchetta). The stuff they've collected there at that site is pretty amazing. The people they've got sequencing those songs are pretty darn amazing. One of the guys, GianFranco Fiocco, is a quadrapalegic and does everything with a mouthstick, it's absolutely amazing. By the way, that MIDI file of Red Barchetta that I linked is one of his.

They kept putting so much emphasis on the name of the game, that I just thought about what it could mean in relation to dice, then plugged that in as my first answer. It probably would have taken a while if they hadn't blown it by doing that.

Reminded me of those stupid IQ tests where they try to get to to predict the next in the series.

I thought we already did this one, maybe with a different name. I certainly remember it from the first time as having something to do with bears and a pond.

I looked at the other page and didn't get it. I looked at this one and got it before the first roll. Shrug.

This is pissing me off. I haven't figured it out yet.

- Jon

The second version ninti linked pretty much gives you the answer in the input prompt.

--Dan.

ARGH!

- Jon

hmm, I guess I'm stupid. I got it right away.

Ok, I got it. Kind of a let down when I figured it out.

- Jon

I could barely understand the completely useless interface and completely mind-numbing instructions. I must be absofrikkenlutely brilliant.

Bruno

No, it's really, really stupid. I got it after about 2 minutes. I guess I'm not too bright.

-Zeke

must be the way my brain is wired as i figured it out on the second roll of the dice, though I can see how it just wounldn't click with some poeple

Yeah. Same here. It was a bit of a "Oh. That it?" moment. Figured it out on the second go. On the first try I counted too many (Bit hard to explain what I did wrong without giving it away!)

Okay, I admit it. I cheated.

After two or three tries, I could not think of the pattern. Even thinking about the title of the game... That led me into a few other possibilities, none of which worked.

After viewing the source (yeah, I know - I am a computer engineer by training and by trade - solve the problem quickly before the users find out, then figure out what happened...), it took me a moment or two to understand how they derived the algorithm. Then, in a blinding flash (think Magicubes!) it all made sense.

Okay, so I know what the formula is, but what does it MEAN?

I mean, *I* can come up with a function that .. calculates a number .. (in case anyone's reading that hasn't figured it out. No hints here.) .. but the result number in meaningless.. Unless I missed something?

Me.

huh? I've no idea what you mean

(ive tried to write this without giving away the secret. i dont think ive given any more information than has been given on the sites above. but, if youd rather not potentially have me spoil it, i advise you to not read this)





we did something like this in math class in 9th grade.
it wasnt the same name. i dont actually recall the name, but but the game did differ from the one being discussed in this thread. one was supposed to give two values for every dice roll. roots and petals
on a dice roll that looked like this
1 5 5 3 4

the answer would be : 14 and 10

Sheesh! It took me like 80 rolls to figure it out. I never have had much common sense though.

Yep - me too. Then I just ran it a few times to check and see whether it was just petals or whether things like two or four scored.

There was one like this a while back in Mensa magazine, in the easy puzzles section, so I'm not sure why they reckon this one should confuse smart folks.

If it was in a Mensa publication, it was probably hard because they published the wrong answer.

Does anybody find mensa puzzles not particularly difficult? This either means I'm really clever (Not too sure about this one) or the puzzles are just easy (More likely this one )

I got a Mensa puzzle calendar as a stocking stuffer last Christmas and the puzzles vary between easy and annoying. I'm no good at unscrambling words, for instance, so I miss most of those. But the best ones are the ones where the puzzle isn't defined properly so you misinterpret what you're supposed to be doing or where the answer is just wrong.

But the best ones are the ones where the puzzle isn't defined properly so you misinterpret what you're supposed to be doing or where the answer is just wrong.

Or the ones where there is a whole slew of different correct answers and they list only one.

- trs

Do you mean the ones in Mensa space, the amusing Serebriakoff tests, or the ones you get in magazines persuading you to try the Mensa tests?

Most are pretty easy, but the magazine ones are usually a doddle.

The fact that you were an early empeg adopter probably means you are one of the clever group, though