71

I am organising a lottery and Springer have kindly agreed to donate two copies of LaTeX and Friends.

The lottery closes when the judge (I) announces the winners. The judge's decision is final and there shall be no discussion and or correspondence about the outcome of the lottery.

To win the book you must guess a number in the range 1--200 and post it as an answer to this question. The first person who guesses the right number wins the book. Please note that the time of arrival in TeX-SX is what counts, not the time of sending.

To give everybody a fair chance, you may post only two numbers.

There is one exception to the previous rule. If several contestants guess the same number, the contestant whose guess arrived first is valid. The other contestants may post a new number.

Contestants must have been a member of TeX-SX before 1 December, 2016. (Without this restriction, people may start creating fake accounts and submit multiple guesses.)

Please post your guesses as an answer to this meta question; not as a comment. Comments will be ignored. Please only put your guess in the body of the answer.

Guesses will be checked every couple of days and the winner will be announced within a few days after.

The winners must send me a delivery address for the book to my personal email address. I shall keep these addresses private. If a winner wants to have their book signed, I can do so at their request.

The following numbers have been taken (numbers marked with ●●● are already chosen):

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|020|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|034|035|●●●|●●●|●●●|039|040|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|046|●●●|●●●|049|050|●●●|●●●|●●●|054|●●●|056|●●●|058|059|●●●|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|●●●|062|●●●|●●●|065|●●●|●●●|068|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|074|075|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|080|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|●●●|082|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|092|●●●|●●●|●●●|096|●●●|●●●|●●●|100|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|●●●|102|103|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|114|●●●|●●●|●●●|118|●●●|120|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|●●●|122|●●●|124|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|138|●●●|●●●|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|145|●●●|●●●|148|●●●|150|●●●|●●●|153|●●●|●●●|●●●|157|158|159|160|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|161|●●●|163|164|●●●|●●●|167|●●●|●●●|170|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|176|●●●|178|●●●|●●●|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|●●●|182|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|190|●●●|●●●|193|●●●|195|196|●●●|●●●|●●●|●●●|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EDIT: This is not getting anywhere. All guesses are wrong so far:( From 18 December, 21:14 GMT on, everybody is allowed to submit up to two guesses.

EDIT: 48 was one of the winning numbers. Congratulations to Torbjørn. One more number to go.

EDIT: We're almost there. Only one guess has been right so far:( From 22 December, 11:49 GMT, 2016 on, each (valid) contestant (see above for rules) is allowed to submit up to three guesses.

EDIT: 124 was the second winning number. Congratulations to Ryan. End of lottery.

13
  • Thanks for moving this to Meta to @JosephWright. I should have put it there in the first place.
    – user10274
    Dec 12, 2016 at 16:36
  • »Comments will be ignored.« ;( Dec 12, 2016 at 20:35
  • Thanks to @paulocereda. Didn't understand the system. Makes much more sense this way as you don't have guess when crossing out a number.
    – user10274
    Dec 13, 2016 at 10:40
  • 1
    Do I have to punch out the number myself? - Ah, I even cannot click Edit.
    – mhchem
    Dec 13, 2016 at 12:57
  • @mhchem If you can't do it, somebody will do it for you. It depends how much reputation you have ;).
    – cfr
    Dec 13, 2016 at 17:54
  • 2
    How is it possible, that this question has 80 answers, but only 25 upvotes??? Dec 16, 2016 at 10:51
  • @samcarter They were too busy in finding a random number to remember to upvote the question :)
    – CarLaTeX
    Dec 18, 2016 at 8:21
  • 1
    @CarLaTeX Ah, that's a comforting explanation! Dec 18, 2016 at 11:03
  • 4
    @MarcvanDongen Many thanks to you and to Springer for the chance! :)
    – cxw
    Dec 20, 2016 at 15:31
  • Congratulations to the winners! Thank you Springer for sponsoring. Thanks everyone for your great work!
    – Jan
    Dec 21, 2016 at 8:31
  • @cwx Thanks and thanks to everybody for participating.
    – user10274
    Dec 21, 2016 at 13:09
  • 7
    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because people won :)
    – percusse
    Dec 22, 2016 at 12:07
  • @percusse I second that motion.
    – user10274
    Dec 22, 2016 at 13:20

123 Answers 123

1
2 3 4 5
15

117

import numpy as np
print(np.random.randint(1,200))

Second guess:

48

4
  • 5
    Damn, didn't read the docs properly, that should have been (1,201). But whatever. Dec 12, 2016 at 14:13
  • The punched card squad says: number punched! Dec 13, 2016 at 10:16
  • Thanks to @PauloCereda for acting as the punch squad. Without the punching I would not have noticed this winning number. Congratulations. Please send me your snail mail details and I'll post a copy of the book as soon as I have it. Do you want to have it signed?
    – user10274
    Dec 19, 2016 at 11:53
  • 1
    @MarcvanDongen I won? Awesome! Will send an email to your UCC email address with snail mail details. Thanks a lot! Dec 19, 2016 at 11:57
8

9

because it's the smallest prime number

Edit:

Second guess -> 27

For random reasons :)

9
  • 10
    I don't think 9 is a prime number, :)
    – CarLaTeX
    Dec 13, 2016 at 7:31
  • The punched card squad says: number punched! Dec 13, 2016 at 10:16
  • 1
    Also 27 punched!
    – CarLaTeX
    Dec 19, 2016 at 6:59
  • Does this mean I have to choose another?
    – abyshukla
    Dec 19, 2016 at 7:00
  • No, 27 is correct, I've punched it in the punch card, in this way other people can see that it's been already chosen (by you)!
    – CarLaTeX
    Dec 19, 2016 at 7:03
  • Thank you. You see, its not easy locating prime numbers these days...
    – abyshukla
    Dec 19, 2016 at 7:04
  • I'm wondering what is your definition of prime numbers... :)
    – CarLaTeX
    Dec 19, 2016 at 7:09
  • It easy!! Every number is a prime number unless, its divisor is found...
    – abyshukla
    Dec 19, 2016 at 7:15
  • Then, while you call 9 and 27 prime? They are both power of 3!
    – CarLaTeX
    Dec 19, 2016 at 7:18
6

Yay, a book! :)

I will go with 200 because I have no idea why! Also, ducks are very good at picking random numbers! :)

Thanks for the contest, Marc!

1
  • 5
    The punched card squad says: number punched! Also, ducks should not enter such contests, as they tend to win all the time! Dec 13, 2016 at 10:18
6

Thank you very much for organizing this lottery. Here is my guess:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{pgfmath}
\begin{document}
    The random number I choose is
    \pgfmathparse{int(rnd*199+1)}\pgfmathresult.
\end{document}

The random number I choose is 192.

Edit: As a second guess is allowed from now on, I had to recompile a couple of times until I got a second valid guess:

The random number I choose is 155.

4

12!

(Today is 12th of the 12th. Question was posted "12 hours ago", as I type......)

Thanks!

2
  • 1
    One minute later and it would have been 12 o'clock in some timezone. Dec 12, 2016 at 23:58
  • The punched card squad says: number punched! Dec 13, 2016 at 10:19
4

I originally went for ●●●, but as that has gone I decided to go for 86 instead.

(Note to the punch-card squad: you're too slow, I got there first.)

1
  • The punched card squad says: oh no! :) Dec 16, 2016 at 8:40
4

i'll spring for this. my guess is 113. thanks for the opportunity.

since you've opened it up to two guesses, i'll add a second -- 76.

third try: 031.

1
  • The punched card squad says: number punched! Dec 13, 2016 at 10:17
4
010

Would you like to make me happy? Give me a book!

Second chance:

110

Third choice:

030
1
  • 1
    The punched card squad says: number punched! Dec 13, 2016 at 10:20
4

The winning numbers were 48 and 124. They were generated by the following Java program.

  import java.util.Random;

  public class Lottery2016 {
      public static void main( String[] args ) {
          final long SEED = 123456;
          final Random rand = new Random( SEED );

          final int fst = 1 + rand.nextInt( 200 );
          final int snd = 1 + rand.nextInt( 200 );

          System.out.println( "First winninng number is:  " + fst );
          System.out.println( "Second winninng number is: " + snd );
      }
  }

Of course I apologise for not having generated the numbers with LaTeX or TeX.

1
  • The reason of closing your question makes smile on my face: "This question does not appear to be about TeX - LaTeX Stack Exchange or the software that powers the Stack Exchange network within the scope defined in the help center. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question." :-) Dec 26, 2016 at 14:18
3

It's a great book! My guess is 22.

1
  • The punched card squad says: number punched! Dec 13, 2016 at 10:18
3

Let's guess 23, free lunch! (if a book were lunch)

1
  • The punched card squad says: number punched! Dec 13, 2016 at 10:17
3

184 for me please

sample(1:200,1)
[1] 184
1
  • The punched card squad says: number punched! Dec 13, 2016 at 10:17
3

Here was my algorithm for choosing a number: I looked for a book in my office that had a bookmark in it. First I picked up Dretske's Knowledge and the Flow of Information but the bookmark was at p.214. Damn. Then I found Stalnaker's Inquiry with its bookmark at p.90. So:

90
1
  • The punched card squad says: number punched! Dec 13, 2016 at 10:16
3

135 Just an odd number chosen at random (also the combo for my bike lock in the previous millennium!)

1
  • The punched card squad says: number punched! Dec 13, 2016 at 10:18
3

I am really interested and hope I win this time ;)

My lucky number would be 21 and I hope that not the bank wins...

1
  • The punched card squad says: number punched! Dec 13, 2016 at 10:19
3

53 is my guess.

Thanks for the opportunity, Marc!

1
  • 1
    The punched card squad says: number punched! Dec 13, 2016 at 10:18
3

144, because Fibonacci.

1
  • The punched card squad says: number punched! Dec 13, 2016 at 10:16
3

OK. I don't understand how punch cards work in this question as opposed to the duck one and am very confused.

Anyway, I guess

13

I have my reasons.

6
  • I also don't understand punch cards. I just copied and pasted the text from the reference suggested by @percusse. I must be doing something wrong.
    – user10274
    Dec 13, 2016 at 6:57
  • 3
    @MarcvanDongen and @cfr: don't worry, friends! I fixed the table, hopefully. :) Dec 13, 2016 at 10:13
  • The punched card squad says: number punched! Dec 13, 2016 at 10:16
  • 2
    @cfr: ducks are very good with punched card technology and table organization! Also, ducks are highly prolific at picking random numbers! :) Dec 13, 2016 at 10:26
  • @PauloCereda Hwyaden to the rescue! Thank you! I really messed the punch card up .... I did undo my mess, though.
    – cfr
    Dec 13, 2016 at 17:50
  • 1
    @MarcvanDongen Well everybody else understood OK. I just expected it to work the way it has worked in other cases i.e. when you take a number, it is punched out and replaced by holes. But then it seemed every number remaining was already taken. So I assumed none were left .... So I guessed i so I could imagine entering. But then I realised there weren't enough answers for all the numbers to be gone.
    – cfr
    Dec 13, 2016 at 17:52
3

I'll submit 173 as my answer. Just getting to thirty characters.

1
  • The punched card squad says: number punched! Dec 13, 2016 at 10:20
3

14, one plus the previous answer.

1
  • The punched card squad says: number punched! Dec 13, 2016 at 10:19
3

I'll guess one (1), because you gotta start somewhere.

1
  • The punched card squad says: number punched! Dec 13, 2016 at 10:17
3

I'll guess 78 because encrypted.google.com

3
  • The punched card squad says: number punched! Dec 13, 2016 at 10:19
  • Also, this bloke is playing croquet on a dinosaur! :) Dec 13, 2016 at 10:23
  • @paulo Ya lol, I use a browser that still has that as default. I have to change it... Dec 13, 2016 at 17:16
3

77 and 179 (since we are now allowed two guesses).

3
  • The punched card squad says: number punched! Dec 13, 2016 at 10:18
  • @PauloCereda: Added new guess. What do I need to do to puch the number (so I can save you some work next time)? Dec 19, 2016 at 2:44
  • To punch the number you simply have to edit the question but I've already done it for you. Good luck!
    – CarLaTeX
    Dec 19, 2016 at 6:38
3

175

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Concerto_No.5(Mozart)

Second choice:

15

Opus number of Beethoven's first piano concerto now playing

1
  • The punched card squad says: number punched! Dec 13, 2016 at 10:17
3

33 please. Good luck everyone.

Second guess: 180.

3

Thanks a lot for doing this lottery!

My guess is 42, but I need a more characters to submit this answer ....

My second guess is 142.

And my third guess is 129.

3
2

I choose 105: my present reputation modulo 200.

2

My choice is 174 because it's my sons height

2

191

The largest Sofie Germain prime less than 201.

1
2

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=random+number+between+0+and+200

Result:
45

Edit: And the second guess from wolfram:

Result:
88
1
  • Number punched!
    – CarLaTeX
    Dec 19, 2016 at 6:39
1
2 3 4 5