75

Friends, the contest is over! The winning number was 3, picked by R. Schumacher. Thanks everybody for joining the contest!

'ello, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, ducks and mallards, children of all ages! It is time for organizing another amazing community lottery, our beloved duck giveaway 2016! Quack!

The prize

The prize will be a lovely duck! Not a real one, I am afraid (note to self: organize another lottery with real ducks in the future), it will be a hand puppet duck:

Quack!

Lovely, isn't it?

Again, why a duck? Why not a lion?

As I mentioned in the thread linked here, I always like to provide examples with ducks when I write answers. To my surprise, the theme got a very positive feedback from the community and it spread to everybody. Of course, a lion would be better, but hey, it's free! And it's a duck! :)

Why a hand puppet?

This will be our second lottery offering a duck puppet and I still have absolutely no idea. But since I got this duck again, I thought it would be a good idea to start a contest! :)

Rules

Rules from last lottery still apply:

  • To win the duck you must guess a number in the range 1-200. The first person who guesses the right number gets the duck.

  • Contestants may submit 2 valid guesses.

  • Please post your guess as an answer to this meta question, not as a comment.

  • Contestants must have been a member of TeX.sx before 1 March, 2016.

Two additional mentions:

  • If two or more people choose the same number, only the oldest entry will be considered. The other guesses will be automatically disqualified.

  • If you win the contest, I will need your real name and address for shipping and customs purposes (you can contact me through email, so only I will have privileged access). If you seek anonymity, we advise you to not enter this contest.

Please don't forget to edit the punch card with your numbers.


The lottery

As seen in the last lottery, I'll use the following code to pick the winner (special thanks to the awesome LaTeX Project for LaTeX3):

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}

\usepackage{expl3}
\usepackage{xparse}

\usepackage{pgf}
\pgfmathsetseed{\number\pdfrandomseed}

\ExplSyntaxOn

\prop_new:N \g_duck_contest_prop
\int_new:N \g_duck_contest_upper_limit_int
\bool_new:N \l_duck_contest_winner_bool
\bool_set_false:N \l_duck_contest_winner_bool
\tl_new:N \l_duck_contest_winner_tl
\int_new:N \l_duck_contest_winning_number_int

\NewDocumentCommand { \person } { m m }
{
    \clist_map_inline:nn { #1 }
    {
        \prop_if_in:NnTF \g_duck_contest_prop { ##1 }
        {
            Hey! ~ #2 ~ wants ~ to ~ be ~ naughty! ~
            The ~ number ~ ##1 ~ was ~ already ~ chosen! \par
        }
        {
            \prop_gput:Nnn \g_duck_contest_prop { ##1 } { #2 }
            \int_gset:Nn \g_duck_contest_upper_limit_int
            {
                \int_max:nn { \g_duck_contest_upper_limit_int } { ##1 }
            }
        }
    }
}

\NewDocumentCommand{ \winner } { }
{
    \bool_do_until:Nn \l_duck_contest_winner_bool
    {
        \pgfmathrandom{1, \g_duck_contest_upper_limit_int}
        \prop_get:NoN \g_duck_contest_prop { \pgfmathresult } \l_duck_contest_winner_tl
        \quark_if_no_value:NF \l_duck_contest_winner_tl
        {
            \bool_set_true:N \l_duck_contest_winner_bool
        }
    }
    \int_set_eq:NN \l_duck_contest_winning_number_int \pgfmathresult
    \l_duck_contest_winner_tl
}

\cs_generate_variant:Nn \prop_get:NnN { No }

\NewDocumentCommand{ \winningnumber } { }
{
    \int_to_arabic:n \l_duck_contest_winning_number_int
}

\ExplSyntaxOff

\begin{document}

% add yourself here
% ==============================
% For example, in the following line
% I picked 1 and 27, but I'm not
% participating in the contest :)
% \person{1,27}{Paulo Cereda}
\person{5,29}{Ulrike Fischer}
\person{42,108}{Christian Hupfer}
\person{0,201}{David Carlisle}
\person{1,200}{egreg}
\person{88,97}{yo'}
\person{6,28}{Matsmath}
\person{17,23}{Martin Schröder}
\person{13,111}{cfr}
\person{50,150}{Werner}
\person{199,91}{Kurt}
\person{133,55}{Arun Debray}
\person{123,132}{A Feldman}
\person{2,198}{Peter Grill}
\person{52,190}{Paul Gaborit}
\person{7,70}{Henri Menke}
\person{8,63}{Ignasi}
\person{84,157}{Sigur}
\person{18,67}{EngBIRD}
\person{131,68}{percusse}
\person{119,120}{Marijn}
\person{101,102}{runartrollet}
\person{80,112}{Alan Munn}
\person{113,86}{barbara beeton}
\person{3,197}{R.\ Schumacher}
\person{16,109}{Przemysław Scherwentke}
\person{64,144}{Mico}
\person{57,167}{ppr}
\person{4,76}{René B.\ Christensen}
\person{161,33}{Rmano}
\person{26}{Davïd} % pick another number
\person{22,171}{Claudio Fiandrino}
\person{9,11}{marczellm}
\person{39,196}{ebo}
\person{19,99}{Alenanno}
\person{187,115}{JP-Ellis}
\person{125,147}{silvascientist}
\person{128,32}{Mathias711}
\person{191,192}{azetina}
\person{41,43}{jknappen}
%\person{31,62}{Emre} % user does not meet criteria
\person{122,175}{mvkorpel}
\person{48,53}{martin}
%\person{53,187}{Penbeuz} % both numbers were taken
\person{69,96}{Saravana Kumar}
\person{38,77}{daleif}
\person{142,184}{Romain Picot}
\person{10,100}{Kevin}
\person{179,40}{carnendil}
\person{21,12}{Jon Mark Perry}
\person{92,90}{Canageek}
\person{93,105}{Ethan Bolker}
\person{167,103}{Saz} % 167 was taken
\person{20,46}{Vadim}
\person{83,98}{MattAllegro}
\person{165,166}{Douba}
\person{31,118}{ArTourter}
\person{121,141}{Azor-Ahai}
\person{74,193}{Diaa Abidou}
\person{51,127}{rekire}
\person{24,89}{Thoge}
\person{135,155}{jat255}
\person{61,172}{Kevin}
\person{37,73}{John}
\person{65,47}{Matthew Leingang}
\person{178,15}{Fran}
\person{54,154}{Calvin Khor}
\person{49,81}{Peter LeFanu Lumsdaine}
\person{168,169}{Oxinabox}
\person{164,45}{Habi}
\person{14,25}{Jake}
%\person{2,25}{Xylius} % user does not meet criteria
\person{136,58}{jaam}
\person{85,100}{SHY.John} % 100 was taken
\person{36,153}{wipet}
\person{137,170}{Earthliŋ}
\person{27,71}{FvD}
\person{129,134}{Andreï Kostyrka}
\person{82,195}{Kumaresh}
\person{35,78}{Akiiino}
\person{186,177}{Mostly Harmless}
\person{181,182}{biozic}
\person{126}{Shane} % pick another number
\person{72,79}{Alvaro Carril}
\person{173,107}{TobiO}
%\person{106,107}{pfuhlert} % user does not meet criteria
\person{30,34}{Kurt Pfeifle}
\person{87,116}{Jason Zentz}
\person{114,56}{Brydon Gibson}
%\person{17,89}{René G} % both taken
\person{163,145}{Eridan}
\person{66,110}{JCSalomon}
% ==============================

% the announcement
The winner is \winner, with \winningnumber! Congratulations!

\end{document}

I will run this code with all the contestants, post a video of it and announce the winner. The "accepted answer" in this thread will reflect the winning number.

The date

Hopefully, I will get the code running on July 1, 2016 (Friday), and announce the winner. There will be enough time for guessing the numbers!

Good luck! And by the way, welcome to TeX.sx, the friendliest and most awesome community in the whole StackExchange network! They give us hats, right? We give ducks! Quack! :)


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|044|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|058|059|060|
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|◖■◗|062|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|075|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|094|095|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|104|◖■◗|106|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|117|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|124|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|130|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|138|139|140|
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|◖■◗|◖■◗|143|◖■◗|◖■◗|146|◖■◗|148|149|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|156|◖■◗|158|159|160|
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|◖■◗|162|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|174|◖■◗|176|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|180|
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|◖■◗|◖■◗|183|◖■◗|185|◖■◗|◖■◗|188|189|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|194|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|◖■◗|
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

◖■◗

Results

The winner of the duck in this edition is R. Schumacher, and the chosen number was 3! I recorded the results in my terminal and the session is available here. Thanks everybody for joining the contest! And thanks for being part of this amazing community! Quack! :)

22
  • 13
    Me wants duck! ;-)
    – user31729
    Commented May 27, 2016 at 21:00
  • 2
    Mae angen hwyaden arna fi ... ;)
    – cfr
    Commented May 27, 2016 at 23:28
  • :'( I have been member only since April, 2016 :'( I'll have to wait till the real duck lottery :'(
    – CarLaTeX
    Commented May 29, 2016 at 5:13
  • 2
    @CarLaTeX: Oh I am so sorry to hear. But there will be other contests in which you can participate. The most important thing is that you are now part of the community. Welcome! Commented May 29, 2016 at 16:43
  • Thank you, @PauloCereda!
    – CarLaTeX
    Commented May 30, 2016 at 4:50
  • 2
    It's not letting me edit the punch card! Commented Jun 1, 2016 at 4:10
  • 2
    @silvascientist: we will update accordingly at some point, do not worry. :) Commented Jun 1, 2016 at 10:42
  • 2
    @PauloCereda: The downvote shows a bad attitude really -- (what I've read by some questions/posts here), there's not much of well-designed humorous games/contests on other SE sites. We should be glad to have this one here!
    – user31729
    Commented Jun 4, 2016 at 8:20
  • 1
    I've already got one, so I won't enter, but I can confirm it's a cute duck hand puppet :-) Commented Jun 4, 2016 at 11:53
  • @NicolaTalbot You don't think it is lonesome for its own kind, then?
    – cfr
    Commented Jun 10, 2016 at 2:09
  • 2
    @cfr It sometimes hangs out with a parrot hand puppet for a bit of company. :-) Commented Jun 10, 2016 at 9:03
  • I'd be quacking to this if i could :-)
    – Georges
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 7:29
  • The {ducks} tag has only 2 questions and 0 followers. This is a sorry state of affairs indeed.
    – onewhaleid
    Commented Jun 14, 2016 at 23:01
  • You should organise a lottery with a prize bobcat delivered via postal service (hello xkcd). Commented Jun 14, 2016 at 23:43
  • @onewhaleid: check the tag description. :) Commented Jun 22, 2016 at 14:10

89 Answers 89

1 2
3
2

164 and 45, as suggested by random.org

1
  • Thanks for joining the contest! Commented Jun 11, 2016 at 13:30
2

35 and 78. I got these numbers by asking strangers on the street, so they must be random =)

1
  • Thanks for joining the contest! Commented Jun 20, 2016 at 0:37
2

181, because it's yet another palindrome, and 182, because it sits next to a palindrome. I don't particularly like those numbers, but wait and see...

1
  • Thanks for joining the contest! Commented Jun 20, 2016 at 0:38
2

72 and 79 are luckily still available! They're my grandparent's ages and just this saturday I tried to explain to them what LaTeX is (using Paulo's wonderful answer).

2

087 and 116 — based loosely on my birth year and the year I finished my PhD.

1
  • Thanks for joining the contest! Commented Jun 24, 2016 at 23:39
2

66 & 110, because I noticed those unclaimed numbers before others.

1
  • Thanks for joining the contest! Commented Jul 1, 2016 at 10:14
1

The Oracle of Mathematica has foretold that the numbers will be either 187 or 115 :)

1
  • Thank you very much for joining the contest! Commented May 31, 2016 at 22:27
1

128 and 32! That were the first two integers that were both free, and were foretold by Python's numpy!

1
  • Thank you for joining the contest! Commented May 31, 2016 at 14:27
1

My choice: 31 and 62. I hope this is not too late.

2
  • Thank you for joining the contest! Commented Jun 2, 2016 at 11:23
  • 2
    Emre, we are in a quite sensitive situation: your profile says you are a registered member of TeX.sx since March 9, and the rules for this specific contest say participants should be registered at least in March 1. I am so sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I am afraid your entry will not be considered. But you will surely be qualified for the next contest happening in the second semester. Sorry for the trouble. Commented Jun 4, 2016 at 11:10
1

My choices are 122 and 175, chosen by random.

1
  • Thank you for joining the contest! Commented Jun 2, 2016 at 11:23
1

My choices: 48 and 53 because the sum is my reputation at writing (and they're not yet taken).

2
  • And obviously, I can't edit the punchcard yet.
    – martin
    Commented Jun 2, 2016 at 9:14
  • Thank you for joining the contest! We will edit the punchcard at some point. :) Commented Jun 2, 2016 at 11:23
1

69 and 96 ;) (Body must be at least 30 characters; I have entered whaaaat?)

1
  • Thank you for joining the contest! Commented Jun 2, 2016 at 13:02
1

38 and 77, and because the system wants me to here are some filler text ;-)

1
  • 1
    Yay, thanks for joining the contest! Commented Jun 2, 2016 at 14:17
1

142 and 184. Why? Because "Coin Coin !" :-)

2
  • Coin coin! :) Commented Jun 2, 2016 at 16:40
  • Quack quack ! :-) Commented Jun 2, 2016 at 16:41
1

okay second time lucky; 21,12 because of the album by Rush

1
  • Thank you very much for joining the contest! Commented Jun 2, 2016 at 23:13
1

I'm going to go with 92, the number of protons in Uranium, and 23, the holy number of Discordia (Because 2+3=5).

Edit: 23 is taken. I'll replace it with 90, the atomic number of Thorium.

2
  • Thank you very much for joining the contest! Commented Jun 2, 2016 at 23:13
  • or, (pace tom lehrer) thulium or thallium (but i don't know their atomic numbers). Commented Jun 3, 2016 at 19:00
1

I’ll guess 49 and 81 — two nice squares.

(And can someone with >2k rep punch the card for me, please?)

1
  • 1
    Thanks for joining the contest! Commented Jun 11, 2016 at 13:56
1

85: My birthday

100: The marks I really want in exams (and 100% always not)

4
  • 1
    Kevin has already chosen 100. sorry, not here either. Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 13:36
  • Thank you, I am so sad. =(
    – SHY.John
    Commented Jun 18, 2016 at 6:19
  • but you can choose another. look at the "punched card" at the bottom of the question to see what hasn't been chosen yet. Commented Jun 18, 2016 at 12:12
  • Will see, studying hard for exams (and using LaTeX for notetaking as well). =( \;\rightarrow\; =)
    – SHY.John
    Commented Jun 19, 2016 at 9:14
1

I choose 36 and 153. (dummy text: Body must be at least 30 characters)

1
  • Thanks for joining the contest, Petr! :) Commented Jun 14, 2016 at 10:37
1

Ducks are my favourite animal.

My guesses are 137 and 170.

2
  • 1
    Thanks for joining the contest! Commented Jun 14, 2016 at 10:38
  • 1
    Thank you for organizing it!
    – Earthliŋ
    Commented Jun 19, 2016 at 20:35
1

151 152 because my favorite numbers were taken

3
  • Thank you for joining the contest! Commented Jun 2, 2016 at 11:23
  • both already chosen (53 by martin, and 187 by JP-Ellis). please try again. Commented Jun 2, 2016 at 18:59
  • As barbara mentioned, both numbers were already taken. Could you please choose two other numbers? :) Commented Jun 11, 2016 at 13:47
1

I'll take 27 (for ASCII ESC - pressed on VIM many many times while editing LaTeX) and 71 (for ASCII G - as in Great contest!).

1
  • Thanks for joining the contest! Commented Jun 14, 2016 at 10:38
1

58, 136 (because I can) xxxxxx

3
  • sorry, 131 has already been chosen by percusse. please try again. Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 13:34
  • 058. hope it counts when said here
    – jaam
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 21:42
  • Thanks for joining the contest! I edited the question to include 058. :) Commented Jun 14, 2016 at 10:36
1

I took 177 and 186 because

  • 42, which I obviously would have taken because it is the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything, was already taken by someone else unfortunately for much less obvious reasons
  • and because they have some partly correlations with some important figures in my life
  • and because I want to win the duck.
    :-)
1
  • Yay, thanks for joining the contest! Commented Jun 20, 2016 at 0:37
1

My pick is 30 and 34. (But unfortunately I cannot edit the LaTeX file and add my \person{30,34}{Kurt Pfeifle} line, because the edit link is grayed out for me.)

If I win, I'll give the duck to whoever answers my recent question "How to get a 'thousands' separator in spreadtab (wrapping longtable)?",

2
  • Thanks for joining the contest! :) To be honest, I don't feel much comfortable of the idea of someone giving the duck away like this. I'd rather prefer if you keep the duck, if you win. I am sure your question will be well answered soon. Cheers! :) Commented Jun 22, 2016 at 15:13
  • @PauloCereda: It seems the duck is such a high-valued, precious treasure to own -- so this should be an appropriate price to pay for a high-valued answer :-) Commented Jun 22, 2016 at 21:08
1

Updating from another answer:

173 and 107 as new try

1
  • 1
    Thank you, both entries are valid! Good luck! Commented Jun 22, 2016 at 17:41
1

114 and 56. Gonna be friends with my 'talk to the duck' ducks at my desk!

Also I'm not allowed to edit the punchcard

1
  • Hello, thanks for joining the contest! Commented Jun 24, 2016 at 23:39
1

17, 89.......................................................

1
  • sadly, both numbers have already been chosen: 17 by Martin Schröder, and 89 by Thoge. please try again, first checking the "punch card" at the end of the question to see what's still available, Commented Jun 26, 2016 at 0:27
1

I am a fan of Ramanjan's Constant, e^(pi*sqrt(163)), so I will submit the number 163.

My choice of 145 has a bit more background to it. In math competitions I participate in, a perfect score is a 150, and one wrong is 145. I know that exactly one of my answers to this question will be wrong, so I am submitting the score I would get if this were a math competition and I got one question wrong.

TL;DR 145 and 163 :P

1
  • Thanks for joining the contest! Commented Jul 1, 2016 at 10:14
1 2
3

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