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Today Puzzle #739

Puzzle No. 739 – Thursday 14 May 2020

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is getting a 2020 re-imagining during the coronavirus outbreak. Jeremy Irons, Tilda Swinton and Hilary Mantel are lending their voices to read the poem over a period of 40 days. The poem has 150 verses and they will read either 3 or 4 verses on each day. If I tune in on a random day what is the chance that I'll get to hear 4 verses?

Today’s #PuzzleForToday has been set by Dr Shaun Fitzgerald, Fellow of Girton College

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150 verses are comprised of x days with 4 verses and y days with 3 verses. 4x + 3y =150. Also x + y = 40. Substituting y=40-x into (4x+3y=150) we find that (4x +120-3x=150), so x=30. 30 days out of 40 you will hear 4 verses so the chance is 30/40=75%.

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