δ
Average of a, b, and c, plus the product of the roots of the quadratic ax2+bx+c=0.
a = Number of Beatles songs whose titles can be heard on the White Album, excluding “Revolution 9”, and not including titles to songs contained in their own lyrics, minus the number of tracks on the White Albun, plus the number repeated at the beginning of “Revolution 9”.
b = Year which can be found in the Webster’s Third entry for the anagram of the addendum to the name of my first contest.
c = Year of birth of the palindromically-surnamed author of an anagram of ANAGRAMS.
Comments
Is the anagram mentioned in part B a single word?
Posted by: Alan Lemm | Nov 6, 2006 6:08:32 PM
Perhaps, perhaps not, but it is a headword in Webster's Third.
Posted by: Will Nediger | Nov 6, 2006 8:44:41 PM
I'm getting some conflict on C. What source are you using for your answer? I think I know what it should be, but Wikipedia and other sources are giving me a different answer.
Posted by: Alan Lemm | Nov 7, 2006 12:04:44 AM
The digital root of the year should be 2.
Posted by: Will Nediger | Nov 7, 2006 4:42:10 PM
Good. That means I have the right answer.
Posted by: Alan Lemm | Nov 7, 2006 6:10:03 PM
Whoa!
I have a palindromic named author of the anagram of anagrams. The year of the author's birth (using either of the two possibilities I have found cited) does NOT have a digital root of 2!
Posted by: Paula | Nov 8, 2006 9:06:07 AM
OK - I found a third year referenced by another cite that works. I'll use that. I wonder which sources are most accurate and why there is such a big difference.
Posted by: Paula | Nov 8, 2006 9:12:44 AM
Could I get a definition of a "Beatles song"? I know it's nitpicky, but I have found lists of anywhere from ~190 to ~300 "Beatles songs" in my searches. Is there an "official" list? Are "Beatles songs" only those that were written AND recorded AND released by the Beatles while they were together? Or should we include songs written by others but recorded/released by the Beatles? Songs written, recorded or performed by the Beatles but not released on their albums (or released on "solo" albums or anthologies after the band broke up)? Songs written by the Beatles but recorded/released by other performers? Songs written and/or recorded in the pre-Beatles era but later released on Beatles albums or anthologies?...
Posted by: susy | Nov 9, 2006 1:05:32 AM
I used the list at http://www.stevesbeatles.com/songs/
Posted by: Will Nediger | Nov 9, 2006 2:28:00 PM
Hi,
For "the Beatles" songs are we supposed to count each time it is heard or just once?...
Say for instance that Yesterday is heard 4 times...
Do we count it 4 times or just once?...
Thanks...
Posted by: Jim from Minnesota | Nov 18, 2006 3:04:04 PM
Hi,
When you say -->
"and not including titles to songs contained in their own lyrics,"
Is that referring to the songs on the White Album that we need to look at or to the list of the Beatle's songs?...
Thanks...
Posted by: Jim from Minnesota | Nov 18, 2006 3:24:45 PM
Count each song which appears multiple times only once.
Not including titles to songs contained in their own lyrics refers only to songs on the White Album. Yesterday, for example, is still allowed, even though its name appears in its lyrics, but Birthday isn't.
Posted by: Will Nediger | Nov 18, 2006 4:32:39 PM
Hi,
I also have another question...
There is a song called Green Onion on the White Album...
Are we supposed to ignore it's lyrics when searching for song titles (because the phrase "Green Onion" is in it's own lyrics) ?...
Or do we search those lyrics but do not count the song "Green Onion"?...
Thanks...
Posted by: Jim from Minnesota | Nov 18, 2006 5:50:15 PM
You're thinking of Glass Onion, presumably, but yes, you should count all the songs whose titles are heard in Glass Onion, except for Glass Onion itself.
Posted by: Will Nediger | Nov 18, 2006 7:45:10 PM
OK, I thought I'd figured out T a little early, and subsequent things worked out nicely based on that, but now that I've finally filled in all the earlier answers (delta, epsilon, etc.) to find the official value, it's not what I thought it was. Drat. Delta is the answer I'm least sure of, so might you have any suggestions, hints, checkpoints, or anything along those lines so I can get some idea where I've gone wrong?
Posted by: Penh | Nov 18, 2006 10:10:42 PM
Part a is certainly the toughest part of delta, so I'd solve it last. Make sure you're sure of your values for b and c (the digital root of the year is 2). Recall that the answer must be a positive integer, so that will restrict the possible values for a. Once you get T, the identity of the novel mentioned in pi will be obvious.
Posted by: Will Nediger | Nov 19, 2006 10:40:10 AM
Well, I'm about as certain as I'm going to get with b and c. Are the intermediate steps (the product of the roots and the average of a, b, and c) also positive integers? That would help confirm or deny my delta answer.
Posted by: Penh | Nov 19, 2006 1:16:25 PM
Yes, both intermediate steps are positive integers.
Posted by: Will Nediger | Nov 19, 2006 1:45:21 PM
Could you please clarify how we are to handle songs with sub-titles in our tally for A? For example, if we hear the title "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Cry" but not its sub-title "(Over You)" should we count it or not?
Posted by: susy | Nov 21, 2006 11:00:53 PM
You should only count a song if the entire title is heard, including subtitles.
Posted by: Will Nediger | Nov 22, 2006 8:54:03 PM
SOLUTION - The titles, followed by the songs they can be heard in (only one is given when there are multiple songs) are as follows:
Because: Happiness Is a Warm Gun
Boys: Back in the USSR
Fixing a Hole: Glass Onion
Girl: Martha My Dear
Help!: Martha My Dear
Honey Pie: Wild Honey Pie
I Need You: Long, Long, Long
Lady Madonna: Glass Onion
Little Child: Dear Prudence
Oh! Darling: Don’t Pass Me By (“’cause you know darling I love only you”)
Rain: I’m So Tired (“You know I can’t sleep, I can’t stop my brain”)
Revolution: Revolution 1
Searchin’: Long, Long, Long
Shout: Back in the USSR
Something: Piggies
The Fool on the Hill: Glass Onion
Wait: Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
What Goes On: Piggies
Why: While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Yes It Is: Happiness Is a Warm Gun
There are 20 songs. TISM’s White Albun has 16 tracks, and the number repeated at the beginning of “Revolution 9” is, of course, 9.
a = 13
The full title for my first contest was Calculating Pi by Will Nediger. “By Will Nediger” anagrams to bewilderingly, the Webster’s Third entry for which contains the year 1893.
b = 1893
Ramon Llull, born in 1235, wrote Ars Magna.
c = 1235
The average is 1047, and the product of the roots is 95. 1047+95=1142.
Posted by: Will Nediger | Jan 2, 2007 9:00:43 PM
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