Survivor has produced a whopping 45 seasons, with more in development.
If you remember the buzz around season 1 but cant believe its been 45 years, it hasnt.
Theyve cranked out two seasons per year for most of its run to feed their insatiable fanbase.
Image: Photo: Shutterstock Graphics: Vicky Leta
The island rapidly devolves into a pressure cooker of scheming and backstabbing, much to the viewers delight.
Good luckyour tribe is counting on you.
Did you miss last weeks puzzle?
Graphic: Jack Murtagh
Check it outhere, and find its solution at the bottom of todays article.
Be careful not to read too far ahead if you havent solved last weeks yet!
Puzzle #30: Survivor Flags
Jeff Probst has planted 21 flags in the ground.
The tribe that removes the last flag wins.
If Tribe A goes first, which team can force a win and what is the winning strategy?
Ill be back next Monday with the solution and a new puzzle.
Do you know a cool puzzle that you think should be featured here?
I missed the Super Bowl.
Given only this information, what should I put the chances at?
which half theyre in or whos ahead).
The chance that the team who trails at halftime pulls a comeback and wins the game is 25%.
Consider each half of the game separately.
Lets call the teams A and B and note who wins each half, ignoring the other half.
There are four possibilities: AA, AB, BA, BB (e.g.
Of course, its not only important who wins each half but also by how much.
Both teams have a 50/50 chance of scoring more points in either half.
And the first half is equally likely to have a bigger or smaller spread than the second half.
Dr. Emilio Lizardo guessed the correct answer of 25% because football broadcasts often quote that number.
So this simplified model might be onto something!
Now, on to last weeks bonus puzzle.
Several teams participate in a simple round-robin tournament (i.e.
every team plays every other team once).
Argue that every tournament has at least one super-winner.
Shout-out to Eugenius for a perfectly concise solution to the bonus puzzle.
Look at the team that won the most games.
If there are ties, just pick any one of them.
Lets call them The Goats.
We picked The Goats because no team won more games than they did.
I claim The Goats must be super-winners.
Suppose they werent super-winners.
This assumption will lead to a contradiction, allowing us to conclude that The Goats were in fact super-winners.
But this would mean that The Underdogs won more games than The Goats!
Because The Underdogs beat every team The Goats beat plus The Goats themselves.
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