Amuse-bouche:

Art is saying what needs to be said.

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Today’s Wonderful Word: “parsimonious.”

Definition: frugal to the point of stinginess.

Example: A society that is parsimonious in its personal charity (in terms of both time and money) will require more government welfare. —William J. Bennett,  The Death of Outrage,  1998

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Don’t be parsimonious in your ping ponging. Be lavish yet unwasteful.

There once was a ball that went back and forth a bunch and then it got crushed on accident but it didn’t feel like an accident, it felt more like clumsiness, and then it didn’t bounce right so it got burned up to ashes.

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Answer to Saturday’s riddle:

They will all give you the same chance of guessing correctly.

Explanation: It doesn’t matter. In all three cases, your chance of guessing the correct card is 1 in 26.

It’s a wonderful little puzzle because the result seems so counter-intuitive. Any question about the type of card gives you exactly the same help, which is to double your chances of getting the correct card.

Case 1. Once your friend replies, you will know if the card is red or black. There are 26 red, and 26 black cards, so you have a 1 in 26 chance of guessing the correct one.

Case 2. There is a 12/52 chance the card is a face card, and a 40/52 chance it isn’t. If your friend replies that it is a face card, you have a 1/12 chance of guessing the correct card, and if your friend replies it isn’t, you have a 1/40 chance.

Thus the probability of guessing the card when it is a face card is (12/52) x (1/12) = 1/52, and the probability of guessing the card when it isn’t is (40/52) x (1/40) = 1/52.

The overall probability of guessing the card is the sum of these two probabilities, which is 1/52 + 1/52 = 1/26

Case 3. The same argument applies. If the card is the ace of spades you will be told this fact by your friend, and this outcome has a 1/52 chance of happening. If the card isn’t the ace of spades, which has a 51/52 chance of happening, you must then choose 1 card from the remaining 51. This outcome gives you a probability of (51/52) x (1/51) = 1/52. Again, the sum of both possible outcomes is 1/52 + 1/52 = 1/26.