Petals Around the Rose: Fraternity Register

Neat little puzzle -- read through the Bill Gates story without paying attention to the numbers, thought about the point of the puzzle on the way to church, and solved it after five rolls later that afternoon.

About to check wikipedia to see what this has to do with roses, though....

I already knew the puzzle from long ago. It used to be called "The Icebear Club" where you had to guess the numbers of icebears and numbers of holes in the ice (2 numbers instead of only 1). So I recognized the system in 1 roll.
Originally it toke my 20-24 rolls....but that was 10 years ago, when I was only 16

Very fun. The title really describes it.

A lovely little challenge, thanks...

Looked at this for a few minutes (reading the Bill Gates story) and wondered "How the hell?" until I thought again about the significance of the name, and it clicked.

10 rolls, and Congratulations! We have another Potentate of the Rose. I read the part about the name being important, with the hint that the result is zero or an even number.

I figured out the solution in about the time it took me to read it, plus 2 minutes.

The only problem is I have no idea why the name matters. My solution worked on every roll of the dice given, so I have to assume it's correct.



I checked wikipedia to see if my answer was correct, and it was - it just wasn't the usual answer. Heh. But it worked anyway.

Drove me just about crazy for the better part of an hour. Wonder how many others tried all kinds of complex math algorithms only to yell out "D'oh!" when the solution hits you.

Great fun!

I suppose it's the engineers and analysis-types who get confused on this one. My guess is that most algebraists can figure it out rather quickly. I guessed the "technique" before a single roll. I really don't get how one can't make the connections when being told that the name is significant. It's all flowers and symmetry and using the "force". Then again, I think my boundless laziness is what allowed me to "see" the answer.

i don't think i ever would have got it if i hadn't read through the bill gates story