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Cat Trivia

This week we honor vice president Kamala Harris with cat trivia! For those who don’t see the connection, vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance referred to her as a “childless cat lady.” Let’s remember he said that with some cat trivia!

The organization of this newsletter will be as follows:

  1. 1. Cat trivia questions
  2. 2. Sep 26 puzzle question
  3. 3. Sep 26 puzzle answer
  4. 4. Oct 3 puzzle question
  5. 5. Cat trivia answers
 
kamala
Image source: Facebook

Questions

  1. 1. What do cats have tails?
  2. 2. Why do cats have whiskers?
  3. 3. What does it mean if a cat’s tail is in a question mark shape?
  4. 4. What is a group of cats called?
  5. 5. What is a group of kittens called?
  6. 6. True or false – Feral cats live at Disneyland?
  7. 7. How many toes does a cat have?
  8. 8. In the US, are there more cats or dogs?
  9. 9. What color are a kitten’s eyes when born?
  10. 10. What breed of cat has no hair?
  11. 11. What breed of cat has no tail?
  12. 12. What is the largest breed of housecat?
  13. 13. What was the name of Bill Clinton’s cat while president?
  14. 14. In the 1965 movie, That Darn Cat, what was the color of the cat?
  15. 15. What is the Disney movie that had two cats as villains?
  16. 16. What was the name of the cat villain in Cinderella?
  17. 17. What special talent did the Cheshire Cat have in Alice in Wonderland?
  18. 18. What fictional cat was the first to be honored with a Macys Thanksgiving Parade ballon?
  19. 19. What is the term of the cat used as an example to explain a principle in quantum mechanics?
  20. 20. What color of cat is usually male?
  21. 21. What color of cat is usually female?
 
michael
Me with my daughter’s cat Nessie

September 26, 2024 Puzzle Question

You have a flashlight and eight batteries. The battery requires two good batteries to work. Four of the eight batteries work and four do not. As usual, you can't tell the good from the bad ones by appearance. How can you turn on the flashlight with a maximum of seven attempts?

September 26, 2024 Puzzle Solution

Before I present how to turn on the flashlight in at most seven tries, let me share some other solutions, that may take longer.

If you systematically tried every way to choose 2 out of 8 batteries, the number of combinations would be 8!/(2!*6!) = 28. However, 6 of those combinations would turn on the flashlight. So, the worst-case scenario is you went through all 22 combinations with at least one bad battery and then a good set, for 23 total.

However, one can do much better than that. Consider dividing the 8 batteries into two groups of 4. Then try all 4!/(2!*2!) = 6 ways to choose 2 out of 4 from the first group. If none of them work, that means that at least 3 of the batteries in the first group are bad. That would mean the other group has at least 3 good batteries. With the second group, test any two. If the battery doesn’t turn on, at least one of them is bad. That would mean the other two batteries must be good. With this strategy you would go through 6 tests with the first group and up to 2 with the second, for a total of 8.

Finally, here is how to do it with at most seven tests.

First, label the batteries 1 to 8.

Second, test all thee combinations of batteries 1, 2 and 3. If no combinations works, that means that 2 or all 3 batteries are bad.

Third, test all thee combinations of batteries 4, 5 and 6. If no combinations works, that means that 2 or all 3 batteries are bad.

Fourth, if you got this far that means that the four good batteries must consist of one in the group of 1 to 3, one in the group of 4 to 6, and 7 and 8. Put in 7 and 8, which will work for sure.

Acknowledgements

I got the flashlight puzzle from the Mind Your Decisions You Tube Channel. This is one of my favorite channels and I highly recommend it if you enjoy math and logic problems.

October 3, 2024 Puzzle Question

You are a cook in a remote area with no clocks or other way of keeping time other than a four-minute hourglass and a seven-minute hourglass. You also have a stove with water in a pot already boiling. Somebody asks you for a nine-minute egg, and you know this person is a perfectionist and will be able to tell if you undercook or overcook the eggs by even a few seconds. How can you prepare the egg in nine minutes?

J.D. Vance
Photo source: Rolling Stone

Trivia Answers

  1. 1. Balance
  2. 2. To test if they can fit in a small space. Whiskers extend to about the edge of the cat’s head.
  3. 3. The cat is in a playful mood.
  4. 4. A clowder
  5. 5. A kindle
  6. 6. True. They help to catch mice.
  7. 7. 18 (10 in front and 8 in back)
  8. 8. Cats (96 million) vs 83 million dogs.
  9. 9. Blue
  10. 10. Sphynx
  11. 11. Manx
  12. 12. Maine coon
  13. 13. Socks
  14. 14. Siamese
  15. 15. Lady and the Tramp
  16. 16. Lucifer
  17. 17. He could disappear
  18. 18. Felix the Cat
  19. 19. Schrodinger’s Cat
  20. 20. Orange
  21. 21. Calico