a "magic" trick that I've forgotten.

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DAVE M
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Joined: May 17 1999

i used to know a trick and wrote some cards down. Now I've lost some and have forgotten the sequence so does anybody remember it?...

You ask people to think of a number between 1-10. Then comes a bit of maths involving adding 8, possibly something to do with a 2 and deducting the first nunber they thought of.

The idea is to get them to come up to the number 5.

They then change whatever number they ended up with to a letter (A-J, but we know it's going to be E)

They're then asked to think of an animal starting with that letter. Then they're asked to think of it's colour.

You then say " But there are no grey elephants in the jungle"

Is this right and what have I fogotten.

Sorry for the hazy description but it was about 10 years ago!

Chirpy
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Joined: Sep 7 2000

Hi Dave,

I found your puzzle on a Web page. I originally included the URL but then I noticed some of the other stuff on the page was pretty obscene so I deleted the URL.

Pick a number between 1 and 10
multiply it by 9
add the digits together
subtract 5
find the corresponding letter in the alphabet (e.g. 1 is a, 2 is b)
think of a country starting with that letter
take the second letter of that country
think of an animal starting with that letter,
got it?

My guess is an elephant in Denmark.

You will find about 2/3 of the people have that for an answer.

And you'll also find it here:

Wondering why Bryan Adams is walking down London's streets with an elephant in the video of On a Day Like Today?

Here's a few hints. The vid is a concept patterned on a game/quiz popular in England. A participant starts by picking a number between two and nine without saying it out loud. Multiply the number by nine to produce a two digit number. Add the two digits to make a new number. Subtract by five. Find the letter in the alphabet that is equal to that number. A = 1, for instance, B = 2, etc.. Find a country that starts with that letter and choose a letter in that country's name. Think of an animal starting with that letter. Think of its color.

Follow the video from the outset and you should be able to figure out how Bryan ended up dating a pachyderm.

His Bryness's latest single is storming Canadian radio but has had a slower start elsewhere. The similarly titled album is due Oct. 27.

I think you'll have to adapt the puzzles slightly.

Chirpy

[This message has been edited by Chirpy (edited 24 February 2004).]

Chirpy's Big Breakfast can be heard on Radio England International. These are repeat shows (he's retired now) played Monday to Friday 8am-12 noon and repeated in the evening from 8pm-midnight. Also, Sunday 8am-12 noon. (Click link to listen) www.onlineradio5.com/2013/06/radio-england-international.html

DAVE M
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Joined: May 17 1999

Ta - I saw the trick on a US magic show and happened to be videoing the channel. I wrote it down but lost my prompts. It gets a good reaction in the pub or whatever.

Chirpy
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Joined: Sep 7 2000

I remember my daughter telling me it a couple of years ago - with a variation of your ending: " But there are no pink elephants in the jungle", or something similar.

Chirpy

Chirpy's Big Breakfast can be heard on Radio England International. These are repeat shows (he's retired now) played Monday to Friday 8am-12 noon and repeated in the evening from 8pm-midnight. Also, Sunday 8am-12 noon. (Click link to listen) www.onlineradio5.com/2013/06/radio-england-international.html

mick sleight
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Joined: Apr 21 2001

here's a good number puzzle/trick

ask for a for digit number say for instance you get 2875

you then write down the answer to a not yet constructed addition - the answer in this case is 22873

you do this in secret - fold the paper and place it somewhere it can be seen (folded) so no one can change it

now ask for another 4 digit number say this is 2974

you then write a 4 digit number under this
- in this case it would be a specific number - 7025

now ask for another number say 3368

you then write 6631

now you have the sum which reads

2875
2974
7025
3368
6631
----
add it all up 22873

you then reveal the hidden number

the secret is you put a number that makes the line above and itself equal 9 on the 3rd and 5th lines

try it and amaze your friends

[This message has been edited by mick sleight (edited 25 February 2004).]

mick sleight
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Joined: Apr 21 2001

ps to above

the numer you write and fold but leave in full view is made up of the first four digit number

eg

3467 would be 23465

4755 would be 24753

you take the last digit and take off two so 5 becomes 3 or 7 becomes 5 - 0 would be 8 and the next to last would reflect this by being one less than the third number

eg

2390 would be 22388

then you put a 2 in front of the first number

try it with a few numbers till you get the hang of it

[This message has been edited by mick sleight (edited 25 February 2004).]

mick sleight
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Joined: Apr 21 2001

another number trick to amaze people is multplying by 11

eg 35 x 11 = 385

27 x 11 = 297

51 x 11 = 561

its great if you can teach a younster to do the trick which is - take the two digits to multiply and add them then place the answer in the middle - it works best if the two numbers add up to 9 or less

so in above 51 becomes 5 1 , 5+1 , 561

once the youngster has the idea then get an adult or older child with a calculater and tell them the kid can multply by eleven quicker than they can do it on th calculater

I have had peple thinking young kids are geniuses - gret fun at family gatherings like boring weddings - woops!!!