Riddle me this... a puzzle thread

1…ha ha ha,
2…ha ha ha,
3…

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So the official ruling is 63 individual flaps. However, as @bruitist noted, four of these are double flaps reducing the count of hidden pictures to 59.

It is perhaps an unhealthy curiosity about why this is such a common form of marketing?

  • Do we humans perceive “more than 60” to be a larger number than 63?
  • Were the graphics developed in parallel so the exact number wasn’t known at the time the design was locked down?
  • Was there internal dissent regarding 59 vs 63 flaps and they compromised? (Nearly 60 flaps! Approximately 60 flaps or so!)
  • Is the number 60 sufficiently easier to digest than 63 that it makes a more frictionless value proposition, with the “more then” tacked on for mere accuracy?

The internet can’t answer all the questions of life yet.

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I think so.

When I moved here the first local freesheet through the door said that High Wycombe’s shopping centre (in the middle of town, and you can see the sky in a few places, but it’s basically the same shops as every other shopping centre) was now rated “in the top 50” shopping destinations in England. My wife and I looked at each other and said “it’s number 50, isn’t it?”. And as far as I recall it was.

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See also the apparent confusion in marketing over “less than half price,” “better than half price” and “more than half price.”

And the third-of-a-pound burger which people thought was smaller than a quarter-pounder.

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We need a biweekly meeting to hash this out. So… wait, how many meetings is that?

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And of course the Cool Cash scratchcard debacle, in which the lack of education of the average Brit was made plain:

The 23-year-old, who said she had left school without a maths GCSE, said: "On one of my cards it said I had to find temperatures lower than -8. The numbers I uncovered were -6 and -7 so I thought I had won, and so did the woman in the shop. But when she scanned the card the machine said I hadn’t.

“I phoned Camelot and they fobbed me off with some story that -6 is higher - not lower - than -8 but I’m not having it.”

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By the same token, I think humans as a whole will feel something priced $9.99 or $29.99 is somehow much better than $10 or $30 at a quick glance. It just feels cheaper if that tens digit (or hundreds, or thousands, etc.) is one less, even if the actual difference is just one cent.

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I suspect it’s because ‘63 flaps’ would be boringly precise.

‘More than 60 flaps’ contains a bit of mystery. And any kid is going to want to count them to see how many there are.

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I’m pretty sure most kids wouldn’t have noticed how many flaps were being advertised!

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And if they do have to make a last-minute production change, there’s a margin of error.

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Underestimate kids at your peril!

1

Note King Ham -= Nottingham?
? Ace/Card?

2 solved

Award = Blue Peter Badge
Carrier = Brown Paper Bag
Character = Red Riding Hood
Programme= Pink Panther Show
Route = Yellow Brick Road
Safety guide = Green Cross Code
remnant: Black Pool Tower

1 SOLVED - Buck King Ham Pal Ace - Buckingham Palace

I think this needs a warning for Britishness. Question 2 includes multiple references that you likely wouldn’t get if you didn’t grow up in the UK.

It is from GCHQ…

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True, but there’s British and then there’s “lived in Britain long enough to understand what a Blue Peter Badge is” (spoiler for question 2).

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“If you don’t get these references, you are not sufficiently British to be a spy for us.” :male_detective:

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Exactly!! Don’t want any old Johnny Foreigner doing it! :rofl: