Disyembre 14, 2009

At the Bowl of Oranges Café...

DSC06141

... you can have milk and toast and honey.

IN THE COMMENTS: Ricardo asks: How many oranges are in the bowl? See if you can guess.

AND: The answer, after so many low guesses and finally mainly by flailing, was arrived at by t-man. I demonstrate the surprising capacity of the bowl here:

Demonstrating that there were 36 oranges in the bowl.
DSC06144

137 komento:

Unknown ayon kay ...

Xlation: We're out skiing.

Doncha love it when school is out for Christmas vacation?

(After this semester, I do.)

WV "tabod" What a lot of women won't admit to anyone but their one-and-only that turns them on about him.

traditionalguy ayon kay ...

Once the exams and the assigned projects have been graded, then teacher's freedom starts.

Joan ayon kay ...

Awesome photo. What should one do to obtain a print?

Ricardo ayon kay ...

How many oranges in the bowl? I see 15, so I'm guessing 28-30.

Ann Althouse ayon kay ...

@Joan Click on it, then to "all sizes" and "original" and download it. You can print it out yourself.

Mike ayon kay ...

Hmmm, are oranges an acceptable carbon-neutral produce for Wisconsin?

Ann Althouse ayon kay ...

@Ricardo Good question! I just counted. Let's see if anyone can guess exactly right.

kjbe ayon kay ...

25

traditionalguy ayon kay ...

What do we win? I guess 24.

vbspurs ayon kay ...

I guess 19.

Cheers,
Victoria

Christy ayon kay ...

18 would be my guess.

Greybeard ayon kay ...

Twenty-three.

natatomic ayon kay ...

26

Palladian ayon kay ...

24

Hindi-nagpakilala ayon kay ...

I also vote for 23. Instapundit had in interesting link regarding selfish super powers. I'd like either (1) the ability to make anyone speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; (2) the ability to understand all languages that have ever been used (written and spoken).

wv: craph - a visual plot of useless or misleading data

Michael Haz ayon kay ...

25.


wv: winnah

MadisonMan ayon kay ...

32 is my guess. 0x20, in other words.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi ayon kay ...

24

former law student ayon kay ...

I'm also going with 25.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi ayon kay ...

or 0x18 as MadMan would say.

traditionalguy ayon kay ...

We want our exam graded Professor!

theMom ayon kay ...

21

Beautiful picture.

AllenS ayon kay ...

28

LonewackoDotCom ayon kay ...

I'll say 20 since that looks about right and no one else picked it.

If I'm right, Althouse has to link to this page. Heh.

Ann Althouse ayon kay ...

You're all still wrong!

TMink ayon kay ...

None. They are tangerines or something else technically non-orange.

Trey

Freeman Hunt ayon kay ...

Damn. 22

Ann Althouse ayon kay ...

Wrong!

Freeman Hunt ayon kay ...

What the heck? Are there little pygmy oranges down in the bottom of the bowl there?

Or maybe giant ones: 17

natatomic ayon kay ...

Are they satsumas or clementines or something?

Hindi-nagpakilala ayon kay ...

31? That's a heck of a lot of oranges for two people, though.

Jason (the commenter) ayon kay ...

Oh yes, orange season is starting! I love oranges. Are these all for juice or are some for cooking?

Ann Althouse ayon kay ...

They're juice oranges, each about 2 1/2 inches in diameter.

Ignorance is Bliss ayon kay ...

30

traditionalguy ayon kay ...

There is a clear consensus of 24 oranges by Commenting Scientists. So why keep denying the needed finding of 24 oranges here. Are you on the payroll of Minute Maid?

Hindi-nagpakilala ayon kay ...

What is the difference between a juice orange and some other kind of orange? To me, and orange is an orange. I eat the whole thing, skin and all.

How long will we have to wait for the answer? If 32 isn't right, how about 29? I don't think that has been guessed yet.

Ann Althouse ayon kay ...

Come on, people!

SarcastiCarrie ayon kay ...

21

SarcastiCarrie ayon kay ...

No, wait 22.

utsper: WV telling me to up my answer by one.

AllenS ayon kay ...

23

Ann Althouse ayon kay ...

"What is the difference between a juice orange and some other kind of orange?"

Click to enlarge the picture. You can see that they are kind of uglier looking. They are less about peelability. The skins aren't so thick. Emphasis on juice.

Meade squeezes 5 oranges every morning to make 2 4-ounce glasses of juice.

Hindi-nagpakilala ayon kay ...

75, 15,000? Is this some sort of miracle of the bowl of juice oranges?

Freeman Hunt ayon kay ...

Infinity. No matter how many you remove, there are always more.

Bissage ayon kay ...

(1) My standard answer to any question requiring a number is always 42.

I just thought I'd mention that.

(2) What I really want to say is how much I like that photo.

How much?

Whole bunches!

AllenS ayon kay ...

14. The bowl has a false bottom.

AllenS ayon kay ...

13. There are 6 bananas underneath the oranges.

Jason (the commenter) ayon kay ...

Althouse: They are less about peelability. The skins aren't so thick. Emphasis on juice.

Also, the juice oranges are grown predominately in Florida (yay!) and the eating oranges in California (boo!).

traditionalguy ayon kay ...

Last try: From my gambling days I say 7 and 11 which is 18.Does Price-Waterhouse have the sealed answer? No fair snacking on oranges while we await the count.

Hindi-nagpakilala ayon kay ...

14.

Hindi-nagpakilala ayon kay ...

OT

I went looking to see if there had been any previous super power threads here, and found this
2007 post
from Meade:

And if she did go on a first date with a commenter, say, a commenter such as AJD? you know, out of a sense of compassion or, well, pity... trust ME on this one, Mr. Diggler... there is NO WAY that Professor A would agree to a second date.

Triangle Man ayon kay ...

My guess: 16 oranges.


Althouse, were you near Picnic Point today? From a distance it looked like dozens of migrating swans were there.

Hindi-nagpakilala ayon kay ...

15.

(Disregard previous entry)

AllenS ayon kay ...

387. There is a hole in the bottom of the bowl, and another hole in the table with a garbage can underneath the table.

Ann Althouse ayon kay ...

Now, we have made a video counting the oranges, taking them out of the bowl, showing you the truth, but I'm not going to put up the video until someone gets it right.

I will give a hint now, however. No, actually, I won't give you this hint, because it's about something else that you haven't noticed, and I want you to notice.

Hindi-nagpakilala ayon kay ...

Alternate entry: 4.

Ann Althouse ayon kay ...

But there is no trick here, and there is nothing other than oranges in the bowl. There is no false bottom on the bowl. It is a bowl filled with oranges. You are just not guessing the number of oranges. The oranges are all the same size too!

Hindi-nagpakilala ayon kay ...

Alternate, alternate entry: 0.

AllenS ayon kay ...

33. That's my final guess.

Ann Althouse ayon kay ...

Everyone is still wrong!

HT ayon kay ...

25

Palladian ayon kay ...

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150

I win!

Hindi-nagpakilala ayon kay ...

48

Just a thought. Althouse, if someone had told you last December that on this day, you would be make a video counting out the number of oranges in a bowl--oranges that your husband squeezes each morning for fresh juice--how would you have reacted?

Ricardo ayon kay ...

34.

Harsh Pencil ayon kay ...

19


WV: humsmend. Something that Tiger is trying to do.

AllenS ayon kay ...
Naalis ng may-ari ang komentong ito.
HT ayon kay ...

30

my final answer

traditionalguy ayon kay ...

OK, I hate this question, but are we getting warmer? In Las Vegas they frown on orange counters, but using the other answers means Nineteen wins

Lem Vibe Bandit ayon kay ...

Will Alhouse disqualify palladian?

Here is a presedent coming..

brace yourselves ;)

bearbee ayon kay ...

24, 25 or 26

Ricardo ayon kay ...

35. My final offer.

Ann Althouse ayon kay ...

@Ricardo LOL.

@Palladian Cute, but not contest-ending. I am withholding the video until someone guesses it right.

HT ayon kay ...

Ok, we must be overguessing.

17

THAT is my final answer

Meade ayon kay ...

The correct answer is in the set of Palladian's numbers.

Ann Althouse ayon kay ...

Does the bowl seem in any way extraordinary?

AllenS ayon kay ...

48. The bowl is kidney shaped. The suspense is killing me.

Meade ayon kay ...

And, t-man, thanks for that link. Funny.

Jason (the commenter) ayon kay ...

41 oranges.

Freeman Hunt ayon kay ...

Oh! 33

Freeman Hunt ayon kay ...

or 49

Lem Vibe Bandit ayon kay ...

The tip of my tongue is on a laptop

Jason (the commenter) ayon kay ...

Does the bowl seem in any way extraordinary?

It looks hand made.

Hindi-nagpakilala ayon kay ...

36? I'm now just guessing multiples of 12.

Jason (the commenter) ayon kay ...

Did someone get a bowl haircut?

HT ayon kay ...

The bowl is super huge?

I'm out.

Lem Vibe Bandit ayon kay ...

39

The Scythian ayon kay ...

19

Ann Althouse ayon kay ...

t-man said... "36? I'm now just guessing multiples of 12."

36 is correct.

Video proof will be up in a minute.

AllenS ayon kay ...

I clicked on the picture then got the larger size, and my final guess is 36.

The Scythian ayon kay ...

Oh. Someone already guessed that and I missed it when I was scrolling down. Darn.

Jason (the commenter) ayon kay ...

Great, now I'm thinking of a number between one and a hundred. Any guesses?

dbp ayon kay ...

28

Hindi-nagpakilala ayon kay ...

Hooray for me! Sadly, this is a real boost for my self-esteem.

Ann Althouse ayon kay ...

42.

Meade ayon kay ...

43

Ann Althouse ayon kay ...

(I was answering Jason.)

The Scythian ayon kay ...

Oh! And somebody already won!

Huh.

Congratulations!

J Scott ayon kay ...

Maybe they are tangerines. So zero?

Hindi-nagpakilala ayon kay ...

36? I'm sticking with a proven winner.

Meade ayon kay ...

(so was I)

AllenS ayon kay ...

That was a lot of work. I'm ready for a nap.

Ann Althouse ayon kay ...

t-man said... "Just a thought. Althouse, if someone had told you last December that on this day, you would be make a video counting out the number of oranges in a bowl--oranges that your husband squeezes each morning for fresh juice--how would you have reacted?"

Like this.

Lem Vibe Bandit ayon kay ...

the fact is the bowl could have taken 3 more so my answer would have been correct.

the video will only confirm what i already suspect.

the oranges in the bowl is an inside job ;)

Meade ayon kay ...

Sweet.

Btw: The potter who made the bowl which is bigger on the inside than the outside: Vernon Owens.

Amber ayon kay ...

18

XWL ayon kay ...

I see 16-18 at least partly visible. Given the volume inside the bowl is much smaller than the top of the bowl, there shouldn't be more oranges unseen than seen, so that gives an upper limit between 32-36 with the actual number most likely lower.

I see guesses covering every number in that range

Single number guesses in that range that have been verified as incorrect (in order first guessed):

25,24,19,23,26,18,32,27,21,20

Those guesses proceeded a comment that "You're all still wrong!"

22

Another comment, "Wrong!"

31,30,29

Another comment, "Come on people!"

Numbers not verified as incorrect under 36.

28, 33, 35, 36.

My guess 28.

Doesn't seem possible to be greater than 36, and it seems that the first guess by Ricardo was probably on track, but everyone else was thrown off track because they assumed all three numbers in the 28-30 range were verified as incorrect, when that's not the case.

Meade ayon kay ...

In the event [I] cannot fulfill [my] obligations ...

Jason (the commenter) ayon kay ...

XML, some brilliant detective work there!

Ricardo ayon kay ...

You'd think this was a Tiger thread, or something. Just goes to show how quickly people forget, and move on. Or else, there's just something about oranges ....

Freeman Hunt ayon kay ...

Figuring out the number of oranges, a lot like going to the moon. You do it because you can.

Jason (the commenter) ayon kay ...

Ricardo: You'd think this was a Tiger thread, or something.

Guessing how many oranges/guessing how many mistresses. Similar.

Freeman Hunt ayon kay ...

But will Tiger make a video in the end, bringing them out one by one and counting them for us?

wv: belimpr Good advice for him.

Meade ayon kay ...

Jason (the commenter) said...
"XML, some brilliant detective work there!"

Had us rolling on the floor, laughing!

Jason (the commenter) ayon kay ...

We see Althouse in the video literally taking oranges and stuffing them in the bowl beforehand to get 36. I call hanky-panky.

Meade ayon kay ...

And now we're laughing at "belimpr!"

Meade ayon kay ...

Maybe hanky, Jason, but trust me - no panky.

Ann Althouse ayon kay ...

@Jason I had to take them out to count them, then put them back in. In fact, Meade also took them out to check my work, and we took still pics with them on the counter. Then we put them back for video, during which I noticed that one stray. I think it would have been easy to pile another 10 oranges into the bowl. Another 2 days' worth of lovely Meade-made juice.

Hindi-nagpakilala ayon kay ...

Next up: Kiwis.

Lem Vibe Bandit ayon kay ...

There is definitely an East Anglia angle to the oranges in the bowl data.

The oranges were by Althouses own account – massaged.

Ralph L ayon kay ...

Meade squeezes 5 oranges every morning
Ah ha, that's why she married him. What woman doesn't want someone to squeeze her oranges in the morning?

Chennaul ayon kay ...
Naalis ng may-ari ang komentong ito.
Kirby Olson ayon kay ...

34

Kirby Olson ayon kay ...

Oh, there was already a winner.

Sorry.

pm317 ayon kay ...

Let me play, let me play.. Oh too late but I had guessed 30 before I looked at your count. My husband said 20 :(

XWL ayon kay ...

I knew there was a risk that the time taken to compose my post would mean it would be posted after the answer was revealed, oh well.

And I get my oranges straight from the tree, as Gaia intended.

Penny ayon kay ...

Just for tonight, you may call me "Goldilocks".

rhhardin ayon kay ...

Today's toys in the box puzzle.

Extracted toy.

Hindi-nagpakilala ayon kay ...

'We're going skiing'

Now I see it! I was mistaken. I thought Meade was your Pygmalion project.

But you are his.

vbspurs ayon kay ...

I guess 33 mistresses for Tiger. I have good feelings I'll win this one!

Cheers,
Victoria

Michael Haz ayon kay ...

What kind of circus clown car bowl do you have? The oranges keep coming out, coming out, coming out. It's sleight of orange, I say.

It's nice to know that Meade gives your oranges a good squeeze in the morning. Good start of the day. Be sure to do the same with his kiwis.

So tomorrow, what will it be, guess the number of loaves and fishes?

kentuckyliz ayon kay ...

My guess, before I realized the contest was over:

five pounds.

When I clicked your linked YT vid and it came up Billie Holiday, I guessed it would be Strange Fruit or My Sweet Hunk O Trash.

Michael Haz ayon kay ...

Victoria, 33 is too low. That's maybe two parties, at most. Hundreds, think hundreds.

Penny ayon kay ...

"So tomorrow, what will it be, guess the number of loaves and fishes?"

Color me surprised, Michael. I thought you'd be much more interested in the "toys in the box" puzzle, but perhaps I'm stereotyping...or projecting, or something...

In any case, it's just that...well, Vicki finally yelped!

David ayon kay ...

41

Peter Hoh ayon kay ...

Just listen to this piece, twelve times.

Largo ayon kay ...

If it were apples, the number would have to be pi.

Largo ayon kay ...

The last words of David Bowman as he stuck his head into Althouse's empty fruit bowl:

"My God, it's full of oranges!"

former law student ayon kay ...

I was pretty close, with 25. Oh, did I forget to mention I was using base15 numbers?

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