December 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 comments:

Unknown said...

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 said...

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

Joan said...

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

Ricardo said...

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

Ann Althouse said...

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

Mike said...

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

Ann Althouse said...

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

kjbe said...

25

traditionalguy said...

What do we win? I guess 24.

vbspurs said...

I guess 19.

Cheers,
Victoria

Christy said...

18 would be my guess.

Greybeard said...

Twenty-three.

natatomic said...

26

Palladian said...

24

Anonymous said...

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 said...

25.


wv: winnah

MadisonMan said...

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

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

24

former law student said...

I'm also going with 25.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

or 0x18 as MadMan would say.

traditionalguy said...

We want our exam graded Professor!

theMom said...

21

Beautiful picture.

AllenS said...

28

LonewackoDotCom said...

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 said...

You're all still wrong!

TMink said...

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

Trey

Freeman Hunt said...

Damn. 22

Ann Althouse said...

Wrong!

Freeman Hunt said...

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

Or maybe giant ones: 17

natatomic said...

Are they satsumas or clementines or something?

Anonymous said...

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

Jason (the commenter) said...

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

Ann Althouse said...

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

Ignorance is Bliss said...

30

traditionalguy said...

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?

Anonymous said...

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 said...

Come on, people!

SarcastiCarrie said...

21

SarcastiCarrie said...

No, wait 22.

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

AllenS said...

23

Ann Althouse said...

"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.

Anonymous said...

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

Freeman Hunt said...

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

Bissage said...

(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 said...

14. The bowl has a false bottom.

AllenS said...

13. There are 6 bananas underneath the oranges.

Jason (the commenter) said...

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 said...

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.

Anonymous said...

14.

Anonymous said...

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 said...

My guess: 16 oranges.


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

Anonymous said...

15.

(Disregard previous entry)

AllenS said...

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 said...

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.

Anonymous said...

Alternate entry: 4.

Ann Althouse said...

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!

Anonymous said...

Alternate, alternate entry: 0.

AllenS said...

33. That's my final guess.

Ann Althouse said...

Everyone is still wrong!

HT said...

25

Palladian said...

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!

Anonymous said...

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 said...

34.

Harsh Pencil said...

19


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

AllenS said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
HT said...

30

my final answer

traditionalguy said...

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 the artificially intelligent said...

Will Alhouse disqualify palladian?

Here is a presedent coming..

brace yourselves ;)

bearbee said...

24, 25 or 26

Ricardo said...

35. My final offer.

Ann Althouse said...

@Ricardo LOL.

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

HT said...

Ok, we must be overguessing.

17

THAT is my final answer

Meade said...

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

Ann Althouse said...

Does the bowl seem in any way extraordinary?

AllenS said...

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

Meade said...

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

Jason (the commenter) said...

41 oranges.

Freeman Hunt said...

Oh! 33

Freeman Hunt said...

or 49

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

The tip of my tongue is on a laptop

Jason (the commenter) said...

Does the bowl seem in any way extraordinary?

It looks hand made.

Anonymous said...

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

Jason (the commenter) said...

Did someone get a bowl haircut?

HT said...

The bowl is super huge?

I'm out.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

39

The Scythian said...

19

Ann Althouse said...

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

36 is correct.

Video proof will be up in a minute.

AllenS said...

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

The Scythian said...

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

Jason (the commenter) said...

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

dbp said...

28

Anonymous said...

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

Ann Althouse said...

42.

Meade said...

43

Ann Althouse said...

(I was answering Jason.)

The Scythian said...

Oh! And somebody already won!

Huh.

Congratulations!

J Scott said...

Maybe they are tangerines. So zero?

Anonymous said...

36? I'm sticking with a proven winner.

Meade said...

(so was I)

AllenS said...

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

Ann Althouse said...

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 the artificially intelligent said...

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 said...

Sweet.

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

Amber said...

18

XWL said...

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 said...

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

Jason (the commenter) said...

XML, some brilliant detective work there!

Ricardo said...

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 said...

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

Jason (the commenter) said...

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

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

Freeman Hunt said...

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 said...

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

Had us rolling on the floor, laughing!

Jason (the commenter) said...

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

Meade said...

And now we're laughing at "belimpr!"

Meade said...

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

Ann Althouse said...

@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.

Anonymous said...

Next up: Kiwis.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

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

The oranges were by Althouses own account – massaged.

Ralph L said...

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 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kirby Olson said...

34

Kirby Olson said...

Oh, there was already a winner.

Sorry.

pm317 said...

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 said...

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 said...

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

rhhardin said...

Today's toys in the box puzzle.

Extracted toy.

Anonymous said...

'We're going skiing'

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

But you are his.

vbspurs said...

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

Cheers,
Victoria

Michael Haz said...

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 said...

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 said...

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

Penny said...

"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 said...

41

Peter Hoh said...

Just listen to this piece, twelve times.

Largo said...

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

Largo said...

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 said...

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