Quote:
Originally Posted by Runscott
David, I'm surprised you picked up on this, so I'll let you in on some of what's going on:
Each of the seller's auction pictures is actually a computer chip, but only if printed at the correct resolution and on the right kind of paper. You can then tape all of them together once you figure out the sequence (based on hints in the NY Times crossword puzzle), to create a computer that will calculate the answer to a question that was posed in a soup commercial shown in the 1970's. Others like you will be doing the same thing with magazine ads, cutting out the appropriate pieces to form their own computers. Their results will be sent to the head (right through the ears) of whoever is near the computer that spits out the correct answer to the soup question.
So build your computer and stand by until your friends have completed their missions. And take off your foil hat - it will interfere with the signals.
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The answer is 42
Forty-two is a pronic number and an abundant number; its prime factorization 2 · 3 · 7 makes it the second sphenic number and also the second of the form { 2 · 3 · r }. As with all sphenic numbers of this form, the aliquot sum is abundant by 12. 42 is also the second sphenic number to be bracketed by twin primes. 42 has a 14 member aliquot sequence 42, 54, 66, 78, 90, 144, 259, 45, 33, 15, 9, 4, 3, 1, 0 and is itself part of the aliquot sequence commencing with the first sphenic number 30. Furthermore, 42 is the 10th member of the 3-aliquot tree.
SO - Did I win?