Sunday, October 29, 2023

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 29, 2023): My Alarm Didn't Go Off...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 29, 2023): My Alarm Didn't Go Off...
Q: The time 6:29 on a digital clock, ignoring the colon, also reads 6:29 upside down. How many times in a day can a digital clock, ignoring the colon, read the same right side up as upside down? We are not accepting military time.
I'd much rather spend my time on an African safari.

Edit: My initial clue was about a Rubik's cube which has 6 sides each with 9 "stickers" but that was clearly TMI, so I switched to Africa which has 54 countries.
A: 54 times (12:21, 1:01, 1:11, 1:21, 1:51, 2:02, 2:12, 2:22, 2:52, 5:05, 5:15, 5:25, 5:55, 6:09, 6:19, 6:29, 6:59, 8:08, 8:18, 8:28, 8:58, 9:06, 9:16, 9:26, 9:56, 10:01, 11:11 = 27 times, but then repeated for both AM and PM).
Update: Will went for the Daylight Saving Time answer of 58, when you can see 1:01, 1:11, 1:21 and 1:51 twice when the clocks go back 1 hour at 2 AM.

155 comments:

  1. I think I have tallied them all up, but it is hard to find a handy hint.

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  2. Gonna hit the snooze button and get back to this later.

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  3. As a math nerd and a typography nerd, I think I have this one sewn up, but we'll see. Hard to clue it, though the correct answer has resonance personal to me.

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    1. As soon as I hit enter, I immediately saw Blaine's clue (well done!). I'm certain we came up with the same answer.

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    2. I also agree, but often find I can understand Blaine's clues only after I've come up with an answer—and sometimes not even then!

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    3. That's exactly by design. We're not supposed to post clues at all, only indications that we share an answer that make sense only AFTER you've come to one.

      Oddly enough, Blaine's clue gave me the number right away. I just had to do some math to confirm it.

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    4. Either I don't get the idea behind Blaine's clue, or it is TMI.

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    5. To avoid the potential TMI of my prior clue, I've changed it.

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  4. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. In digital-clock typography, the character spacing will be off for one of the digits. Do we still include that digit?

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    1. Oops, I just realized Enya_and_WeirdAl_fan asked the same thing, and even named the digit (which I didn't, to avoid the risk of posting TMI).

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    2. If we're ignoring the colon, I think it makes sense to ignore the spacing and just focus on the digits. But I'm not Will, so I don't know what's in his mind.

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  7. The way I interpret the puzzle, either 6:19 or 9:16 would work.

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    1. Yes, I interpret "upside down" as the characters rotated 180 degrees (as opposed to the mirror image the glass surface of a range would show of the clock above it).

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  8. I believe I have the correct answer. I also get the feeling there will be a lot of people that submit an incorrect answer, because they make one of a couple of easy mistakes.

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    1. The correct answer, of course, appears in the digits of pi. You just have to go out far enough. :-)

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    2. Are you sure you're not rounding up to get the digits to appear in (assuming a reasonable number of digits) π?

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    3. If I still remember my high school math, then I'm thinking that Pi goes out to Infinity and even my Social Security number likely appears in there somewhere?

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    4. You should never make your SSN public, Ben.

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    5. Well, I never thought about the DST aspect of this, but I don't like the phrasing of the puzzle, if Will wanted a specific day.

      As for the easy mistakes, I was thinking some folks might submit 27, forgetting to double the list for both AM and PM times, or making a simple mistake in counting the times, and ending up with a number that is close, but not considered correct.

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  9. I have a super-weakness for numerical puzzles.

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    1. Dr. K, I prefer word play. When I see a number puzzle my first reaction is ugh!

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    2. Actually, Clark, so do I. As John Lennon once wrote, it’s “a red lettuce day.” Hint, hint…

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    4. Sorry, Blaine. I thought it would pass muster.

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  10. I'm too lazy to give this more of my brain power. However, a calendar comes to mind.

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  11. I'm a little surprised by Blaine's clue. The other day, I noticed my 6-year old granddaughter playing around drawing 7-segment display numbers, so I'm looking forward to giving her this puzzle to try.

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  12. I think Blaine is right -- the "1" being in the wrong position upside down doesn't matter (so 1:11 is ok, e.g.).

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  13. Replies
    1. There are 27 times in 12 hours. e starts with 2.7...

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  14. Ohhhh, I think I get Blaine's clue.
    But...
    hmmmmm.
    Well, I was impressed by the on-air player. Not a single live game misstep.

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    1. I recall Ayesha helped with one of the answers. Hardly gave him time to respond.

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    2. Ayesha's answer was to the question "To placate by acceding to someone's demands".

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  15. Replies
    1. I don't think Will would pose a number puzzle that couldn't be solved in reasonable time by brute force, so hang in there.

      (Remember, if brute force doesn't work, you're not using enough.)

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    2. For the Ultimate Brute Force Method to solve this, just watch a digital clock for an entire day. Each minute, stand on your head to see if the time is the same! :-)

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  16. Find at least two digital clock times - ignoring the colon - with no digits in common that can arguably be read as invertible uppercase English words. (Still working on lowercase ...)

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  17. Interesting that as you go along, there is a process of elimination--especially for the middle digit--and a numerical consistency. So it's fun but not daunting.

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    1. Ah, raising the middle digit. We all know what that means!

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    2. Flipping the Towhee?

      LegoWhoApologizesToAllWhoMayBeOffendedAtThisPedestrianHumor!

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  18. I'm not sure I got the answer. But once we clarified that "upside down" rotation in a plane, not "look in a mirror" I used my pocket calculator to see what numbers on an electric device look like. I didn't use the calculator to do math. But as I said, I'm not sure of my answer.

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  19. I remember another puzzle involving an upside down clock.

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  21. I too recall that "inverted-clock-conundrum," Al, and that you were the only one of us who solved it!
    As for the current NPR Puzzle:
    I got Blaine's answer. Solving it was a tad tedious but it got more interesting near the end of my process.
    For those who may crave more coventional (and scary!) puzzles, pasted below are a few "tricky treats" from the current Puzzleria! (Kudos to anyone who can solve the Schpuzzle!):
    Schpuzzle of the Week:
    Confection-collection selection

    ROT13 the letters of a two-word candy product from the past.
    Move the space and add a hyphen to form a description of this product that also applies to Almond Joy, Milky Way, Baby Ruth, KitKat and Salted Nut Roll but not to Laffy Taffy, Butterfinger, PayDay, Snickers and Oh Henry!
    What are this product and its description?
    Note: “ROT13” means to move the letters of a word either 13 places ahead or 13 places backward in the alphabet.
    Scary Character Slice:
    McCartney, Clooney, Lauper & Lady Gaga

    Name something, in eight letters, likely owned by Cyndi Lauper, Paul McCartney, George Clooney and Lady Gaga.
    Remove a letter. Then remove two spaces (including the one resulting from the letter you removed).
    The final result, spelled backward, is a scary character that you might see seeking treats this Halloween.
    What might these celebrities own? Who is the character?

    LegoComposerOfSpineChillingBrainCurdlingPuzzles

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    1. Please don't post your answers to the two puzzles above until after noon PDT on Wednesday. Hints are okay though.
      LegoLugosi

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    2. A FEW HINTS TO THE TWO PUZZLES ABOVE:
      Schpuzzle of the Week:
      Those who solve this Schpuzzle of the Week deserve an "A"... no more, no less.
      Scary Character Slice:
      Besides McCartney, Clooney, Lauper and Lady Gaga, others who might own, or have owned, this "eight-letter something" are Helen Keller, Jane Addams, Burt Lancaster, Felix Frankfurter, Harry Belafonte, Rosie O'Donnell, Barack Obama, Richard Branson... and definitely Michael Dukakis, who admitted to it!

      LegoGenerouslyHandingOutHintsJustAsHeWillJustAsGenerouslyBeHandingOutHeavenlyHorehoundMorselsToAlltheHungryTrickOrTreatersTonight(AllTheKidsInLego'sNeighborhoodHaveAHankerin'ForThese"LittleBitesOfHeaven"AndShowUpRepeatedlyAtHisDoorstepBeggingFor"More!More!More!"HorehoundMorsels)

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    3. Here are the answes to the two puzzles I posted, above:

      Schpuzzle of the Week:
      Confection-collection selection
      ROT13 the letters of a two-word candy product from the past.
      Move the space and add a hyphen to form a description of this product that also applies to Almond Joy, Milky Way, Baby Ruth, KitKat and Salted Nut Roll but not to Laffy Taffy, Butterfinger, PayDay, Snickers and Oh Henry!
      What are this product and its description?
      Note: “ROT13” means to move the letters of a word either 13 places ahead or 13 places backward in the alphabet.
      Answer:
      Bar None


      Scary Character Slice:
      McCartney, Clooney, Lauper, Lady Gaga
      Name something, in eight letters, likely owned by Cyndi Lauper, Paul McCartney, George Clooney and Lady Gaga. Remove a letter and two spaces. The result, spelled backward, is a scary character. What might these celebrities own? Who is the character?
      ANSWER:
      ACLU Card; Dracula; ACLU CARD => A LU CARD => ALUCARD=> DRACULA
      Hint: Helen Keller, Jane Addams, Burt Lancaster, Felix Frankfurter, Harry Belafonte, Rosie O'Donnell, Barack Obama, Richard Branson, and definitely Michael Dukakis also likely own this something.
      aclu card - c = Dracula


      LegoWhoNotesThatCountChoculaQulaifiesAsAOne-ABar!

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    4. So rot13(bar none) = one abar. Do some of those candy bars consist of one bar, and others more than one?

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  22. The name of an old sitcom would be TMI.

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  23. No clue here, but there's a surprisingly wide variation in the intervals between such invertable times.

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  24. Oops.
    I had not understood Blaine's clue until now! (Because I'd overlooked something, which he did not overlook, nor has the one other person whose clue I understand.)

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  25. Replies
    1. There are 54 times in 24 hours. 2*e starts with 5.4... T sounds like 2e.

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  26. My hint: Little Anthony and the Imperials

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  27. As an avowed Word Nerd, I might pass this week—but I'll give it a try if I happen to find the time!

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  28. I think there’s a place that Will is familiar with that would relate to the answer. I also wonder if there is any coincidence between the puzzle and a recent news story.

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  29. I thought that this might be a puzzle that ChatGPT or Bard might be able to handle. I was wrong.

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    1. ChatGPT needs reprogramming for this challenge. I tried it too. Had some of the correct times though.

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  30. I finally worked up the nerve to do a quick grind through the possibilities, and happily came up with a number fitting one of the clues here. Not exactly an 'aha' moment.

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    1. More like an "ooh ooh" moment.

      Here's my list: 101, 111, 121, 151, 202, 212, 222, 252, 505, 515, 525, 555, 609, 619, 629, 659, 808, 818, 828, 858, 906, 916, 926, 956, 1001, 1111, 1221

      27x2=54, of course, so I immediately took jan's "old sitcom" hint as confirmation. As Dr. K points out below, however, there could (sadly) be another sitcom connection (or two).

      I won't be too embarrassed if my answer is incorrect, because I did work it out somewhat hastily. I was embarrassed by my failed attempt, early Sunday morning, to relate my assessment of the puzzle (TEDIOUS) to a timely acronym and a number of vowels.

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  31. Thinking of the guy in the UK who had to shift all the stones at Stonehenge over one spot for daylight savings yesterday.

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    1. ... and how many times could he turn them upside-down without changing the result? (I suggest he try it first with matchsticks to avoid back strain.)

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  32. Replies
    1. jan, where in the world do you find this stuff? Other than on the interwebs ;-).

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    2. WW, I sent in an answer I know is wrong. At least I don't have to spend the week trying to solve this aggravating puzzle.

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    3. Do you install it from APPian way-Play?

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  33. dang, this is an exercise not a puzzle. am I wearing rose color glasses thinking these puzzles used to be pretty good? I remember my wife and I getting 17 in a row during our courtship 20+ years ago, then stopped listening for years. Back then Car Talk was the king of puzzles (I remember a great one involved a hat dropping in a stream) but these were very good too, or maybe I just liked puzzles better back then.

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  34. The answer makes me think of a certain garage band, particularly the old car that limited their elbow room.

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  35. This puzzle instructs us (twice!) to ignore the colon. That, my friends, is dangerous medical advice!

    Lego(WhoIsNotADoctorNorDoesHePlayOneOnTelevisionYetWhoHasCommonSenseEnoughToKnowThatIgnoringYourColonPutsYourHealthAsterisk!)

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    1. This is true. My deceased younger brother did that and ended up with a ;.

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    2. Before the surgery, the anesthesiologist put him into a ,.

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  36. Simple. There are 60 minutes in an hour and 12 hours, so 720 possibilities. Eliminate any of the times containing 3,4 and 7 and you are well on your way to narrowing the field, or are you?

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  37. Hope everyone had a nice, safe and fun Halloween!

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  38. My answer is lower than my age

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  39. Updated to add: I did solve it, and I'm thinking of combining a couple of well-known club members.

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  40. 54

    "A slog in the snow." Where are you/we? Car 54 Where are you?

    "jan, where in the world do you find this stuff? Other than on the interwebs ;-)." This also alludes to >i>Car 54 Where Are You?

    Thanks, Blaine for the Rubik's cube clue. It confirmed my answer.

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  41. 54
    12:21
    1:01
    1:11
    1:21
    1:51
    2:02
    2:12
    2:22
    2:52
    5:05
    5:15
    5:25
    5:55
    6:09
    6:19
    6:29
    6:59
    8:08
    8:18
    8:28
    8:58
    9:06
    9:16
    9:26
    9:56
    10:01
    11:11
    That's 27 times per half day.

    > I'm a little surprised by Blaine's clue.

    There are 54 colored squares on a Rubik's cube, 9 per face times 6 faces. Plus, his picture includes a handy reminder to count both a.m. and p.m. times. TMI, IMO.

    > The name of an old sitcom would be TMI.

    Ooh! Ooh!

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  42. A digital clock will read the same right side up as upside down FIFTY-FOUR TIMES in a day.

    Hint: My comment to Clark, which was removed by Blaine, ended with a reference to Clark’s pottery and ceramics “studio,” hinting at Studio 54.

    Hint: “An unfortunate coincidence.” Matthew Perry died at age 54.

    Hint: In the thread of music clues posted by Tortitude, Howie Roark, and Lancek, my comment “Wink, Wink…”—the initial caps were deliberate—hinted at “Wink” Martindale, the game show host, who in 1959 recorded the highest-charting version (#7) of the song “Deck of Cards.” In a deck there are 52 cards, of course, plus two jokers, so in all the total number of cards in a full deck is 54.

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    1. It may or may not be worth pointing out that Joe E. (not Joey) Ross starred in "Car 54,Where Are You?".

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    2. Of interest is that Joe E. Ross was a regular on The Phil Silvers Show (aka Sgt. Bilko), and Fred Gwynne, a few years out of Harvard (where he was President of the Lampoon), made a couple of appearances. Nat Hiken was the show’s creator as well as its writer-producer, and when he created Car 54, Where Are You?, serving as well as a writer-producer, he brought both Ross and Gwynne onto the show.

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  44. I got 54 times.

    Assuming it didn't matter whether the digit 1 aligned right or left, I identified 27 times the digital clock would read the same right side up and upside down: 101; 202; 505; 609; 808; 906; 111; 212; 515; 619; 818; 916; 121; 222; 525; 629; 828; 926; 151; 252; 555; 659; 858; 956; 1001; 1111; and 1221.

    Each of these would occur twice a day (AM and PM), for a total of 27 x 2 = 54 times.

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  45. 54 times. “The way I interpret the puzzle, either 6:19 or 9:16 would work.” (6 x 1 x 9 = 9 x 1 x 6 = 54.)

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  46. 54. You can eliminate anything with a 3, 4, or 7. 0, 1, 2, 5, and 8 are the same upside down, while 6 translates to 9 and vice versa. There are 27 valid answers per 12 hour period. Multiply that by 2 for 24 hours.

    My hint was Little Anthony & the Imperials. “Tears On My Pillow” was cowritten by someone named Al Lewis, who shares a name with The Munsters/Car 54, Where Are You? actor.

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  47. I wrote, “I think I have tallied them all up, but it is hard to find a handy hint.” The human hands have 54 bones.

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  48. My clue was “The answer makes me think of a certain garage band, particularly the old car that limited their elbow room,” a reference to the opening lyrics of Frank Zappa’s “Joe’s Garage”: “It wasn’t very large / There was just enough room to cram the drums / In the corner over by the Dodge / It was a ‘54 with a mashed-up door…”

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  49. 54

    1:01 AM, 1:11 AM, 1:21 AM, 1:51 AM, 2:02 AM, 2:12 AM, 2:22 AM, 2:52 AM, 5:05 AM, 5:15 AM, 5:25 AM, 5:55 AM, 6:09 AM, 6:19 AM, 6:29 AM, 6:59 AM, 8:08 AM, 8:18 AM, 8:28 AM, 8:58 AM, 9:06 AM, 9:16 AM, 9:26 AM, 9:56 AM, 10:01 AM, 11:11 AM, 12:21 AM, 1:01 PM, 1:11 PM, 1:21 PM, 1:51 PM, 2:02 PM, 2:12 PM, 2:22 PM, 2:52 PM, 5:05 PM, 5:15 PM, 5:25 PM, 5:55 PM, 6:09 PM, 6:19 PM, 6:29 PM, 6:59 PM, 8:08 PM, 8:18 PM, 8:28 PM, 8:58 PM, 9:06 PM, 9:16 PM, 9:26 PM, 9:56 PM, 10:01 PM, 11:11 PM, 12:21 PM

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    1. Of course, perversely, it's 12:21 PM that comes between 11:11 AM and 1:01 PM. And vice versa.

      Which reminds me of being on the AV squad in high school and getting roped into calling a football game and describing the progress of the ball carrier down the field: "He's on the 35 yard line, the 40, the 45, the 50, the 55, ...." Oops.

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  50. Ooh! Ooh! I was just thinking what kind of moves Joe E. Ross and his partner Fred Gwynne (from "Car 54, Where Are You?")might have demonstrated at Studio 54 in the era when Fred was the judge in My Cousin Vinny.
    Would they have been as limber in a Mutt and Jeff way as Wednesday and Lurch when the latter showed Cassidy how to do the Watusi back in '65?

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  51. Our friend geofan (also known as Ken Pratt) is in the spotlight again on this week's Puzzleria! Ken, whose "Worldplay" has become a treasured and much-anticipated institution on our blog, has created a sextet of excellent puzzles titled "eCoNoMiZaTioN, abbrs, game show capital, weaponry, anti-angelic choir, keep quiet!" all cooked up for your solving enjoyment.
    We upload P! at Midnight tonight PDT, or perhaps a bit earlier.
    Also on our menus this week:
    * a Schpuzzle of the Week titled "Potables... Potent Perhaps?"
    * a “The MalDivas” Hors d’Oeuvre titled “...And ISLE try not to sing out of KEY,”
    * a Broco-Busting Battle Puzzle Slice titled "A battle and an event involving cattle,"
    * an “All the Buzz” Dessert titled “Throwing the book” at the crook, and
    * 10 riffs of this week's NPR puzzle titled "24 hours and 54 flip-flops a day."
    That's 20 puzzles.
    We welcome you all to join us for some Puzzlerian wordplay... and some "Worldplay," courtesy of geofan.

    LegoWhoIsAFanOfGeofan'sCreativityAnd"Worldplayfulness"

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  52. It could be up to 58. When you "fall back" from Daylight Savings Time up to four times may be repeated. Is it just me or does the wording of the puzzle rule that out?

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    1. Wow, that this weekend, too! Wonder if Will just skunked us all?

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    2. I had kind of assumed there was some kind of trick to this puzzle, and assumed the timing had something to do with it.

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    3. I submitted 58 for exactly this reason. I also mentioned that 54 is the "normal" number and explained all my reasoning as well as my (other) ambiguity resolutions.

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    4. As I re-read the instructions, my eyes are drawn to the word "can" where one would expect "does." This would seem to suggest (a) that the correct answer is 58, and (b) that Will intended it to be so. If that proves to be the case, many kudos to those who caught it! Also, I'll take the under this week.

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    5. "Can" does open up some odd possibilities. If you continuously change a clock to an upside time, the total is much higher, only limited by human capacity to change the clock. Those times would not be accurate but the puzzle doesn't say "accurate." How long you could sustain that is unknown, but more than 58 seems possible. If you move away from earth days, you can get some really weird answers. A Venus day is apparently 243 days. However I think "accurate" and "earth days" and "accounting for daylight savings time" are more likely assumptions. I for one, have better things to do with my day than to continuously change my clock to prove Will Shortz wrong. For example, I could...oh jeez this is embarrassing.

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  53. All these “the answer is 54” posts all accept the digit 1 as being acceptable. I raised the question early on, but that post of mine was deleted, as to whether or not any answer containing a 1 should even be allowed, since the segments in that display are on the RIGHT side of the segments setup. 54 is indeed the correct answer for 1 being allocated; but if it’s not, then the answer is only 15 in a 12 hour period, which is 30 in a 24 hour period.

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    1. I actually went with 58 — see my comment below — and I made a point of explicitly laying out my assumptions. That was but one of the ambiguities I noted.

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  54. “allocated” should be “accepted” in my post above.

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  55. Hah, at first I just got 27, and I thought Blaine's clue was to the 27 cubes into which the Rubik's cube is divided -- but I thought that was dubious because of course there is no center cubie! (Cubelet?)
    But then I realized the true answer was 54. And that Blaine's clue was to the number of mini-faces/stickers/cubelet facets... on the Cube. Good clue!

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  56. My musical clue referenced "Bee Gees." B and G are letters 2 and 7, so 27 pluralized = 54. There were actually three Bee Gees, so the hint was not exactly perfect.

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  57. Dang, I was off by 2. Got 52, and my reference to a calendar was for the number of weeks in a year. Oh well!

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  58. I see that Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr used AI's help to recreate one last Beatles song, using a John Lennon 70's demo song and also some modified George Harrison guitar work.
    I've heard it today but am not impressed that much. To be honest, I figured that they'd include it on a reissued album, just so I'd have to buy "The White Album" again!

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  59. I'm pretty sure it is actually 58, this Sunday, because of the end of DSL.

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  60. I'm so glad I chose to not "grind out" an answer! More power and congrats to those with more patience than me.

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  61. I counted up to 54. Then I submitted 58 since this Sunday, in many places, four of the relevant displays will be duplicated due to the Daylight Saving Time switch. Maybe on Sunday I'll learn if 58 was accepted (or perhaps even intended). (I did provide a long explanation of my reasoning, including my interpretations of the multiple ambiguities.)

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  62. After all, what is "regular time?"

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  63. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm looking forward to sleeping an extra hour on Sunday morning.

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  64. I have now finally come to the inevitable conclusion that my salad spinner is a counterrevolutionary.

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    1. I used to have a sourdough starter that was a counterculture. Bits of food that fell between the cracks may qualify too.

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    2. Interesting, no matter how we spin them, these stories blend in nicely to describe our home on the range.

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    3. Multifauceted, you might say.

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    4. We're about to sink to a new low.

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    5. At least you will always have a sink at your disposal. And remember; all that glitters is snot mold.

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    6. But, jan, what can you telecompactor?

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  65. My clues referenced a studio (a place familiar to Will) - as in Studio 54; and a recent news story, which was Matthew Perry’s passing at the age of 54 - a coincidence that Dr K picked up on.

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  66. This week's challenge: This is a two-week creative challenge. Name a geographical place. Then describe it acrostically using the letters in its name. For example, ALBANY could be described acrostically as "Administering Legislative Business At New York." The place can be anywhere in the world — the U.S. or abroad. Entries will be judged on originality, sense, naturalness of wording, elegance, and overall effect. You may submit up to three entries. The person who sends the best entry in my opinion will play puzzle on the air with me in two weeks.

    Submit Your Answe

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  68. And, it appears that Will was looking for 58 as the answer this week.

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    1. It does not work in states like Arizona.

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    2. The NPR minion neglected to begin the on air challenge with the description, but they were easy to figure out and solve anyway.

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    3. All this carping is a bore, so on to the next puzzle: Yawning Until Mid-Afternoon.

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    4. Did Will say how many correct answers were received?

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    5. Ah, just heard. Only 2 correct entries for 58!

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    6. I can make a digital clock show the same time right side up and upside down thousands of times in a day! The puzzle wording did not state that the clock needed to be showing the correct time. I have a digital clock that allows me to advance the time one minute, or back it up one minute, with the touch of a single button. Even with a moderately slow rate of changing the time back and forth, like 10 times a minute, I could get over 1000 in less than two hours.

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  69. Oh so over. Oso, WA re: the March 22, 2014 mudslide.

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  71. That's, umm, disappointing. My submission is below, and I assume it was one of the TWO correct submissions. My best chance ever to get the call, and I lost the coin flip!

    -------------------------------------------------

    58 this Sunday in many places, but 54 on most days

    EXPLANATION: There's a lot of ambiguity in the statement of the puzzle, and I make the following assumptions:
    - I interpret "How many times in a day can a digital clock, ignoring the colon, read the same right side up as upside down?" as asking for the maximum.
    - In the question, I interpret "times" as referring to occurrences, not (distinct) displayed values.
    - I assume that 1, when rotated 180 degrees, still looks like 1.
    - I assume we're ignoring any displayed AM/PM.
    - I assume that displayed times either consist of exactly three digits, or three digits preceded by a 1.

    With these assumptions, the "rotatable" times in a day are:
    12:21AM
    1:01AM
    1:11AM
    1:21AM
    1:51AM
    2:02AM
    2:12AM
    2:22AM
    2:52AM
    5:05AM
    5:15AM
    5:25AM
    5:55AM
    6:09AM
    6:19AM
    6:29AM
    6:59AM
    8:08AM
    8:18AM
    8:28AM
    8:58AM
    9:06AM
    9:16AM
    9:26AM
    9:56AM
    10:01AM
    11:11AM
    12:21PM
    1:01PM
    1:11PM
    1:21PM
    1:51PM
    2:02PM
    2:12PM
    2:22PM
    2:52PM
    5:05PM
    5:15PM
    5:25PM
    5:55PM
    6:09PM
    6:19PM
    6:29PM
    6:59PM
    8:08PM
    8:18PM
    8:28PM
    8:58PM
    9:06PM
    9:16PM
    9:26PM
    9:56PM
    10:01PM
    11:11PM
    There are 54 times there, so why am I answering 58? Daylight Saving Time! With the change this Sunday, times in the range [1:00AM, 2:00AM) will be repeated, so we get "extra copies" of:
    1:01AM
    1:11AM
    1:21AM
    1:51AM
    Thus, this Sunday there will be 58 instances during which rotating the clock will yield the same time.

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    Replies
    1. A very thorough response. Sorry you didn't get the call.

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    2. Kudos to you! And to lose to a coin flip!!! I didn't have the guts to submit 58 thinking it was an "umm actually..." type answer, but we should have all thought about the day the answer would be revealed.

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    3. To quote an ertswhile President, I feel your pain.

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    4. I submitted 58 as well, my comment is noted above. I did not receive the call! So there were at least three!

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  72. Really, isn't a day defined as 24 hours? The point of DST is in reality it's a fictional creation, a day with 25 hours. I also wondered about the 0.:00 some clocks display when they first come on (when plugged in, e.g., or after a power outage). But I decided there,'s no such time as 0:00. It's a fiction, like daylight savings time..For that matter, my clock radio also displays radio station channels, many of them invertible, on the same digital display.

    Super congratulations to Joshua Green. This was one win that was truly earned.!

    ReplyDelete

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