Puzzle

[brrm]

I happened to see this on 'Big Game TV' last night (I know, I know), and when they finally gave the answer (it was a phone-in competition), they didn't explain it. So now I'm curious.

"Add the numbers!"

1. NINE DAYS OFF
2. FOUR HOLIDAYS
3. 14 SHOPPING TRIPS
4. 3 LONG WEEKENDS

Now, I'm going to assume that it doesn't rely on arbitrary values for e.g. 'holidays', as that would surely make it a not-very-legal lottery.

The answer was 1661. So, mathematicians and bored people, how do you get that answer?

Comments

[antinomy.livejournal.com]

I believe I saw these people up on Watchdog for essentially running a somewhat arbitrary lottery, yes. They refused to explain how they came up with their answers.

[ms-saffie.livejournal.com]

Yeas, I saw that too

[ewx.livejournal.com]

Was it written exactly as it appears above? I wonder if there's any significance to some of the numbers being spelled out and some written in digits.

[(Anonymous)]

It was definitely written like that, yes.

[brrm.livejournal.com]

Oops, that was me.

[addedentry.livejournal.com]

It's arbitrary beyond belief. See the saga at:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/secondhand_rick/12352.html

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

There's an even longer and more insane thread here (I don't think you need a YakYak account to read it.) The question's on page 1, the answer given is at the bottom of page 7, penultimate post on page 9 gives one explanation but ultimately there was no good resolution.