Gridlock

I am sorry to be so boring, really, but when I find something new and interesting I throw myself into it very hard, and I'm still banging my way through those Project Euler problems (I've solved 17), and here's another one you might like to have a look at. Or not. Like the previous one, it requires no math or programming skills except the ability to use a calculator, and that only at the very end.

Find four numbers in a straight line which multiply together to form the largest total. That's all. You proofreading types out there can knock it off in about three minutes, if that. I wrote down five combinations of numbers that looked promising and checked two of them, both of which were wrong, so I pored over the table until I found a set that, without even checking, I knew was the right answer, and it was.

Okay, one more. This one seems insanely complicated but with a flash of insight, you can solve it in a few seconds. The problem: How many Sundays fell on the first of the month during the twentieth century (1 Jan 1901 to 31 Dec 2000)? You don't need all kinds of extraneous information such as how many leap years there are in a century or how many days are in any given month: you just, as it turns out, need to know two things, and once you've identified them, you can figure this out with pencil and paper. Go ahead; give it a try.

Tomorrow: something more interesting. Really!