I have a problem that has aggravated me TO THE MAX! A guy gave it to me to solve because it’s (erroneously) speculated in my neighborhood that I’m a genius. So far I’m getting nowhere. Here’s the problem:
Fear not, Norm. To solve this one we must throw off the shackles of bourgeois reality. In other words, we cheat. First we avail ourselves of a Mobius strip, the tricky loop of paper with a half twist in it so beloved of math teachers. Then we get a felt-tip marker that will soak all the way through said strip. Finally, we draw the following diagram on the strip:
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I have scoured texts on sculpture in vain for any indication that sculptors actually used such a code. A historian for the U.S. Army Center of Military History also dismisses it as a myth. Just to make sure, I got photos of 18 equestrian statues featuring historical figures (Napoleon, George Washington, etc) in cities ranging from Chicago to Leningrad. I then checked to see whether the individuals depicted had been wounded or whatever. There is necessarily a certain amount of guesswork involved in this–I mean, does getting grazed by a bullet count as a wound? If the guy was assassinated, does that mean he was killed in action? Does it count the same if the horse has both front feet off the ground versus having one front foot and one back foot? Nonetheless, giving the code the benefit of the doubt, I determined as follows:
