Talk:Cain's Jawbone

Number of combinations

Many news articles say there are 32 million possible combinations, but if it's 100 factorial, 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 [...] x 98 x 99 x 100, then it is much bigger, a very very very very very big number. Possibly a septillion, 1000000000000000000000000, or maybe more twl_corinthian (talk) 13:16, 14 November 2020 (UTC)

You are correct. Not at all clear to me where 32 million has come from. This reminds me of the original advert for Rubik's Cube which stated "over 3 billion combinations, 1 solution" when the actual number of combinations is far higher. The actual number of combinations for Cain's Jawbone is indeed 100 factorial, or:

93326215443944152681699238856266700490715968264381621

46859296389521759999322991560894146397615651828625369

7920827223758251185210916864000000000000000000000000 Awoma (talk) 10:32, 26 December 2020 (UTC)

I just corrected it. I don't even know where 34 million is taken from, but it's certainly wrong Sasitore01 (talk) 21:00, 9 June 2022 (UTC)

A permutation / factorial calculator takes the guesswork out of things. As mentioned above, the actual value is...

93,326,215,443,944,152,681,699,238,856,266,700,490,715,968,264,381,621, 468,592,963,895,217,599,993,229,915,608,941,463,976,156,518,286,253,697, 920,827,223,758,251,185,210,916,864,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

https://www.calculator.net/permutation-and-combination-calculator.html?cnv=100&crv=100&x=Calculate

Number of permutations > ninety-three unquinquagintillion

https://googology.fandom.com/wiki/Unquinquagintillion

Of course permutation / factorial is a mathematical concept of possibility and not an actual or realistic probability. Once we assume (dare I say realize) a dozen pages or so are tied together by quotations and punctuation, or we group together an easy chapter (eg Paul Trinder), that 93 unquinquagintillion drops significantly to a meagre 185 tresquadragintillion possible combinations (or a paltry 61 tretrigintillion, if you manage both pairings as well as a chapter). And so on down to whatever arbitrary number takes the fancy of whoever is flogging the work.

So, the reality is that the use of 32 million is simply a marketing strategy which attempts to make comprehensible to a lay audience a value of unimaginable proportion. These people are selling books; they are not interested in the accuracy of their, or anyone else's, mathematical calculations or claims. Ronald Blake (talk) 01:20, 12 January 2024 (UTC)

1935 prizes

The Telegraph says the two winners got £15 each, but the Guardian says £25 each. Anyone know which is right? twl_corinthian (talk) 13:16, 14 November 2020 (UTC)

Name

Why did the article say it refers to Cain and Abel and the first ever murder weapon? Cain used a rock. Samson used a jawbone, right? 73.243.98.208 (talk) 03:18, 31 October 2022 (UTC)

It’s a reference to Hamlet, act V, scene i, where the gravedigger mentions “Cain’s jaw-bone that did the first murder”. Given the cryptic nature of the puzzle, it’s probably a clue that the jawbone is mentioned in Hamlet but not the Bible. 174.29.95.98 (talk) 05:34, 5 January 2023 (UTC)