How long will it take you to figure this out?

[imported_Aaron C.]

Tell us how long it took you but don't tell the secret or you'll ruin it for everyone else. It took me about 8 clicks but I was pissed it took me that long when I figured it out.

Here it is

[jstone]

I have to admit, it did baffle me for a little while and once I figured it out I did feel stupid.

[Judyd]

ok I tried it five times. Once it was right when I was wrong. Bad math. I never figured it out, And am feeling really stupid. Ha! Imagine that...

[All41]

Wha?

[Julielpn]

Took me 2 clicks.....
Weird, though.

[TracyR]

WOW!!!

[Dho]

** SPOILER WARNING ***

Don't read this if you want to figure this out yourself.

Here's how it works:

Let's say you take any two digit integer (Ax10) + (Bx1) which we represent in base 10 as AB. When you follow the directions and add the two digits and subtract it from the original number you have:

10A + B
-A - B
__________

9A

Thus whatever number you started with will map to a multiple of 9. The program randomly rotates the symbols in these multiple of 9 spots and always brings up that symbol in the "crystal ball". All the other symbols are randomly assigned each time. For example, you can merely look at the symbol after 9 and it will always be what the crystal ball brings up.

David Ho
(Thinking about going to Nursing school)

[Dho]

Actually there is a "bug" in the program.

If one chooses a number between 0 and 8 inclusive, it will map to 0. The symbol for 0 does not match the other multiples of 9.

David Ho

[nurse10000]

10 times...5 times while changing the light bulb, the other 5 turning the ladder.

nurse10000