Today's Question - An old refrain - "Twice four and twenty blackbirds were sitting on a plain. I shot and killed a seventh part. How many did remain?" November 11, 2019 Page 3 of 3 A Special Thank You To All The Wonderful Folks In The Armed Forces And All Their Veteran Predecessors

Reveal Answer Corner Answer - The centuries old refrain was - "Twice four and twenty blackbirds were sitting on a plain. I shot and killed a seventh part. How many did remain?". Even then (or especially then) riddles involved trickery. So the clue could be interpreted a couple of ways. "Twice four and twenty"......could be "2 times 4 plus twenty" or 2 times "4 and 20 (24)". Obviously to make the riddle work it was "2 times 4" plus twenty (or 28). So...."I shot and killed a seventh part (1/7)....How many did remain?" Thus (2x4) + 20 = 28 of which 1/7 = 4 and whether shot by gun or arrow only the dead would remain = 4.....Phew!! So much for old, old riddles!!

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