"Between Meals" - April 10, 2020
- MajordomoTom
- Posts: 1426
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- Location: St. Louis, MO
yes, quite a few online forms result in sending an email when you press "submit", I really doubt there's a database involved in this one.
I'm imagining an Outlook account, with a folder for each week's contest. Emails are moved there, sorted by time. Cutoff for those which are late. Then a random number (likely from 1 to 2000) is generated, if there's an email that matches that number, it's reviewed. If the number is too high, then another number is picked until there's one which matches the population size. Rinse and repeat.
It's likely manual, but it's simple, so it's probably never been changed, even as the size of the muggle-ati has been growing.
I'm imagining an Outlook account, with a folder for each week's contest. Emails are moved there, sorted by time. Cutoff for those which are late. Then a random number (likely from 1 to 2000) is generated, if there's an email that matches that number, it's reviewed. If the number is too high, then another number is picked until there's one which matches the population size. Rinse and repeat.
It's likely manual, but it's simple, so it's probably never been changed, even as the size of the muggle-ati has been growing.
"Lots of planets have a North", the Ninth Doctor.
- Bob cruise director
- Cruise Director
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- Location: Any golf course within 500 miles of Littleton MA
But someone has to go through to get statistics, even rough ones, of the number of correct submissions and some of the more interesting wrong ones.MajordomoTom wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 12:22 pm yes, quite a few online forms result in sending an email when you press "submit", I really doubt there's a database involved in this one.
I'm imagining an Outlook account, with a folder for each week's contest. Emails are moved there, sorted by time. Cutoff for those which are late. Then a random number (likely from 1 to 2000) is generated, if there's an email that matches that number, it's reviewed. If the number is too high, then another number is picked until there's one which matches the population size. Rinse and repeat.
It's likely manual, but it's simple, so it's probably never been changed, even as the size of the muggle-ati has been growing.
Bob Stevens
Cruise Director
Cruise Director
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That's my dream job. (No sarcasm or kidding--it really would be my dream job!)Bob cruise director wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 1:29 pmBut someone has to go through to get statistics, even rough ones, of the number of correct submissions and some of the more interesting wrong ones.MajordomoTom wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 12:22 pm yes, quite a few online forms result in sending an email when you press "submit", I really doubt there's a database involved in this one.
I'm imagining an Outlook account, with a folder for each week's contest. Emails are moved there, sorted by time. Cutoff for those which are late. Then a random number (likely from 1 to 2000) is generated, if there's an email that matches that number, it's reviewed. If the number is too high, then another number is picked until there's one which matches the population size. Rinse and repeat.
It's likely manual, but it's simple, so it's probably never been changed, even as the size of the muggle-ati has been growing.
- Scott M
- Posts: 466
- Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 1:10 pm
- Location: Charlottesville, VA
To ease your mind a bit, I won a mug through an email submission. Does not have to be through the online submission.Joe Ross wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 11:15 amI agree about a confirmation being nice. I email & copy myself, if only to assure myself that I have entered.damefox wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 9:27 amI often wonder if the WSJ has even gotten my submission. I used to submit via the online form, but then I switched to email because I convinced myself the online form wasn't submitting my answer at all. Even just an automated confirmation message from the WSJ that your response was received would be nice.
I do remember WSJ staff discussing the online form versus email. There is no difference, since the online form generates an email to the same account, crosswordcontest@wsj.com
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.
Mark Twain
Mark Twain
- MarkL
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I thought they burned the emails individually until one produced white smoke.
'tis... A lovely day for a Guinness!
- boharr
- Moderator
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The white smoke signals that I have given up.
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This is just a function (RANDBETWEEN) in a spreadsheet. I imagined 1 to X where X is the total number of submissions for the week. Just change X each week.MajordomoTom wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 12:22 pm Then a random number (likely from 1 to 2000) is generated
fM
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Muggle-ati….I love it!Bob cruise director wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 1:29 pmBut someone has to go through to get statistics, even rough ones, of the number of correct submissions and some of the more interesting wrong ones.MajordomoTom wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 12:22 pm yes, quite a few online forms result in sending an email when you press "submit", I really doubt there's a database involved in this one.
I'm imagining an Outlook account, with a folder for each week's contest. Emails are moved there, sorted by time. Cutoff for those which are late. Then a random number (likely from 1 to 2000) is generated, if there's an email that matches that number, it's reviewed. If the number is too high, then another number is picked until there's one which matches the population size. Rinse and repeat.
It's likely manual, but it's simple, so it's probably never been changed, even as the size of the muggle-ati has been growing.
- Al Sisti
- Posts: 2091
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 1:28 pm
- Location: Whitesboro NY
Agree. I then if the one the draw has the correct answer, end of game (except for the person/people who do go through all of them to collect up wrong answer statistics). And if the first draw is wrong, they rerandomize, I would supposed. Probably some multiplicative congruential random generator with a seed of 65539 (that was for my engineer friends. Don't ask me what that means...I'm more of a "shot an arrow in the air" kind of guy.flyingMoose wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 5:19 pmThis is just a function (RANDBETWEEN) in a spreadsheet. I imagined 1 to X where X is the total number of submissions for the week. Just change X each week.MajordomoTom wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 12:22 pm Then a random number (likely from 1 to 2000) is generated
fM
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Here comes TMI. I experimented. Just have ten, twenty, whatever cells with the same formula referencing the same cell that has X in it. Each of those ten or twenty cells will have a different random integer. Just go down the list until you get a winner.Al Sisti wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 5:55 pmAgree. I then if the one the draw has the correct answer, end of game (except for the person/people who do go through all of them to collect up wrong answer statistics). And if the first draw is wrong, they rerandomize, I would supposed. Probably some multiplicative congruential random generator with a seed of 65539 (that was for my engineer friends. Don't ask me what that means...I'm more of a "shot an arrow in the air" kind of guy.flyingMoose wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 5:19 pmThis is just a function (RANDBETWEEN) in a spreadsheet. I imagined 1 to X where X is the total number of submissions for the week. Just change X each week.MajordomoTom wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 12:22 pm Then a random number (likely from 1 to 2000) is generated
fM
fM
- Meg
- Posts: 2211
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- Location: St. Petersburg, FL
Who are you people?flyingMoose wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 6:21 pmHere comes TMI. I experimented. Just have ten, twenty, whatever cells with the same formula referencing the same cell that has X in it. Each of those ten or twenty cells will have a different random integer. Just go down the list until you get a winner.Al Sisti wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 5:55 pmAgree. I then if the one the draw has the correct answer, end of game (except for the person/people who do go through all of them to collect up wrong answer statistics). And if the first draw is wrong, they rerandomize, I would supposed. Probably some multiplicative congruential random generator with a seed of 65539 (that was for my engineer friends. Don't ask me what that means...I'm more of a "shot an arrow in the air" kind of guy.flyingMoose wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 5:19 pm
This is just a function (RANDBETWEEN) in a spreadsheet. I imagined 1 to X where X is the total number of submissions for the week. Just change X each week.
fM
fM
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- TMart
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I always use the online submission, and I won a mug that way. So both ways apparently work (or don’t work, depending on your point of view).Scott Medvetz wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 4:05 pmTo ease your mind a bit, I won a mug through an email submission. Does not have to be through the online submission.Joe Ross wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 11:15 amI agree about a confirmation being nice. I email & copy myself, if only to assure myself that I have entered.damefox wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 9:27 am
I often wonder if the WSJ has even gotten my submission. I used to submit via the online form, but then I switched to email because I convinced myself the online form wasn't submitting my answer at all. Even just an automated confirmation message from the WSJ that your response was received would be nice.
I do remember WSJ staff discussing the online form versus email. There is no difference, since the online form generates an email to the same account, crosswordcontest@wsj.com
- Bob cruise director
- Cruise Director
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Guys who are stuck at home and can't wait until Thursday at 4 pmMeg wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 7:17 pmWho are you people?flyingMoose wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 6:21 pmHere comes TMI. I experimented. Just have ten, twenty, whatever cells with the same formula referencing the same cell that has X in it. Each of those ten or twenty cells will have a different random integer. Just go down the list until you get a winner.Al Sisti wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 5:55 pm
Agree. I then if the one the draw has the correct answer, end of game (except for the person/people who do go through all of them to collect up wrong answer statistics). And if the first draw is wrong, they rerandomize, I would supposed. Probably some multiplicative congruential random generator with a seed of 65539 (that was for my engineer friends. Don't ask me what that means...I'm more of a "shot an arrow in the air" kind of guy.
fM
Bob Stevens
Cruise Director
Cruise Director
- sharkicicles
- Posts: 953
- Joined: Fri May 10, 2019 12:03 pm
- Location: Chicago
65535 is the highest number you can fit into 16 bits. Sorry, engineer part of brain had to chime inAl Sisti wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 5:55 pmAgree. I then if the one the draw has the correct answer, end of game (except for the person/people who do go through all of them to collect up wrong answer statistics). And if the first draw is wrong, they rerandomize, I would supposed. Probably some multiplicative congruential random generator with a seed of 65539 (that was for my engineer friends. Don't ask me what that means...I'm more of a "shot an arrow in the air" kind of guy.flyingMoose wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 5:19 pmThis is just a function (RANDBETWEEN) in a spreadsheet. I imagined 1 to X where X is the total number of submissions for the week. Just change X each week.MajordomoTom wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 12:22 pm Then a random number (likely from 1 to 2000) is generated
fM
- MajordomoTom
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who am I?
physics/psychology double major, MBA, MSBA, CPA, JD, STEP, AEP
and I like numbers too, not just a collector of letters.
physics/psychology double major, MBA, MSBA, CPA, JD, STEP, AEP
and I like numbers too, not just a collector of letters.
"Lots of planets have a North", the Ninth Doctor.
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But... it's probably a *signed* integer, so, 32767. Sorry, pedantic engineer of my brain had to chime in.sharkicicles wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 9:41 pm65535 is the highest number you can fit into 16 bits. Sorry, engineer part of brain had to chime inAl Sisti wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 5:55 pmAgree. I then if the one the draw has the correct answer, end of game (except for the person/people who do go through all of them to collect up wrong answer statistics). And if the first draw is wrong, they rerandomize, I would supposed. Probably some multiplicative congruential random generator with a seed of 65539 (that was for my engineer friends. Don't ask me what that means...I'm more of a "shot an arrow in the air" kind of guy.flyingMoose wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 5:19 pm
This is just a function (RANDBETWEEN) in a spreadsheet. I imagined 1 to X where X is the total number of submissions for the week. Just change X each week.
fM
- DBMiller
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And if you really want to get pedantic, you don't seed a random number generator with a fixed number. If you do, then it would generate the same numbers each time it is ran.Dplass wrote: ↑Wed Apr 15, 2020 9:44 amBut... it's probably a *signed* integer, so, 32767. Sorry, pedantic engineer of my brain had to chime in.sharkicicles wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 9:41 pm65535 is the highest number you can fit into 16 bits. Sorry, engineer part of brain had to chime inAl Sisti wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 5:55 pm
Agree. I then if the one the draw has the correct answer, end of game (except for the person/people who do go through all of them to collect up wrong answer statistics). And if the first draw is wrong, they rerandomize, I would supposed. Probably some multiplicative congruential random generator with a seed of 65539 (that was for my engineer friends. Don't ask me what that means...I'm more of a "shot an arrow in the air" kind of guy.
If I'm around, I am willing to join the Muggle Zoom room at other times to lend a hand to those in need.
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True. That's why we have lava lamps. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavarand).DBMiller wrote: ↑Wed Apr 15, 2020 10:51 amAnd if you really want to get pedantic, you don't seed a random number generator with a fixed number. If you do, then it would generate the same numbers each time it is ran.Dplass wrote: ↑Wed Apr 15, 2020 9:44 amBut... it's probably a *signed* integer, so, 32767. Sorry, pedantic engineer of my brain had to chime in.sharkicicles wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 9:41 pm
65535 is the highest number you can fit into 16 bits. Sorry, engineer part of brain had to chime in
- Tom Shea
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I think it's an imaginary number. And a vector. Or maybe a Laplace transform. Or maybe ∇⋅B=0. Or the tarot cards lied!
I just know that my number (42) has never been picked. Now, what was the question?
I just know that my number (42) has never been picked. Now, what was the question?
Rufus T. Firefly
- MajordomoTom
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I'm getting tensor and tensor.
"Lots of planets have a North", the Ninth Doctor.