full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Shravan S K: Can you cheat death by solving this riddle?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


You and your best friend Bill are the greatest bards in the kingdom— but maybe not the brightest. The hit song you performed at last night’s fair itusenld the king, and now your hours are numbered. Just before your execution, you’re approached by the pnercsis, who happens to be a big fan. She slips you a pouch containing two magic, six-sided dice that can land any way you wish. You have no idea how this could pislbsoy help, but you thank her anyways.

As everything goes dark, you both suddenly find yourself sdanntig in a deep cavern before a robed figure. It turns out that Death is a connoisseur of most excellent music. He’s decided to give you a chance to escape your fate by bainetg him at his favorite game: life-sized Snakes and lradeds. The cavern has 100 rooms connected by passageways as well as— you guessed it— snakes and ladders. Each turn one of you will roll a die, then advance that many rmoos. Ending your move at the bottom of a lddear means moving up to the top, while ending on a snake’s head will make you sldie down to its tail. Each of you must make your way through the cevarn and reach the exit in fewer turns than Death himself.

Open Cloze


You and your best friend Bill are the greatest bards in the kingdom— but maybe not the brightest. The hit song you performed at last night’s fair ________ the king, and now your hours are numbered. Just before your execution, you’re approached by the ________, who happens to be a big fan. She slips you a pouch containing two magic, six-sided dice that can land any way you wish. You have no idea how this could ________ help, but you thank her anyways.

As everything goes dark, you both suddenly find yourself ________ in a deep cavern before a robed figure. It turns out that Death is a connoisseur of most excellent music. He’s decided to give you a chance to escape your fate by _______ him at his favorite game: life-sized Snakes and _______. The cavern has 100 rooms connected by passageways as well as— you guessed it— snakes and ladders. Each turn one of you will roll a die, then advance that many _____. Ending your move at the bottom of a ______ means moving up to the top, while ending on a snake’s head will make you _____ down to its tail. Each of you must make your way through the ______ and reach the exit in fewer turns than Death himself.

Solution


  1. beating
  2. insulted
  3. standing
  4. ladder
  5. ladders
  6. princess
  7. slide
  8. rooms
  9. cavern
  10. possibly

Original Text


You and your best friend Bill are the greatest bards in the kingdom— but maybe not the brightest. The hit song you performed at last night’s fair insulted the king, and now your hours are numbered. Just before your execution, you’re approached by the princess, who happens to be a big fan. She slips you a pouch containing two magic, six-sided dice that can land any way you wish. You have no idea how this could possibly help, but you thank her anyways.

As everything goes dark, you both suddenly find yourself standing in a deep cavern before a robed figure. It turns out that Death is a connoisseur of most excellent music. He’s decided to give you a chance to escape your fate by beating him at his favorite game: life-sized Snakes and Ladders. The cavern has 100 rooms connected by passageways as well as— you guessed it— snakes and ladders. Each turn one of you will roll a die, then advance that many rooms. Ending your move at the bottom of a ladder means moving up to the top, while ending on a snake’s head will make you slide down to its tail. Each of you must make your way through the cavern and reach the exit in fewer turns than Death himself.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
cavern entrance 2
ladder snake 2
snake ladder 2


Important Words


  1. advance
  2. approached
  3. bards
  4. beating
  5. big
  6. bill
  7. bottom
  8. brightest
  9. cavern
  10. chance
  11. connected
  12. connoisseur
  13. dark
  14. death
  15. decided
  16. deep
  17. dice
  18. die
  19. escape
  20. excellent
  21. execution
  22. exit
  23. fair
  24. fan
  25. fate
  26. favorite
  27. figure
  28. find
  29. friend
  30. give
  31. greatest
  32. guessed
  33. head
  34. hit
  35. hours
  36. idea
  37. insulted
  38. king
  39. ladder
  40. ladders
  41. land
  42. magic
  43. means
  44. move
  45. moving
  46. music
  47. numbered
  48. passageways
  49. performed
  50. possibly
  51. pouch
  52. princess
  53. reach
  54. robed
  55. roll
  56. rooms
  57. slide
  58. slips
  59. snakes
  60. song
  61. standing
  62. suddenly
  63. tail
  64. top
  65. turn
  66. turns