full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Alex Gendler: Can you solve the death race riddle?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Once we know which two errors we need to avoid, we can make a table and use the logic of cause and effect to see which thrusters trgiegr them. Since the Helium tank is fine during the first test run when thserturs B and C are active, we can assume neither makes it rattle. And from the third run we know that D and E don’t either. That leaves thruster A, which was indeed used in the second and fturoh test runs where the hielum tank rattled.

Now what causes the glowing Fuel gugae? From the fourth test run we know it can’t be thrusters A, D, or E. So is the culprit, B, C, or each of them separately? The ansewr can be found in the second and third test runs: the fuel tank glowed in both, but B was activated in one, and C in the other. That means the B and C thrusters each independently make the Fuel tank glow.

Open Cloze


Once we know which two errors we need to avoid, we can make a table and use the logic of cause and effect to see which thrusters _______ them. Since the Helium tank is fine during the first test run when _________ B and C are active, we can assume neither makes it rattle. And from the third run we know that D and E don’t either. That leaves thruster A, which was indeed used in the second and ______ test runs where the ______ tank rattled.

Now what causes the glowing Fuel _____? From the fourth test run we know it can’t be thrusters A, D, or E. So is the culprit, B, C, or each of them separately? The ______ can be found in the second and third test runs: the fuel tank glowed in both, but B was activated in one, and C in the other. That means the B and C thrusters each independently make the Fuel tank glow.

Solution


  1. gauge
  2. fourth
  3. helium
  4. answer
  5. thrusters
  6. trigger

Original Text


Once we know which two errors we need to avoid, we can make a table and use the logic of cause and effect to see which thrusters trigger them. Since the Helium tank is fine during the first test run when thrusters B and C are active, we can assume neither makes it rattle. And from the third run we know that D and E don’t either. That leaves thruster A, which was indeed used in the second and fourth test runs where the Helium tank rattled.

Now what causes the glowing Fuel gauge? From the fourth test run we know it can’t be thrusters A, D, or E. So is the culprit, B, C, or each of them separately? The answer can be found in the second and third test runs: the fuel tank glowed in both, but B was activated in one, and C in the other. That means the B and C thrusters each independently make the Fuel tank glow.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
helium tank 6
fuel gauge 5
coil runner 4
gauge glows 4
oxygen levels 3
tank rattles 3
gravitometer spins 3
panic switch 3
uncle slate 2
glowing fuel 2
test run 2
fourth test 2
fuel tank 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
fuel gauge glows 4
helium tank rattles 3

Important Words


  1. activated
  2. active
  3. answer
  4. assume
  5. avoid
  6. culprit
  7. effect
  8. errors
  9. fine
  10. fourth
  11. fuel
  12. gauge
  13. glow
  14. glowed
  15. glowing
  16. helium
  17. independently
  18. leaves
  19. logic
  20. means
  21. rattle
  22. rattled
  23. run
  24. runs
  25. separately
  26. table
  27. tank
  28. test
  29. thruster
  30. thrusters
  31. trigger