Spooky FMR….

Sometimes I like harking back to an ‘oldie but goodie’ that, just perhaps, there are enough newbies around by now to have missed it.  Over 4 years ago I first learned (via Fawn Nguyen) of the “Flash Mind Reader” from Andy Wolf, formerly Andy Naughton (though it had been around since 2002) and ever since it’s remained a favorite puzzle-of-sorts to me (it makes a certain always-accurate prediction after you randomly select a 2-digit integer). What I love is its ultimate utter simplicity while, like a great sleight-of-hand magic trick, creating wonder from basic distraction.

You can visit it here (and will need ‘flash’ installed to play it):

http://www.mandrgames.com/flashmindreader.htm

This is especially fun to show young people… or, any of us who are young-at-heart! ;)

I last wrote about it on the blog here:

https://math-frolic.blogspot.com/2014/12/deja-vu-revisiting-flash-mind-reader.html

[the link I give to the puzzle there no longer works though; and my first mention of the puzzle, by the way, was HERE.]]

The only little bit of backstory I've ever found on this wonderful piece of legerdemain is here:
http://www.wolfman.ltd/portfolio-items/the-original-flash-mind-reader/
And so far as I know, Andy Wolf(e) still works for Wolfman Ltd. as a freelance digital designer.(I've tried to make contact with him without success.)

For any who need an explanation of how it works there are plenty available on the Web (including on YouTube), just google “Flash Mind Reader,” so I won't give a 'spoiler' here.

[...I will say some do a much better job of explaining it than others, and it is the sort of puzzle Presh Talwalkar does a great job of explaining, so I was sorry to see that, as best I can tell, he’s never tackled it on his “Mind Your Decisions” site. Hey Presh, this seems right up your alley!]