posted by Farmer John:
Quote:
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wife's Grandfather's Bosuns' pipe.
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The three variables in this phrase immediately struck me as having interesting possibilities:
1. Was it the maternal or paternal grandfather?
2. Was it a pipe belonging to a boatswain who was under some allegiance to the grandfather?
3. Was it a boatswains-pipe as a musical instrument?
So, let the wife be A, the maternal grandfather B, the paternal grandfather C, the boatswain D, the pipe E and the pipe as a musical instrument F:
By Boolean algebra we have
A+B+D+E = 1
A+B+F = 1
A+C+D+E = 1
A+C+F = 1
Consolidating the four expressions we get:
A + B.C + F.D + E = 1
All of which proves that it makes absolutely no difference which grandfather it was and whether or not the boatswain smoked or blew his pipe.
The only question which arises is: was it ever found?