Although baseball season is over, and players are taking a break from training, statisticians are in high gear, calculating who had the league’s best batting statistics. Researchers at University of Northern Colorado now know for certain just where in the US balls fly farther, says a report in the Ivanhoe Broadcast News. Sports fans suspect it. Pros know it. Now mathematics confirms it. Balls hit at Denver’s Coors Field carry farther than in any other stadium in the country. “We now actually have statistical data supporting this theory of a ‘Coors Field Effect,’” Jay Schaffer, a statistician at University Northern Colorado in Greeley, says. They score big with their latest findings: proof balls fly farther in thin air. That’s because the air has fewer air molecules that normally would slow the ball down.

When King Vlad the Villainous’ court jester expired suddenly — the king did not have a sense of humour when the joke was on him — five new candidates auditioned for the job, each entertaining his majesty in his own special way. The first four fools who tried out were found wanting and were summarily dispatched, with one being boiled in oil for his failure to please the king. The fifth candidate got the job. Given the tryout tale below, you should be able to find the order in which the five auditioned for King Vlad, the entertainment each provided, and how the first four fools met their fates.

1. Jack auditioned right before the fool who did magic tricks for King Vlad and who did not survive to become court jester.

2. The fool who later tumbled for his majesty watched in horror as an earlier candidate was drawn and quartered.

3. Ranulf wasn’t the one who played the flute nor the one who sang for the ruler.

4. Scarletto met his fate earlier than the fool who was drowned.

5. Immediately after the juggler met his fate for failing to amuse, another fool failed and was drawn and quartered.

6. Weems immediately followed the tumbler in trying for the job.

7. Jack, who didn’t juggle for King Vlad, wasn’t the fool who was drawn and quartered.

8. Pippin’s talent wasn’t playing the flute.

9. Weems wasn’t the fool who was drowned in the castle moat.

10. The fool who was beheaded wasn’t the one who did magic tricks.

Solutions on January 1

CORRECT ENTRIES

December 4

Dipesh Kumar Kalyani, NIT, Durgapur; Sidharth Udani, Calcutta — 25; Samir Kumar Maulick, Durgapur; Somnath Barik, Durgapur; Sayonil Mitra, Shantiniketan; Maharshi Ray, Subrata Cahtterjee, Koel Banerjee, Cal 54; Noel Peter, Calcutta — 16; Rufina Khan, Jamshedpur.

Please send in your correct entries to knowhow@abpmail.com within 10 days. Do not forget to mention the date of the puzzle in the subject of your mai. For snail mail the address is KnowHow, The Telegraph, 6, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta — 700 001

PUZZLE CRACKED

The solution for this week’s (December 4) puzzle: Each person’s full name and the item each forgot, as well as the three activities in which he or she took part are —

Anton Mishler had forgotten his balaclava. The activities he participated in were cross-country skiing, downhill skiing and snowboarding. Bess Olivera had forgotten her earmuffs. Her activities were cross-country skiing, ice-skating and snowshoeing. Dean Richter had forgotten his mittens. The activities he participated in were ice-skating, snowboarding and snowshoeing. Erika Nguyen had forgotten her scarf. The activities she participated in were downhill skiing, ice-skating and snowboarding. Laurel Pearce had forgotten his boots. His activities were cross-country skiing, downhill skiing and snowshoeing.