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3.) No doubt you remember the famous incident when JFK visited Germany, and wanting to quickly endear himself to the citizenry there, stood behind a lectern and exhorted these words: ‘’Ich bin ein Berliner.'’ Do you what those words literally translate to - in English?

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4.) You may know, that some years back I lived in Boulder City, Nevada for a spate, Great place to live - once you get accustomed to the extreme heat! I did notice something a bit strange, though:

A full 10% of all the folks living in B.C. have unlisted phone numbers. Try to figure this out, then: If you selected 100 names at random from the B.C. telephone directory, on average, how many of those people selected would have unlisted phone numbers?

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5.) I had a nightmare the other night. (Yes, I know I should quit feasting after midnight!) Anyway, in the dream, I lived in the fabled ‘’days of yore'’ and it seems that somehow, I had displeased the King who decreed that I must die.

However, he said that since I had been of some benefit to the throne all those years, he would allow me to select the method of death.

‘’Sir, does that mean I can select any method?'’ A bit irritated, the King replied, ‘’Yes, of course - hanging, drawing and quartering - burned at the stake - whatever you prefer - anything.'’ I pondered those choices and quickly decided on an alternate method of death - which I presented, and true to his word, it was indeed, accepted by the King. What was it?

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6.) I’ve been to London (NOT to visit the Queen - Elton John was in Vegas, at the time . . . ) Heck, my mother was born in London - yet until recently, I never knew a couple of the more salient facts about Big Ben. Let’s see if you do:

It’s 147 years-old and is situated on the River Thames. During WWII it continued running - within 1 second of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) - despite repeated attempts by the German Luftwaffe to destroy it. (The Krauts did manage to destroy my Uncle Bert’s house there but not him, his family or their piano: They left jolly ol’ and emigrated {keyboard and all} to Australia!)

By the way, there’s an interesting tale: He and his wife Millie later sold everything they owned in Australia -at about 90 years of age - to finance one last trip around the world. I fondly recall picking them up at the Greyhound bus station in Sturgis (Michigan) in my first green/gold Rolls-Royce.

They really liked that! A couple years later, Aunt Millie died, then, Uncle Bert was hit and killed by a car, as he walked across a shopping mall parking lot in Sidney. Oh well, onward and upward . . .

Certainly, at one time or another I’ve also told you our other ‘big’ family tale concerning my mother’s father, Walter McCrow, who was a London Bobby - a municipal policeman - (and much-decorated-by-the-King, by the way): One day, whilst patrolling his beat in the midst of one of the city’s fabled pea-soup-thick fogs, he walked straight into the Thames river!

Back to Large Benny . . . and my question: Do you know what Big Ben really is? Clue - it’s NOT the clock!

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7.) BE CAREFUL: DON’T SLIP ON THE ICE!

A.) You are competing in an ice-skating race and manage to overtake the skater in second place. In which position are you now?

B.) Different race - same you: You overtake the very last skater. What position are you in now?

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8.) As you know, groups of various animals, birds and such are categorized by special names: A herd of cattle, a flock of sheep (and/or birds, oddly enough), a school of fish, a pride of lions, a litter of kittens, a pod of whales, etc.

Do you know what a bunch of crows are called? If not, I bet you cannot guess it!

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9.) Our good ol’ friend, super sleuth Derek Dax, enjoyed the recent holidays at the beautiful old Hotel Goetsch near Lucerne, Switzerland - a place that both SuEllen and I also dearly love to visit now and then.

One day, whilst Derek was in his room, a couple knocked on his door but when he answered and they realized the party they planned to attend was next door, they apologized and left. Right about the same time, the hotel’s maid dropped by to make certain all was in order.

Shortly, an elderly man with a walker knocked on the door, but apologized profusely when Derek answered the door and the old man realized this was not his own room - which was next door.

Just as Derek was about to settle down with a cognac and a quiet sit on the balcony overlooking Lake Lucerne, the entertainment director stopped by to leave some data on shopping, sight-seeing and an excursion to see Mount Pilatus nearby.

If that wasn’t enough interruption, the bellboy (finally) delivered Derek’s luggage which had been delayed at the airport.

Following a brief nap and a brisk shower, Derek dined that evening with old friends in the hotel dining room - a marvelous and secretive place situated in an ancient dungeon (literally) underneath the hotel proper.

As they chatted, one of his friends disclosed there had been a number of thefts in the hotel during the past couple days but the local police seemed to be baffled as to the culprit. Derek thought for only a moment and said, ‘’Oh, I believe I know who the thief is!'’ Do YOU? And why?

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10.) What two coins can you combine that total 30 cents - when one of them is not a nickel?

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11.) Show Time! You realize that it’s time to return social favors to a couple friends. You decide to take them to the movies next week. Which will be cheaper:

To take one friend to the movies twice - or two friends at the same time? Now, we’re going to assume that we’re talking about ticket prices only - not how much popcorn and candy all of you will consume!

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12.) A couple smart-aleck neighbor kids heard that ol’ DAX was fairly smart, so one day they got together to see if they could pull one over on me. They knocked on the door and one says, ‘’I've got a sparrow in my hands,'’

It was noted the kid was holding his hands behind his back. ‘’Tell me, is the sparrow dead or alive?'’ I smiled and replied, ‘’Obviously, you’re here in a vain attempt to trick me, so I hate to disappoint you, but there is no way to answer you accurately.'’

Now, it just so happens that I got a glimpse of a reflection of the live bird in a nearby window situated behind the kid. Nevertheless, I held true to my statement there was no way for me to answer whether the bird was dead or alive. Why is that?

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13.) Here’s a popular old bar trick: How can you remove a dollar bill from under an empty pop bottle that’s resting on it without touching the bottle itself or knocking it over?

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14.) We all know that the 4th of July is the date on which we celebrate our Declaration of Independence but here’s some interesting stuff I did not know - how about you?

Only two people signed the document on July 4, 1776: Most all of the other 56 signed a full month later on August 2nd and the final signature was not added until five years later! Who were those two fellows who signed on July 4th? Who was the half-decade, final holdout?

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15.) HOW TO ABSOLUTELY WIN AT THE OLD ‘SHELL GAME’ EVERY TIME!

If you’ve ever visited any major city in North America - especially New York, then you know that the venerable shell game (along with 3 card Monte and a couple other nefarious ways to part a sucker from his money) are alive and well and operating every day - quite illegally, of course. It is hard for some to resist the pleasant patter and frequent charm of the game operators, but one thing is for certain:

No matter what strategy one employs it is impossible to ‘beat the house.’ Why? Simply because the games are not played on the basis of odds or luck or intelligence - they are played on the basis of how well the operator can do his sleight of hand.

 In the case of the shell game, the operator generally palms the pea (or ball bearing or whatever is being used), so that when the sucker makes his or her selection, there is no way they can win because the pea is not under any of the three shells. The sucker never knows that,of course, because he just makes his selection, turns it over and sees that he’s lost, laughs and is on his way -$10 to $20 lighter than when he arrived.

However, there truly IS one way to absolutely ensure that you will win each and every time that you play the shell game. Can you figure it out?

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16.) Once upon a time . . . there was a beautiful Princess named Gracela. Her father, the King, wanted to be certain that his daughter married an intelligent man. (No, I am NOT being sexist here: In those days of ol’ there was no such thing as same-sex marriage, thus, ’twas a man the King sought for his daughter . . . )

He concocted a test for each of his daughter’s available suitors by hiding a picture of her in one of three boxes, each with a message attached, thusly: On a bronze box it read, ‘’Gracela’s picture is not in the gold box.'’ On a silver box the message was, ‘’Gracela’s picture is not in this box.'’ On the third box, a gold one, the note said, ‘’Gracela’s picture is in this box.'’

The Test: The King told each swain, ‘’Only one of the three messages is correct. You have just 30 seconds to come up with the correct answer and thus win the hand (and hopefully, all other nifty body parts) of the Fair Princess Gracela.'’

YOU, on the other hand, can take as much time as you wish and the only thing you’re gonna get is the satisfaction of being correct. (In other words you get NO Royal naughty bits, whatsoever . . . )

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17.) A man falls overboard and gets washed ashore on an island with nothing but sand. The island is 50 miles from the nearest land, he cannot swim, the water is 100 feet deep, and there’s nothing on the island to make a raft, boat or other flotation device. Stranded with no help from people, animals, fish or machines he manages to find a safe way off the island. How did he do that?

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18.) YOU’RE GONNA LOVE THIS ONE!

Point your little mousey there to: www.netgrab.com/fun/cardtrick/index.htm As soon as you get there, capture the website in your Favorite Places file - ’cause, you definitely are going to want to share this with your friends!

Now, you’ll find six standard playing cards - half red, half black - different numbers and suits. Mentally select one of the six cards - then, proceed through the next two steps.

 You will quickly discover that I have read your mind, determined which card you are thinking of AND deleted it from the group. How did I do that? And do be forewarned: I can do it every time!

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19.) If you wanted to boil an egg for three minutes, BUT you have only a 5 minute hourglass and a 2 minute hourglass, how can you use both timers to ensure boiling your egg for exactly three minutes?

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20.) A BRICK SHORT OF A LOAD? WARNING: THIS WHAT IS KNOWN AS A ‘’GROANER . . .'’

Was watching the neighbor building a new house, recently. Nice place - about 100 feet long and 40 feet wide. Ranch style, about eight foot walls. He was putting pretty red bricks over the entire exterior wall surface. Had nothing to do at the moment, so I started to calculate:

Looked like there were two bricks per square foot. I subtracted about 1000 square feet for the window and door openings. So the question was: How many bricks would it take to complete the project?

THE SOLUTIONS:

1.) Most likely, you’d light the match first . . .

2.) A mere one hour, as a wind-up alarm cannot distinguish AM from PM.

3.) Obviously JFK did NOT, because what he SAID is: ‘’I am a jelly-filled doughnut.'’ What he no doubt intended to say was, ‘’Ich bin Berliner,'’ which essentially, indicated that he considered himself a German or more to the point, a citizen of Berlin - at least in a spiritual sense.

4.) Seems to me there would be zero - since you cannot find Unlisted phone numbers in a phone directory . . .

5.) Drawing and quartering? Hanging? Burned at the stake?! ‘’Holy Crusades, Batman!'’ - not for me! I decided that I would rather die of . . . old age.

6.)Big Ben is actually the clocks’ 13-ton bell and was named after Sir Benjamin Hall, the British Commissioner of Works at the time the clock was built. Oh, and this: The official name for that Gothic old tower housing Big Ben is St. Stephen’s Tower. Here’s a slightly related recollection of mine:

When I first went to London, ’twas with my late friend, Hameed - part of our multi-month, ‘’middle-aged crisis tour'’ (as our wives referred to it) of Europe, Asia and the United Kingdom.

I insisted on visiting the Tower of London and as we were ascending one of the narrow passages, he got stuck! Seems funny now - heck, it seemed wildly hilarious (to me, only!) at the time! Sometime, I’ll tell you about scaring the beejeebers out of that big ol’ Pakistani at the House of Wax in Copenhagen . . .

7.) - A.) Most folks answer the number one position. No . . . if you overtake the person in second position all you do is replace him/her. Thus, you are in second position.

B.) This one is gnarly! Most will answer that overtaking the very last skater puts you in ‘’second to last,'’ but obviously, that is just not possible. You cannot overtake a person in the last position:

If so, then you would be that person. No one can be BEHIND the person in the last position. Probably, the ‘’correct answer'’ is: ‘’Impossible!'’

8.) ‘’Murder'’ - the actual designation for a passel of crows! Now, c’mon! Would you have ever guessed that one? I certainly did not.

9.) Derek was relatively certain the thief was the ‘’old man'’ who meandered about behind the guise of a walker, because he had knocked on Derek’s door but when Derek answered the door, the old man feigned surprise, saying that he had thought it was his own room. If so, why would he have knocked on his own door?

10.) The answer is the one you kept coming up with but then discarded: A quarter and a nickel. Howzzat? Well, one of the two coins is not a nickel - it is a quarter. You could also say (of course) that one of the two coins is not a quarter - it is a nickel. Hmmmm . . .

11.) It would be cheaper to take two friends with you at the same time, because you would have to buy just three tickets. If you take one friend to two movies, you will end up having to buy four tickets.

12.) I told them: ‘’Look, if I say the bird is alive you’ll wring its poor little neck and then present a dead bird to prove me wrong. If I tell you the bird is dead, you will let the thing fly away. Therefore, there is no way to answer your question correctly.'’

13.) Lay the dollar bill flat (not folded) on a table and place the bottle in the center of the bill. Grasp each end of the bill with fingers from both hands and start rolling lengthwise. As it rolls, it will slip from underneath the bottle without disturbing it. Cool, no?!

14.) I only guessed one - the most obvious, John Hancock, President of the Congress. The other was Charles Thompson, the Secretary. Thomas McKean (Delaware) was so hounded by the British that he was forced to keep moving with his family.

All of his possessions were taken away and he served in Congress without pay - but did finally manage to sign the Declaration of Independence 5 years later in 1981! Incidentally, most signers suffered similar trials and tribulations so, hoist a tall one to all of them the next tiem we mutually celebrate our many days of Independence!

15.) After the operator has done his patter and your money (and his) is laying on the table, he will invite you to make your selection. Your task is, of course, to indicate the shell that conceals the pea.

Knowing in advance that most likely none of the shells conceals the pea (because the crook has palmed the thing whilst moving the shells around in a great flourish) you simply do the following:

As you reach for one of the shells - but BEFORE you turn it over say, ‘’Well, you are very good, my friend, but I’ve watched you carefully and I KNOW that the pea is NOT under this one.'’ Turn the shell over to reveal it is empty. Then continue your patter as you reach for the second shell and say, ‘’And I KNOW that it is not under this one.'’ Finish your patter by saying, ‘’So obviously, it has to be under this one.'’ As you say this, only POINT to the third shell - do NOT turn it over.

Obviously, since the pea was not under the first two, it MUST be under the third (under the rules of the game) so you may confidently reach for your winnings - and make a hasty retreat! Understand, the pea most likely is NOT under the third shell, because as stated earlier, the operator has palmed the thing early on.

But also obvious is the fact that he cannot (now) tell you that it is NOT under the third shell else he would be admitting to conning you! Nor should YOU turn over that third shell (revealing the empty space underneath) as you would be calling his bluff a bit too severely, and in fact, blatantly calling him a liar and a cheat. He might not take too kindly to that . . .

16.) ’twas the silver box, you silver fox (if you guessed it!) - that contained Gracela’s picture. If her picture had been in the gold box, two statements would have been true, being, the messages on both the gold and silver boxes.

If her picture had been in the bronze box, again, there would have been two correct answers (the statements on the bronze and the silver boxes) rather than just the one correct statement which the King demanded.

To avoid you’re burning up your brain as I did, the only correct statement was on the gold box: ‘’Gracela’s picture is not in this box.'’ The other two messages were untrue. So, to be clear: ’twas the SILVER box where the picture actually was hidden.

17.) He just waited for the lake to freeze, then walked across. What . . . you were visualizing a tropical island, maybe? Yeah, who wouldn’t this time of year! I got the idea for this B-B this A.M. when I braved the cold and indeed, walked across the ice from BLUE HERON POINTE to our island several hundred feet off the (frozen-solid) shore. Great fun!

18.) When you make your initial card selection, notice there are six cards from which to choose. After you have mentally sleected any one of them, you prtoceed to step #3 and immediately notice that only five cards remain - indeed, the one that you mentally selected HAS been deleted. How is that possible?

Because, not only is the card you selected gone - but so are all other five cards from your ORIGINAL choice grouping. A person is so preoccupied with concentrating on just the one card that they are mentally selecting, they overlook either or both the card numbers and especially, the  suits.  ’tis  a great trick, though, eh wot?! 

19.) Ready, set, go: Turn over both timers at the same time. As soon as the 2 minute timer runs out, drop the egg in the pot and cook it until the remaining sand in the 5 minute timer runs out!

20.) After some careful computations, permutations, calculations and insinuations I concluded it would take exactly one brick - the final one - to complete the building.

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Let’s end these fun ‘ games with a great one that has the solution built into the question so you do not need to go hunting for answers at the bottom of the page - you ARE at the bottom of the page!

YOU ARE ABOUT TO INSTANTLY BECOME A MATHEMATICAL GENIUS!

Read the following, study it for just a couple of minutes and I guarantee that when you present what you learn here to your friends, family (or better still, your ‘foes’ - you know, those dipsticks that always said you’d never amount

to anything!) - you will gain considerable and lasting respect from all concerned!

A NUMERICAL MIND-BENDER

Ask someone to jot down a number with three digits. They are not to reveal to you what the numbers are. Tell them it can be ANY three digits, as long as each is different from the other. In short, the number cannot be 848, 444, or any other that contains two or more of the same digit. Any other three numbers are okay - just so they’re different from one another.

Mention that you have developed the ability to compute large numbers very quickly, in addition to being able to do a bit of mind-reading!

Tell the person that you will mentally solve a ‘complicated’ mathematical problem INSTANTLY, provided they give you just the FIRST digit of the answer, but first:

Ask them to reverse the order of initial number they have selected, decide which of the two resulting 3-digit numbers is smaller and subtract that from the larger. He or she is to keep the complete answer to themselves and should give you only the first digit of the answer.

Let’s say that the person writes down an initial number as follows:

492

As instructed, they will then reverse the number, discover that to be 294, which, since smaller, is then subtracted from the first number:

492 - 294 = 198

They then give you ONLY the number ‘1.’ But YOU will be able to shout out the correct answer of ‘198′ immediately!

HERE’S HOW:

Regardless the initial 3 digit number given, the MIDDLE digit of the ANSWER will ALWAYS be 9: That’s just a fact that only you and I know!

Thus, as soon as you are provided with the first digit of the answer - mentally subtract that from nine and you get the third digit, which in our example is 8. Works every time - regardless of the original three numbers selected.

Think about how fantastic this is: You never know what that first three digit number is . . . nor what the reverse of that number is . . . and you ONLY know ONE NUMBER out of a total of NINE NUMBERS in the problem - yet you instantly come up with the correct answer: Every time!

An important qualifier: If the answer happens to be less than three digits, the person you’re working with will not be very apt to quote you the first digit as ‘Zero.’ Naturally, they will say ‘9.’ If you hear them say nine, simply interpret that answer in your head to mean that the first ‘Phantom’ digit is ‘0′, thus 9 - 0 = 9. The answer has to be 99.

The foregoing is a mere sampling of the 52 professional-quality magic tricks and illusions that comprise our ever-popular ‘’That Ol’ DAX Magic!'’ ($39.50 + $7.00 s/h from DAX, Box 447, Centreville, MI 49032-0447.)