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Richard Walker

Playground Joke

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What do you call mouse with a poisonous bite?

Venom mouse.

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Richard Walker

Vintage aircraft in their hangar last night

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Edited by Richard Walker, Monday, 25 Jul 2022, 23:48

A photo shared by a friend.

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Richard Walker

Sweet Potato

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This beautiful flower is a sweet potato. I did not realise that the plant is a vine, related to bindweed and morning glories. Like morning glories each flower lasts only a day.


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Richard Walker

Perennial

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When I talk with fellow gardeners the word 'perennial' comes up over and over again.

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Richard Walker

Colour joke

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Why is vermi a lot of money?

Cos it’s half vermillion.

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Richard Walker

An Elegant Bird

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This elegant little bird, that visited our garden today, is a young moorhen. It was unafraid of us and came really close to take food we put down. We're hoping it will return tomorrow.



Permalink 2 comments (latest comment by Richard Walker, Sunday, 17 Jul 2022, 18:17)
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Richard Walker

Topsy-Turvy

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Following my earlier post about CHECKBOOK, I wrote a Python program to find dictionary words with the property they have symmetry about a horizontal mirror line; if you invert them, they remains the same. I used the UK Advanced Cryptics Dictionary, by Ross Beresford (240732 words) as my word source.

Here is the full list of then 352 results. As you might expect some of the words are a wee bit obscure.

['B', 'BE', 'BECK', 'BECKED', 'BED', 'BEDDED', 'BEDE', 'BEDECK', 'BEDECKED', 'BEDIDE', 'BEE', 'BEEB', 'BEECH', 'BI', 'BIB', 'BIBBED', 'BIBCOCK', 'BICE', 'BICKIE', 'BID', 'BIDE', 'BIDED', 'BIKE', 'BIKED', 'BIKIE', 'BIO', 'BIOCIDE', 'BO', 'BOB', 'BOBBED', 'BOBBIE', 'BOCCE', 'BOCHE', 'BOCK', 'BOCKED', 'BOD', 'BODE', 'BODED', 'BODICE', 'BODIED', 'BOH', 'BOK', 'BOKE', 'BOKED', 'BOKO', 'BOO', 'BOOB', 'BOOBED', 'BOOBOO', 'BOOBOOK', 'BOODIE', 'BOODIED', 'BOOED', 'BOOH', 'BOOHED', 'BOOHOO', 'BOOHOOED', 'BOOK', 'BOOKED', 'BOOKIE', 'BOX', 'BOXED', 'C', 'CEDE', 'CEDED', 'CEDI', 'CEE', 'CH', 'CHE', 'CHECK', 'CHECKBOOK', 'CHECKED', 'CHEEK', 'CHEEKED', 'CHI', 'CHIC', 'CHICH', 'CHICHI', 'CHICK', 'CHICO', 'CHID', 'CHIDE', 'CHIDED', 'CHIK', 'CHOC', 'CHOCHO', 'CHOCK', 'CHOCKED', 'CHOCKO', 'CHOCO', 'CHOICE', 'CHOKE', 'CHOKED', 'CHOKO', 'CHOOK', 'CHOOKIE', 'CID', 'COB', 'COBB', 'COBBED', 'COCCI', 'COCCID', 'COCCO', 'COCCOID', 'COCK', 'COCKED', 'COCO', 'COD', 'CODDED', 'CODE', 'CODEBOOK', 'CODED', 'CODEX', 'COED', 'COHO', 'COHOE', 'COKE', 'COKED', 'COO', 'COOED', 'COOEE', 'COOEED', 'COOK', 'COOKED', 'COOKIE', 'COX', 'COXED', 'D', 'DEB', 'DEBBIE', 'DECCIE', 'DECIDE', 'DECIDED', 'DECK', 'DECKED', 'DECKO', 'DECKOED', 'DECO', 'DECODE', 'DECODED', 'DECOKE', 'DECOKED', 'DEE', 'DEED', 'DEEDED', 'DEEK', 'DEICIDE', 'DEID', 'DEKKO', 'DEKKOED', 'DEO', 'DHOBI', 'DI', 'DIB', 'DIBBED', 'DICE', 'DICED', 'DICH', 'DICK', 'DICKIE', 'DID', 'DIDICOI', 'DIDO', 'DIE', 'DIEB', 'DIED', 'DIKE', 'DIKED', 'DIODE', 'DIOXIDE', 'DIXI', 'DIXIE', 'DO', 'DOB', 'DOBBED', 'DOBBIE', 'DOBCHICK', 'DOC', 'DOCK', 'DOCKED', 'DOD', 'DODDED', 'DODO', 'DOE', 'DOEK', 'DOH', 'DOO', 'DOOB', 'DOOK', 'DOOKED', 'E', 'EBB', 'EBBED', 'ECCE', 'ECCO', 'ECHE', 'ECHO', 'ECHOED', 'ECHOIC', 'ECO', 'ECOCIDE', 'ECOD', 'ED', 'EDDIC', 'EDDIE', 'EDDIED', 'EDDO', 'EDH', 'EE', 'EEK', 'EH', 'EHED', 'EKE', 'EKED', 'EO', 'EX', 'EXCEED', 'EXCEEDED', 'EXCIDE', 'EXCIDED', 'EXE', 'EXODE', 'EXODIC', 'H', 'HE', 'HEBE', 'HECH', 'HECK', 'HEED', 'HEEDED', 'HEID', 'HEIDE', 'HEX', 'HEXED', 'HI', 'HIC', 'HICK', 'HICKOK', 'HID', 'HIDE', 'HIDED', 'HIE', 'HIED', 'HIKE', 'HIKED', 'HO', 'HOB', 'HOBO', 'HOBOED', 'HOC', 'HOCK', 'HOCKED', 'HOD', 'HOE', 'HOED', 'HOH', 'HOI', 'HOICK', 'HOICKED', 'HOIK', 'HOIKED', 'HOKE', 'HOKED', 'HOKI', 'HOO', 'HOOCH', 'HOOD', 'HOODED', 'HOODIE', 'HOODOO', 'HOODOOED', 'HOOK', 'HOOKE', 'HOOKED', 'HOX', 'I', 'IBEX', 'IBO', 'ICE', 'ICEBOX', 'ICED', 'ICH', 'ID', 'IDE', 'IDO', 'IKE', 'IO', 'IODIC', 'IODIDE', 'K', 'KEBBIE', 'KEBBOCK', 'KEBOB', 'KECK', 'KECKED', 'KED', 'KEECH', 'KEEK', 'KEEKED', 'KEX', 'KHOIKHOI', 'KIBE', 'KICK', 'KICKED', 'KID', 'KIDD', 'KIDDED', 'KIDDIE', 'KIDDIED', 'KIDDO', 'KIKE', 'KIKOI', 'KO', 'KOB', 'KOBE', 'KOI', 'KOODOO', 'KOOK', 'KOOKED', 'KOOKIE', 'O', 'OB', 'OBECHE', 'OBI', 'OBIED', 'OBO', 'OBOE', 'OCH', 'OCHE', 'OD', 'ODD', 'ODE', 'ODIC', 'OE', 'OH', 'OHIO', 'OHO', 'OI', 'OIK', 'OK', 'OKE', 'OKED', 'OO', 'OOH', 'OOHED', 'O', 'OX', 'OXHIDE', 'OXIDE', 'X', 'XEBEC', 'XI']




Permalink 1 comment (latest comment by Jan Pinfield, Saturday, 16 Jul 2022, 05:55)
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Richard Walker

Unique Word

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How is the word

CHECKBOOK

unique? Answer tomorrow.

Permalink 2 comments (latest comment by Jessica Shier, Friday, 15 Jul 2022, 01:18)
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Richard Walker

Foxgloves in our garden

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Here are the foxgloves we have planted in dappled shade alongside the new fence.



Permalink 2 comments (latest comment by Richard Walker, Thursday, 14 Jul 2022, 15:46)
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Richard Walker

Crossing the road joke

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Why did the plank cross the road? Because it was bored.

Permalink 2 comments (latest comment by Richard Walker, Tuesday, 12 Jul 2022, 01:18)
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Richard Walker

Names For Whisky In The Old Westlm

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In the stereotypical Western a moody stranger comes into the saloon and says “Gimme a shot of Red Eye”. The barman, who wears a white apron, slides a glass along the bar, followed by the bottle.

Here are some other Old Western slang names (allegedly at any rate) for whisky.

Tarantula juice

Strychnine

Mountain howitzer

Coffin varnish

Chain lightening

Tanglefoot


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Richard Walker

Home At Last

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Permalink 2 comments (latest comment by Richard Walker, Sunday, 10 Jul 2022, 20:53)
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Richard Walker

Dad Joke

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Grandad was in a gardening contest, but he was really up against it. In the end he just had to throw in the trowel.

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Richard Walker

Haiku

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Life’s an exercise book,

Messed up in the stationary cupboard.

No hope of tidiness.



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Richard Walker

One Liner

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Yesterday I had an all day breakfast. It took ages.

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Richard Walker

On a Gardener’s Gravestone

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Lots of fertiliser.
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Richard Walker

My Hanging Basket

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I'm very proud of my hanging basket, which looks gorgeous.


Permalink 6 comments (latest comment by Eliot Wayne Caryl Kay, Friday, 5 Aug 2022, 16:06)
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Richard Walker

The Old Church Wall

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Richard Walker

One line joke

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Have you seen the price of onions? It’s eye watering.

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Richard Walker

"Onwards"

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Richard Walker

Dad joke

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What spectacles do gardeners wear? Weeding glasses.

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Richard Walker

Start up joke

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I started a company clearing litter from the streets. Business was slow at first, but it’s picking up.

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Richard Walker

Skinny Joke

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What connects Leeks, Chives, Shallots and Garlic? They’re all relatives of the Onion. So you could call them the Onion’s kin.

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Richard Walker

Solution to square in a triangle problem

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Edited by Richard Walker, Sunday, 19 Jun 2022, 14:05

This is a solution to the question I asked on 13 June, what is the rectangle of largest area that can be inscribed in an equilateral triangle of side 1?

Intuitively we might guess that the rectangle concerned is a square but it turns out that it isn't.



Suppose the. base of the rectangle is as shown in Fig. 1. Then we can use trigonometry to show its height is sqrt(3)t and find its area. Fig. 2 shows a graph of the area against t, which is a parabola with a line of symmetry as show, and a vertex P which corresponds to the maximum area. The graph must pass through the point where t = 0, so the width of the rectangle is 1 and its height and therefore area is 0. It must also pass through the point where t = ½ and the width of the rectangle is 0 and therefore its area is again 0. By symmetry the vertex of the parabola must be half-way between these values of t, so the maximum is when t = ¼.

This rectangle has an area which is exactly 50% of the are of the triangle. It's interesting to compare this with the area of the largest square, which is very close, at about 49.7% of the area of the triangle. I drew the diagram below in GeoGebra showing the rectangle in black and the square in brown. You can see how small the difference is.



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Richard Walker

Dad Joke

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What bird sounds out of breath. The Puffin.

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