A Problem Squared

🃏 What’s the deal with cards? 🫕 What is the perfect ratio of chips to dips? 🍔 And there’s some Any Other B-B-Q-B-ness Head to our socials to see the card shuffle and patterns, Bec’s starstruck selfie, and our chips ‘n’ dips experiment! For all your homemade snacking needs: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/tortillas https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/homemade-tortilla-chips-guacamole-charred...

🚂 If you want a career change, how do you decide what to retrain as? 👶 What would be a good set of names for twins or triplets? 🦷 And there’s some Any Other Busi Here’s some baby naming code from Colin Beveridge: https://github.com/icecolbeveridge/zoe_names If you’re heading to the Edinburgh Fringe, you can get tickets to see Bec here: https://tickets.gildedballoon.co.uk/event/14:5884/ And you...

🌞 How far away from the Sun do we have to travel before we can look at it without damaging our eyes? 📆 Is there an off by one error with anniversaries? 🍝 And AOB has been slow cooked and packed up in tupperware for safe storage The starting point for Matt’s theory: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-maximum-light-intensity-that-a-human-eye-can-withstand-without-being-damaged   Astroid Mattparker...

🎶 Why are songs easier to remember than sentences? ⚙️ Can we come up with new names (that meet strict criteria) for leader/follower motors? 🌟 And it’s a glitzy, toothy, clackety AOB   As discussed in the intro, here’s how to get involved with Matt’s Moon Pi Kickstarter: https://youtu.be/nGtVej1Qx5Y And here's the link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/standupmaths/moon-pi-were-going-to-calcu...

🎲What’s the best design for non-traditional dice? 📄 What should you call paperwork that doesn’t involve paper? 🙋And it’s more a comment than a question in AOB Head to our socials to see Matt’s excellent Angry Man In Local Newspaper photos. If you’d like to peruse and purchase more dice variations, head here: https://mathsgear.co.uk/collections/dice   If you have any paperlesspaperwork suggestio...

4️⃣ What would it look like to be trapped in a 4D world? 🥰 What is the meaning of marriage? ✨Izzy Wizzy Let’s Get AOBusy Head to our socials to see some fantastic representations of 2D meets 3D meets 4D in fiction, some magical magic, and an alphabetically perfect travel route (for 40 days in 1990). If you’re heading to the Edinburgh Fringe, you can get tickets to see Matt here: https://www.plea...

🍻What’s the best way to politely tell a friend that they’ve had too much to drink? 🗞️ Is there a way to prove that something existed before a certain date? ❌And AOB brings us some friendly corrections… A useful menu of alcoholic choices… https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/   A hash of a DING! 1f2b352be3c09872b3e38083ec6f0d2b22615a99c5a446a03abf24430187c484 If you’re heading to the Edinburgh Fringe, yo...

🧱How many megabytes are actually in a gigabyte? 🌕There have been some Moon Developments… 😎And AOB will bring a little sunshine into your life Here is NASA’s Press Release about navigation on the moon: https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/somd/space-communications-navigation-program/nasa-successfully-acquires-gps-signals-on-moon/ And some further reading from Matt:  https://www.gpsworld.com/lugre-r...

🗺️ Is there an alphabetically perfect travel route? 🪵 What can be done with karate chopped wood? 🤙 And we ride the crest of the Any Other Business wave You can find the data-basis for the alphabetically perfect travel route here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_territories_by_number_of_land_borders Here are some of Bec’s aesthetically pleasing solutions: https://www.youtube.c...

📆 When is the next Prime Number Day? 🤣 What is the oldest joke? 🪨 And we get to the rock bottom of Any Other Business You can find Matt’s Divisibility Rules video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pLz8wEQYkA You can read more about the world’s oldest joke here: https://www.wbur.org/endlessthread/2022/08/05/sumerian-joke-one And you can get your Philogelols right here: https://archive.org/d...

📃 Is a sheet of A-45 paper big enough to wrap the earth?  ✏️ Why do we still call pencil graphite lead? 👔 There’s business to attend to.  You can find Matt and Hannah’s protractor up the shard video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckcdqlo3pYc&ab_channel=Stand-upMaths Here’s Matt’s Truncatable Prime Pencil: https://mathsgear.co.uk/products/truncatable-prime-pencil?srsltid=AfmBOorhZ6qk_I...

🤫 Which synonyms are Caesar ciphers of each other? 🎨 Bec and Matt attempt to help a listener decorate their home.  💼 The tax business briefcase is wide open.  ⚔️ And battleships heats up.   It’s time to go see ‘Bec Hill: Guess Who's Bec, Bec Again?’ at The Adelaide Fringe! https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/bec-hill-guess-who-s-bec-bec-again-bec-hill-s-bec-tell-a-friend-af2025 You can see...

✅ What’s the best way to leave your mark? 🗓️ Can Saturday Night Live be on Every Day? 📍 And there are some big locations in AOB Top Marks: https://neatnik.net/steganographr/#results SNL Spreadsheet: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/i9leqlafx0orjfp6l8a6t/weekend_whatdate.xlsx?rlkey=vetpi2qg9etbb35jq0zculjt1&e=1&st=q5vl7052&dl=0 Big Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/8kf2XcYPXWnqGqn88 See Matt...

🔺 What are the most “interesting” years? 🍌 Bec goes big on Big Things 🎉 When Party Tricks Go Wrong 🔢 And there's some numerical AOB Here’s Max-matics’ video that Matt mentioned - Turning a 2024 Ball Pyramid in to a 2025 Ball Square for NYE 2025 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXUlKCIgV8U Some further reading on the 2025 maths https://aperiodical.com/2025/01/numerical-coincidences-for-2025/ It’...

Hello you wonderful listener, Welcome to a new year. 2025 - has a nice ring to it doesn't it? This is a short announcement to say that there will be a very short feed break - just an episode or two, don't worry - to allow us all rest for the first two weeks of January. Matt will tell you everything you need to know in his very organised PSA. Have a listen. Thank you for your continuted support and...

To celebrate A Problem Squared’s 100th episode… 🎼 What is the least popular instrument in an orchestra?  🍎 Matt is appalled.  🔮 Another unplanned, unexpected mystery segment!  💼 And the business briefcase is (briefly) open.  A big thank you to Katie Steckles for her brilliant contributions to this episode. You can find more from her on her website: https://www.katiesteckles.co.uk/index.html ,...

099 = Most Watched Films and Homonyms ✍️ What single word in the English Language has the most different meanings?  📺 Is the most consumed media of all time a holiday movie or song? 🗞 There’s some Any Other Business!  ⚔️ Battleships continues.   If you want to find out more about the Royal Flying Doctor Service, do that here:  https://www.flyingdoctor.org.au/nswact/visit/broken-hill-visitor-centr...

098 = Something Blue and Diamond Birthdays Too 💙What are the most extreme examples of something old, something blue, something borrowed, something new?   💎What’s up with diamond birthdays?  🔥A new special one-time bonus section from Matt.  💼And a look into the business briefcase.    For the Diana Spencer Tiara, look no further: https://www.sothebys.com/en/digital-catalogues/power-image-royal-a...

097 = Number of Maps & Numbered Pads 🗺 Are there enough OS maps to cover Great Britain? 0️⃣ Why does zero come after nine on a mobile phone?  📰 And, of course, some AOB! If you want to see Bec’s friend Amy’s summary of accessibility in Thorpe Park and theme parks more generally, head on over to her instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/longcovidrockstar/ Here is a picture of The Big Tract...

🎞 Why would competing studios release movies in the same year that have the same concept or plot?  🔭 Why are we seeing the Aurora Borealis in the UK?  📈 Business of an any other nature.  If you want to have a listen to Bec on Tom Scott’s podcast ‘Lateral’ you can do that here, at some point soon: https://open.spotify.com/show/1TthQOE4Fx6gBPW8l48cfN   Their book can also be brought here! It’s rea...

🍀 Does the 13th really  fall more frequently on Friday?  💿  How do you make a giant disco ball wearable?    🍩 And we have some any other doughness.  If you want to find out more about the cardboard related event (called Number City!) Matt attended on Orkney Island, have a look at this link:  https://oisf.org/fest-event/number-city/. Do send your problems and solutions to the website: www.aprobl...

💿 What did the first ever podcast sound like? 🗳 How do you REALLY lose an election in the US?  📰 Business will be closed, and opened. Thank you to Emily for the Maths mittens! To see pictures of those, head over to APS socials.  You can see the incredible Agree to Disagree podcast pages from 1999 here:   https://web.archive.org/web/19990914040650/http://www.thealph.com/agree/ https://web.archive...

⭕ Circle Can Tic-Tac-Toe ever be fun?  🤏What is the smallest Neil called?  🗞There’s some Any Other Business!  ⚔️Battleships continues.   If you want to read the works referenced by Matt in his tic-tac-toe / naughts and crosses problem, take a look below:  Solo Noughts and Crosses, James Grime: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10724117.2023.2168434 Tic-tac-tome, Willy Yoners: https://...

🌈 How many colours are really in a rainbow? 🕰 How often is a broken clock is right?  💼 The Any Other Business briefcase is open. Briefly.  🏴‍ And we have a NEW POST CREDITS easter egg.  To hear more about the brilliant and terrible Emily In Paris premier, listen to this episode:  https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/point-break-pt-1-season-04-episode-01/id1720149980?i=1000666164553 If you want...

🎯 What is the optimal layout for a dart board?  🦈 How soon after a cut does a shark smell your blood?  📜 And there’s some AYE-YOOO-BEEEE. To see the Percy Arrangement mentioned by Matt follow this link: https://www.globaldarts.de/globalDartsEN/sport/Percysboard.html And for the “Optimal Dartboard Design” reveal, see here! https://journals.indexcopernicus.com/api/file/viewByFileId/1980058 If you...