Puzzle: Losers and Winners

In May I wrote my first puzzle for this blog. If you tried that puzzle but didn't solve it, don't worry -- that was a really hard one. This one's easier -- I'd put its difficulty at around 3 out of 10. If you haven't done these sorts of puzzles before, this isn't a terrible …

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Pooled COVID testing in the real world

[Thank you to Cathy Xue for proofreading and discussion.] In April I wrote about pooled testing. The basic idea is that instead of testing every swab individually, labs can pool samples together in groups of 10 (say) and test each mixture (pool) for the virus. For any pool that tests positive, they can then follow …

Jelle’s marbles have skill

Do you miss the pre-COVID excitement of watching sports? Are you bored right now, looking for some way to entertain yourself? Welcome to the world of Jelle's Marble Runs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55iTYdRDG4s Round 1 of the 2020 Marbula One (intro ends at 1:45) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPFVLLxhEI4 Round 1 of the 2020 Marble League (intro ends at 2:50) In the …