St Ives

An old riddle.

As I was going to St Ives
I met a man with 7 wives
Every wife had 7 sacks
Every sack had 7 cats
Every cat had 7 kits
Kits, cats, sacks, wives
How many were going to St Ives?

total_sacks = @wives * @sacks
total_cats  = total_sacks * @cats
total_kits  = total_cats * @kits
man         = 1

if @travelers
    narrator = 2
    @verb = 'were'
else
    narrator = 1
    @verb = 'was'

The first guess is often 2753…

@first_guess = man + @wives + total_cats + total_kits + narrator

…but the correct answer is 1.

@answer = narrator

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(This file is an example of Active Markdown).

# St Ives An old riddle. > As [I]{travelers: we or I} [was]{verb} going to *St Ives* > I met a man with [7 wives]{wives: 1..10} > Every wife had [7 sacks]{sacks: 1..10} > Every sack had [7 cats]{cats: 1..10} > Every cat had [7 kits]{kits: 1..10} > Kits, cats, sacks, wives > How many were going to St Ives? total_sacks = @wives * @sacks total_cats = total_sacks * @cats total_kits = total_cats * @kits man = 1 if @travelers narrator = 2 @verb = 'were' else narrator = 1 @verb = 'was' The first guess is often [2753]{first_guess}… @first_guess = man + @wives + total_cats + total_kits + narrator …but the correct answer is [1]{answer}. @answer = narrator - - - (This file is an example of [Active Markdown](http://activemarkdown.org)).