I apologize if this has already been asked here, but how does this thing work: http://funnyjunk.com/pages/mindreader.htm
I assume it has to do with the the number of availible choices, but I can’t figure it out.
The trick is that there are a very limited number of possible answers.
If you take any number between 10 and 19, add the digits together and subtract that from the first number the answer is always 9. If you take any number in the twenties and do the same you always get 18. If you take any number in the thirties and do the same you always get 27. And so on.
The reason being that for all 10 numbers in any given range (20’s, 30’s etc) as you go up, the total of the digits goes up one and the number itself goes up one, so the difference between them remains the same.
The table in the game always uses the same symbol for 9, 18, 27 etc and that is the symbal that the game “guesses”. The symbols change around between each try so that it seems as if it is choosing specifically each time you retry with a different number in mind.
To fling a little algebra at it, any 2-digit number can be expressed as 10x+y. Adding the two digits (x+y) and subtracting that from the original number gives you:
10x+y-(x+y) = 9x
So the result is always a multiple of 9 (9, 18, 27, 36, etc).
Take another look at the chart, specifically the symbol by the multiples of 9.
It looks like a straightforward sequence to me. The numbers & symbol associations change with each click. Watch 9 - whatever symbol it has is what shows up.