Cloisters March 2007

Paul's Puzzle

The Bug-Eyed Monster

I strolled into the Bug-Eyed Monster, my favourite space-rangers bar, and ordered a large Rigellian Sonic Screwdriver. In a corner I spotted Matt Spacerider concentrating on a strange-looking musical instrument.

'Fearsome-looking piano you have there, Matt,' I said. 'It seems to have a lot of buttons on the right-hand side.'

'It's an Aldebaran electronic piano,' he explained. 'It is played by an asymmetrical tripedal creature. They have a different number of arms, legs, and fingers on each hand.

‘You mean to say that the number of fingers on each hand, and the numbers of legs and arms are all different?’

'Exactly,' said Matt, 'furthermore, they have more than twice, but less than thrice the number of fingers than we humanoids have, and less than ten on each hand.'

'Is that including our thumbs?' I asked.

'Funnily enough, my statement is true either way,' replied Matt, 'and they have a prime number of fingers in total.'

'And do they have a prime number of fingers on each hand.'

'On all but one of their hands,' came the reply.

I reached for a piece of paper, and Matt returned to the unequal struggle with his alien piano.

How many fingers on each hand?