Transcript
Simon: I’ve got to tell you something, Peter. You know your girl here? She told me you’re pretty cool at math.
Peter: Really?
Jillian: I’m bragging about you.
Simon: You did a little bit of bragging there, didn’t you? Because he’d lost all that money to me, you said: “Yeah, but he’s really good at math.” I’ve got a couple of betcha’s for you. There’s a surprise. Based around math.
Peter: Based around math?
Simon: Want to take a little betcha?
Peter: All right.
Simon: You don’t have to take the bet, until you see it. Of course, that’s my thing. I’ll show you the bet first and then you decide if you’re going to bet on it or not.
Peter: All right.
Simon: So I’m going to write down a little sum for you. We’re going to do a couple of these. So let’s write down five plus five plus five plus five equals…
Peter: Twenty.
Simon: Five hundred and fifty-five. There’s our bet. Here’s the deal. You get to add one straight line to that puzzle and you have to make it work. Now the only caveat on this little bet; there’s always caveats on the bet, Jillian. You know that.
Jillian: I’ve noticed.
Simon: You can’t do a does not equal.
Peter: That’s what I was going to do.
Simon: I know, I could see your face going: “Oh, this is an easy one. I’ll put ‘does not equal.’ ” No, you have to make it absolutely work. Five plus five plus five plus five equals five hundred and fifty-five. One straight line to make the puzzle work. And of course, if you can’t do it and I can, you know the penalty.
Peter: A drink.
Simon: You know me Jillian, by now. I am a functional alcoholic. I just don’t like to pay for the drinks.
Peter: Of course, I don’t blame you.
Simon: So there you go, my friend. Let’s see if you can do it.
Jillian: I don’t know if I’m going to be much help.
Peter: What do you think?
Jillian: I don’t know.
Simon: Meanwhile, I’ll just take a sip of the last drink he bought me.
Gillian: That needs to be a two.
Peter: Okay, five equals twenty,I don’t know.
Simon: I know, it’s a little sneaky, isn’t it?
Jillian: Something like one long line?
Simon: That sounds like a Chinese dessert. It’s a wun wung line. Gosh, I ordered chicken fondue and a wun wung line. That’s great.
Peter: You stumped me. I can’t think of anything.
Simon: Are you going to pony up a drink, if I can do it?
Peter: I mean I’ve done so many so far. I might as well keep going.
Simon: All right, my friend. You’re going to hate me.
Peter: I already do.
Simon: I know you do. It’s so easy. You know what you were thinking about? The numbers. You’ve got to think outside the box. Don’t think about the numbers. Think about the plus signs. One straight line to make a plus sign into a four.
Jillian: Oh.
Simon: Five hundred and forty-five plus five plus five equals five hundred and fifty-five.
Jillian: Great.
Simon: Isn’t that lovely?
Peter: Just lovely. Just lovely.
