Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!batcomputer!cornell!rochester!pt.cs.cmu.edu!g.gp.cs.cmu.edu!tgl From: tgl@g.gp.cs.cmu.edu (Tom Lane) Newsgroups: comp.compression Subject: Re: Integer not expressable in less than 13 words Message-ID: <12719@pt.cs.cmu.edu> Date: 19 Apr 91 14:59:12 GMT References: <1991Apr18.210832.9918@shl.com> Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, CS/RI Lines: 17 In article <1991Apr18.210832.9918@shl.com>, gardner@shl.com (Gardner Buchanan) writes: > >So, what is the least positive integer not expressable in less than 13 > >English words? > > I think it's 121,121,121; assuming you don't use "and": Try: one hundred twenty one times one million one thousand and one The question is of no interest if you are restrictive about *how* the integer is described. I believe the original poster meant to include phrases like "the ten millionth prime" and other indirect specifications. In that case it's obviously an unsolvable problem. (Try "ten if Fermat's last conjecture is true, else eleven".) -- tom lane Internet: tgl@cs.cmu.edu BITNET: tgl%cs.cmu.edu@cmuccvma