By Baldmichael Theresoluteprotector’sson
16th January 2021
So said Douglas Adams in ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’. Well, the quote is really ‘The Ultimate Answer to Life, The Universe and Everything is…42!’
At least the internet tells me so. I haven’t double cheeked as I don’t know where my copy is. Wonderful book. As is ‘Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency’.
And of course ‘The Restaurant at the End of the Universe’ to which this particular restaurant is dedicated. Or at least to Douglas Adams.
His full name is Douglas Noel Adams apparently.
Anyway, lots of people have come up with answers as to why 42 is the answer. So I thought, ‘Why not me?’ I can think too. Or ‘fink too’. So I ‘fort’ too. Or perhaps ‘for ‘t’ two’(the ‘t’ is silent when you are ‘finking’).
Which is a possible proof. But I asked, ‘Why not me?’ which is not the same as the question according to the ‘The Restaurant at the End of the Universe’.
Here a Scrabble-playing caveman spells out forty two. Arthur Dent, who is with Ford Prefect, then pulls random letters from a bag of Scrabble letters. The following is an extract from the book.
‘What do you get if you multiply six by nine?
Six by nine. Forty two.
That’s it. That’s all there is.
I always thought something was fundamentally wrong with the universe’
So we have the ultimate question ‘What do you get if you multiply six by nine?’ to which most people with a primary school education might answer’ Well, 6 x 9 = 54. This is not 42, apparently, so it seems we have a problem.
However in base 13 (which is not primary school level), 54 becomes 42.
That is, 42 is four thirteen’s which can be 4 x 13 = 52. Add the two and you get 54. Simple. Perhaps seen that way it should be primary school level.
Golf
But how about this:
Six times nine = Fifty four
Fifty four sounds like ‘Fife tea four’.
Now ‘Fife tea four’ may be how many you invite to tea in the club house at St Andrews Links, Old Golf Club or one or the many golf course in the county of Fife, Scotland. See https://www.scottishgolfcourses.com/fife/
Now 1754 is the year St Andrews Links, Old Golf Club opened, apparently.
And on the old course there were 22 holes. From Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Course_at_St_Andrews
For instance, in 1764, the course had 22 holes and the members would play the same hole going out and in with the exception of the 11th and 22nd holes
So on the way back you did not play the 11th and 22nd
Assuming I have not misunderstood, I make that 22 out and 20 in.
Which is 42.
Prime numbers
Alternatively.
Forty two lies between two primes, the 13th (41) and 14th (43). 13 plus 14 = 27. 41 and 43 are 2 primes. 2 x 27 = 54.
Tea for two (and no sex)
Again note:
6 x 9 is:
Six, six, six, six, six, six, six, six, six or
Sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex in Latin.
Nine, nine, nine, nine, nine, nine or
Nein, nein, nein, nein, nein, nein in German.
Or no, no, no, no, no, no! in English (how many times must I say no!).
Hold onto that for a bit. Got it? Good.
Sex times nein is, in essence, no sex.
Now 42 could be ‘For tea two’
For tea two involves no sex, just tea. Tea for two. Which you get at a good restaurant, like the Ritz. Or any good tea rooms, of which there are plenty in Britain. See https://www.tea-rooms.uk/ for examples (I have not checked these out, so I am relying on the website for reliability).
Anyway, the ultimate question is ‘Why no sex?’ Answer: because we, or you, are having tea for two, and it isn’t done to have sex in a restaurant while others are enjoying tea. You might get your cucumber sandwiches in the wrong place or do something disgusting with a cream bun with a cherry on top.
Two cream buns with cherries on top. And a chocolate éclair…..sorry, distracted there.
Anyway, there is plenty of time after tea for the other thing (but not in the restaurant please), if you fancy it. But leave it for half an hour or so in case of indigestion.
Brief Encounter
It is important to remember ‘Brief Encounter’, the black and white film with Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard in the lead roles. This was tea for two and there was no sex.
Except of course, Trevor Howard is male and Celia Johnson is female, one of either sex. Which means earlier we were assuming sex meant something else.
Therein lies the problem; what assumptions are we making, unless we explain further.
You see, you are getting you knickers in a twist by making assumptions. Which is why the film is ‘Brief encounter’. If it had been called ‘Pant encounter’ this would have sounded odd.
Although they might have been slightly panting; for something or other. Tea I suspect. Yes, that’s it, tea.
In any event, the moral of that story is: the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. This is because you have been nibbling away on your side and have no grass left.
So you are not satisfied. You need a break. You both need a break, a holiday, where the grass is green, and when you can let your field grow back while you are away.
Perhaps just a day out will do and tea for two.
Or 42.
Shakespeare
Let’s try William Shakespeare; he’s always good for a quote, in this case a question, a good question it seems.
‘To be or not to be? that is the question.’ Meaning ‘To exist or not to exist?’ So said Hamlet, in Hamlet. But not in a hamlet, a small village with no facilities, but in a room in the castle of Elsinore.
Castles have a lot of rooms; I imagine they are numbered/lettered, so it should be ‘2b or not 2b?’ That is, possibly second floor, room b. Or not. It may have been 3q instead, i.e. Third floor, room q.
Don’t forget this is the continent of Europe and they do things differently. Second floor normally means the second one up from ground level, not as in the UK, the third one up. It is important to know this as otherwise you may intrude on the wrong room.
Where were we? Ah yes, ‘To be or not to be?’ It has:
3 t’s
2 b’s
2 e’s
4 o’s
1 r
1 n
That is 13 letters in total (remember base 13 earlier?).
1 + 3 = 4
1 – 3 = 2
i.e. 42!
But why plus and minus, I hear you cry? Because they are balanced, and it is good to have things in balance, and to be fair, like the British tend to be. Who derive from the Celts who were fair (-haired at least).
Another angle
From another angle (don’t forget the English are Angles, and part of the British nation):
‘To be’ = 4 letters
‘Not to be’ = 7 letters
‘Or’ 2 letters
Added to both above we have 4 + 2 = 6, and 7 + 2 = 9
Which takes us back to 6 x 9 perhaps.
And note 6 = 2 x 3, and 9 = 3 x 3. If you add these factors 2 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 11
Now 11 is two ones. 1 + 1 = 2. So, what’s that for? Or ‘what’s that? Four?’
We have taken two numbers, 6 and 9 to get there. So we have:
Four and two, or 4 and 2 or 42!
69 postion
6 and 9 can be 69 or the 69 position which has to do with sex. Look it up if you don’t understand. So it is beginning to look as though sex has a lot to do with the question as well as the answer.
Now, you remember earlier I said about holding on to something? Well, we had nine ‘sexes’ and six ‘neins’. But there are not 9 or even 99 sexes, despite the transgender or misgender lobby. No, only 2, male and female.
There are, to be fair, a few who have genetic defects and ended up with both sets of sexual organs, but it wasn’t like that in the beginning. It was that git Satan’s fault.
Anyway, there are more sexes, than there are neins. Men tend to think about sex more than women. See https://www.webmd.com/sex/features/sex-drive-how-do-men-women-compare#1 for example.
So men are the ’sexes’. Women on the other hand are the ‘neins’ Ultimately the sexes prevail as there are more of them than neins, so eventually sex occurs, in the sense of, well you know what I mean.
You see, there is only so many times a girl can say ‘No’. Whether this applies to German women I don’t know, but given the ugliness of the Prussians in certain cases perhaps the men are better off with a ‘nein’ in these cases. But perhaps that is unfair.
Still, prostitution is legal in Germany. See
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_Germany
and
https://english.pravda.ru/world/107738-germany_prostitution/?utm_referrer=readers_top
This may indicate that sex may be a problem in Germany and needs encouraging by the state. And I note the following:
https://matadornetwork.com/life/7-reasons-never-date-german-girl/
If she can drink you under the table, neither of you may be in a fit state for sex.
But we are wandering off the subject, 42.
Wikipedia has much to say as follows:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/42_(number)
I have selected a few examples.
-
- Abundant number or a number of abundance. A bun dance is a tea dance, tea and a bun and a dance. Tea for two perhaps, or ‘For tea two’, 42.
And if you haven’t seen a bun dance here is an example.
- Sphenic number sphenic meaning wedge. Like sand wedge or sandwich, which you have at tea. So perhaps tea for two, or For tea two, 42.
- A primary pseudoperfect number A pseudoperfect number is a fake perfect, pretending to be perfect. Nobody is. People can pretend to be perfect at tea when they first meet and only realise that nobody’s perfect after it’s too late perhaps. So perhaps ‘for tea two’ again.
- A Catalan number – after Alan the Cat, who will sit on your lap at tea if you let him. Likes to sit on people who dislike cats. That’s cats for you.
If you are interested in Alan the cat try the link below. I haven’t watched it all, it may not be that interesting.
- An alternating sign matrix. When people first meet they make different signs or body language, and alternate between ‘he/she loves me, he/she loves me not’ sort of thing.
- A dimension in the Exceptional Lie algebra Your breasts if you are female and size DD stick out 4”. There are two of them (hopefully). Thus 42.
The exceptional lie is that Algy, the man opposite you in this case, thinks you are a DD; in fact you have used cotton wool to pad out your bra, your bra for Algy or Algybra as it were.
See the following if you need to, it merely explains the size comparisons https://babeappeal.com/d-cup-dd-breast-size-comparison/
- A Harshad number in base 10. A harsh ad number perhaps because you are trying fool Algy into think your chest size is bigger that reality. Or realititty maybe.
But Harshad means ‘Joy giver’ in Sanskrit. So if you happen to be a real DD then Algy will have much joy (at some point possibly).
And as size is not everything, perhaps Algy comes to realise that it is only insecurity (or insecurititty) on your part, and that you are really looking for love in its deepest meaning. All being well, so will he, and then who knows?
- Atomic number of Molybdenum. This is name of the girl, Molly Bdenum. But perhaps the spelling was wrong. Could be Molly Bendum because she is very flexible and open to suggestions.
Or perhaps she is really Molly Ben Dumb, like Son of Dumb only of course, daughter of dumb. May therefore be blonde as in Dumb Blonde. Not that all blondes are dumb of course. See Dumb Blonde in due course, hopefully.
However, note her reading material, so may not be dumb after all.
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/11076637-molybdenum
Molybdenum is apparently an essential element. And Molly Bendum is no doubt essential to Algy.
So it all about Algy and Molly or A & M or AM. A.M. is ante meridian, and is the morning. You can have tea for two.
Or tea 42.
This could link to the first morning that broke on creation day that Cat Stevens sang about (unrelated to Alan the Cat, except both cats of a sort).
The connection is loose I appreciate, but if it is the first morning that Algy and Molly have met, then that is the creation of a new relationship, perhaps.
The Beatles sang about Molly. But with Desmond, not Algy. Perhaps Desmond was more up front. He says “Girl, I like your face.”
He has a ‘barrow in the market place’, which sounds like he could be a Londoner, and Londoner’s tell it like it is.
Still involves bra’s though. The chorus says ‘Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on, bra’
Here’s more. The fourth letter of the English alphabet is D. Second letter is B. DB. 4 and 2. 42.
Perhaps spelling was right after all, and Molly Bdenum correct; Bd is at the start of her surname. This could be Blonde Dumb or Bunny Dumb. She could be blonde therefore.
But dumb may be silent. If she is a reader as Goodreads suggests then she is academic maybe. Appearances can be deceiving and that is so often true.
- Abundant number or a number of abundance. A bun dance is a tea dance, tea and a bun and a dance. Tea for two perhaps, or ‘For tea two’, 42.
Other thoughts
DB can mean dog’s bollocks or the best, the apex.
D can be father, as in Daddy and B can be son, as in Ben, ‘son of’ in Hebrew. Best father son combination is the heavenly Father and His Son Jesus.
As per earlier the Beatles sang ‘Ob la di, ob la da’ which sounds like ‘O be, laddie, O be la da’. Meaning perhaps, ‘Oh be laddie, oh be the da(ddy)’. And most men want to be a father. And certainly need a father.
But don’t forget 3 and 1 from much earlier, 3 + 1 = 4 and 1 – 3 = 1. This suggests ‘3 in 1’, the lubricant oil.
And God is 3 in 1 according to the New Testament, Father, Son and Holy Spirit (or Holy Oil, as He ‘lubricates’ our relationship with the Father and the Son, and with our fellow human beings, male or female).
So if you have been following, the answer is 42. Or God. Or Both. Same difference really.
Summary
I like what Arthur Dent says in ‘The Restaurant at the End of the Universe’
‘Fine. Fine, take it. Because my head is filled with questions and I can assure you no answer to any one of them has ever brought me one iota of happiness. Except for one. The one. The only question I’ve ever wanted an answer to – is she the one? The answer bloody well isn’t forty-two, it’s yes. Undoubtedly, unequivocally, unabashedly yes. And for one week, one week in my sad little blip of an existence, it made me happy.’ From
https://www.thecharacterquotes.com/arthur-dent
But I would disagree with him in the senses that I have described, just that Arthur put it more simply. ‘Is she the one?’, the unasked question being ‘Will she love me?’
So that was all a waste of time.
Possibly. But then perhaps you enjoyed the ride as it were. So maybe it wasn’t a waste of time, and anyway 42 does seem to come up rather a lot.
I have put down somewhere ‘What is the question to the answer? A good question.’ Which is a good answer; ask a good question and get a good answer to anything in particular you want to know.
And in my humble opinion God knows, so try Him.
Let’s end with Shakespeare’s question in Hamlet. ‘To be or not to be?’ Which, as I said before, means ‘To exist or not to exist?’ Would you rather exist or not?
You will have to answer that for yourself.
* It is important that you have a grasp of phonetics for the following. So hold onto your ‘phone as it may prove useful if you need to phone a friend to ask ‘What the hell is this chap on about?’
If you have read it through already and did not do this, you may have to read it all again.
Or have a cup of tea instead.
Should you wish to know the answers to Covid 19, at least with regards to physical health, try this. COVID 19 SUMMARY!!!
The Tree of Life 