My son was explaining combinatorial optimisation problems to me last night (we like a bit of light banter over dinner), and as coincidence would have it, only that afternoon I had struggled with a severe combinatorial optimisation problem of my own in Woollies. I had rushed with the crowds to elbow my way to the Pick ‘n’ Mix and grabbed my plastic (small - I’m proud to say) cup. Having selected ‘small’, I then wanted to cram as many goodies in as possible, and after a moment’s thought realised that putting the biggies in first (mint creams if you must know), then the mediums (American hard gums) and then (my stoke of genius) filled in the gaps with lots of little dolly mixtures. I felt quite smug, and that was without even realising I had solved a complex combinatorial optimisation problem that has been foxing mathematicians for years!
The mint creams are yummy, but I feel a bit gloopy having just finished them off.
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