The Four minute Challenge !!!

[Abarbarian]

We all know that Rodger Bannister broke the four minute barrier for running a mile in 1954. Did you know that it was only in 1994 that a forty year old irishman, Eamonn Coghlan was the first to do the same.

Well this challenge has nothing to do with being over forty or running a four minute mile.


I have been filling in time and keeping the old grey cell in working order by playing against the clock with gnome-mahjongg. I have been attempting to complete the puzzle in under four minutes for every different layout. Today I finally completed the task.
Some layouts were a breeze but one particular layout had me well and truly stymied, the "confounding cross" was darn hard and I thought I would never complete it for a full set.

So are you up for the challenge.

Does your grey cell still vroom vroom or does it creak and splutter.

The Challenge

Using gnome-mahjongg complete the puzzle in under four minutes for every different layout.

 

[Becky]

Good work! I'd give it a go, but I've never played it before and wouldn't have a clue what I was doing

 

[floppybootstomp]

Snap. What's Mahjongg?

My Dad knew Roger Bannister, they used to run round the same training track together and shared the occasional beer. But the friendship turned a little frosty when our Roger began to get vocal about his political allegiance, which, apparently, was at loggerheads with me Pa's

 

[nivrip]

We all know that Rodger Bannister broke the four minute barrier for running a mile in 1954. Did you know that it was only in 1994 that a forty year old irishman, Eamonn Coghlan was the first to do the same.

Not sure what you mean by this, AB. Surely LOTS & LOTS of people ran sub 4 minute miles between 1954 and 1994.

 

[Abarbarian]

Good work! I'd give it a go, but I've never played it before and wouldn't have a clue what I was doing

You simply have to match two tiles and take them of the grid, repeat till no tiles are left.

Simples.

 

[Abarbarian]

Not sure what you mean by this, AB. Surely LOTS & LOTS of people ran sub 4 minute miles between 1954 and 1994.

They certainly did, however they were all under the age of forty.

 

[Abarbarian]

Snap. What's Mahjongg?

My Dad knew Roger Bannister, they used to run round the same training track together and shared the occasional beer. But the friendship turned a little frosty when our Roger began to get vocal about his political allegiance, which, apparently, was at loggerheads with me Pa's

Interesting tale Flops.

It is a free game for GNU/Linux users. It may well come pre-installed with Mint.

https://community.linuxmint.com/software/view/gnome-mahjongg

 

[nivrip]

They certainly did, however they were all under the age of forty.

Ahhh..... got it now, AB.

Brain's getting a bit slower as time goes on.

 

[bootneck02]

What brain, I haven't got one

 

[Abarbarian]

Ahhh..... got it now, AB.

Brain's getting a bit slower as time goes on.

Hence the challenge

 

[Abarbarian]

What brain, I haven't got one

All GNU/Linux users have a brain. Trick is remembering where you last left it.

 

[bootneck02]

Left what where.

 

[nivrip]

Hence the challenge

I obviously failed.

Many years ago I used to play MahJong on a proper board with three other people. Well before the days of computers.

 

[Abarbarian]

I obviously failed.

Many years ago I used to play MahJong on a proper board with three other people. Well before the days of computers.

Me too. We had a fortnightly session with the same four players. That is the proper Mahjong the game above is more like snap.
If we could find two other players we could do proper Mahjong via e-mail or something like hexchat.

 

[EvanDavis]

We all know that Rodger Bannister broke the four minute barrier for running a mile in 1954. Did you know that it was only in 1994 that a forty year old irishman, Eamonn Coghlan was the first to do the same.

https://www.infoplease.com/people/other-selected-athletes/history-record-mile-run-under-4-minutes

 

[Abarbarian]

https://www.infoplease.com/people/other-selected-athletes/history-record-mile-run-under-4-minutes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-minute_mile

Another illustration of the progression of performance in the men's mile is that, in 1994, forty years after Bannister's breaking of the barrier, the Irish runner Eamonn Coghlan became the first man over the age of 40 to run a sub-four-minute mile.[12] Because Coghlan surpassed the mark indoors and before the IAAF validated indoor performances as being eligible for outdoor records, World Masters Athletics still had not recognised a sub-4-minute-mile performance as a record in the M40 division. Many elite athletes made the attempts to extend their careers beyond age 40 to challenge that mark. Over 18 years after Coghlan, that was finally achieved by UK's Anthony Whiteman, running 3:58.79 on 2 June 2012.[13]

No woman has yet run a four-minute mile. As of 2015, the women's world record is held by retired Russian Svetlana Masterkova, with a time of 4:12.56 in 1996.[14]