16
$\begingroup$

What legendary meme am I referencing (twice!) with this large and strange polynomial?

$5507x^4-302885x^3+1420806x^2-2224828x+1101400=0$

Buckleyour seatbelts, it’s kind of crazy- I sincerely hope you and your handheld calculators are up to the task, but I don't blame you if you flip your stuff. Also, don’t feel bad if you haven’t yet caught any of the five total references in this question and you’re feeling kind of lost- I’ll buy you a Caddy if you’ll cheer up. :)

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ I do hope y’all like my question. This isn’t a part of the puzzle, to be clear. Just feel free to let me know what you liked/didn’t, what worked/didn’t, that sort of thing. I’m very open to constructive criticism. $\endgroup$
    – Lieutenant Zipp
    Sep 23, 2022 at 23:40

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
21
$\begingroup$

This polynomial references the meme

Loss

First we

factor the polynomial:
5507 (x - 50) (x - 2)^2 (x - 1)

The

roots are 1, 2, 2, 50 which when converted to Roman Numerals are I II II L which resembles the figures in the four panels of the original comic. enter image description here

Furthermore

the 5507, if we turn our "handheld calculators" upside down, looks like the word LOSS.

Additional hints

"Buckleyour" refers to the comic strip author Tim Buckley. "Feeling kind of lost" references the title "Loss". The "Caddy" may reference the comic strip title "Ctrl-Alt-Del", often abbreviated CAD.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
4
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ Nice! You got all five references! $\endgroup$
    – Lieutenant Zipp
    Sep 24, 2022 at 16:23
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ Congrats on 10k! :) $\endgroup$
    – Beastly Gerbil
    Sep 24, 2022 at 21:26
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ kind of funny i immediately hoped it would be this as soon as i read the question even though i missed all the references $\endgroup$
    – htmlcoderexe
    Sep 25, 2022 at 0:54
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ how the heck did you figure all that out?! $\endgroup$
    – Swiss Frank
    Sep 25, 2022 at 4:53

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.