Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2013 May 24

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May 24

US Postal Service

Is there any rule of thumb within the US Postal Service as to how many homes a typical postal carrier services in a typical US suburb? RNealK (talk) 17:59, 24 May 2013 (UTC)

According to this source, the average US carrier route includes more than 500 delivery stops. Since the US is largely suburban, the average figure probably applies to suburbs. According to the same source, the number of stops varies somewhat negatively with mail volume per stop and positively with the density of stops on the route. Affluent suburbs with large wooded lots would therefore have fewer delivery stops (since affluent households tend to get more mail: catalogs, fundraising pitches, etc.), whereas compact working-class suburbs might have more stops. Marco polo (talk) 19:48, 24 May 2013 (UTC)

In many suburbs, mailboxes are colocated, so one stop allows delivery of mail to many houses. It's probably not easy to map number of stops to number of homes served. RudolfRed (talk) 20:14, 24 May 2013 (UTC)

Help identifying a card game

As a child, I was taught the following simple card game, which was never named:

• Each player is dealt four cards, which are placed in front of them in two rows of two.
• The remainder of the deck is placed in the centre of the table, and one card placed face up beside it.
• All players look at the two cards closest to them once, the only time they are allowed to view any of their cards until the end of the game.
• Jacks are worth eleven points, queens are twelve (and the worst possible card), and aces and kings are both zero. All other cards have expected values.
• On their turn, players may choose to exchange one of their cards for either the card on top of the deck or the card face-up on the table. Players are not required to choose cards they have picked from the top of the deck. Rejected or exchanged cards are placed face-up beside the deck.
• The two cards closest to the player can be exchanged as many times as desired, but each of the two top cards may only be exchanged once.
• Once a player has exchanged both of their top cards, they may choose to "call" by saying that word, thus ending the game. At this point all players turn over their cards, and the player with the smallest total wins.

Can anyone identify the name of this card game or the game from which it is descended? Pokajanje|Talk 19:55, 24 May 2013 (UTC)

Where and when did you play this game? Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 20:36, 24 May 2013 (UTC)

It sounds like it might be not unrelated to Rummy. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 21:10, 24 May 2013 (UTC)

This is Golf (card game). You played the "Four-card golf" variation noted in the Wikipedia article. --Jayron32 23:00, 24 May 2013 (UTC)

Thank you! This appears to be a further variant in that it does not limit the number of holes. Pokajanje|Talk 03:13, 25 May 2013 (UTC)

Two pence copper content

Resolved

According to this "coins made before 1992 are 97 per cent copper". However the two pence article says that before 1992 the coins were minted from bronze. Which is correct? 77.101.52.130 (talk) 20:01, 24 May 2013 (UTC)

Firstly, bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. "There are many different bronze alloys but modern bronze is typically 88% copper and 12% tin". So, something that's minted from bronze is ipso facto mainly copper. Does that help? -- Jack of Oz ^[Talk] 20:15, 24 May 2013 (UTC)

The Wikipedia article also says 97% copper. RudolfRed (talk) 20:16, 24 May 2013 (UTC)

(ec) Bronze is a mixture of copper and (usually) tin. Alloys with 97% copper and 3% tin are not uncommon - and they are still called "bronze". So both statements are correct. SteveBaker (talk) 20:17, 24 May 2013 (UTC)

Thanks 77.101.52.130 (talk) 21:30, 24 May 2013 (UTC)