Please remember me when CHRISTMAS shopping online and use my affiliate links. US HERE – WHY? This helps to pay for health insurance, utilities, groceries, etc.. At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.
Pray for Jimmy Lai…
Jimmy Lai found guilty of national security violations, faces life in prison | Catholic News Agency ?@cnalive? https://t.co/5loQWt5tPp
— Edward Pentin (@EdwardPentin) December 15, 2025
And this is different… fungus funky…. not sure it’ll catch on…
Scientists hooked up sensors to a mushroom’s bio-electric signals and turned its natural fluctuations into music ??
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) December 15, 2025
MUST.HAVE.ONE…
This 1921 u.s dollar coin is one of the most impressive pieces of engineering ever madepic.twitter.com/4PfiPzfJDr
— Interesting things (@awkwardgoogle) December 14, 2025
White to move and mate in 4.
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
A well-deserving cause Fr. Z trusts.
And give the sisters some support. They make great things for Christmas gifts.
1. Qd6+ Ka7 (if Kb7, Qc7 mate)
2. Qc7+ Bb7
3. Rxa6+ KxR
4. Qa5 mate
White to move and mate in 4
1) Qd6+ Ka7 (or Kb7)
2) Qc7+ Bb7 (forced)
3) Rxa6+ Kxa6 (forced)
4) Qa5# mate
If
1) … Kb7
2) Qc7# mate
Went through the typical problem cycle:
This one looks simple.
.
Uhhhh… Maybe not.
.
.
This one’s pretty tough!
Something’s wrong with the setup!
.
Unless…
Wait a minute…
That one was simple.
:-)
Maybe another commenter can correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that coin is fake. That is, I believe the function was added by someone in the last decade and wasn’t original to the coin. The coin is otherwise just been a normal coin (with a really cool design nonetheless).
Yes, you are correct, TradCathMale. This so-called ‘hobo’ nickel morgan dollar is one of many designed by an artist named Roman Booteen. You can see several of his works for sale at: https://www.ebay.com/shop/roman-booteen-coin?_nkw=roman+booteen +coin. You can learn more about the artist at: https://hotco.co/pages/about-roman-booteen.
Q-d6, K-A7 (because K-b7 would result in mate immediately with Q-c7)
Q-c7, B-b7
Rxa6, KxR (because the bishop is pinned by the queen)
Q-b6 mate