Intake
Morning, Duncan. Take a seat, mind the hip. A while back you built me a little test to prove I could be trusted behind the wheel of a car. Turnabout is fair play — so this one confirms you can still be trusted with cutlery, staircases, and the names of your own children.
Before we start, let's confirm we've got the right man. Enter the patient reference number printed on your appointment card — assuming you haven't already lost it.
Part 1 of 3 · Attention
They really do ask this one, so pay attention. Start at 1000 and keep subtracting 7 — 1000, 993, 986, and so on. Call out every number you land on. Keep going long past the point a sensible man would stop, all the way down until you reach a number below 100 that reads the same forwards as backwards.
That is roughly 130 subtractions, so don't do it on your fingers — you'll nod off. A little loop that keeps taking 7 away until the number reads the same both ways does it in three lines.
Part 2 of 3 · Concentration
Take the number 27 and hold it in your mind — I know, I know, we'll be quick. Now the rule: if your number is even, halve it; if it is odd, triple it and add one. Whatever you get, do the very same thing again. Keep going until you finally arrive at 1.
How many steps did that take?
It rockets past nine thousand before it collapses back down to 1, so there is genuinely no doing this in your head. Write the rule out as a small loop and let it count the steps for you.
Part 3 of 3 · Executive Function
We have locked your reading glasses, your keys and the remote in a safe, for everyone's sake. The combination is simply this: how many whole numbers from 1 to 1000 have digits that add up to exactly 10?
For instance 28 counts, because 2 + 8 = 10. So does 190, and so does 505. Count every last one of them.
Far too many to tally on your fingers, even the spare ones. Loop from 1 to 1000, add up each number's digits, and count how many hit 10.
RESULT · CERTIFIED COMPOS MENTIS
Against every expectation and the smart money, you cleared all three stages. Your official result: