We take you now to the world of Bonkers, which has a 7-month year. The ditty for remembering the number of days in each month is as follows:
Nineteen days hath Cucumber,
Strawberry too, and the number
Of days there are in Tiddlywinks
Is just the same as ’tis in Jinks,
Which is seven whole days more
Than the ten there are in Pinafore.
With the month of Collywobble
Diary makers have some trouble:
Thirteen days if year is even,
Forty-four if odd. Add Stephen,
Quite the least of Bonkers months,
In fact it’s sometimes called the runt, as
You can clearly understand,
Since it hath but four days and
Another two in years of Heaven.
(That’s if the year’s date ends in seven).
Strawberry too, and the number
Of days there are in Tiddlywinks
Is just the same as ’tis in Jinks,
Which is seven whole days more
Than the ten there are in Pinafore.
With the month of Collywobble
Diary makers have some trouble:
Thirteen days if year is even,
Forty-four if odd. Add Stephen,
Quite the least of Bonkers months,
In fact it’s sometimes called the runt, as
You can clearly understand,
Since it hath but four days and
Another two in years of Heaven.
(That’s if the year’s date ends in seven).
Your job, of course, is to find the order of those seven months, given the following additional information:
- There are 5 days in each week, in this order: Joyday, Funday, Laughday, Blissday, and Workday.
- In the year 17 a.b. (after bliss), the Queen of Bonkers went on holiday on Funday, Strawberry 17th, and returned just over 7 weeks later, on Blissday, Tiddlywinks the 8th.
- In the year 19 a.b. there were exactly 10 weeks from Collywobble 41st to Pinafore 7th.
- Collywobble is the first and most important month in the year.
Fill in the length of each month using the ditty. Then count some weeks and days using the four statements. The order of the months turns out to be:
1: Collywobble
2: Stephen
3: Strawberry
4: Jinks
5: Pinafore
6: Tiddlywinks
7: Cucumber.