Big Wacky Numbers

ANSWER (or "What the heck was that all about?")

This is simply a cool little trick with numbers. First, the answers to the phrases from our obnoxious equation:

Number of major league baseball teams in the National League = 16
The bill with Abe Lincoln on it = 5
Number of sisters that Bart Simpson has = 2
Number most commonly found on a pencil = 2
Year the U.S.A. celebrated its sesquicentennial = 1926
Year Columbus discovered America = 1492
Number of people who appear in the opening 'grid' at the beginning of every Brady Bunch episode = 9
Number of vowels in the alphabet = 5
Number of continents beginning with a vowel = 5
Minimum age you must be to become President of the United States = 35
Number of Backstreet Boys = 5
Michael Jordan's most popular jersey number = 23
Number of eyes on a cyclops = 1
Number of student filmmakers who got lost in the woods in 'The Blair Witch Project' = 3
Number of nickels in $18.45 = 369

Plug them all into the equation, and it looks something like this:

((((((((16x5+2)/2)x(1926-1492-9))/(5x5))x(35/5))x23)+1)/3)-369

The answer to that horrible looking thing is 37,037.

Okay -- now you picked ONE NUMBER from a list of new phrases. Those answers were:

Number of Deadly Sins = 7
Number of Teletubbies = 4
Number of humps on a dromedary = 1
Number of planets in our galaxy = 9
Total number of players on the court in a 3-on-3 basketball game = 6
Number of states that are only four letters long = 3
Number of Eurythmics = 2
Number represented by the Roman Numeral 'V' = 5
Only numbered pool ball not considered a 'stripe' or 'solid' = 8

Note that these are simply the numbers 1 through 9, all mixed up. Select any number, 1 through 9, and multiply it by 37,037 (your answer from the big ugly equation). Now multiply that by 3. You'll find that every digit in your answer will be the same as the number you selected from the second list.

For example:

37,037 x 8 = 296,296

296,296 x 3 = 888,888

Spooky, huh?