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Warhol’s bullet-riddled Marilyn Monroe sets new record

<p dir="ltr">Andy Warhol’s iconic 1964 portrait of Marilyn Monroe has sold at a New York auction house for a record-setting $195 million. </p> <p dir="ltr">The sale of the painting, called <em>Shot Sage Blue Marilyn</em>, is now the most expensive work by a 20th-century artist ever to be sold at auction.</p> <p dir="ltr">The image depicts a press photo from Monroe’s 1953 film <em>Niagara</em> in Warhol’s signature “pop-art” style, with the image being repeatedly used by the artist in his work until his death in 1987. </p> <p dir="ltr">It derives from his <em>Shot Marilyn</em> portrait series, which Warhol produced after an incident at his downtown studio when he prompted a collaborator, Dorothy Podber, to shoot into a stack of canvases.</p> <p dir="ltr">The result for this 1964 work almost doubled the artist's previous auction record of $105.4 million, which was set in 2013 when his 1963 canvas <em>Silver Car Crash</em> (<em>Double Disaster</em>) sold at Sotheby’s.</p> <p dir="ltr">With the sale, Christie’s auction house also rode a double-pronged pop culture wave of renewed interest in both Warhol and Monroe.</p> <p dir="ltr">Streaming giant Netflix has released separate documentary series on both the actress and the artist, with both icons making a resurgence in the pop culture zeitgeist. </p> <p dir="ltr">Not only did <em>Shot Sage Blue Marilyn</em> bring a new artist record for Warhol, it has also become one of the most expensive works of art ever to sold at auction, surpassing Pablo Picasso’s <em>Les Femmes d’Alger </em>(“<em>Version O</em>”) as the second high-selling work to hit the auction block. </p> <p dir="ltr">That painting sold at Christie’s for $179 million in 2015, with the most expensive work to ever sell at auction being Leonardo da Vinci’s <em>Salvator Mundi</em> which sold for $450 million.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Art

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10 long riddles to give your brain a workout

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Who doesn’t love a good riddle? Whether you prefer easy riddles, hard riddles, or short riddles, there’s just something about trying to solve these brain busters that keeps us coming back for more. Come on, is there anything better than finally solving a mind-bender we’ve been stuck on for a while?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You may consider yourself a master of riddles, but remember – you haven’t seen our list of long riddles yet. Buckle up – these riddles will get your gears turning!</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Can you solve these long riddles?</span></p> <p><strong>The farmer's river crossing</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A farmer went to a market and bought a wolf, a goat, and a cabbage. On his way home, the farmer came to the bank of a river and rented a boat. But crossing the river by boat, the farmer could carry only himself and a single one of his purchases: the wolf, the goat, or the cabbage. If left unattended together, the wolf would eat the goat, or the goat would eat the cabbage. The farmer’s challenge was to carry himself and his purchases to the far bank of the river, leaving each purchase intact. How did he do it?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Answer: The farmer takes seven trips over – here are his steps:</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Take the goat over</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Return</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Take the wolf or cabbage over</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Return with the goat</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Take the cabbage or wolf over</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Return</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Take goat over</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Note: The riddle doesn’t forbid the farmer from bringing a purchase back, which makes the steps above possible.</span></p> <p><strong>The suspicious hotel visit</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A woman is sitting in her hotel room and hears a knock at the door. She opens the door to see a man whom she’s never met before. He says, “I’m sorry, I have made a mistake, I thought this was my room.” He then goes down the corridor and into the elevator. The woman goes back into her room and calls security. What made the woman so suspicious of the man?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Answer: If he really thought it was his hotel room, he would have tried to open the door – not knock on it first.</span></p> <p><strong>Man and a brick</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A man is found unconscious in front of a store at two in the morning. His head is bleeding and there’s a brick laying next to him. When the police arrive, they carry the man to jail. Why did they arrest him?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Answer: The man was trying to rob the store. He threw a brick at the store’s bullet-proof window and it bounced back and hit him.</span></p> <p><strong>My three sons</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A father told his three sons he would die soon and he needed to decide which one of them to give his property to. He said, “Go to the market and buy something that is large enough to fill my bedroom, but small enough to fit in your pocket. From this, I will decide which of you is the wisest and worthy enough to inherit my land.” They all went to the market, and each came back with a different item. The father told his sons to come into his bedroom one at a time and try to fill up his bedroom with their item. The first son came in and put some pieces of cloth he bought and laid them across the room, but it barely covered the floor. The second son came in and laid some hay on the floor, but there was only enough to cover half the floor. The third son came in and showed his father what he bought. He wound up getting the property. What did the third son show his father?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Answer: A box of matches. Whenever he lit a match, it filled the room with light.</span></p> <p><strong>The big family</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There’s a girl who has a large family. She has an equal amount of brothers and sisters, but each brother only has half as many brothers and sisters. What’s the correct amount of brothers and sisters?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Answer: Four sisters and three brothers.</span></p> <p><strong>Door to paradise</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You stand in front of two doors. A guard stands next to each door. You know the following things: one path leads to paradise, the other leads to death. You cannot distinguish between the two doors. You also know that one of the two guards always tells the truth and the other always lies. You have permission to ask one guard one question to discover which door leads to paradise. What one question would you ask to guarantee you enter the door to paradise?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Answer: Ask, “Which door would the other guard say leads to paradise?”</span></p> <p><strong>The basket full of hats</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There is a basket full of hats. Three are white and two are black. Three men, Tom, Tim and Jim, each take a hat out of the basket and put it on their heads without seeing the hat they selected or the hats the other men selected. The men arrange themselves so Tom can see Tim and Jim’s hats, Tim can see Jim’s hat, and Jim can’t see anyone’s hat. Tom is asked what colour his hat is and he says he doesn’t know. Tim is asked the same question, and he also doesn’t know. Finally, Jim is asked the question, and he does know. What colour is his hat?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Answer: The hat is white. If Tom doesn’t know his hat colour then the other two men’s hats cannot be both black otherwise he would know his hat is white. When Tim doesn’t know his hat colour either, that means Jim’s hat could not be black otherwise Tim would have to know his hat was white based on Tom’s answer.</span></p> <p><strong>What word am I?</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Consider this about a word: The first two letters signify a male, the first three letters signify a female, the first four letters signify a great, while the entire world signifies a great woman. What is the word?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Answer: Heroine.</span></p> <p><strong>The lake house</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sally lives in a place where six months of the year is mild summer and the temperature drops significantly the other six months. She owns a lake where there is a small island. She wants to build a house on the island and needs to get materials there. She doesn’t have a boat, plane, or anything to transport them to the island. How does Sally solve this problem?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Answer: She waits to take the materials over during the colder months because the lake will freeze over, so she can walk over it.</span></p> <p><strong>The old horror house</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You walk into an old horror house. It has no power or plumbing. Once inside, you see three doors. Each door has a number on it. Behind each door is a way for you to die. Behind door number one, you die by getting eaten by a lion. Behind door number two, you die by getting murdered. Behind door number three, you die by electric chair. You can’t turn back, so you have to go through a door. Which door do you go through?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Answer: Door number three – the house has no power, which means it doesn’t have electricity. Therefore, the electric chair won’t work.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image credit: Getty Images</span></em></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">This article first appeared on <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/true-stories-lifestyle/thought-provoking/long-riddles-to-give-your-brain-a-workout" target="_blank" title="Long riddles to give your brain a workout">Reader’s Digest</a>.</span></em></p> <p><br /><br /></p>

Retirement Life

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Simply the worst? Backlash over error-riddled and "divisive" NRL ad

<p>South Sydney NRL player Latrell Mitchell has made a dig at Karl Stefanovic after he criticised the star’s role in the NRL’s controversial new campaign.</p> <p>The new advertisement campaign which was revealed on Monday, unveiled a throwback to Tina Turner’s iconic hit<span> </span><em>Simply The Best.</em></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">Thirty years on, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NRL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NRL</a> is still simply the best.<br /><br />See the revival of Tina Turner's famous 1990 campaign, featuring some of the biggest moments in footy from the past three decades 🏉 <a href="https://t.co/2wU39u6sMk">pic.twitter.com/2wU39u6sMk</a></p> — Telegraph Sport (@telegraph_sport) <a href="https://twitter.com/telegraph_sport/status/1234387970259652608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 2, 2020</a></blockquote> <p>However, what originally was made to bring attention to the NRL and pay homage to a number of prominent, remarkable figures has been labelled as too “politically correct”.</p> <p>The critics slammed the ad which featured a shot of Latrell Mitchell draped in an Aboriginal flag, singer Macklemore’s famous performance from 2017 where he made a tribute for same-sex marriage and a famous kiss between Karina Brown and Vanessa Foliaki after the partners played against each other in a State of Origin match.</p> <p>Today host Karl Stefanovic was among some of those who slammed the advertisement and singled out the NRL player who wore an aboriginal flag. He insisted the move did not promote inclusion for the game.</p> <p>“How do you unite the game when you have a picture of Latrell Mitchell on his own with the Aboriginal flag around him?” Stefanovic said on Tuesday.</p> <p>“That’s not unifying, that’s divisive.</p> <p>“It’s putting him on his own.</p> <p>“Rugby league is about indigenous (people) and everyone else coming together for the sport, not putting anyone on their own.”</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B8K2ppfg7UH/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B8K2ppfg7UH/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by L a t r e l l M i t c h e l l™ (@iam_lm01)</a> on Feb 4, 2020 at 7:09pm PST</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Mitchell was quick to share some of the comments on his personal Instagram account.</p> <p>“This ad shows (Charnze) Nicoll-Klokstad by himself, shows (Tyson) Frizell by himself. Yet Karl picks out Latrell standing by himself with the Aboriginal flag as ‘divisive’,” read one post that Mitchell shared.</p> <p>“Once again blackfullas can’t be proud of our culture without a whiter person’s approval.</p> <p>“Once again people must shut up and play footy, so that we can avoid offending the racists of our country.”</p>

TV

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The riddle that has the internet in a spin – can you figure it out?

<p>“What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs at night?” inquired the Sphinx. Oedipus, ever the clever Greek tragic figure, was not easily fooled. “Man,” he replied. Then, the Sphinx died, for some reason.<br /><br />The upcoming riddle’s stakes are a bit lower, that’s for sure, but its answer is similarly difficult to dream up.</p> <p><strong>If Teresa’s daughter is my daughter's mother, what am I to Teresa?</strong></p> <p>For clarity’s sake, the relationships mentioned in the above riddle are by blood, and not by the quick and breezy process of Facebook family requests. Fortunately for the riddle-solver, finding the answer will just provide gratification.</p> <p>The pivot point of the riddle sits on the tongue of question-asker, who happens to be… <em>Teresa’s daughter</em>, <a rel="noopener" href="http://twentytwowords.com/heres-the-answer-to-the-viral-riddle-thats-driving-the-internet-nuts/2/" target="_blank" title="" data-original-title="">as confirmed by this diagram from 22 Words.</a></p> <p>Now, if you’re still looking for a challenge to keep your brain churning, just try and find the <a rel="noopener" href="http://www.readersdigest.com.au/true-stories-lifestyle/thought-provoking/spot-the-turtle" target="_blank" title="" data-original-title="">turtle in this photo</a>. It has nothing to do with daughters, but apparently, women can solve it faster than men.</p> <p><em>Written by <span>Sam Benson Smith</span>. This article first appeared in </em><span><a href="http://www.readersdigest.com.au/true-stories-lifestyle/thought-provoking/riddle-has-internet-spin-can-you-figure-it-out"><em>Reader’s Digest</em></a><em>. For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, </em><a href="http://readersdigest.innovations.com.au/c/readersdigestemailsubscribe?utm_source=over60&amp;utm_medium=articles&amp;utm_campaign=RDSUB&amp;keycode=WRA87V"><em>here’s our best subscription offer.</em></a></span></p> <p><img style="width: 100px !important; height: 100px !important;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7820640/1.png" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/f30947086c8e47b89cb076eb5bb9b3e2" /></p>

Mind

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Where’s the most germ-riddled part of your car?

<p><span>New research has revealed which parts of your car interior are the most riddled with germs.</span></p> <p><span>The study, which took swabs from 20 parts of the inside of a car, found the spots with the most visible bacteria and the areas most contaminated.</span></p> <p><span>The sample taken from the steering wheel, one of the most touched parts of a car, was one of the most germ-free areas. However, the boot of the car, which was used for transporting pets, was one of the most contaminated areas.</span></p> <p><span>Other areas with the most visible bacteria included the driver footwell, seatbelt button and the handbrake.</span></p> <p><span>The experiment, conducted by second-hand car seller Motorpoint, revealed how poorly drivers are looking after their vehicle.</span></p> <p><span>The car swabs were put in agar-filled petri dishes and were sealed to avoid contamination. The samples were left for three to five days to thrive.</span></p> <p><span>The results showed that the car boot was the most bacteria-affected area because of the owner’s pet dogs. The cup holder, inside door handle and radio button also had mould.</span></p> <p><span>Surprisingly, the rear-view mirror, steering wheel and gear stick were the three cleanest areas inside the car.</span></p> <p><span>Motorpoint said the results wouldn’t have been as shocking if the owner adhered to a car cleaning regime.</span></p> <p><span>According to a survey of 1,050 car owners, Britons only clean the inside of their car on average 10 times a year despite eating food and carrying pets inside cars.</span></p> <p><span>Alison Weatherley, head of marketing at Motorpoint, said, “The results were quite revealing and showed that maybe we need to clean our cars a little more often than we currently think is acceptable.</span></p> <p><span>“Many drivers eat or drink in their vehicle, as well as chauffeuring young children or pets, and these can also have an impact on dirtiness in cars.</span></p> <p><span>“To avoid excessive grubbiness, we recommend that people action regular car cleaning – both inside and out!”</span></p> <p><span>9 per cent of respondents said they only clean the interior of their car once a year.</span></p> <p><span>How often do you clean the inside of your car? Tell us in the comments below. </span></p>

Travel Tips

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Can you solve this tricky maths riddle in one second?

<p>A 13-year-old genius solved this tricky maths riddle in just one second. How long will it take you?</p> <p>The headscratcher comes from the Mathcounts National Mathematics competition in the United States, which is like a maths version of a national spelling bee.</p> <p>The 2017 competition was won by 13-year-old Luke Robitaille of Texas, who took less than a second to answer this riddle.</p> <p><strong>Riddle:</strong> In a barn, 100 chicks sit peacefully in a circle. Suddenly, each chick randomly pecks the chick immediately to its left or its right. Each chick pecks only once, and is not affected by which way its neighbours peck. What is the most likely number of unpecked chicks?</p> <p>Mathematical genius <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.adamspencer.com.au/" target="_blank">Adam Spencer</a></strong></span>, whose new book The Number Games is out now, offers this hint.</p> <p>“Imagine you are one of the chickens in the circle. What are all the possible ‘peckings’ that could happen to you, including not getting pecked, and what are the odds of each of those ‘peckings’ happening? Run these odds out over the 100 chickens and what number of ‘no pecks’ do you get?” he tells news.com.au.</p> <p>Still haven’t got it yet? Here’s the answer, as explained by Spencer.</p> <p><strong>Answer:</strong> For every chicken, the odds of getting pecked from the right is 0.5 and the odds of not getting pecked from the right is 0.5. Obviously the odds are the same for getting pecked from the left. So the odds of getting ‘double pecked’ are 0.5 x 0.5 = 0.25. The odds of getting ‘not pecked’ are also 0.5 x 0.5 = 0.25. The odds of getting ‘single pecked’ are 0.5 (0.25 from the left plus 0.25 from the right). Across 100 chickens you’d expect 25 to remain unpecked — you’d also expect 25 to be double pecked and 50 to be pecked once only.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p>

Mind

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Can you solve Einstein’s famous riddle?

<p>When he was a child, Einstein crafted one of the most difficult riddles ever made – so difficult, in fact, that he said 98 per cent of the world couldn’t solve it. However, a few NIEHS scientists managed to crack it, and you can too if you stay calm and pay attention. You’ll need a pen, some paper and all the patience and logic you can muster to solve this tricky puzzle.</p> <p>All you need to know before you begin is the following. There are five different houses of five different colours. A person of a different nationality lives in each house. Each homeowner drinks a certain drink, smokes a certain cigarette brand, and has a certain pet – but none have any of these attributes in common.</p> <p>Now, your job is to figure out – who has the fish?</p> <ol> <li>The Brit lives in the red house.</li> <li>The Swede has a dog. </li> <li>The Dane drinks tea.</li> <li>The green house is on the immediate left of the white house.</li> <li>The green house's owner drinks coffee. </li> <li>The owner who smokes Pall Mall owns a bird.</li> <li>The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhill. </li> <li>The owner of the centre house drinks milk.</li> <li>The Norwegian lives in the first house. </li> <li>The owner who smokes Blends lives next to the one who owns a cat.</li> <li>The owner who has the horse lives next to the one who smokes Dunhill. </li> <li>The owner who smokes Bluemasters drinks beer. </li> <li>The German smokes Prince.</li> <li>The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.</li> <li>The owner who smokes Blends lives next to the one who drinks water.</li> </ol> <p>Stop scrolling if you want to solve it for yourself, or continue on if you want to see the answers.</p> <p>.</p> <p>.</p> <p>.</p> <p>.</p> <p>.</p> <p><strong>Answers</strong></p> <ul> <li>1st House: Yellow, Norwegian, Water, Cat, Dunhill</li> <li>2nd House: Blue, Dane, Tea, Horse, Blends</li> <li>3rd House: Red, Brit, Milk, Bird, Pall Malls</li> <li>4th House: Green, German, Coffee, FISH, Prince</li> <li>5th House: White, Swede, Beer, Dog, Bluemasters</li> </ul> <p>Therefore, the fish belongs to the German!</p> <p>Tell us in the comments below, how did you go with this brain teaser?</p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/news/news/2016/09/can-you-solve-this-maths-problem/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><em>Can you solve the kids’ maths problem stumping the internet?</em></strong></span></a></p> <p><a href="/%20http:/www.oversixty.co.nz/news/news/2016/08/can-you-solve-these-riddles/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><em>Can you solve these riddles?</em></strong></span></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/news/news/2016/04/find-the-mistake-in-this-image-puzzle/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><em>Can you find the mistake in this image?</em></strong></span></a></p>

Mind

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Can you solve the kids’ maths problem stumping the internet?

<p>A new brain-teaser is making the rounds online, and it has thousands of people scratching their heads. Take a look for yourself and see if you can figure it out.</p> <p><img width="500" height="500" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/27047/maths_500x500.jpg" alt="Maths" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/></p> <p>Still stuck? Well, according to <a href="https://brightside.me/wonder-curiosities/not-even-adults-can-work-out-the-answer-to-this-childrens-puzzle-185355/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Bright Side</span></strong></a>, the answer is 81. Surprised? We got 101 on the first try, but there’s a reason behind the unexpected result. You may have worked out that the pink flower equals 20, the purple flower equals five, and the yellow flower equals one. So, it makes sense that a pink flower times a purple flower (multiplications always go before additions) plus a yellow flower equals 101. 1 + (20 x 5) = 101.</p> <p>However, what you mightn’t have taken into account is the number of petals on the purple flower. Take another look – there’s only four petals in the last equation. Therefore, if a purple flower with five petals equals five, a purple flower with four petals only equals four. So, 1 + (20 x 4) = 81.</p> <p>Tell us in the comments, did you get it right on the first try?</p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><a href="/news/news/2016/08/can-you-solve-these-riddles/"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Can you solve these riddles?</em></span></strong></a></p> <p><a href="/news/news/2016/08/spot-the-leopard-in-the-rocks/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>Can you spot the leopard hiding in the rocks?</strong></em></span></a></p> <p><a href="/lifestyle/home-garden/2015/11/500-sheep-trick-photograph/"><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Spot the 500 sheep in this photo</strong></span></em></a></p>

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