Puzzles and magic. I work in what most people think are two distinct fields, but I believe they are the same. I am both a magician and a New York Times crossword puzzle constructor, which basically means I've taken the world's two nerdiest hobbies and combined them into one career. And I believe that magic and puzzles are the same because they both key into one of the most important human drives: the urge to solve. Human beings are wired to solve, to make order out of chaos.
Crebacabezas e maxia. Traballo no que a maioría da xente pensa que son dous campos distintos, pero eu creo que son o mesmo. Son mago e creador de crucigramas do New York Times. O que significa que collín as dúas afeccións máis raras do mundo e as xuntei nunha soa carreira. E creo que a maxia e os crebacabezas son o mesmo, porque ambos son clave nun dos impulsos humanos máis importantes: o desexo de resolver cousas. Os seres humanos están feitos para resolver, para poñer orde no caos.
It's certainly true for me. I've been solving my whole life. High school consisted of epic Scrabble matches in the cafeteria and not really talking to girls, and then at about that time I started learning magic tricks and definitely not talking to girls. There's nothing like starting a conversation with, "Hey, did you know that 'prestidigitation' is worth 20 points in Scrabble?" But back then, I noticed an intersection between puzzles and illusion. When you do the crossword puzzle or when you watch a magic show, you become a solver, and your goal is to try to find the order in the chaos, the chaos of, say, a black-and-white puzzle grid, a mixed-up bag of Scrabble tiles, or a shuffled pack of playing cards. And today, as a cruciverbalist — 23 points — and an illusion designer, I create that chaos. I test your ability to solve.
Para mín é moi certo, pois levo resolvendo cousas toda a miña vida. No instituto desfrutaba de xogos épicos de Scrabble na cafetería en lugar de falar coas rapazas. E entón por aquela época comecei a aprender trucos de maxia, e definitivamente a non falar coas rapazas. Non hai nada como comezar unha conversa con: “Oe, sabías que ‘prestidixitación’ vale 20 puntos no Scrabble?“. Pero daquela, notei unha intersección entre os crebacabezas e a ilusión. Cando fan un encrucillado ou ven un espectáculo de maxia, vólvense solucionadores, e a súa meta é tentar poñer orde no caos, o caos dunha cuadrícula de crebacabezas en branco e negro, unha bolsa de fichas de Scrabble mesturadas ao chou ou un paquete de cartas baralladas. E hoxe, como cruciverbalista, 23 puntos, e deseñador de ilusións, eu creo ese caos. Probo a súa capacidade de resolución.
Now, it turns out research tells us that solving is as primal as eating and sleeping. From birth, we are wired to solve. In one UCLA study, newborns still in the hospital were shown patterns, patterns like this: circle, cross, circle, cross. And then the pattern was changed: triangle, square. And by tracking an infant's gaze, we know that newborns as young as a day old can notice and respond to disruptions in order. It's remarkable. So from infancy through old age, the urge to solve unites us all, and I even found this photo on Instagram of pop star Katy Perry solving a crossword puzzle with her morning coffee.
Pero resulta que a investigación nos di que resolver é tan primordial como comer ou durmir. Desde o nacemento, estamos feitos para resolver. Nun estudo da UCLA, aos recentemente nados que aínda estaban no hospital, mostráronlles patróns como este: círculo, cruz, círculo e cruz. E logo cambiaron o patrón: triángulo e cadrado. E ao ver a mirada dun bebé, sabemos que os neonatos de tan só un día de idade xa poden notar e responder aos cambios na orde. Algo moi destacable. Así que dende a infancia ata a vellez, o afán de resolver únenos a todos, e ata atopei esta foto en Instagram da estrela do pop Katy Perry, resolvendo un encrucillado co seu café da mañá. Góstame.
Like. (Laughter)
(Risas)
Now, solving exists across all cultures. The American invention is the crossword puzzle, and this year we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the crossword puzzle, first published in The New York World. But many other cultures have their signature puzzles as well. China gives us tangrams, which would test solvers' abilities to form shapes from the jumbled pieces. Chaos. Order. Order. And order. That one's my favorite, let's hear it again. Okay. And how about this puzzle invented in 18th-century England: the jigsaw puzzle. Is this not making order out of chaos?
Pero aínda que todas as culturas queren resolver cousas, o encrucillado é un invento estadounidense, e este ano celebramos o centenario do primeiro publicado no The New York World. Pero moitas outras culturas teñen tamén os seus crebacabezas. China ofrécenos tangrams, que probarían as habilidades da xente de crear formas a partir de pezas confusas Caos. Orde. Orde e máis orde. (Sonido dun galo) Esa é a miña favorita, volvámola escoitar. Vale. E que hai deste crebacabezas inventado na Inglaterra do século XVIII: o crebacabezas. Non é isto poñer orde no caos?
So as you can see, we are always solving. We are always trying to decode our world. It's an eternal quest. It's just like the one Cervantes wrote about in "Don Quixote," which by the way is the root of the word "quixotry," the highest-scoring Scrabble word of all time, 365 points. But anyway, "Don Quixote" is an important book. You guys have read "Don Quixote," yes? I'm seeing some heads nod. Come on guys, really? Who's read "Don Quixote?" Let's do this. Raise your hands if you've read "Don Quixote." There we go. Smart audience. Who's read "Don Quixote?" Get them up.
Así que como ven, sempre estamos resolvendo. Sempre estamos tentando decodificar o noso mundo. É unha busca eterna. É como o que escribiu Cervantes en “Don Quixote”, que por certo é a raíz de “quixotada”, a palabra de Scrabble con maior puntuación de todos os tempos, 365 puntos. Pero en fin, “Don Quixote” é un libro importante. Vostedes xa leron “Don Quixote”, non si? Vexo varias cabezas asentindo. Veña rapaces, de verdade? Fagamos algo: que levante a man quen leu “Don Quixote”. Aló imos. Un bo público. Erguede a man se lestes “Don Quixote”.
Okay, good, because I need somebody smart here because now I'm going to demonstrate with the help of one of you just how deeply rooted your urge to solve is, just how wired to solve all of you really are, so I'm going to come into the audience and find somebody to help me. Let's see. Everybody's looking away all of a sudden. Can I? Would you? What is your name? Gwen. I'm not a mind reader, I can see your name tag. Come with me, Gwen. Everyone give her a round of applause, make her feel welcome. Gwen, after you. (Applause)
Moi ben, porque preciso a alguén intelixente aquí, porque agora vou mostrar coa axuda dun de vostedes, o profundamente arraigado que está o desexo de resolver, así que vou ir onde o público e atopar a alguén que me axude. Vexamos. De súpeto todo o mundo mira cara outro lado. Podo? Ti faríalo? Como te chamas? Gwen. Non leo a mente, vexo o teu nome na etiqueta. Ven comigo, Gwen. E deanlle todos un aplauso, para que se sinta benvida. Gwen, despois de ti. (Aplausos)
Are you so excited? Did you know that your name is worth eight points in Scrabble? Okay, stand right here, Gwen, right here.
Estás moi emocionada? Sabías que o teu nome vale oito puntos no Scrabble? Vale, fica aquí, Gwen, aquí mesmo.
Now, Gwen, before we begin, I'd like to point out a piece of the puzzle, which is here in this envelope, and I will not go near it. Okay? And over here we have a drawing of some farm animals. You can see we have an owl, we have a horse, a donkey, a rooster, an ox, and a sheep, and then here, Gwen, we have some fancy art store markers, colors like, can you see that word right there? Gwen: Cobalt. David Kwong: Cobalt, yes. Cobalt. But we have a silver, a red, an emerald, and an amber marker, and Gwen, you are going to color this drawing just like you were five years old, one marker at a time. It's going to be a lot of fun. But I'm going to go over here. I don't want to see what you're doing. Okay, so don't start yet. Wait for me to get over here and close my eyes. Now Gwen, are you ready?
Agora, Gwen, antes de comezar, gustaríame sinalar unha peza do crebacabezas, que está neste sobre, ao que non me vou achegar. De acordo? E por aquí temos un debuxo duns animais de granxa. Temos un moucho, un cabalo, un burro, un galo, un boi e unha ovella, e logo aquí, temos uns elegantes rotuladores, con cores como... podes ver esa palabra de aí? Gwen: Cobalto. David Kwong: Cobalto, si. Pero temos un rotulador prata, un vermello, un esmeralda e un ámbar, e Gwen, vas colorear este debuxo igual que cando tiñas cinco anos, cun rotulador de cada vez. Vai ser moi divertido. Pero eu vou andar por alí, porque non quero ver o que estás facendo. Non comeces aínda. Agarda a que chegue alí e peche os ollos. Gwen, estás lista?
Pick up just one marker, pick up just one marker, and why don't you color in the horse for me? Color in the horse — big, big, big scribbles, broad strokes, don't worry about staying in the lines. All right. Great. And why don't you take that marker and recap it and place it on the table for me. Okay, and pick up another marker out of the cup and take off the cap and color in the donkey for me, color in the donkey. Big scribbles. Okay, cool, and re-cap that marker and place it on the table. And pick up another marker for me and take off the cap. Isn't this fun? And color in the owl for me. Color in the owl. Okay, and recap that marker and pick up another marker out of the cup and color in the rooster for me, color in the rooster. Good, good, good, good, good. Big, big, big strokes. Good, good. Pick up another marker out of the cup and color in the ox for me. Color in the ox. Okay, good. A lot of color on that, and recap, and place it on the table, and pick up another marker out of the cup. Oh, I'm out? Okay, I'm going to turn around. Did I forget? Oh, I forgot my purple marker. This is still going to work, though. I think this is still going to work, mostly.
Colle só un rotulador, e que tal se pintas o cabalo por min? Pinta o cabalo, con garabatos e trazos moi grandes, e non te preocupes polas liñas. Xenial. E colle ese rotulador, tápao e pono enriba da mesa por min. Vale, e colle outro rotulador do bote, ábreo e colorea o burro para min, con garabatos grandes. Está ben, guay, volve tapar o rotulador e pono na mesa. Colle outro rotulador por min e quítalle a tapa. Non é divertido? E colorea a curuxa para min. Vale, pecha ese rotulador e colle outro do bote e colorea o galo por min. Así, con trazos moi grandes, moi ben. Colle outro rotulador do bote e colorea por min o boi. Vale, moi ben. Ponlle moita cor, e péchao, pono na mesa e colle outro rotulador do bote. E agora vou dar a volta. Esquecín algo? Ah, esquecín o meu rotulador morado. Aínda así isto vai funcionar, máis ou menos, penso. Agora, Gwen, vouche entregar este sobre.
So Gwen, I'm going to hand you this envelope. Don't open it yet. Do not open it yet, but I am going to write down your choices so that everybody can see the choices that you made. Okay, great. So we have a cobalt horse, amber owl, a silver ox, yes, okay, a red donkey, and what was the emerald color? A rooster. An emerald rooster. Okay.
Non o abras aínda, aínda non, pero vou anotar as túas eleccións para que todo o mundo poida ver as opcións que escolliches. Xenial. Entón, temos un cabalo de cobalto, unha curuxa ámbar, un boi prateado, si, vale, un burro vermello, e cal era o de cor esmeralda? Un galo. Un galo esmeralda. Está ben.
Now for the moment of truth, Gwen, we're going to take a look in that envelope. Why don't you open it up and remove the one piece of paper from inside and hand it to me, and we will see if it matches your choices. Yes, I think it does. We have a cobalt horse, we have a red donkey, we have an amber owl, we have an emerald rooster, a silver ox, I forgot my purple marker so we have a blank sheep, but that's a pretty amazing coincidence, don't you think? Gwen, well done. That's beautiful. (Applause) I'll take that back from you.
E chegou o momento da verdade, Gwen, imos botarlle unha ollada a ese sobre. Por que non o abres e quitas o único papel do interior e mo entregas, e veremos se coincide coas túas eleccións. Si, creo que coincide. Un cabalo cobalto, un burro vermello, un moucho ámbar, un galo esmeralda, un boi de prata, e ao non ter o morado, hai unha ovella branca, é unha coincidencia moi sorprendente, non cren? Gwen, ben feito. Foi precioso. (Aplausos) Voume quedar con isto.
So ladies and gentlemen, how is this possible? How is this possible? Well, could it be that Gwen's brain is so wired to solve that she decoded hidden messages? Well this is the puzzle I present to you. Could there be order in the chaos that I created? Let's take a closer look. Do you recall when I showed you these puzzle pieces? What image did it ultimately become? A cobalt horse. The plot thickens. And then we played a game of tangrams with an emerald rooster. That one's my favorite. And then we had an experiment with a silver ox. And Katy Perry drinks her morning coffee out of an amber owl. Thank you, Katy, for taking that photo for me. Oh, and there's one more, there's one more. I believe you colored a red donkey, Gwen. Ladies and gentlemen, could you raise your hands for me if you've read "Don Quixote?" Who's read "Don Quixote?" (Laughter) But wait, but wait, wait, wait, wait, there's more. There's more. Gwen, I was so confident that you were going to make these choices that I made another prediction, and I put it in an even more indelible place, and it's right here. Ladies and gentlemen, we have today's New York Times. The date is March 18th, 2014. Many of you in the first couple of rows have it underneath your seats as well. Really dig. We hid them under there. See if you can fish out the newspaper and open up to the arts section and you will find the crossword puzzle, and the crossword puzzle today was written by yours truly. You can see my name above the grid. I'm going to give this to you, Gwen, to take a look. And I will also put it up on the screen. Now let's take a look at another piece of the puzzle. If you look at the first clue for 1-across, it starts with the letter C, for corrupt, and just below that we have an O, for outfielder, and if you keep reading the first letters of the clues down, you get cobalt horse, amber owl, silver ox, red donkey, and emerald rooster. (Applause) That's pretty cool, right? It's The New York Times. But wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait. Oh, Gwen, do you recall how I forgot my purple marker, and you were unable to color the sheep? Well, if you keep reading starting with 25-down, it says, "Oh, by the way, the sheep can be left blank." (Laughter) (Applause) But wait, wait, wait, there's one more thing, there's one more thing, there's one final piece of the puzzle. Gwen, I am so grateful for your choices because if we take a look at the first letters of your combinations, we get "C-H-A-O-S" for chaos and "O-R-D-E-R" for order. That's chaos and order. We've all made order out of chaos.
Entón, señoras e señores, como é posible isto? Pode ser que o cerebro de Gwen estea feito para resolver cousas, e descodifique mensaxes ocultas? Pois ese é o crebacabezas que lles presento. Podería haber orde no caos que creei? Vexámolo máis de preto. Lembran cando lles ensinei as pezas do crebacabezas? En que imaxe se converteu finalmente? Nun cabalo de cobalto. A trama complícase. E despois fixemos un xogo de tangrams cun galo esmeralda. (Son de galo) Ese é o meu favorito. Despois fixemos un experimento cun boi de prata. E Katy Perry bebe o seu café matutino nun moucho ámbar. Grazas, Katy, por facer a foto para min. Ah!, e aínda hai un máis. Creo que pintaches un burro vermello, Gwen. Señoras e señores, poderían levantar a man se leron “Don Quixote?” Quen leu “Don Quixote?” (Risas) Pero agarden, que aínda hai máis. Un pouco máis. Gwen, eu estaba tan seguro de que ías tomar esas opcións que fixen outra predición, e púxena nun sitio aínda máis indeleble, que está aquí mesmo. Señoras e señores, aquí temos o New York Times de hoxe, con data do 18 de marzo de 2014. A maioría dos que están nas primeiras filas tamén o teñen debaixo dos asentos. Puxémolo aí debaixo. Miren se poden pescalo e abrir pola sección de artes e atoparán o encrucillado, que en realidade, hoxe, foi escrito por quen lles fala. O meu nome está enriba da grella. Vouche dar isto, Gwen, para que o mires. E tamén o poñerei na pantalla. E agora ímoslle botar un ollo a outra peza do crebacabezas. Se miran a pista para o 1 horizontal, comeza coa letra C, de corrupto, e xusto debaixo temos unha O, de <i>outfielder </i>[exterior no béisbol], e se seguen lendo as primeiras letras das pistas cara abaixo, obteñen cabalo de cobalto, curuxa ámbar, boi de prata, burro vermello e galo esmeralda. (Aplausos) Está moi ben, non? É The New York Times. Pero agarden. Oh, Gwen, lembras que esquecera o meu rotulador morado e que non puideches colorear a ovella? Pois se segues lendo do 25 cara abaixo, di: “Oh, por certo, a ovella pódese deixar en branco”. (Risas e aplausos) Pero agarden, aínda ahi unha cousa máis. A peza final do crebacabezas. Gwen, estouche moi agradecido polo que escolliches, porque se lles botamos unha ollada ás primeiras letras das túas combinacións, obteremos “C-H-A-O-S” para o caos e “O-R-D-E-R” para a orde. Iso é caos e orde. Entón todos puxemos orde no caos.
So ladies and gentlemen, the next time you find yourself with a puzzle, whether it's in your life or in your work, or maybe it's at the Sunday morning breakfast table with The New York Times, remember, you are all wired to solve.
Así que, señoras e señores, a próxima vez que atopen un crebacabezas, xa sexa na súa vida ou no seu traballo, ou quizais na mesa do almorzo do domingo pola mañá co The New York Times, lembren que están feitos para resolvelos.
Thank you.
Grazas.
(Applause)
(Aplausos)