Companion issue to the all-time classic SYM-Zonia-- BIRTHER. In this POSTER CHILD issue the strange & magical portrait of LADY LIBERTY is delivered of another IDEA -- you could call it a sort of TWIN concept to the Riddle of Rational Phi. But like Esau and Jacob, these two ideas struggle for dominance, and the latter takes hold of the former's heel: though this Second TWIN Idea is born later, it will surpass its brother in strength! And be known throughout he civilized world as a great leader!! Find out how !! And here's a hint; Andrew Wiles' supposed proof of Fermat's Last Theorem suffered from a few of its own birth defects. These are known well-enough. Congenital defects you might call them -- unlike our TWIN IDEAS. In addition, although Fermat had suggested that his (lost) proof would be short enough to approximate "the margins of this book," Wiles' proof was hundreds of pages long -- even after it was "corrected." Wiles' work also depended heavily on developments in the field of mathematics that were unknown during Fermat's lifetime: so how would Wile's efforts correspond to Fermat's actual proof? Remotely. But did the mathematical community complain or challenge or even doubt the result? Now, in SYM-Zonia POSTER CHILD, Michael Goldengate delivers the goods: Riddle's Last Digit Theorem (from 1996) provides a simple, foolproof demonstration of Fermat's Last Theorem, using simple algebra and multiplication, over the course of about three pages of work. Riddle takes Fermat's shortcut, by proving his theorem to be true for only the FINAL DIGITS of any number. And guess what? Every number has a final digit .....gosh. Think of the implications .... Now what, Sir Andrew?

1. SMITH HUBBARD & TICHENOR
GOLDENGATE’S
for October 7, 2012
POSTER CHILD
a2
+b2
≠ c2
…. > 2
IS RIDDLE, JR.’s
“LAST DIGIT THEOREM”
the REAL PROOF of
FERMAT’S LAST THEOREM ?
But First …!!

2. From the desk of FEELING LUCKY ….
Greetings, Players! Yes, YOU ARE THERE! S,Y.M.-Zonia™ is the PLACE!
Welcome! Welcome back!!! From all of us here at operations west, Unit D-37, Payless Self-Storage,
Corner California & Scotts Sts., Pacific Heights, S. F. You know: The PLACE of Tense Yet Pleasant Anxiety!
Next door to the new dispensary @ D-36
IT’S TWINS!!!! (See below …)
Last Week’s RIDDLE, Jr., Jr.,(Sr.), - This Week’s RIDDLE Jr., Jr., (Jr).
BUT LET ME FIRST EXPLAIN …. Feeling Lucky, p. 2
PLAYERS!!!! You may well wonder why I’ve captioned this “Editor’s Desk”
“FEELING LUCKY” – as if to hearken back to the famous FEELING LUCKY issue
of early summer [The reference is to the T. 25. N. R. 2. W., W.M. or T. 25. N. R. 2. W.
M.D.M.,? (June 3, 2012) – Ed.] -- and, indeed, in a certain lame sense, this is the case ..
But, let’s face it, that was surrogate luck, wasn’t it? Casino luck… Fake luck generated
by some Gargle algorithm -- programmed, online luck.
[Funny : that same FEELING LUCKY issue, was the last time I ran Titutlar Leader’s
old poster …. -- Ed.] At any rate …
I‘m talking about real GOOD FORTUNE now: not some silly algorithm spewing out
quasi-knowledge “volumetrically measured” – but REAL LUCK – luck of the kind that
can only come when Providence itself spins GREAT WHEEL OF FORTUNE IN THE
SKY, and the wheel spins ‘round and ‘round and ‘round and the little clicker-thingy
clicks and clicks and clicks, and wheel spins ‘round slower, and finally slows down and
the clickety-thinger -- the clothespin clamping a playing card in your bicycle spokes --
finally … comes to rest …. in the … slot …… that ….. reads …
TITULAR LEADER OUT OF TOWN!!
(Wowee!!!)

3. Yesssss! I mean – NO KIDDING: the word is she has been OUT OF TOWN all week!!!
IN ABSENTIA from Port Orford (Oregon) (Yes!! It’s apparently true …… <Phew> )
And she may be for … yet another week!!! [Dare I say -- Wowee!!!! – Ed.] And so…. and
so, she has not seen and may not have even been told about Last Week’s BIRTHER Issue
[Image on preceding page – Ed.] which will fry her – I just know it. Let’s face it: I might
never live it down. SO-- You see what I mean… about real luck.
WHERE is she? Truly Our Own Titular Leader could be literally ANYWHERE. One rumor I
heard, which seems to deserve some credence, is that she went NORTH on Hwy 101, to … interview a young man
who has applied for the position as S.Y.M.-Zonia™’s WEB-DESIGNER – who lives farther north, from Port Orford,
(Oregon) , and up the Oregon coast. She may have decided she needed to interview him personally – as one of the
finalist candidates: a man whose family heritage is said to lie [Get this, Players !!… -- Ed.] in Idiotville (Oregon), [YES:
Apparently for real! -- Ed.] but who now hails from Tillamook (Oregon). Supposedly she is to discuss plans for
development of our new S.Y.M.-Zonia™ WEBSITE! [Well, Wowee!!- I could soon be REALLY famous!! … -- Ed.]
On the other hand, there was a wind-surfing tournament at Floras Lake, in which Stephanie competed, and which Rupert
Roget, P.L.S. (Ret.) attended. Rupert saw her afterward: evidently she was being SCOUTED by a swim-wear or sports-
wear manufacturer … from up in Portland (Oregon). EITHER WAY, Players – she’s out of town, and so probably did
not see Last Week’s issue, and nor may she not have yet seen This Week’s Issue also..!! Wowee!!. THEREFORE:
RECAP … and UPDATE !!
SO, as you will recall, it was LAST WEEK while I was WINTERIZING the place here in D-37 and tacking up this
Styrofoam® sheeting over the walls, for a little more insulation against the chill of these Golden Gate mornings that I
was obliged to PULL DOWN Dromgoole’s old poster of Titular Leader –- [See the HIDDEN PICTURES III issue:
What’s So Significnt About Peter S. Duval’s Lithograph, etc. (May 27, 2012) -- Ed.] -- but, as I did so, I noticed .. a
distinctive BULGE under Stephanie’s tmmy, and also that there were two or three posters – maybe more!! –layered one
on the other, and they had been glued together so that it merely looked like one: but the glue was flaking out and the
posters were peeling apart !! And so, when I took the poster(s) down I laid it/them on my desk, and fumbled around for
– the Light of L.-L.U.V. …. which soon revealed that the Stephanie poster was pregnant … it was no ordinary poster;
but a BIRTHER, which with me acting as a sort of editorial mid-wife, had beewn delivered of a NEWBORN IDEA!!
Well, as you know, after the crisis of the moment had passed, I was able to collect myself sufficently, to identify the
newborn, and introduced it to the world Last Week, !!! [For further details, see Last Week’s issue on the Riddle of
Rational Phi -- (September 30, 2012) – Ed.] Mother and child are doing well ….
BUT THEN … when I turned to replace the poster on the wall, this time over the
Styrofoam® sheeting, I REALIZED that there was … still something in there!! I
mean .. it was TWINS!!! Yes!!! And let me just say … H____ S____ !!!
There was another little baby CONCEPT in there, that was now FULL
TERM!!! PLAYERS -- due to lack of space, (and in order not to risk further
inebriating Titular Leader) I won’t recount the precise details of this second
Caesaerean surgery I performed, in order to deliver T.O.O.T.L. Ass. Dr. Beckon’s
POSTER of this NEW IDEA … Suffice it to say, it was much like the first [See
Last Week’s issue – Ed.] that for now, she had another POSTER CHILD to raise
alongside the first one, and to bring her comfort and joy in her spinsterhood !!
PLAYERS: I don’t want to say too much about the child’s PATERNITY, you
know !! However, suspicions have coallesced around Herbert S. Riddle, Jr. –
which makes these two brain-children, Riddle, Jr.’s juniors. Indeed, this
week’s latest younger twin, bears a striking resemblance to it’s older sibling, and
has all the earmarks of being another … Riddle, Jr., Jr. Only, to tell them apart,
well call this younger Riddle, Jr., Jr., Riddle, Jr., Jr., Jr., and his older sib, we’ll call Riddle Jr., Jr., Sr..
And just WHO you might ask, is this apparent father, Herbert S. Riddle, Jr., anyway? That’s a conundrum ….
PLAYERS ….

4. YOU ARE NOW ENTERING
Place of tense yet pleasant anxiety
IS RIDDLE, JR.’S “LAST DIGIT THEOREM” the REAL PROOF
of FERMAT’S LAST THEOREM?
“I have discovered a truly remarkable proof which this margin is too small to contain.”
 Pierre Fermat
PLAYERS!! SO -- This Week’s POSTER CHILD issue is just the little brother of Last Week’s SPECIAL
DELIVERY BIRTHER issue – as the material discussed here, was
BIRTHED from the Stephanie poster just shortly after the “Rational
PHI” baby, at which birth I personally attended, JUST LAST WEEK
!!! Got it? Okay – so: let’s get to it:
Organized chronologically -- it appears perhaps the first reference to
Fermat’s Last Theorem in this baby, occurs in a letter addressed to
one “David”… [See the notes below – Ed.] BUT!!! Who is David?
You ask? Well, I’ll tell you: “David” is … presumably an otherwise
anonymous Director at the Globe Press, I think, or maybe an elusive
member of the O.M.I.G.O.d.; and the letter and probably written by
the first editor of the P.Y.M.™ Puzzler, none other than Edmund
Elmendorf IV … on assignment in … Oregon City(?) (Oregon) of
all places. Edmund is probably also the individual mis-named as
“Edward” in some of the communiques [French-derived!!! – Ed.] I
ran last week…. The letter -- the one below, not the one last week --
is dated December 5, 1997 – and a portion of it is extracted below.
HOLD IT, PLAYERS: I’d better back up a bit!!! Hmmm..
Fermat’s Last Theorem has become something of a curiosity to
mathematicians, who are … well, pretty confident now, since they
haven’t been able to find it… and maybe they’ve even grown a little
SMUG … that Fermat himself was “puffing” or just mistaken about
his claim to have found a Proof – which some might call a “So-called
‘Proof’” of his asserted Theorem --
a2
+ b2
≠ c2
….. c >2
PLAYERS: I’d better back up a bit more !!! Mathematics is a discipline exercised by the human mind or intellect,
regarding the values and properties of NUMBERS (q.v.), and was commonly practiced by a wide of variety of human
beings, before the universal adoption of calculators and the general displacement and atrophication of the mathematical
faculty. MATHEMATICS was at one time practised by humans, using a portable hand-held device known as a
PENCIL applied to a personal P-pad using a form of coding known as NOTES AND DOODLES, occasionally
accompanied by DIAGRAMS – and using a form of proto-software -- sometimes called “using your noodle” or
thought. This proto-software had been rendered almost universally available through a distribution system called
GENERAL EDUCATION which included training in this MATHEMATICS – or “math.” OKAY ….
NOW … Where was I? Ah – yes: Fermat’s Last Theorem. Find this online …

5. NOW since about 1993, efforts into deriving a proof of
Fermat’s Last Theorem – given above – have been sort of
“joined at the hip” with efforts to solve a “lesser included”
conjecture propounded by a mathophile Texas banker named
Andrew Beal who put up prize money for anyone who could
provide a proof for his own conjecture:
zm
= xa
+ yb
… . . . . . .
x, y, z, m, a,b positive integers . . . . m, a, b>2
In 1997, the value of Beal’s Prize money for deriving a proof
of his conjecture, had been upped to a rather tidy little $50,000
pot -- PLAYERS: it is at about this point, that Stephanie’s
POSTER CHILD appears to have been first conceived.
YES -- The material born second appears all to be dated from
1997—the year following the Rational Phi offspring. In fact,
most of it dates from ONE MONTH – namely, December,
1997… And a number of references by Riddle, Jr. to “Beals’
and “Beal’s conjecture” refers to Andrew Beal’s prize problem.
PLAYERS!!! There’s more background to this than I really
have room to fit into the margins of the S.Y.M.-Zonia™.
[Yuk yuk !! Get it? – Ed.] Suffice it to say you can Gargle
your way to some interesting material on the issue – including
this handy dossier by Texas mathematician Daniel Mauldin
who is acting as administrator of the Beal Prize
LOOK IT UP or CLICK TO ENLARGE You choose. 
    
Andrew Wiles
PLAYERS: One more thing – in the notes and narrative which follow, Riddle and Elmendorf each make occasional
reference to one “Wiles.” Andrew Wiles’ name, is another which is intertwined with the history of mathematical work
on Fermat’s Last Theorem, especially during the mid-to-late 1990’s. In 1993 Andrew Wiles propounded a “proof” of
Fermat’s Last Theorem, which legend has it, was about 400 pages long. Speaking for himself, Andrew Wiles stated of
his 400 page magnum opus :
"It was so indescribably beautiful; it was so simple and elegant."
Okay. Sure. However, at 400+ pages, and dependant on centuries of theoretical mathematics that Fermat had no
conception of, Wiles’ proof was NOT Fermat’s own “…truly remarkable proof which this margin is too small to
contain.” And, when someone was finally found who had the energy to read through it , Wiles’ proof was also found to
be dead wrong. Or – to speak professionally and precisely, when Wiles’ “simple and elegant” proof was checked, it was
found to contain a “gap” - corresponding to the well-known mathematical gap-filler [AND THEN …. A MIRACLE
OCCURS!!!] Andrew – next time, have someone look it over FIRST.
As it turned out, the “gap-filler” was of about --oh, let’s say …. 100 pages long ….
So, in classic “back-to-the-drawing-board” fashion – not a bad thing in itself -- Wiles thereafter “filled the gap” with a
document of about another 100 pages – for a total output of some 500+ pages of the “simple and elegant.” After getting
his proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem famously wrong, and then for being so off the mark as to take 400 pages to get it
wrong, and requiring another 2-3 years and 100 pp. go “fill the gap” Andrew Wiles, being a fortunate Brit, won the $1M
prize and was further be-knighted … wait: I mean knighted ….by one inclined to fudge the numbers: her Royal
Whizzness, QEII – whose name is, after all, synonymous with Quantitative Easing …

6. OKAY, PLAYERS: You can delve into more
of this online. For purposes of this week’s issue,
that brings us up to date!!!! By which I mean,
that brings us to a point ca. 1997, which is
apparently MIDWAY between Riddle’s work on
Rational Phi [Once again – see Last Week’s
issue, So What Is Phi, After All: a Rational or an
Irrational Number?-- And Who’s Counting?
(Sept. 30, 2012) – Ed.] and the present matter …
First, there’s this stack of Riddle’s notes on legal
paper, which date largely to almost anywhere in
1997, and lie intermediate between that aforesaid
work on rational Phi, and the up-coming
breakthrough on Fermat’s Last Theorem.
Maybe…. 100’s of pages. As the editorial
department has determined that these notes are of
no interest to posterity, but may be useful to
poterity, they have been handed over to our new
neighbors running the licensed Medical
Marijuana Dispensary next door in D-36, where
they will be used to roll doobies. 
Nobody reads that sort of stuff anyway.
HOWEVER … some other material gets a little
closer to the bone: the bone of contention that is.
The first is a paragraph in a letter from Elmendorf
to “David”, dated December 5, 1997, where we
first learn from Elmedorf that Riddle is
undertaking to scale this mathematical “Mt.
Everest”: the secret
he thinks, lies in the
volume of … lead
bullets !??!
WOWEE!!
PLAYERS: it seems
that the implication is
that this major- league
original mathematical
discovery [If such,
indeed, it is! – Ed.] is
deriviative of some
real-world hands-on
very much physical
experimention!
Hmmm.
Then there
is a note
from a few
days later,
exponents
….

7. And so it goes, Players, with this new POSTER CHILD !!! Seemingly rambling, almost random notes, until ….
SUDDENLY, Players, on or about December 16, 1997,
there is an extended epistemological entry [That
means, it’s in a letter – Ed.] by Elmendorf, saying that
“Sandy faxed in last night that he had ‘just found the path
Fermat went down’”… Along with this letter, appears a
corroborating FAX!!!  … of the very same date!
Players -- I apologize for the excessive profanity. The
creative process can be a passionate one – so I hear!!!

8. Finally, PLAYERS!!! On the next page, and writing just a little later in the evening, Elmendorf offers a short
primer – based upon his sadly limited comprehension – of Riddle’s solution to Fermat’s Last Theorem, which Riddle has
framed in terms of “L.D.’s” – which stands for Last Digits; and which he captioned his Last Digit Theorem: which cuts
thorugh, well, maybe as much as 500 pages of circumlocutions, to get right to the kernel of things: namely that to prove
the particular dis-equity, as that propounded by Fermat’s Last Theorem, one does not need to establish that EVERY
entire numeral value is different from other EVERY OTHER enire numerical value – but only that, for whatever
numbers are entered into the Theorem (and, so squared) the LAST DIGITS of those numbers will be dis-equal. Voila!!
And so, PLAYERS, there you have it, I guess!!! IS that the real answer?? BUT … what do YOU think….?
… IS RIDDLE, JR.’S “LAST DIGIT THEOREM” the REAL PROOF
of FERMAT’S LAST THEOREM ???
Let’s look …. !!!

9. PLAYERS!!. Here’s a few more pages of Riddle’s notes: the date is the same date given in Elmendorf’s narrative:
it is Decmeber 16, 1997! It’s handwritten [Added, in another hand: probably Elmendorf’s – Ed.] and appears also in
the fax header/footer. What did that fax say [See p. 7!—Ed.]? Riddle thought he solved Fermat’s conjecture in …
1. LAST DIGIT THEOREM © 1997 Herbert S. Riddle Jr.

10. 2. LAST DIGIT THEOREM © 1997 Herbert S. Riddle, Jr.

11. 3. LAST DIGIT THEOREM © 1997 Herbert S. Riddle, Jr.

12. … how many pages?
Players -- I don’t know about you, but I counted three pages – which is the page count declared on the Fax, of the
same date. And then, my astute eye detects an annotation near the bottom left-hand corner, which is written out in
language – unfortunately laced with profanity: sorry about that – that seems to be almost preliminary to the Fax itself, to
wit:
H--- S--- --
This solves
Fermat’s
conjecture
by limiting his
possible solutions of Zc
[to the finite] Qty [?] possible ..[..?]
So … there could be a connection. And, Riddle himself clearly seemed to think that his LAST DIGIT THEOREM was
ALSO the proof to Fermat’s Last Theorem, or Conjecture. But he was unable to state precisely how ….
INDEED, Players -- the last line or two of Riddle’s epochal haiku was cut off by the fax header – as so often happened!!
Remember? And with the customary mystifying results. So, in the end, there appears to be an INCOMPLETE
RECORD as to just how Riddle would have connected his LDT to FLT.
FURTHERMORE, numerous other inconsistancies plague this story, and compromise its substance. For instance:
- Does Riddle’s fax, in which he declares he has solved Fermat’s Conjecture in three pages, refer to the three page
fax comprised of Riddle’s notes, outling his Last Digit Theorem?
- What were the last two lines of Riddle’s haiku ?
- Why, if he wanted to be taken seriously, did Riddle use so much profanity, so profusely?
- Elmendorf’s letter [See p. 7, above – Ed. [But, p. 2 of Elmendorf’s letter!! – Ed.]] states that “Sandy” faxed in
“last night” that he had found the path that Fermat went down. But both the letter and the “H--- S---” fax, are
dated December 16, 1997. Can this discrepancy be overcome? It looks pretty dicey at this point …
Likewise, Elmendorf declares in his narrative, that “Sandy” “just had the insight on the proof here at his kitchen table, at
5:49 p.m.” [That’s at p. 8 above, but p. 4 of Elmendorf’s letter, above – Ed.] – But the “H---S---” fax is date-stamped
5:37 p.m. the same day – that is, over 12 minutes before Elmendorf’s version. Furthermore, the remaining three pages of
the Last Digit Theorem are date-stamped between 5:36 and 5:38 p.m. – that is ON EITHER SIDE of the “H--- S---”
fax. This is almost certain evidence of document tampering, is it not?
Furthermore, who is Riddle anyway? A reincarnation of Zerah Colburn? Who is “Sandy”?
And what about Beal’s Conjecture? Uh-oh. Sorry. Way too late…..
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