22
= 2 × 11
= 1 + 4 + 7 + 10
= 4 + 5 + 6 + 7
The distance between the wickets on a cricket pitch is 22 yards or one chain. There are many old imperial units of distance like the chain that are only rarely used today.
Snooker is played with 22 balls: a white cue ball, a yellow, a brown, a green, a blue, a pink, a black and fifteen reds.
There are 22 players on the field in a football match.
There are 22 different ways of linking five hexagons together (pentahexes).
Superextraordinarisimo with 22 letters is the longest word in the Spanish language. It means 'extraordinary'.
Bingo calls for 22 include 'Dinkie Doos' and 'Two little ducks'.
Catch-22 is a book by Joseph Heller (b. 1923) which has also been made into a film. It describes the exploits of a group of American airmen based on a Mediterranean island during the Second World War.
The title of the book has become part of the English language. A 'Catch 22' is an impossible situation brought about by two conflicting regulations or conditions. In the book, military regulations say that pilot Orr should be excused from flying further missions because he is insane. But there is a catch -
Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to.
