you're laying out an inside page in a 5-column format. the ads stack up pretty high; your available space for news is 6 inches deep and the full page (5 columns) across. you need to dummy two stories: one 15 inches long, the other 10 inches. neither has art. you can trim one inch out of either story, if necessary - but no more. how many design options do you have?

To calculate the number of design options, we need to consider the available space and the length of the stories. Here's how you can determine the number of design options:

1. Determine the length of each story after trimming, if necessary:
- The first story is 15 inches long and can be trimmed by 1 inch if needed.
- The second story is 10 inches long and cannot be trimmed further.

2. Calculate the remaining space for news after accounting for the ads:
- The available space for news is 6 inches deep.
- Subtract the total height of the ads from the available space.
- Since the ads are stacked up pretty high, we don't yet know their exact height. Let's assume the total height of the ads is A inches.

Remaining space for news = 6 inches - A inches

3. Determine the possible configurations for placing the stories:
- Since the available space for news is continuous and of a fixed width (5 columns), we can divide the remaining space for news into 2 sections for the stories.
- Let the length of the first section be X inches, and the length of the second section be Y inches.

X + Y = Remaining space for news

4. Combine the options from steps 1 and 3:
- For the first story, there are two options: 15 inches (original) and 14 inches (if trimmed by 1 inch).
- For the second story, there is only one option: 10 inches (original).

So, the number of design options can be calculated by multiplying the options for each story together:

Number of design options = Options for Story 1 * Options for Story 2 * Options for Story Configuration

Let's calculate the options:

Options for Story 1 = 2 (15 inches, 14 inches)
Options for Story 2 = 1 (10 inches)

Since we don't know the exact height of the ads, we cannot determine the options for story configuration. However, once you have the actual height of the ads, you can use the remaining space for news value calculated in step 2 to calculate the options for story configuration.