MATH PUZZLES

To solve the puzzles you should have fairly good ability and knowledge of basic logic, highschool algebra, and the simplest ideas of elementary number theory (e,g, primes, squares, divisibilty, etc.). Most of the problems require the compilation and sorting of large lists of numbers and the use of a good spreadsheet program is necessary. The type and difficulty of the problems varies, some are quite long and difficult.

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Robert A. Kraus bobkrauschicago@cs.com

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MATH PUZZLES: DIGITAL PROBLEMS: Balanced Numbers Number Cycles Pandigital Puzzler NUMBER SET PROBLEMS: The Tale of the Missing Lists A Simple Set Digitally Deluxe Number Set 23-Number Set DIGITAL POLYOMINO PROBLEMS: Tetromino Digits (6) Pentomino Digits CROSS-NUMBER PROBLEMS: Cross-Number Confusion Cross-Number Confusion # 2 Prime Cuts April Fool Puzzle April Fool Puzzle --- 2005 MISCELLANEOUS PROBLEMS: Factorial Equations

MATH and LOGIC

PUZZLES and GAMES
WARNING!!!
The puzzles on this site are very difficult, and most require the use of a good spreadsheet program in order to solve them. It will take many hours, perhaps days, to solve each puzzle. They are intended for people with a degree in math, or those capable of attaining one. For easier puzzles see the links. All puzzles on this site are my original work. Copyright (C) 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 by Robert A. Kraus.

Links to Other Good Sites: Ed Pegg Jr.'s MathPuzzle Site

This is a fantastic site for all kinds of math puzzles and games. One of its best features is the enormous number of links!

CONTENTS
Click on one of the topics below.

LOGIC PUZZLES MATH PUZZLES GAMES Comments or Suggestions?

Name: Email:

John Gowland's Math Puzzle Site

This is a good site that has a great many of a tricky type of CrossNumber Puzzle as well as many other math puzzles and recreations.

Robert A. Kraus bobkrauschicago@cs.com

Zillions of Games
This site promotes an excellent strategy game-playing program for chess, reversi, and morris-type games. Hundreds of games and variants are available. You can program your own games and play them against the computer. Free Demo of 50 games, including Neutron, a game I designed.

Personal Note: My name is Bob Kraus. I have lived in Chicago all my life and have a degree in Math from IIT. Math and Logic Puzzles and Games have been my hobby for over 50 years. The purpose of this site is to share some of the puzzles and games I have designed.

DIGITAL PROBLEMS
Designed by Robert A. Kraus Back to MATH PUZZLES

Balanced Numbers
A balanced number is a positive integer (base 10) whose digital product is equal to its digital sum. Examples: 123, 2141, 31113, 51121. Verify the following facts about balanced numbers: (1) A balanced number cannot have 0 as a digit. (2) All 1-digit numbers are balanced. (3) There is only one 2-digit balanced number (find it!) (4) Any balanced number of 3 or more digits must contain the digit 1 (usually lots of ones!) (5) Any permutaion of the digits of a balanced number is also balanced. In view of (5) let's call a set of all balanced numbers which are digital permutaions of one-another a clan, and the largest member of the clan is its leader. (Digital permutation is clearly an equivalence relation and the clans are its equivalence classes.) Note that the digits of a clan leader are in monotone decreasing order, i.e., each digit is less than or equal to the previous one. Examples: {123,132,213,231,312,321} is a clan whose leader is 321; {1124,1142,1214,1241,1412,1421,2114,2141,2411,4112,4121,4211} is a clan whose leader is 4211. Also let's call any digit greater than one a big digit. The leading string of big digits of a clan leader is called its head, and the trailing string of ones (if any) is called its tail. (6) Any number consisting of only big digits in monotone decreasing order forms the head of exactly one clan leader. (7) What do the following two sequences related to clan leaders represent? (Hint: Do n-digit balanced numbers exist for every n?) (A) 9,1,1,1,3,1,2,2,2,1,2,1,3,1,1,1,3,1,2,1,2,1,2,... (B) 24,34,35,44,48,66,67,75,76,78,80,82,91,92,97,103,104,105,106,112,... View Solution

Number Cycles
PART 1: Find a cycle of five 4-digit numbers such that the last 2 digits of each number are equal to the first 2 digits of the next number in the cycle. Each of the 5 numbers must be exactly one of the following types (with each of the 5 types being represented exactly once): Square, Cube, Triangular, Prime, Fibonacci. The solution is unique. PART 2: Find a cycle of six 4-digit numbers such that the last 2 digits of each number are equal to the first 2 digits of the next number in the cycle. Each of the 6 numbers must be exactly one of the following types (with each of the 6 types being represented exactly once): Square, Cube, Triangular, Prime, Fibonacci, Power-ofTwo. The solution is unique.

View Solution

Pandigital Puzzler
Find a positive integer (base 10) which has the following four properties: (1) Each of the 10 digits (0 to 9) appears exactly once in the number. (2) For each pair of digits whose sum is 9, the number of other digits positioned strictly between the pair is equal to the smaller digit of the pair. (3) The sum of each pair of digits positioned at the same distance from opposite ends of the number is a prime number. (4) The difference between any 2 adjacent digits is greater than 1. The solution is unique. View Solution

Tale of The Missing Lists

An absent-minded math professor was telling his eccentric colleague about losing some of his paperwork. "I can't find my special number lists," he complained. "What was so special about them?" replied his colleague. "Well," he explained, "I call a list of numbers 'special' if it has the following 7 properties:" (1) All of the numbers on the list are positive integers, base 10. (2) There is more than one number on the list. (3) All of the numbers on the list have the same number of digits. (4) No two of the numbers on the list are equal. (5) The smallest number on the list is equal to the total number of digits of all the numbers on the list. (6) The largest number on the list is equal to the sum of all of the digits of all of the numbers on the list. (7) The number of items on the list is equal to the largest number divided by the smallest number. "There must be thousands of special lists," replied his colleague. "Hmm, I'm not sure about that, but I was only interested in four of them." "What four?" "What for? Well, I divide the sum of the numbers on each list by 100 and the four remainders comprise the four-number combination to my office safe. The safe is locked and I can't remember the combination without them!" "No, I meant which four!" "Well obviously I can't remember the lists, but I do recall their properties. First, all of the numbers on a list that lie strictly between the smallest and largest numbers I will call the middle-numbers. Now all of the middle-numbers on the first list are primes, and all of the middle-numbers on the second list are composite. Furthermore, the two largest middle-numbers on the third list do not appear on the first or second lists. Finally, the largest middle-number on the fourth list does not appear on any of the other three lists, and the smallest middle-number of the fourth list is not equal to the smallest middle-number of any of the other three lists." "Hmm, let me think about that. By the way, what do you have in your safe?" "I can't remember! But I usually lock up important papers that I am currently working on." The next day the eccentric professor approached the absent-minded professor while waving a handful of papers. "I found your lists!" he shouted. "Where in the world did you find them? I've looked everywhere!" "I found them in your safe!"

Questions: (1) What is the combination to the safe? (2) How many possible "special" lists are there? View Solution

A Simple Set
Find a non-empty set of positive integers, base 10, no two equal, such that: (1) For any number N in the set, none of the numbers in the set has N digits. (2) For any number N in the set, the sum of the squares of the digits of N is also in the set. (3) The number of numbers in the set is also in the set. (4) The largest number in the set is equal to the sum of all of the other numbers in the set. Among all such sets find one with the fewest numbers, and among those, find the one with the smallest largest number. View Solution

Digitally-Deluxe
Make a list of positive integers, base 10, no two equal. Count the number of times the digit 0 appears anywhere among the numbers of the list. Do the same for the digits 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9. This yields 10 numbers (counts). The 10 counts must all be greater than zero, with no 2 being equal. Such a list will be called digitally-deluxe. The sum of all of the numbers on the list will be called its total. Part 1 (inclusive list): find a digitally-deluxe list in which each of the 10 counts appear as numbers on the list. Among all such lists find one with the smallest total. Part 2 (exclusive list): find a digitally-deluxe list in which none of the 10 counts appear as numbers on the list. Among all such lists find one with the smallest total. View Solution

Number Set Puzzles

Designed by Robert A. Kraus Back to Math Puzzles Number Set
Find a set of positive integers, base 10, (no two equal), which meets conditions (A), (B), (C), (D), (E) below: (A) All numbers in the set have the same number of digits. (B) The sum of all of the numbers in the set is a power 2. (C) All numbers in the set are either prime, square, or triangular (some may be of more than one type). (D) The sum of all of the numbers in the set is equal to the product of 2 of the numbers in the set. (E) The following 6 numbers are in the set, and no two of them are equal: (1) The number of numbers in set. (2) The number of primes numbers in set. (3) The number of triangular numbers in set. (4) The number of non-triangular numbers in set. (5) The number of numbers in the set whose digital-sum is also in the set. (6) The sum of the first (left-most) digits of all of the numbers in he set. The solution is unique. View Solution Back to Math Puzzles ************************************************************************************

23-Number Set
Find a set of 23 positive integers, base 10, no two equal, such that each satisfies a different one of the 23 statements on the list below. Also, the largest number equals the cube of the smallest number. (1) Digital-sum of the largest number. (2) Digital-product of the largest number. (3) Sum of the squares of the digits of the largest number. (4) Digital-product of the sum of the squares of the digits of the largest number. (5) Sum of the squares of the digits of the digital-product of the largest number. (6) Sum of all of the 2-digit numbers. (7) Sum of all of the 3-digit numbers. (8) Sum of all of the prime numbers. (9) Sum of all of the triangular numbers. (10) Square of the smallest number. (11) Square number equal to the sum of the 3 smallest prime numbers. (12) Prime number. (13) Prime number equal to the sum of several of the composite numbers. (14) Prime number whose digital-sum is equal to the smallest number.

(15) Prime number equal to the square-root of the sum of all of the 2-digit numbers. (16) Triangular number equal to the square-root of the sum of all of the 3-digit numbers. (17) Prime number equal to the square-root of the sum of all of the prime numbers. (18) Odd number equal to the cube-root of the sum of all of the triangular numbers. (19) Triangular number which is the largest palindrome. (20) Square number which is also a palindrome. (21) Triangular number which is the middle member of the only 3 consecutive numbers. (22) Prime number which is the largest member of the only 3 consecutive numbers. (23) Trianglular number. View Solution Back to Math Puzzles

Tetromino Digits
(Original variants based on a puzzle by John Gowland) Each diagram consists of a complete double-set of tetrominoes. For each tetromino fill in each of its 4 squares with a different digit from the corresponding digit set. The letters A,B,C,... are variables which stand for any prime numbers with A < B < C < D < E < F < G < H < J < K < L < M < N < P < Q < R < S < T. Each row of the diagram contains a 4-digit number having the letters in its row as its prime factors. Find the unique solution. Back to Math Puzzles Puzzles #1 and #2 --- Digit Set: {each tetromino contains the 4 digits: 1,2,3,4}

Puzzles #3 and #4 --- Digit Set: {each tetromino contains the 4 digits: 1,3,7,9}

Puzzles #5 and #6 --- Digit Set: {each tetromino contains any 4 consecutive digits}

View Solutions

Pentomino Digits
The diagram consists of a complete set of pentominoes. For each pentomino fill in each of its 5 squares with a different digit from the set {1,3,5,7,9}. The letters A,B,C,... are variables which stand for prime numbers. Different letters stand for different prime numbers but they are NOT in any particular order in this puzzle. Each row of the diagram contains a 3-digit number having the letters in its row as its prime factors. Find the unique solution Back to Math Puzzles

View Solution

View Solution Back to Math Puzzles

CROSS-NUMBER CONFUSION # 2

--- Robert A. Kraus - 2005

This is a standard cross-number puzzle in which all of the index numbers in the diagram have been erased, and the 22 clues have been randomized! Each clue refers to one of the 22 numbers in the diagram having more than one digit, and no two of them are equal. Furthermore, whenever a clue refers to another number or numbers, it means that those numbers are also among the 22 diagram numbers, different from the clue number and from one another. For example, "(8) Product of a triangle and a palindrome." means that the "Product" is the number of clue (8) and the "triangle" and "palindrome" are the numbers of two other clues, and all three of these numbers are different. However the numbers referred to in different clues may or may not be the same, only the clue numbers are sure to be different. Find the unique solution. Note: All numbers are positive integers, base 10, having more than one digit. No number may begin with a 0. The reversal of a number means the number formed by reversing the digits of the number, and for any number ending in 0 the reversal will not be defined or referred to in the puzzle. A number and its reversal are referred to as a reversal pair. A composite number is one which is not a prime. Also: NDD refers to the number of digits in the (completed) diagram. NDD is NOT one of the 22 clue numbers. Back to Math Puzzles (1) Cube root of the third largest number. (2) Cube whose reversal is a prime. (3) The only number having all square digits. (4) Larger member of a reversal pair of triangles. (5) Product of a palindrome and NDD. (6) Number whose digits are all equal. (7) Prime whose reversal is a cube. (8) Product of a triangle and a palindrome. (9) Product of four consecutive composite numbers. (10) Composite reversal of a 4-digit prime. (11) Smaller member of a reversal pair of triangles. (12) Square of a palindrome. (13) Ten less than a prime. (14) Ten more than a prime. (15) The only composite number whose digital sum is 22. (16) The only triangle whose digital sum is 24. (17) The smallest of four primes. (18) The smallest of five triangles. (19) The smallest of three palindromes. (20) The sum of all of the digits in diagram columns 2,3,4,5 (left to right). (21) Triangle which is also the sum of the squares of all of the digits in the diagram. (22) Composite number which is two less than the largest palindrome. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------View Solution Back to Math Puzzles

PRIME CUTS

2002 by Robert A. Kraus

Assemble the 27 pieces to form a standard square cross-number puzzle. All of the squares containing digits must form a single orthogonally connected set. (That is, no isolated squares or groups of squares.) The set of blacked-out squares must exhibit the full eight-fold symmetry of the square. Every orthogonal string of 2 or more digits must form a prime integer, no 2 of which are equal. The solution is unique and no computer is necessary, assuming you have a table of primes.

View Solution

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View Solution Back to Math Puzzles

APRIL FOOL PUZZLE --- by Robert A. Kraus - 2005

Archeologists recently made an amazing find in a new dig site not far from Rome. It was an approximately two thousand year old stone tablet on which was engraved what could only be described as a primitive cross-number diagram. It had only four numbers, two horizontal (reading left to right) and two vertical (reading top to bottom), as shown here in the blank diagram with the numbers removed. All four of the numbers were different and all were less than four thousand. The bottom horizontal one was the smallest. After consulting with mathematicians they discovered that all four of the numbers were squares, but only the smallest number was a fourth power. Also the sum of the four numbers was a prime. Using only the information given here can you find the unique original diagram? View Solution Back to Math Puzzles

MISCELLANEOUS PROBLEMS
Designed by Robert A. Kraus Back to MATH PUZZLES

Factorial Equations
Part 1: Find positive integers a, b, c such that a! * b! = c! To avoid trivial and symmetric cases assume 1 < a <= b < c-1 (note: if b=c-1 then divide by b! so a!=c which works for any a) There is only one solution for c <= 170; I don't know if there any larger ones. Part 2: Find positive integers a, b, c, d such that a! * b! = c! * d! To avoid trivial and symmetric cases assume c+1 < a <= b < d-1 (note: if b=d-1 then divide by (b!*c!) so a!/c!=d which works for any a,c with c<a) (note: if c+1=a then divide by (b!*c!) so a=d!/b! which is impossible since d>b and d>a) Also note that if c=1 then this reduces to Part 1. There are only 4 solutions for d <= 170; I don't know if there any larger ones. View Solution

LOGIC PUZZLES
To solve the puzzles you should have fairly good ability and knowledge of basic logic, highschool algebra, and the simplest ideas of elementary number theory (e,g, primes, squares, divisibilty, etc.). Most of the problems require the compilation and sorting of large lists of numbers and the use of a good spreadsheet program is necessary. The type and difficulty of the problems varies, some are quite long and difficult.

Comments or Suggestions?
Name: Email:

Robert A. Kraus bobkrauschicago@cs.com

Back to my HOME PAGE

NUMERICAL LOGIC PUZZLES: TRUE-FALSE PUZZLES: The Council of Numeria The Island of Brights and Braves The Trial of the Gods Digital Dilemma Digital Logic Cycle of Lies Numerian Number War Numeria Revisited Differential Liars Balls and Jars META-PUZZLES: Inheiritance Envelopes Math Class Long Division INDEXED PUZZLES Indexed Number Puzzles (5) Indexed Points Puzzle MISCELLANEOUS PUZZLES: Logic Test

GAMES
All of the games on this site are original games designed and programmed by Robert A. Kraus

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COMPUTER GAMES Sliding Block Puzzles

My Zillions-of-Games Page

Text-Adventure Games Stellar Agent

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WandMaster New XP Version Two-Player Strategy Games RunAround

Robert A. Kraus bobkrauschicago@cs.com

GAME PROGRAM TROUBLESHOOTING

Balanced Numbers --- Solution:

For any number n let p(n)=the digital product of n, let s(n)=the digital sum of n, and let d(n)=the number of digits in n. (1) Any positive integer has a non-zero digit so its digital sum is greater than zero; but any number with a zero-digit has a digital product of zero, so it cannot be balanced. (2) Both the digital sum and digital product are equal to the number. (3) Clearly 11 is not balanced. If the 2-digit number n has one digit 1 and one digit k > 1 then its s(n)=k+1 but p(n)=k*1=k, so it can't be balanced. The number 22 is balanced! If both digits =k with k > 2 then s(n) =2*k and p(n)=k*k and these are not equal since k > 2. If the 2 digits are j and k with j > k >= 2 then s(n)=j +k < j+j = j*2 <= j*k=p(n) so n is not balanced. (4) Let n be a number with all digits >1 and d(n) >= 3. for a given d(n) the smallest such number consists of d(n) digits of 2. For this n we have s(n)=2*d(n) < 2^d(n)=p(n) for any d(n) >= 3. Now any number with digits >2 can be reached from a number with all 2s by increasing some digit by 1 and repeating as often as necessary. Each such increase increases s(n) by 1 but increases p(n) by the product of all of the other digits which is much greater than 1. So the difference between s(n) and p(n) becomes even larger. So n cannot be balanced; thus any balanced n with d(n)>=3 must have at least one digit =1. (5) This is trivial since sum and product operations are both associative and commutative. (6) All 1-digit big numbers are already balanced by (2), as is 22. If b is any other number with all big digits in monotone decreasing order then p(b) > s(b) by (3) and (4). Now the only way to make a balanced clan leader is to add a tail of ones. Since each one adds 1 to the sum while leaving the product unchanged, the number of ones is just the difference, p(b)-s(b). (7) For index n=1,2,3,... the sequence (A) is the number of different clan leaders having exactly n digits. The sequence (B) consists of those index numbers n for which there are NO clan leaders (and hence no balanced numbers) having n digits, i.e., those indexes for which sequence (A) is zero. Method of finding sequence values follows: For any clan leader x let h(x)=the head of x and let t(x)=the tail of x. Then the following equations hold: (a) d(x)=d(h(x))+d(t(x)) (b) s(x)=s(h(x))+s(t(x)) (c) p(x)=p(h(x))*p(t(x)) (d) s(t(x))=d(t(x)) (since t(x) is all ones) (e) p(t(x))=1 (since t(x) is all ones) (f) p(x)=p(h(x)) (by (e) and (c)) (g) s(x)=s(h(x))+d(t(x)) (by (d) and (b)) (h) p(x)=s(x) (since x is balanced!) (i) p(h(x))=s(h(x))+d(t(x)) (by (f),(g), and (h)) (j) d(t(x))=p(h(x))-s(h(x)) (by (i)) (k) d(x)=d(h(x))+p(h(x))-s(h(x)) (by (a) and (j)) Now (k) states that the number of digits in x equals the number of big digits in x plus the difference between the product and sum of the big digits. So using a spreadsheet list all monotone decreasing strings of big digits and calculate the product and sum of these strings, and also list the number of digits in each string. Then calculate the number of digits of x by using equation (k). Do this up to some limit size z of the number of big digits, and sort by number of digits (all digits, not big digits), and sub-sort by product. To make sure that some number not on the list does not have the same number of digits as one on the list, delete all items with product > 2^z and check the last several remaining items to find a point where no items having smaller values for number of digits or products occur after that point and delete items from that point on. Now you can simply count the number of leaders for each number of digits.

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Number Cycles --- Solution: Solutions: PART 1: (8117, 1728, 2850, 5041, 4181) (P, C, T, S, F) PART 2: (6133, 3364, 6441, 4181, 8192, 9261) (P, S, T, F, W, C) (W = power of two)

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Pandigital Puzzler

Solution: 5831746290

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Tale of the Missing Lists --- Solution Answers: (1) the safe combination is: 3,30,57,39. (2) there are 557 possible special lists. Complete Solution to (1): For any special list, let S = the smallest number, L = the largest number, N = the number of items on the list, and D = the number of digits in each number on the list (all equal by (3)). Also, for any number X, let d(X) = the number of digits in X. Then by (5) S = N*D, and by (7) L = N*S, so L = N*N*D. Now by (6) the most L can be is when all digits are 9, so L < 9*D*N (not = by (2) and (4)). So N*N*D < 9*D*N, so N < 9. Also by (2) and (4), S < L, so N*D < N*N*D, so 1 < N. So 1 < N < 9. Therefore D < N*D < 9*D. So S < 9*D. This means d(S) <= d(9*D). But d(S) = D, so D <= d (9*D). This is true for D=1 and D=2, but false for D=3 or more (prove by induction). Now if D=1 then, since N > 1, L is the sum of 2 or more 1-digit numbers, including L, which has to be greater than L (contradiction). So D is not 1. This only leaves D = 2. So S = 2*N and L = 2*N*N, with 1 < N < 9. But by (3), S and L both have 2 digits. This means N > 4 (since S = 2*N has 2 digits) and N < 8 (since L = 2*N*N has 2 digits). So N is 5, 6, or 7. If N=5, S=10, L=50, and the list has 3 middle numbers. The list with the largest digital sum would be {10,39,48,49,50}, with a digital sum of 43, but L = 50, which contradicts (6), so N is not 5. If N=6, S=12, L=72, and the list has 4 middle numbers. The list with the largest digital sum would be {12,59,67,68,69,72} which has a digital sum of 68, but L = 72, which contradicts (6), so N is not 6. This means N can only be 7. So S=14, L=98, and the list has 5 middle numbers. (There are many such lists.) Since the digital sum of the list must be L which is 98, and the digital sum of S and L adds to 22, the digital sum of the 5 middle digits must be 98-22=76. Now the middle numbers range downward from 97 to 15. Calculate the digital sum of each and sort downward by digital sum, getting the following range (with digital sum in parentheses): 89(17),97(16),88(16),79(16),96(15),87(15),78(15),69(15),95(14),86(14),77(14),68(14),59(14),94(13),etc. Note that the largest digital sum is 17, and there is one 17, three 16s, four 15s, etc. Now there are only 10 combinations of digital sums which add to 76: (1) 17,16,16,16,11 (2) 17,16,16,15,12 (3) 17,16,16,14,13 (4) 17,16,15,15,13 (5) 17,16,15,14,14 (6) 17,15,15,15,14 (7) 16,16,16,15,13 (8) 16,16,16,14,14 (9) 16,16,15,15,14 (10) 16,15,15,15,15 Note that the smallest possible digital sum is 11. Now list the possible middle numbers in decreasing order (with digital sum in parentheses): 97(16),96(15),95(14),94(13),93(12),92(11),89(17),88(16),87(15),86(14),85(13),84(12),83(11), 79(16),78(15),77(14),76(13),75(12),74(11),69(15),68(14),67(13),66(12),65(11),59(14),58(13), 57(12),56(11),49(13),48(12),47(11),39(12),38(11),29(11) Note that there are only 8 primes on this list: 97(16),89(17),83(11),79(16),67(13),59(14),47(11),29(11) Furthermore, note that among the digital sums of the remaining composite numbers there is no 17, only one 16, and all four 15s. Now on the professor's first list all middle numbers are primes. There is only one combo that fits, combo (3), and there is only one possible list: {14,59,67,79,89,97,98} On the second list all middle numbers are composite, and amazingly there is only one combo that fits, combo (10), and only one possible list: {14,69,78,87,88,96,98} Now note that the first two lists contain all of the numbers with digital sums of 15,16,and 17.

On the third list the two largest middle numbers do not appear on the first two lists, and so (by checking the combos) must have digital sums of 14,13 or 14,14. By checking the pattern of 15s, 16s, and 17 on the main list we discover that the 2 largest numbers must be 95(14) and 94(13), which fits only combo (3), and there is only one possible list: {14,79,88,89,94,95,98} Finally, on the fourth list the largest middle number does not appear on the first 3 lists, and again the patterns show it can only be 93(12), fitting only combo (2). Checking the patterns on the main list, while remebering that 93 must be the largest, yields only one value each for the 16s and 17, and these must be 89(17),88(16),79(16), with 3 possible values for the 15: 87,78,69. If the value of the 15 is 69, it is the smallest middle number on both the fourth and second lists, which is not allowed. If the 15 is 87, then 79 is the smallest middle number on both the fourth list and the third list, which is not allowed. So this leaves only 78 for the 15 value, and thus the list must be {14,78,79,88,89,93,98} So the sums of the numbers on the 4 lists are: 503,530,557,539, which makes the safe combination 3,30,57,39.

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A Simple Set --- Solution

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Answer: The smallest solution has 15 numbers, with the smallest possible largest number being 627: {4, 15, 16, 20, 24, 26, 37, 38, 40, 42, 58, 73, 89, 145, 627}
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Solution: Notation: for any positive integer n, let Q(n) = the sum of the squares of the digits of n. The solution revolves around the fact (2) that for an n in the set, Q(n) is also in the set, and so is Q(Q(n)) and Q(Q(Q(n))), etc. So since the set is finite by (3) any series of Q's must eventually come to an end by cycling. We will show this is true of any n. First note that for any positive integer d >=4, we have 100*d < 10^(d-1). (This is easily proved by induction.) Now let n be any positive integer having d digits, with d>=4. Then Q(n) is at a maximum when all of the digits of n are 9. So Q(n) <= 81*d, and so Q(n) < 100*d < 10^(d-1). But 10^(d-1) is the smallest integer having d digits, so Q(n) has fewer than d digits, i.e., Q (n) has fewer digits than n has, and so for any number with 4 or more digits, the Q series will eventually reach 3 digits or less. Now for any 3-digit number n, Q(n) <= Q(999) = 81*3 = 243. So for any n with 3 digits or more the series of Q's will eventually reach a number <= 243. [Note that 2-digit numbers can get bigger. e.g., Q(88) = 64 * 2 = 128, a 3-digit number.] So generate the Q series for all numbers < = 243, (use a spreadsheet program!). You will find that for all of these numbers (and hence for all positive integers) the Q series will either reach 1 or 4. Call them numbers of type-1 and type-4 respectively. Note that Q(1) = 1, so this is a 1-cycle, {1}, but the Q series for 4 is an 8-cycle: {4, 16, 37, 58, 89, 145, 42, 20}. Now if 1 is in the set, then by (1) no number in the set can have 1-digit. But 1 has 1 digit, a contradiction. So the set cannot contain 1 or any number of type-1. So it can only contain type-4 numbers, and since it is not empty, it must contain all 8 of the numbers in the 8-cycle: {4, 16, 37, 58, 89, 145, 42, 20}. Note that this contains both 2-digit and 3-digit numbers, so by (1) the set cannot contain 2 or 3. Also, since it contains 4, it cannot contain any 4-digit numbers. (It could contain numbers of 5 digits or more, but we can ignore them since we will easily obtain solutions with all numbers having 3-digits or fewer, and we are looking for minimal sets.) We are looking for a set with the fewest numbers. By (3) the number of numbers must be one of the numbers in the set. Since the set must contain the 8-cycle {4, 16, 37, 58, 89, 145, 42, 20} and 8 is not in the cycle, it must contain more than 8 numbers. Now note that by (4) the largest number in the set must be half the sum. If the set has 9 numbers, 9 must be in the set, but the 8-cycle sums to 411, and with 9 sums to 420, which contradicts (4), since the largest number is 145 and half the sum is 210. It can't have 10 members since 10 is not a type-4 number. It can't have 11 members since Q(11) = 2 which is not in the set. If it has 12 numbers, it must contain the Q series for 12 which is 12, 5, 25, 29, 85, then 89 which is in the 8-cycle. But this set contains 13 numbers, not 12. Next, 13 is not a type-4 number. If it has 14 numbers, it must contain the Q series for 14 which is 14, 17, 50, 25, 29, 85, then 89 which is in the 8-cycle. This set contain exactly 14 numbers, but their sum is 220+411=631, half of which is not the largest, 145. Next comes 15. This means it must contain 15, 26, 40, then 16 which is in the 8-cycle. These sum to 81+411=492. But so far there are only 11 numbers, so there must be 4 more, one of which must be the largest, since the sum will be greater than 492 which is more than twice 145. So we must find 4 more type-4 numbers whose sum plus 492 equals twice the largest, and each of whose Q series consists only of numbers in the set, i.e., the 11 known number or the 4 unknown ones. Again, we must use a spreadsheet, and must theoretically consider all 3-digit numbers, (not just 243 or less). However, since we are looking for a minimal solution we can limit 3 of the 4 numbers to 243 or less, the largest being the sum of these 3 plus 492, and if we find a solution we can check to see if we could have missed a smaller one. So check all combos of 3 different type-4 numbers, all greater than 4, none of which equals any of the 11 known numbers, whose sum plus 492, which will be the largest, has 3 digits or fewer, (recall it can't have 4), and such that the Q of each of these 4 numbers (including the largest) is equal to one of the 11 known numbers or one of these 4. The smallest largest of all these combos is 627, the other 3 numbers being 24, 38, 73, and this yields a valid solution. Since the sum of 24, 38, 73 is 135, no combo with a number greater than 243 could yield a smaller total, so we did not miss any smaller solution. The smallest solution is {4, 15, 16, 20, 24, 26, 37, 38, 40, 42, 58, 73, 89, 145, 627}, having 15 numbers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Digitally-Deluxe
My best solutions:

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Solution:

Part 1: (Inclusive) Total 639. Digit counts (0 to 9) being 5 10 9 8 7 6 4 3 2 1 respectively. List includes each of the 10 digit counts: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 20 21 23 24 25 26 27 30 34 35 36 40 43 45 50 Part 2: (Exclusive) Total 766. Digit totals (0 to 9) being 5 11 9 8 7 6 4 3 2 1 respectively. List does NOT include any of the 10 digit counts: 10 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 23 24 25 26 27 28 30 31 34 35 36 37 40 45 46 50 54 Back to Puzzle

Solution to Number Set

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By (A) let d be the number of digits in each number. Then the smallest possible number is 10^(d-1). Now, by (5), there must be a number whose digital sum x has d digits, so 10^(d-1) <= x. But the digital sum of a d-digit number is at most 9*d, so x <= 9*d. Thus 10^(d-1) <= 9*d. And since 9*d < 10*d, 10^(d-1) < 10*d, so 10^(d-2) < d. It is easily seen that this is only true if d<3, so either d=1 or d=2. Now, if d=1 then each number = the sum of its digits (one digit!) so (5) and (1) yield the same number, which contradicts (E). So d=2, and the numbers are all in the range from 10 to 99. Now by (E) and (3), the number of triangular numbers in the set must be 10 or more, but there are only 10 triangular numbers with 2 digits: 10,15,21,28,36,45,55,66,78,91, and so all of these are in the set, and the number referred to in (3) is 10. Also note the sum of these is 445. Now by (C) the rest of the numbers are primes or squares. There are 21 primes with 2 digits: 11,13,17,19,23,29,31,37,41,43,47,53,59,61,67,71,73,79,83,89,97, and 6 squares: 16,25,36,49,64,81. Note that 36 is both square and triangular and so is already in the set. This means there are at most 36 numbers in the set (10 triangles, 21 primes, and 5 squares other than 36). Lets call these 36 numbers the allowable numbers. The sum of all the allowable numbers is 1723. Also, by (E) and (4) there are at least 11 non-triangles, and the sum of the 11 smallest ones is 262. Together with the 10 triagles the sum is 262 + 445 = 707. Thus the sum of all the numbers in the set ranges from 707 to 1723. Now the only power of 2 in this range is 1024, so by (B) this is the sum of the numbers in the set. Now by (D) 1024 is the product of 2 numbers in the set. The only 2-digit numbers that divide 1024 are 16, 32, and 64. Now 32 is not an allowable number, but 16 and 64 both are, and 16*64=1024, so both 16 and 64 are in the set. Now the sum of the 10 triangles plus 16 and 64 is 525, and this plus the sum of the 15 smallest remaining allowable numbers is 1022, for 27 numbers, while adding the next smallest allowable number gives 1083. Since 1024 lies between these, there can be at most 27 numbers in the set. But 27 is not allowable, nor is 26. But 25 is, so the most numbers the set can have by (E) and (1) is 25. Also, by (E) and (2), there must be at least 11 primes, so together with the 10 triangles and 16 and 64, there are at least 23 numbers in the set. Since 24 is not allowable, the set can only have 23 or 25 numbers. Now by (C) and (E) there are 2 possibilities: Case I: 23 Numbers, 10 Triangles, 13 Non-triangles, 11 Primes, 2 (Non-tri) Squares. Case II: 25 Numbers, 10 Triangles, 15 Non-triangles, 11 Primes, 4 (Non-tri) Squares. In Case I: the primes must include 11, 13, 23, and the squares 16, 64. In Case II: the primes must include 11, and the squares 16, 64, and 25. Also, in Case II, there cannot be 13 primes because this would only leave 2 (non-tri) squares, but 16, 64, and 25 must be in the set. So the remaining numbers in Case I must be 8 primes. And the remaining numbers in Case II must be 10 primes and one (non-tri) square. Now lets call a number in the set whose digital sum is also in the set a royal number. The digital sum of a 2-digit number is at most 9+9=18. So only numbers with digital-sums ranging from 10 to 18 can be royal, and they must be allowable: 10,11,13,15,16,17. There are 4 royal triangles (28,55,78,91), 2 royal (non-tri) squares (49,64), 10 royal primes (19,29,37,47,67,73,79,83,89,97), for a total of 16 possible royals. Now by (E) and (5), the number of royals in the set must be a number not yet used. In Case I: 15, 16; and in Case II: 13,16.

Now in Case I, the 4 royal triangles and one royal square (64) are already in the set. And since the only remaining unchosen numbers are 8 primes, there can be at most 13 royals. But this contradicts the above condition that only 15 or 16 are not yet used. So Case I is impossible. In Case II: the 4 royal triangles and one royal square (64) are already in the set. The remaining unchosen numbers are 1 square (49, royal, or 81, not) and 10 primes. And the number of royals must be 13 or 16. If 16, then they must be the 5 already in the set and 49 and the 10 royal primes. But this means the total of all the numbers in the set is 1205, which is not 1024. So 16 royals in Case II is impossible. So there can only be 13 royals in Case II, and so the prime 13 is also in the set. So to recap: The set contains the 10 triangles (10,15,21,28,36,45,55,66,78,91) of which 4 are royal, 3 squares (16,64,25) of which 1 is royal, 2 primes (11, 13) neither royal, and 25 numbers total, 13 of which are royal. This leaves 10 unchosen numbers of which 9 are primes and 1 is square, and 8 of these must be royal. These must come from the following numbers: non-royal primes: 17,23,31,41,43,53,59,61,71; non-royal squares: 81. royal primes: 19,29,37,47,67,73,79,83,89,97; royal squares 49. Also note that 17 is the only unchosen allowable digital-sum. So if 89 is chosen to be royal, 17 must be chosen also, however 89 could be chosen without 17, but then it would not count as royal. So the 10 remaining numbers to be chosen are from 2 cases: (a): 49, 7 royal primes, 2 non-royal primes (b): 81, 8 royal primes, 1 non-royal primes And since the 15 already chosen numbers sum to 574, these remaining 10 must sum to 450. Using a spreadsheet, find the 7425 combinations. Only 2 of these sum to 450. Expanding each to the full set of 25 numbers, the sum of the first digits in each case is 89. But by (E)(6) this sum must be in the set, which is only true in 1 of the 2 cases. The final solution (sorted) is: 10,11,13,15,16,17,19,21,23,25,28,29,36,37,45,47,49,55,64,66,67,73,78,89,91 Back to Puzzle Page

23-Numbers --- Solution

We are given that the largest is the cube of the smallest. Now (9) is the cube of (18). If (18) is larger than the smallest, its cube (9) will be larger than the cube of the smallest, which is the largest. This is impossible. Therefore (18) is the smallest and (9) is the largest. Now (1) is the digital-sum of the largest, and is larger than (18), the smallest, which is the cube-root of the largest. So the largest has a digital-sum larger than its cube-root. There are only 13 numbers with this property! Find them and calculate (1), (2), (3), (4), (5) for each of them. Together with (9) and (18) they form 13 combos with 7 known numbers each. By (18) eliminate any combo whose smallest number is even. Also eliminate any combo with any number less than the smallest or greater than the largest. Since no 2 numbers can be equal, eliminate any combo with any equal numbers. This leaves 3 combos. Now (19) is the largest palindrome, so the largest number (9) cannot be a palindrome. This eliminates one more combo. Also, by (14) the smallest can't be 9 since any number with a digital-sum of 9 is divisible by 9 and so can't be prime! This eliminates another combo. Now there is only one combo left, with (1)=19, (2) =126, (3)=135, (4)=15, (5)=41, (9)=2197, (18)=13. Also, (10)=169. By checking the clues and the known numbers we find that each of the 23 numbers is either a prime, square, or triangle except for the largest and (2) and (3). Now (22) is a prime which is one more than the triangle (21). There are 19 possibilities less than the largest. Furthermore, they imply one of the other numbers is one less than the triangle. After calculating these we find than none of them is a prime nor a triangle nor a square, and not the largest, and the only 2 such numbers left are (2) and (3). Only (3)=135 fits and so (21) =136 and (22)=137. By (11) the sum of the 3 smallest primes must be a square. The 3 smallest primes we have are 13, 19, 41. Either these are the 3 smallest or 41 must be replaced by a prime between 13 and 41 (other than 19). Checking the sums of the few possibilites yields only one square, so (11)=49 and the remaining prime is 17 (we don't yet know its clue number). However, 17 does not fit the clues (12), (13), or (14), and so must be one of the only other 2 remaining primes, (15) or (17). Now both (15) and (17) are prime square-roots of (6) and (8), which being less than the largest have squareroots less than the square-root of the largest, which is less than 47, and so (15) and (17) each must be one of 17, 23, 29, 31, 37, 43, with one of them being 17. Form all 10 combos and calculate (6) and (8) for each. Similarly, (16) is a triangular square-root of (7) and so must be a triangle whose square is less than the largest, and is one of 21, 28, 36, 45. Form all combos and calculate (7). You now have 40 combos. Now (19) is a triangular palindrome and (20) is a square palindrome, with (19) larger than (20). There are 5 possibilities, and crossing them with the 40 combos yields 200 combos. At this point (23), the only remaining triangle, can be calculated by subtracting all of the other triangles from their sum, which is the largest. Only one result is a triangle which means (23)=1830. This eliminates most combos, and only 10 are left, and forces the values (7)=2025 and (16)=45. Now the only 3 remaining numbers (12), (13), (14) are all primes. So subtract the sum of all known primes from the sum of all primes (8) to find the sum of the 3 remaining primes. Also subtract the sum of all known 2-digit numbers from the sum of all 2-digit numbers (6) to get the sum of all remaining 2-digit numbers. Since any of the remaining 2-digit numbers must also be among the 3 remaining primes, the remaining prime sum must be greater than or equal to the remaining 2-digit sum. This eliminates half of the combos leaving only 5. Also note that all of the remaining 2-digit sums are 2-digit primes, and all of the remaining prime sums are odd numbers of 3 or 4 digits, so there can be only one 2-digit prime and two 3-digit or 4digit primes. Also, we can subtract the sum of all known 3-digit numbers from the sum of all 3-digit numbers (7) to get the sum of all remaining 3-digit numbers, which must be among the 3 primes. Two of

these results are negative and so can be eliminated. Now subtract the remaining 2-digit and 3-digit sums from the remaining prime sum. Two of these yield a 3digit number, which is impossible (since the 2s and 3s have already been accounted for) and can be eliminated. The only remaining combo has difference of 0, meaning that the prime sum equals the 2-digit and 3-digit sums. The last combo has a 2-digit sum of 67 and a 3-digit sum of 212, which equals the sum of two 3-digit primes. These can only be 103 and 109. Since only 67 has a digital sum of 13, the smallest, (14) must equal 67. Finally, the sum of all of the composite numbers with 2 digits is 109, so (13)=109 and (12)=103. Back to the Puzzle

Tetromino Digits --- Solutions

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Puzzle #3

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Puzzle #6

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Pentomino Digits --- Solutions

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SOLUTION to CROSS NUMBER CONFUSION

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Solution Outline 1. Count diagram numbers for each digit size; assign digit size to clues where possible. 2. Use (6) to limit largest. 3. Use (10) to find all possible products having 5 digits. (Must be a 5-digit product of four different 2-digit primes.) 4. Cross largest and products and limit to largest >= products. 5. Use diagram to limit the only two 5-digit numbers by possible intersections. 6. Use (6), (7), (8) and (15) to get four 2-digit numbers, which must be all different since no 2 clue (diagram) numbers are equal. 7. Now there can only be six 2-digit numbers, so 2 of the above 4 must appear among the 4 prime factors of (10). 8. This yields 10 combos which differ only in the value of the triangle. So 50653 is largest and (10) is 46189. 9. So (6) is 37, (7) is 17, (8) is 19. Also, (5) can only be 11. This means (1) must be 13. Also, only (12) can have 5-digits. 10. By the diagram, the triangle must be the 2-digit number ending in 5 at upper left. (15, 45, 55) But only 15 works, with 11. 11. And 13 goes in at upper right. Also (13) is 112. And (2) and (3) can only be 191 and 353 (order irrelevant) with digital-sum 11. 12. Now the palindrome referred to in (5) must be 11*11*11=1331, and the only clue it can fit is (14). 13. Also, the cube reffered to in (7) is 17*17*17=4913, and the only clue it can fit is (4). 14. So (4), (14), (16), and (17) are 4-digit numbers, which means (9), (11), and (18) must have 3-digits. 15. (9) can be: 143,187,209,221,247,323,407,481,629,703. (11) can be: 121, 169, 289, 361. (18) can be: 171, 595, 666. 16. We already have (2) = 191, (3) = 353, and (13) = 112. 18. Cross all 6 of these 3-digit numbers and find the total of each combo. It must be 1331 by (14). 19. This leaves only 1 combo, and means (2) is 191, (3) is 353, (9) is 143, (11) is 361, (13) is 112, and (18) is 171. 20. Now the only 3-digit number having 9 has its center digit is 191, which can be put in the diagram. 21. This leaves only 2 places for (4) 4913, but only the one at the right allows for the crossing 2-digit number, which must be 19. 22. Now the only 2-digit number that fits the top right is 17, leaving only one space at left center for 37. 23. Note that the first and last digits of all of the 3-digit number are either 1, 2, or 3. Check the 4-digit numbers in the diagram. 24. The 2 beginning with 1 must have all digits 1, 2, or 3. The remaining one must have 3 for the second digit and end in 1 or 3. 25. The digital-sum of (16) must be a puzzle triangle, and so is 15. The only triangle meeting any of the digit

criteria is 4371. 26. Thus (16) is 4371 and goes at the left edge. 27. This means the two 4-digit numbers beginning with 1 are (14) =1331 and (17) which must be 1111. 28. Now 1331 cannot go to the left of 1111, since there is only one 3-digit number with first digit 1 and last digit 3. 29. So 1111 goes to the left of 1331. Now all of the remaining 3-digit numbers easily fall into place. 30. Note that by (12) the largest 50653 = 46189 + 4371 + 37 + 17 + 15 + 13 + 11 but this is not needed to solve the puzzle! Return to Puzzle

Cross-Number Confusion # 2 --- Solution Back to Puzzle

(a) Counting the number of digits in the diagram yields NDD=62 (b) Counting the number of digits in each of the 22 numbers in the diagram yields: five 3-digit numbers, seven 4digit numbers, seven 5-digit numbers, two 7-digit numbers, and one 9-digit number. (c) Clue (9) is a product of 4 consecutive composite numbers. There are no 2-digit numbers. The product of four 3-digit numbers has 9 digits or more. (Substituting a 4-digit number for one of the 3-digit ones yields 10 digits or more.) Since the largest number has 9-digits it must be the product of four 3-digit numbers. And they must be consecutive. Note that the product of 4 numbers each 200 or over has at least 10 digits and so is impossible. So we need only check numbers between 100 and 200. Using a spreadsheet it is easy to calculate these products and eliminate any with more than 9 digits and eliminate any of which one or more of the 3-digit numbers are primes. Only 26 products remain. Now note that there are only five 3-digit numbers in the diagram and four of them intersect the only 9-digit number, so at least 3 of the 4 3-digit factors must intersect the 9-digit number. Checking each of the 26 products with its factors yields only 5 remaining products, each of which intersects exactly 3 of its 4 factors. This means the fourth factor must occupy the fifth (horizontal) position, intersecting 1 or 2 of the other factors. Only one of the products meets this requirement. That product is 203889840 and its factors are 118, 119, 120, 121 which fit in the diagram in only one way. Note that the fifth 3-digit number must end in 2. (d) Clue (1) is the cube root of the third largest number, which must have 7 digits (by (b)). Since the cube of any 4-digit number has at least 10 digits, the cube root must be a 3-digit number. This might be any of the 4 known ones or any one ending in 2 (by (c)). Calculating the cube of all of these yields only 16 numbers with a 7-digit cube. Now note that both 7-digit numbers in the diagram intersect the 9-digit number, and so must begin with a 3 or an 8. This leaves only 2 possibilities: 3511808 and 8242408 with cube roots of 152 and 202 respectively. Now comparing these 2 numbers to each of the 22 clues we find that they could only match Clue (2). (note: checking (8) takes a little work!) The reversal must be a prime and since the reversal of 8242408 is 8042428 and is even it is not a prime. So only 3511808 can be the reversal of a prime, 8081153 (theoretically you should check that this number is actually a prime). This prime only meets Clue (7). And these two only fit in the diagram in one way. And Clue (1) must be 152. (e) Now we know the five 3-digit numbers, (118, 119, 120, 121, 152) and checking these we find that 121 is the smallest palindrome (Clue 19) and 120 is the smallest triangle (Clue 18). Also note that 119 has all square digits making it the number of Clue (3). Finally, from Clue (20) note that columns 2,3,4,5 of the diagram have a total of 26 digits, the sum of which can be at most 9*26=234, a 3-digit number, so Clue (20) must be a 3-digit number and the only one not accounted for is 118. (f) Now all remaining unknown numbers have 4 or 5 digits. Note that the product of any 2 (puzzle) numbers must have 5 digits (or more). So any remaining clue referring to a product (of puzzle numbers) or a square must have 5 digits and must be the factors must be 3-digit numbers. This means that Clue (8), a product of a triangle and a palindrome, must be 120*121=14520 and Clue (12), a square of a palindrome, must be 121*121=14641. (g) Also note that by Clue (18) there are exactly 5 triangles, and these are indicated by the clues: (4),(11),(16),

(18),(21). And by Clue (19) there are exactly 3 palindromes, of which we know two: Clue (19) = 121 and Clue (12) = 14641.The third palindrome must obviously be Clue (6), as yet unknown. This also means that none of the triangles can be palindromes. Also since 121 and 14641 are not primes and no 4 or 5 digit number with all digits equal is prime, we know that none of the primes are palindromes. Now checking each known number or clue for identification as a composite number we find that the four primes noted in Clue (17) are clues (7),(13), (14),(17). (h) Now if 14641 is the largest palindrome then by Clue (22) 14641-2 = 14639 must be composite. But it is prime. So the largest palindrome is a 5-digit number larger than 14641. And since it must be Clue (6) it has all digits equal, and so must be one of 22222, 33333, 44444, 55555, 66666, 77777, 88888, 99999, and the number of Clue (22) must be one of 22220, 33331, 44442, 55553, 66664, 77775, 88886, 99997, respectively, and must be composite. But 33331 is prime so it and 33333 are ruled out. Now both of these numbers as well as the known numbers 14520 and 14641 do not fit in any of the three horizontal positions in the diagram, and so must occupy the four vertical positions. (k) Now Clues (4) and (11) refer to a reversal pair of triangles, and we know they must have 4 or 5 digits and cannot be palindromes. After doing some spreadsheet work we find that there is only one such pair: 17578 and 87571. And since the 4 vertical positions are taken they can only go into the horizontal positions, and there is only one possible place for each. This forces the 2 known numbers 14520 and 14641 into the 2 outer vertical positions (don't know which is which yet) which means the 2 inner vertical positions must be 77777 and 77775 but we don't know which is which yet. However we can fill-in the first 4 digits of each (all 7's). (j) Now the palindrome mentioned in Clue (5) must be 121 since a 5-digit palindrome would yield too large a number when multiplied by NND = 62. So clue (5) is 121*62 = 7502. There is only one place for it. This also fixes the exact positions for 14520 and 14641. (k) Now it is time to count digits. First count the digits of all known numbers. This leaves only numbers (10) (13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (21) of which only one is a 5-digit number and the rest are all 4-digit numbers. Now by the clues, (10) must have 4-digits, as does (17). And (21) must be smaller than NND * 9*9 (if all digits were 9) which is 62*81 = 5022, so it is a 4-digit number. Now if (14) referred to (17) there would be no prime for (13) to refer to, so they must refer to each other. So (13) and (14) are both primes with a difference of 10. If one of them was the remaining 5-digit number, the other would be a 4-digit number 10 less. Checking all numbers between 9990 and 10009 for 2 primes with a difference of 10 yields none, so both primes must have 4 digits. This leaves only (15) or (16) for the 5-digit number. But the remaining 5-digit number is of the form 87x53 or 85x73 with a digital sum of at least 23. So it cannot fit clue (15) whose digital sum is 22. So (16) is the remaining 5-digit number. Since its digital sum is 24 it must be either 87153 or 85173, and also must be triangular. Only 87153 is a triangle. (l) Now by clue (15) one of the 6 remaining numbers (all have 4 digits) must have a digital sum of 22. The 6 remaining numbers are of the forms: 1xy1, 1xy1, 4x17, 71x4, 4x07, and 28x5. The largest their digital sums can be is when all unknown digits are 9's. This yields sums of 20,20,21,21,20,and 24 respectively. So only 28x5 can have a sum of 22, and it must be 2875. (m) Now (13) and (14) are the 2 primes with a difference of 10. If these were the numbers of forms 1xy1 then there is no remaining number smaller than these so (17) the smallest prime would not fit anywhere. So (13) and (14) must be 4x07 and 4x17 which can have a difference of 10 when both x's are the same. Checking all such numbers we find that only the pair 4507 and 4517 are both primes. (n) Now number 71x4 is composite (ends in 4) and so cannot be (17). Also it cannot be (21) since we already determined (21) must be less than 5022 (see (k) above). This leaves only Clue (10) and so (by checking the known primes) it must be 7154 (the reversal of 4517). (o) We now have only 2 numbers left, (17) and (21), both of the form 1xy1. (17) is a prime and (21) is a triangle. Clue (21) is also the sum of the squares of all digits in the diagram. Calculating this for the digits we have so far yields 1353. There are 4 unknown digits, ranging from 0 to 9. This yields minimum and maximum limits for the

sum of the squares; 1353 and 1353 + 4*81 = 1677. Checking for all triangles in this range which end in 1 we find only one: 1431. This is the number for Clue (21). This also means the sum of the squares of all of the digits is 1431. Using the 4 and 3 the sum of the squares of all known digits is now 1378. This leaves 1431-1378 = 53 for the sum of the squares of the remaining 2 digits. The only 2 digits whose squares sum to 53 are 2 and 7. So the remaining number of Clue (17) is either 1271 or 1721. Since it must be a prime it is 1721. (p) So the last 2 positions in the diagram are the numbers 1431 and 1721, which are interchangeable. The only way to separate them is by Clue (20). The sum of all of the digits in columns 2,3,4,5 must be 118. So far they sum to 109. Since 118 -109 = 9 only 7 and 2 work. So the number in the top left is 1721 and the top right is 1431. This completes the solution.

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PRIME CUTS --- SOLUTION Return to Puzzle

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APRIL FOOL PUZZLE --- 2005 --- SOLUTION

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Factorial Equations Solutions: Part 1: (a,b,c) = Part 2: (a,b,c,d)

(6,7,10)

(6,7,1,10),

(7,13,4,15),

(22,54,18,57),

(14,62,7,66)

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