AN INEQUALITY IX+4¥+42Z=1, prove X¥ + ¥Z+XZ<}.Solution Squaring ¥-+ ¥ + Z = 1 we have X24 ¥?4 224 2XY 4 2¥Z + QRZ = tor XV+¥Z4+x2—4- St PTZ) Even if X, y, or Z should be negative their squares must be positive; hence the expression in the brackets must be positive. A problem that became an international affair, this puzzle was contributed by a mathematician in Kent, England, “simpli- fied” by a reader in Holland, solved in an alternate way by a gentleman in Canada, and elaborated upon by two gentlemen in Massachusetts. From Bronxville, New York, came the above solution. From a reader at the Lincoln Laboratory of M.I.T., we re- ceived the following: +. let X, Y, Z be the roots of w* — wt + bw +e = 0. Then X+¥+2Z=1, and X¥+ ¥Z+2X= 4. Hence, if your hypothesis is provable, there can be no equations of the above type with 6 > 4. An interesting sidelight of what I guess your proof to be though, says that w?+ aw! + bw +¢ = 0 has only one real root if 25 > 2%. A Massachusetts reader caught us for not having a more rigorous statement by including “provided X, Y, and Z are real numbers.” Our wrists were slapped by the following analysis: .++You published the following mathematical puzzle: If X+Y¥4+Z=1, prove that X¥ + ¥Z+ XZ <}. A quick analysis of the following proof will show a flaw in this problem: Multiplying the original equation by X and by Y and by Z, we obtain:Adding: XY 4X¥ +XZ =X XY+ ¥*+2ZY =Y AZ+YZ7 + F=zZ A V+ 2+ XY + 2YZ + 2XZ =X+YV¥+Z=1