Monthly Archives: March 2014

Puzzle #56: Toothpick Giraffe Puzzle

Posted on March 31, 2014 by Alok Goyal

Found this cute brain teaser from a website (http://mesosyn.com/), though the original is a Martin Gardner puzzle that appeared in New York Times. Five toothpicks form the giraffe shown above. Change the position of just one pick and leave the … Continue reading →

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Solution to Puzzle #55: Three Sages

Posted on March 31, 2014 by Alok Goyal

Apologies for the delay in posting the answer…I was on vacation for a week. I got two correct answers to this puzzle – found this puzzle to be just a little tough for younger children, and did not receive any … Continue reading →

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Puzzle #55: Three Sages

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Alok Goyal

This is a puzzle that has many variations, I heard this first time in Class XI, through my then class teacher Ravi Gopinath. The current version is from the book “The Moscow Puzzles” by Boris A. Kordemsky (Edited by Martin … Continue reading →

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Solution to Puzzle #54: True or False?

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Alok Goyal

This was a very simple puzzle, more of a quick teaser, and many people sent correct answers. First ones to send in were Anirudh Baddepudi, Amit Gupta, Anurag Khaitan and Rhea Mittal – well done! The correct answer is “Exactly … Continue reading →

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Puzzle #54: True or False?

Posted on March 8, 2014 by Alok Goyal

This is a cute puzzle I found today in a Martin Gardner book, while attending a Mathematical Circles class at Alok Mittal’s home. Very cute – only a 2 minute puzzle! Evaluate each of the 10 statements s to its … Continue reading →

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Solution to Puzzle #53: Make a Century

Posted on March 8, 2014 by Alok Goyal

Addendum to the answer…Shruti Mittal sent 6 more correct asnwers – Well done Shruti!             (-1*2)-3-4-5+6*7+8*9=100           1+(2*3)+(4*5)+(-6+7)+(8*9)           1*(2+3)*4*5*(6-7)*(8-9)           1*(2+3)*Sqrt(4)*5*{-[(6-7)+(CubeRoot(8)-Sqrt(9)]}   … Continue reading →

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Puzzle #53: Make a Century!

Posted on March 2, 2014 by Alok Goyal

Thanks to Alok Mittal for sharing this cute problem to which there are many answers…limited only by your creativity! Insert mathematical signs between digits 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 to make an expression that equals 100. The digits must remain in the same sequence. … Continue reading →

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Solution to Puzzle #52: How Many People Partying?

Posted on March 2, 2014 by Alok Goyal

This was a relatively difficult puzzle, but I was surprised to see the number of people who attempted the answer. The best and the correct answer came from Alok Kuchlous and also from Challapalli. The one from Alok is very … Continue reading →

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