Author Archives: Alok Goyal

Solution to Puzzle #45: Prime Numbers

Posted on January 4, 2014 by Alok Goyal

Apologies for not posting the solution last week, was traveling out of town on vacation. Also need to thank everyone for a “bumper response” to the puzzle. I got more answers to this puzzle than any other puzzle in the … Continue reading →

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Puzzle #45: Prime Numbers

Posted on December 21, 2013 by Alok Goyal

Beautiful puzzle I got today, attributed to my niece, Radhika. Got this puzzle from her Maths Olympiad book for Grade 7. Puzzle is solvable by all kids in grade 4 and above. Here is the question – Arrange numbers 1 … Continue reading →

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Solution to Puzzle #44: Thinking Outside the Box

Posted on December 21, 2013 by Alok Goyal

Response to this puzzle was the best we have had in the last 3 months – so thanks a ton…particularly want to thank all the friends from UK, Singapore and Greece who came in large numbers this time! The first … Continue reading →

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Puzzle #44: Thinking Outside the Box

Posted on December 14, 2013 by Alok Goyal

This is a nice cute puzzle with a “small” trick – I took this from the book “The Moscow Puzzles” by Boris A. Kordemsky (Puzzle #175). In the diagram, 3 matches are connected with balls of plastic to make an … Continue reading →

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Solution to Puzzle #43: The Triangular Duel

Posted on December 14, 2013 by Alok Goyal

This is the best response to a puzzle in recent times – thanks everyone! This was a slightly difficult question, the first correct answer for the first part came from Girish Tutakne again. Only one fully correct answer came from … Continue reading →

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Puzzle #43: The Triangle Duel

Posted on December 8, 2013 by Alok Goyal

Yet another wonderful puzzle from the Martin Gardner collection. This one is from “More Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions”, Chapter 5, Puzzle #9. This one involves probability, and hence difficult for children who do not understand probability at all. Three men, … Continue reading →

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Solution to Puzzle #42: How Wide is the River

Posted on December 8, 2013 by Alok Goyal

Great response to this puzzle – thank you so much! I was surprised to see the activity in countries like Germany and Singapore this time, in addition to the activity I see in India and US – appreciate all the … Continue reading →

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Puzzle #42: How Wide is the River

Posted on November 30, 2013 by Alok Goyal

Seems like the puzzle collections from the Martin Gardner books is unlimited, and also of outstanding quality. While flipping through one of the books (Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions), I found another gem in Chapter 12. Some people have told me … Continue reading →

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Solution to puzzle #41: Yet Another Handshake Puzzle

Posted on November 30, 2013 by Alok Goyal

I was surprised this time to see only one correct answer from Alok Kuchlous, one of the best puzzle solvers I have known since my IIT days. I also got a very good attempt from Shruti Mittal (from Mumbai), but … Continue reading →

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Puzzle #41: Yet Another Handshake Puzzle

Posted on November 23, 2013 by Alok Goyal

This is yet another handshake puzzle, and again from one of the Martin Gardner collections. This one is from Second Book of Mathematical Diversions and Puzzles…Martin Garder, Page 55 Here is the puzzle: Prove that a t a recent convention of biophysicists … Continue reading →

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