Tag Archives: algebra puzzles

Puzzle #190: Escalator Race

Posted on August 8, 2017 by Alok Goyal

I cannot stop loving the book A Moscow Math Circle – Week by week problem sets by Sergey Dorinchenko. So here is another one from this great collection. Anisha and Arushi are riding down an escalator. Halfway down the escalator, … Continue reading →

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Solution to Puzzle #126: The Tricky Square Root

Posted on January 17, 2016 by Alok Goyal

Again received an overwhelming number of answers to this puzzle. People who answered it correctly included Pratik Poddar, Anant Aggarwal, Siddharth Mulherkar, Suman Saraf, P R Kumar and Amit Mittal. The puzzle had a simple trick to it, which is … Continue reading →

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Solution to Puzzle #90: The Three Gamblers

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Alok Goyal

Fabulous response for the puzzle…one of the best weeks since I started the puzzle blog two years back…thanks and keep puzzling. I got three correct answers (of course other than Vaibhav Kalia who had contributed the puzzle). The answer is … Continue reading →

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Solution to Puzzle #75: Clock Reflection

Posted on September 27, 2014 by Alok Goyal

Thanks for the response to this puzzle. I got correct answers from three people – Ashutosh Diwakar, Rajeev Deshpande and Pallav Pandey in that order. Well done! I am also taking the liberty of replicating Ashotosh’s solution which I thought was … Continue reading →

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Solution to Puzzle #67: Lab Rat On The Run

Posted on July 20, 2014 by Alok Goyal

I got many answers to this puzzle, and mostly all correct. This was a relatively simple puzzle for those who know algebra and probability, I do not know any way to do this one without them, and hence the younger … Continue reading →

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Puzzle #67: Lab Rat on the Run

Posted on July 12, 2014 by Alok Goyal

Very nice probability puzzle…though involves basic knowledge of probability and algebra. Found this again on http://www.midcipher.com. Consider a lab rat in a maze. There are four paths that can be taken with equal probability. Path A leads to exit in … Continue reading →

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Puzzle #57: Sam Lloyd’s Puzzling Scales

Posted on April 6, 2014 by Alok Goyal

This is a puzzle by a famous American “puzzler” Sam Lloyd. Sam was a famous chess player, ranked 15th in the world at his best. He is also the creator of many famous puzzles. The following puzzle is in 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 #36: Professor on the Escalator

Posted on October 27, 2013 by Alok Goyal

This one turned out to be a little difficult for children who do not know algebra, and hence I did not get correct answer from any of the younger kids. Congratulations to Ruchir Godura and Varun Gupta for being the … Continue reading →

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Puzzle #33: Running in Circles

Posted on September 28, 2013 by Alok Goyal

This is a very nice puzzle from a close friend – Maneesh Dube, based out of New Jersey. Maneesh and his daughter, Nandini, are running around a circular park. Maneesh is running faster than Nandini. How much faster is Maneesh … Continue reading →

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