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Showing posts from January, 2018

Puzzles and Fractals

Today I was asked a simple but innocent question: 'If a number plus 4 is equal to six times the sum of its digits and the number plus eighteen is equal to the number obtained by reversing its digits then find the number.' Evidently, this is neither simple nor innocent (people who tend to disagree battle it out in the comments). This question is deliberately designed to trick and confuse high school students in the exam. Now, I'm all for tricky problems, but this question isn't a problem: It's a question. And its certainly not a puzzle. Puzzles are awesome. They confuse you, make your brain twist in new and unexpected ways, and a good puzzle will energize you. In fact, I love puzzles. Not just the jigsaws that we solve at home, but all kinds of puzzles. For instance, this is a classic one that I love. You're at your house. You go one mile south, one mile east, and one mile north. You arrive back at your house. Where is your house? This puzzle'