This is topic A Math Puzzle in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.


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Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
 
My sister and her husband called me the other day. They'd run across a puzzle, and couldn't figure it out. And since it was math oriented, they called the family geek.

They don't remember where the puzzle was, and they can't get the answer. I think I figured it out, but I thought I'd run it by the big brains on Hatrack and see what turns up.

Ahem.

"Three identical numbers add up to sixty, and none of them are twenty."

That's as close as they can remember to the exact phrasing. I searched all over the Internet, and failed to find anything like this.

Thoughts?
 

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Posted by Mr.Funny (Member # 4467) on :
 
3*16 = 48 = 60 in base 8.
3*32 = 96 = 60 in base 16.

Those are probably not the answer(s) you are looking for.
 

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Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
 
Of course NONE of them are 20 -- they ALL are! Not a math problem after all!
 

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Posted by James Tiberius Kirk (Member # 2832) on :
 
That's what I was thinking too-- probably a base change of some sort.

--j_k
 

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Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
 
Haha, that's awesome Tante!

I vote for that answer.
 

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Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
 
My first idea is 140 degrees.
140 + 140 + 140 = 420. If that's degrees in polar coordinates 420 is the same as 60, because there's 360 degrees in a circle and 420 - 360 = 60. Of course, this only works if all you're concerned about is the position, not the amount of rotation.

The punny answer would be 2D. 2D+2D+2D = six dee.

--Enigmatic
 

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Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Tante Shvester:
Of course NONE of them are 20 -- they ALL are! Not a math problem after all!

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quote:

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the wording is "none of them"

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Unfortunately, we don't know whether this is the correct wording of the puzzle or not.
 

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Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
 
Yes, hence my use of the word "IF"

Also, IF it's "three identical numbers" I don't think "they're all 20" is a good answer, because why specify identical in that case? Sure, it could be the answer, but I think less of the riddle if that's it. And as Tante said, it wouldn't be a math puzzle.

--Enigmatic

Edit to add: We've got 5 answers (counting the non-math one) that can all work for the question as stated in OP. Since we don't have access to the original riddler, they're effectively all "right." Anyone have others?
 

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Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
 
How about 55 and 5?
 

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Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
 
Oooo!! Tom that's a clever little answer.
 

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Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
 
I like Tom's too!
I'm hoping in a day or two hatrackers will have posted dozens of different answers that could all work for the question. Kind of makes me want to post a "What's black and white and red all over?" thread, or other jokes that have lots of answers.

--Enigmatic
 

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Posted by theresa51282 (Member # 8037) on :
 
Not at all the puzzle you are looking for but an interesting puzzle to try if you're bored. My best time is 14 minutes on medium.

http://www.websudoku.com/
 

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Posted by Amanecer (Member # 4068) on :
 
That was fun theresa! Took me twenty minutes to get the easy one. :-P
 

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Posted by kojabu (Member # 8042) on :
 
Oh sudoku is fun!
 

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Posted by Vadon (Member # 4561) on :
 
I actually think the Evil one was a wee bit easier than Easy...
 

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Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
 
I started a thread about sudoku a few months ago... it died very quickly.

(edit: Never mind. Someone bumped it. Raia is an idiot.)
 

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Posted by lem (Member # 6914) on :
 
How about 60 + 60 + (-60)?

Or does the sign not make the "numbers" identical?
 

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Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Enigmatic:
My first idea is 140 degrees.
140 + 140 + 140 = 420. If that's degrees in polar coordinates 420 is the same as 60, because there's 360 degrees in a circle and 420 - 360 = 60. Of course, this only works if all you're concerned about is the position, not the amount of rotation.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Enigmatic:

quote:

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Originally posted by Tante Shvester:
Of course NONE of them are 20 -- they ALL are! Not a math problem after all!

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This at occurred to me also, but if the wording is "none of them" instead of "not one of them" I don't agree that it's valid. Yes, I'm aware there's probably a word-root issue there, but I don't think that changes the definition of "none"

--Enigmatic

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quote:

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Originally posted by theresa51282:
Not at all the puzzle you are looking for but an interesting puzzle to try if you're bored. My best time is 14 minutes on medium.

http://www.websudoku.com/

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quote:

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Originally posted by camus:
5555, 5555, 5555
All the digits add up to 60.

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quote:

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Originally posted by lem:
How about 60 + 60 + (-60)?

Or does the sign not make the "numbers" identical?

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