DAY 453

Credit: Zack Guido
OF COURSE
Presented  by Will Shortz
on NPR Weekend Edition Sunday Puzzle
October 29, 2017

The equation 65 - 43 = 21 is wrong. The answer should be 22. But can you move two numbers in the equation to make a new equation that is correct? The answer remains a straightforward subtraction problem, no symbols are changed or moved, and no parentheses are needed.

Answer:

Move the 3 and the 2 to make them exponents:

65 - 4 (cubed) = 1 (squared) 

65 - 64             = 1 

DAY 452

LA Times Crossword
June 15, 2017
Brian Thomas

The four collections of letters below follow a certain pattern and are related. Can you determine what's going on?

X I F
O ST
URY

R I X
I  S T
TH Y

TFO
YIN
NER

HOT
EY I
NEG

HINTS:
#1: The letters in each set are scrambled.
#2: The shape of each set is a clue.

Answer:

The letters in each collection, unscrambled, spelled out:

SIXTY-FOUR
THIRTY-SIX
FORTY-NINE
EIGHTY-ONE - - - 3 x 3 letters - - - perfect squares

DAY 451

True or false: any score is possible in American football after one touchdown is made.

Answer:

True: A point after touchdown is 1 point and a safety is 2 points - making every odd or even number possible. (Joseph Appel)

DAY 450

Six sewers take six hours to sew six shirts. How many sewers will it take to sew 100 shirts in 60 hours?

Answer:

Ten sewers
Each sewer sews one shirt in six hours. 
In sixty hours one sewer could sew ten shirts.  

Credit: Abbie Salny
The SuperSmart SuperPuzzle Book