Hello mathematicians, puzzlers, and other curious people!
Similar to crosswords but with numbers, intersecting math facts can form puzzles. Here\’s an example.
![\"Six](\"https://www.mathwithavrila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/20200218_1411106706388593979741619-300x300.jpg\")
While completing this puzzle is straightforward for most mathematicians, setting up more puzzles of the same kind is more complicated. For example, if the middle number were 2 instead of 3 and the top and bottom rows were unchanged, the middle column would be the false equation 2+2=5, and changing either the top or bottom number to correct it would create a false equation in the top or bottom row, unless we start changing other clue numbers to compensate.
I\’m not done talking about this puzzle, but I think this is a good place to pause and leave some time to think things over. What can you figure out about how the five clue numbers in this puzzle must relate to each other?
Calc You Later!
Update: This post now has a sequel, in which I share my work on how the four corner clue numbers determine the center clue number.
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