posted
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.
posted
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.
quote:Originally posted by Tante Shvester: Of course NONE of them are 20 -- they ALL are! Not a math problem after all!
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"
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?
Posts: 2715 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
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.
quote: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.
That was the solution I came up with. My father the doctor and my brother-in-law the marketing guy were skeptical. My brother the engineer seemed impressed with the answer. But it's cool hearing other ideas as well.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Tante Shvester: Of course NONE of them are 20 -- they ALL are! Not a math problem after all!
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
I wouldn't be at all surprised if the original phrasing was "not one of them is 20". When I first heard the puzzle, my initial sense was that it was some kind of wordplay, since it didn't make any mathematical sense (until I thought about circles). I'll have to ask my sister.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote: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.
I have taken a mighty oath (so to speak) never to go near a sudoku. I spend enough time online; I'm not about to find a new hobby. <shudder>
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by lem: How about 60 + 60 + (-60)?
Or does the sign not make the "numbers" identical?
I suggested that whie I was still on the phone with them. They didn't think 60 and -60 counted as identical.
I'm inclined to think it was the "not one of the numbers is twenty" thing. I have this vague memory of hearing that riddle once when I was a kid.
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