Arithmetic puzzle (#330, Topic N)
From time to time, Washington Post has an arithmetic puzzle. Whenever I see one, I am always reminded of the time I took the entrance examination to a prestigious middle school in China. This was a playing-field-leveling device, allowing candidates who had only a couple years of English to solve problems that require little narrative. In today's WP, I see the following puzzle, where I = 5 and N = 1:
RED
RED
RED (+
-----
WINS
I solved a similar puzzle at that entrance exam; with that, I was admitted -- to the A section, no less -- despite my low proficiency in English. The answer to today's puzzle in WP will be given in Monday's edition, 2/12. Unable to resist the temptation to see whether my mental capacity has deteriorated to that below a 12-year-old (as I was at the time), I hazard a solution below:
R = 8; E = 3; D = 9; W = 2; S = 7. We'll see how I fare Monday.
RED
RED
RED (+
-----
WINS
I solved a similar puzzle at that entrance exam; with that, I was admitted -- to the A section, no less -- despite my low proficiency in English. The answer to today's puzzle in WP will be given in Monday's edition, 2/12. Unable to resist the temptation to see whether my mental capacity has deteriorated to that below a 12-year-old (as I was at the time), I hazard a solution below:
R = 8; E = 3; D = 9; W = 2; S = 7. We'll see how I fare Monday.
posted by David H. Li at 11:15 PM
2 Comments:
Did you get it right?
Winston, thanks for your comment. I completely forgot that the Washington Post has the answer in today's (2/12/07) paper. After reading Winston's query, I turned to WP and looked it up. Luckily, I got it right. Thanks again.
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