Friday Funny: Clocks, Calculators and Lightbulbs algebra maths puzzle
I have found another new numeric picture maths puzzle. Thanks goes to my good friend, Virginia, for inflicting this one on us.
[Edit] This puzzle was originally created by Leander from 123 Puzzle Me.
I did get it wrong initially, so be warned… it does require a close look at the image to get the correct answer.
The puzzle image follows the standard format where it provides the answers to the first three equations, which should provide the information you need to solve the fourth equation.
Below is a poll for you to record your answer:
Please comment on how you went, but don’t give away the answer.
David
02-Oct-2020: Find the Solution here: Friday Funny: Solution to Clocks, Calculators and Lightbulbs algebra maths puzzle.
07-Oct-2025: Updated image with original from 123 Puzzle Me.
This article was originally posted on https://www.winthropdc.com/blog.
I had to use 2 assumptions :
The first row has infinite solutions in R (2x + y = 21), so i made the assumption that there was a relationship between the image and the value
I assumed that 3 lightbulbs stacked together represented the sum of ftheir values – in theory it could mean multiplicative or power relationships though.
Hi Guy, for the first line you are discounting the information shown on the clock faces. There is more information than the first two are the same and the third one is different. The 3 lightbulbs are the sum of their values, but what is their values. So what answer did you get?
Did you look at the solution:https://winthropdc.wordpress.com/2020/10/02/friday-funny-solution-to-clocks-calculators-and-lightbulbs-algebra-maths-puzzle/
Hi,
I may have worded it badly, but i wasn’t ‘discounting the information shown on the clock faces’ – that’s what i meant when i said there must be ‘a relationship between the image and the value’ – i was trying to say that the clocks weren’t just random images, which would result in 2x+y=21, but that I needed to take note of the content in the image. By that I meant the 9pm and 3pm. Obviosuly i didn’t say it well! I guess I am not giving away the answer when I say I obtained 459 , which wasn’t the most popular answer (maybe a good sign!)
Thanks for the challenge.I came across the challenge checking into one of your old stored procedures ‘spSearchOnAllDB’, which, like the first row in the puzzle, potentially has infinite uses.
Hi Guy
You should check out the Resource Finder window in GP Power Tools build 28. It is using some of the spSearchOnAllDB functionality but is infinitely more powerful.
David