The Journal of Recreational Mathematics, which I’ve mentioned a number of times here, ceased publication in 2014. Sadly, nothing has risen to replace it. As a number enthusiast myself, I was lucky to have Martin Gardner introduce me to the Journal and then to have had a few articles published therein. I miss the puzzles that were posed in the Journal along with the people who posed them.
To fill the void, I present a puzzle of my own devise. Question One: What letter belongs in the center square? Question Two: What is X and why? (If you can answer Question One, Question Two is easy.)
Apologies to those who were hoping for something like Wordle.
Clue #1 – Think about how you might substitute numbers for letters.
X is X!
And I was very familiar with Gardner through Skeptical Inquirer.
Instead of asking “What is X and why?” I could have more deviously asked, “What is X and Y?” In which case, the answer would be 49. That’s Clue #2.
As an aside, I love Martin Gardner’s autobiography “Undiluted Hocus Pocus”!
Funny you mention this, because I just finished reading it. My take was that Gardner’s columns were immensely more interesting than his autobiography, which had a dry “why would anyone want to know anything about me?” flavor. Apparently his son Tom (which Gardner made surprisingly candid remarks about in the book) lives about 15 minutes away from me, but I’m not about to look him up and interview him about his father.
Perhaps you will run into Tom one day at a store or the park! Also, you might also enjoy this essay on puzzles: https://nabeelqu.substack.com/p/notes-on-puzzles?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=107423&post_id=134465336&isFreemail=true&utm_medium=email
The key is, A=1, B=2, C=3, etc.
So F=6.
The row C… B…F… translates to 3, 2, 6.
Which looks like 3 x 2 = 6.
D x ? = D. Or, 4 x ? = 4.
? must be 1. Or A.
All the rows and columns represent multiplications.
So X = 24, as X is the 24th letter
and F x D = 6 x 4 = 24
and L x B = 12 x 2 = 24.