Easy Math

[Wrench722]

THIS ONE WILL BLOW YOUR MIND!

I know there must be a very logical answer to this, but so far can't figure it out. Can you?? This came to me from a guy who has two masters and one doctorate degree and was a former instructor at the Naval Academy and he couldn't figure out how it was done. So don't write me back asking how they do it....

THIS IS GREAT TRY IT!!!!! Can you figure out how this works?

1) Go to the link below. After reading each window, click on the boy in the lower right corner of the picture.

2) In the last window type in your answer in the white box using the Keyboard (there is NO cursor).

3) Watch the paper in the boy's hand. You will be amazed. And no, I don't know how it's done. Fido Puzzle

[Jeff Matthews]

The trick is the the two steps of jumbling the numbers and subtracting. Because you start with a fixed number and used the same digits (but jumbled) to subtract, a pattern is left. Your answer provides one of the patterns, leaving the other as the computer's answer. Someone else can explain the steps, but I am certain that is how it works. e.g. 431-134=297. That leaves either 29, 27, 92, 72, 97 or 79 as your answer. 7, 2 and 9, but one of those 3 numbers is mutually exclusively from the combination of the other 2 digits. You provide the two, and the computer can tell you the one that was mutually excluded because supplying the missing third has only one correct mathematical answer from all possibilities.

431-314=117. Your answer will be either 11, 17, or 71. If you tried to randomly guess the missing number (the one you circled), you could first try 0. Try 0 anywhere, and it will never fit (i.e. 430-034 will never leave a number with the two digits you revealed).....

Something like that.

[CECAA850]

Don't listen to Jeff, it's really magic,