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A sign of the times brainteaser

By , 7 August 2019

Terri was doing sums for her signwriting business. She worked out that one-third of six and two-thirds of eleven together made seven. Her maths might seem wonky, but she was completely correct. Can you work out what she was trying to do?

Scroll down for the answer!

 

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Brainteaser answer

Terri was looking at the letters in the words six, eleven and seven so she could make a sign. She realised you could take one-third of the letters in (s)ix and two-thirds of the letters in el(even) and make (s)(even)!

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2 comments

  1. it also works if she is doing it in base 8!

      Reply
    1. almost! but 11 (base 8) = (9 base 10) so
      1/3 of 6 + 2/3 of 9
      = 2 + 6
      = 8

      To get the numbers to work out I think you need to work in base 6.5

        Reply

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