Down for the count
Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2022 2:29 pm
This is another New Scientist puzzle, following on from Squarebot. I don't think I need to explain why it might be relevant on a Countdown forum.
I've managed to get 3 of the 4 so far and I'll post the details in a bit. See how you get on.In the TV number quiz show Down for the Count, four contestants are challenged to combine each of five number cards exactly once to achieve a target number. They are allowed to use standard arithmetical operations +, –, × and ÷ (as well as brackets, if required).
“I’ll take five cards from the top row”, requested one of the contestants, and the presenter Anne-Marie obligingly revealed these five numbers:
10
100
1,000
10,000
100,000.
The studio computer then generated today’s challenge:
“Produce a whole number without any zeroes.”
No zeroes? Wow. Each of the four contestants thought hard, and after the timer ran out, each announced that they had used the five cards to produce a positive number smaller than 10. All four were different.
Which numbers did they get, and how?