Puzzle
A life insurance agent knocks on a door. A woman answers and he tries to sell her a policy. He asks her how many children she has and their ages. She replies: "I have three children, but I will not even listen to your sales pitch unless you guess their ages..."
A mad robot sets off on a journey mindlessly following a set of instructions. Where will it explode?
Which gives a tighter fit: a square peg in a round hole or a round peg in a square hole?
The n-th birthday of a very famous mathematician coincides with a year that corresponds to the (n+1)st prime number. Who is this mathematician?
Write the number 2011 using only the digit 4 and the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, taking a square root and factorial. You can use any number composed of the digit 4, even if it's decimal, so 44 and 44.44 are both allowed. You're also allowed to use brackets.
Football tables have been the basis of many a brainteaser over the years. These two puzzles ask you to work out what the scores were in all matches played so far this season.
-
Want facts and want them fast? Our Maths in a minute series explores key mathematical concepts in just a few words.
A game you're almost certain to lose...
What are the challenges of communicating from the frontiers of mathematical research, and why should we be doing it?
Maths meets politics as early career mathematicians present their work at the Houses of Parliament.
Celebrate this year's International Women's Day with some of the articles and podcasts we have produced with women mathematicians over the last year!
How to sum an infinite series using chocolate.