Only sharp minds can solve this matchstick puzzle in 21 seconds. Move one stick, think creatively, and see if you can find ...

Brain teasers are one of the best puzzles to test the sharpness of the brain. Readers must think creatively to solve brain teasers. Brain teasers present these challenges as picture puzzles, math ...

Math is not everyone’s favorite, understandably. Hours of math homework and difficult equations can make anyone sour on the subject. But when math problems are outside of a school setting, there’s no ...

Scientific American is part of Springer Nature, which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientific ...

I’ve been out of school for decades, and I don’t spend my days solving equations (I’m more of a word person). Still, I like to think I have a solid grip on basic math: I can usually gauge whether a ...

An amusing parlor trick is performed as follows. Ask spectator A to jot down any three-digit number and then to repeat the digits in the same order to make a six-digit number (e.g., 394,394). With ...

Brain teasers are fun little puzzles that make you think in different ways. They might look simple at first, but they often have a twist that surprises you. Solving them gives your brain a good ...

She’s right—using simultaneous equations does get really complicated, and if you’d like to send me your work for the solution, I’d love to see it. But the system is also kind of a trick. Like a sudoku ...