Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School (Wayside School 2.50)

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Since you know that 1 + 1 = 2, you can now replace all the letter l’s in the problem with the number 2.

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In the second column you see that 2 + 2 = o. You can now replace all the o’s in the problem with the number 4.

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You now know that e + e = 14. Therefore e must represent the number 7.

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The problem is now complete:

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e = 7llllf = 1lllll = 2llllo = 4.

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As you can see, when Mrs. Jewls asks, “How much is elf plus elf?” there is no way you can guess the exact answer she is looking for. You have to wait for someone in her class to give the “answer.” Then you can figure out the numerical answer to the problem. So on the next question when Mrs. Jewls asks, “How much is egg plus egg?” you have to wait until the answer is given in class, and then try to solve the problem.

PROBLEM 2

Mrs. Jewls wrote another problem on the blackboard. “How much is egg plus egg?” she asked.

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“Scrambled or fried?” asked Ron.

“Scrambled,” said Mrs. Jewls.

“Yech, I hate eggs,” said John.

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“Do you have pancakes?” asked Leslie.

Mrs. Jewls looked annoyed. “Don’t talk with your mouth full,” she scolded her.

At last Jason raised his hand. “Egg plus egg equals page,” he announced.

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