Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School (Wayside School 2.50)

Sue was very confused. “What page are we on?” she asked. She wasn’t even hungry.

Again, each letter represents a different number. This time, what number does each letter represent?

g

a = ?lllle = ? llllg = ?llllp = ?

g

An explanation of how to solve this problem follows.

g

Explanation

The clue to the second problem is the letter g.

g

g

In the second column you see that g + g = g. At first you might think that g has to equal 0. But in the first column you see that g + g = e. Since every letter has to represent a different number, both e and g can’t represent 0. If you try different numbers you will find that g has to represent 9.

g

g

Therefore e must represent 8, and the rest of the problem is easily solved.

g

g

a = 7lllle = 8llllg = 9llllp = 1

PROBLEM 3

g

“Listen carefully,” said Mrs. Jewls.

“I’m all ears,” said Sue.

“How much is ears plus ears?” asked Mrs. Jewls.

Todd figured out the answer to this one. “Swear!” he exclaimed.

g

g

Todd’s answer was correct but Mrs. Jewls sent him home because you are not allowed to swear in school.

What number did each letter represent?

llll

a = ?lllle = ?llllr = ?lllls = ?llllw = ?