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Arithmetic puzzles

January 2022

  • crying with laughter emoji

    Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle
    Can you solve it? The viral maths video that will have you in stitches

    Are you smarter than Google Assistant?

December 2020

  • LIN-MAUEL MIRANDA, COUNT VON COUNT<br>THE 72ND EMMY® AWARDS - Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, the “72nd Emmy® Awards” will broadcast SUNDAY, SEPT. 20 (8:00 p.m. EDT/6:00 p.m. MDT/5:00 p.m. PDT), on ABC. (ABC via Getty Images)LIN-MAUEL MIRANDA, COUNT VON COUNT

    Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle
    Can you solve it? The count reaches 'twenty, twenty-one'

    Next year in numbers

February 2020

  • Common Water Frog in front of a white background

    Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle
    Can you solve it? Leap year logic

    Quadrennial questions

January 2020

  • Poco

    Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle
    Can you solve it? The poco poco puzzle

    How to count a little in Spanish

December 2019

  • Leicester City v Liverpool - Premier League<br>LEICESTER, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 26: 2020 New Year - 20 on the backs of Adam Lallana of Liverpool and Hamza Choudhury of Leicester City during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Liverpool FC at The King Power Stadium on December 26, 2019 in Leicester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images)

    Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle
    Can you solve it? 2020 in numbers

    The new year deconstructed, and a prize challenge

July 2019

  • YouresoVenn-01

    Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle
    Can you solve it? The enduring appeal of Venn diagrams

    Where pictures and puzzles intersect

June 2019

  • Frustrated Mixed Race teenage girl doing homework

    Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle
    Can you solve it? Are you in the smartest 1 per cent (of 13-year-olds)?

    The test given to the UK’s maths prodigies

March 2019

  • Portrait Of Spinal Tap<br>Portrait of fictional Heavy metal group Spinal Tap as they pose at the Marquee, 1992. Pictured are, from left, Derek Smalls (as played by actor Harry Shearer), David St Hubbins (as played by actor Michael McKean), and Nigel Tufnel (as played by actor Christopher Guest). (Photo by Tony Mottram/Getty Images)

    Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle
    Did you solve it? Turn it up to 11

  • Paul Natkin Archive<br>Spinal Tap on 7/10/84 in Chicago, Il. in Various Locations, (Photo by Paul Natkin/WireImage)

    Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle
    Can you solve it? Turn it up to 11

December 2018

  • Chinese Prepare For New Year<br>CHANGZHOU, CHINA - DECEMBER 29: Children line up to form characters ‘2019’ during a performance to welcome the new year at a kindergarten on December 29, 2018 in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province of China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

    Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle
    Can you solve it? 2019 in numbers

    Calculations to kick start the new year

July 2018

  • Cycling: 105th Tour de France 2018 / Stage 9<br>ROUBAIX, FRANCE - JULY 15: Peloton / Landscape / Fans / Public / during the 105th Tour de France 2018, Stage 9 a 156,5 stage from Arras Citadelle to Roubaix on July 15, 2018 in Roubaix, France. (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

    Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle
    Did you solve it? Head-spinning bicycle puzzles

  • Cycling: 105th Tour de France 2018 / Stage 9<br>ROUBAIX, FRANCE - JULY 15: Rick Zabel of Germany and Team Katusha / D’auberchicourt À Écaillon Sector 13 / Cobbles / Pave / Dust / Peloton / during the 105th Tour de France 2018, Stage 9 a 156,5 stage from Arras Citadelle to Roubaix on July 15, 2018 in Roubaix, France. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

    Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle
    Can you solve it? Head-spinning bicycle puzzles

April 2018

  • mobius 6

    Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle
    Did you solve it? The puzzle with a twist

    The solutions to today’s puzzles

January 2018

  • New Year Celebration, Paris, France - 31 Dec 2017<br>Mandatory Credit: Photo by EDMOND SADAKA EDMOND/SIPA/REX/Shutterstock (9304678r) Sound and light show on Champs Elysees on the occasion of the transition to the new year. Projections illuminate the Arc de Triomphe on the theme of Parisian life, followed by fireworks. New Year Celebration, Paris, France - 31 Dec 2017

    Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle
    Did you solve it? Le Sudoku français est arrivé!

  • Crowds are seen at the Eiffel Tower during New Year’s celebrations in Paris on December 31, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Zakaria ABDELKAFIZAKARIA ABDELKAFI/AFP/Getty Images

    Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle
    Can you solve it? Le Sudoku français est arrivé!

September 2017

  • Chickens perch in trees, Guanyun county, Lianyungang city, Jiangsu province, China - 22 Aug 2017<br>Mandatory Credit: Photo by Imaginechina/REX/Shutterstock (9026516j) Hundreds of farmed chickens, nicknamed “airplanes” for their uncommonly strong ability to fly, are seen under and on trees in a village in Guanyun county Chickens perch in trees, Guanyun county, Lianyungang city, Jiangsu province, China - 22 Aug 2017

    Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle
    Did you solve it? Try your cluck at these chicken problems

  • Baby chicken and broken eggshell<br>BH5E50 Baby chicken and broken eggshell

    Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle
    Can you solve it? Try your cluck at these chicken problems

June 2017

  • LIBRARY IMAGE OF HIDDEN FIGURES<br>Octavia Spencer Film: Hidden Figures (USA 2016) Director: Theodore Melfi 25 December 2016 SAR71398 Allstar Picture Library/20TH CENTURY FOX **Warning** This Photograph is for editorial use only and is the copyright of 20TH CENTURY FOX and/or the Photographer assigned by the Film or Production Company &amp; can only be reproduced by publications in conjunction with the promotion of the above Film. A Mandatory Credit To 20TH CENTURY FOX is required. The Photographer should also be credited when known. No commercial use can be granted without written authority from the Film Company.

    Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle
    Did you solve it? Pythagoras's best puzzles

  • Pythagoras<br>Circa 540 BC, Pythagoras (c.580-500BC). Greek philosopher and mathematician. Born in Samos, after extensive travels settled in Crotona, a Greek colony in southern Italy c. 530 BC, where Pythagoreanism developed as a religious, reformist brotherhood, thought to have pro (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images) White;Format Portrait;Single;Male;Head Shoulders;Sculpture;Theorists Intellectuals;Personality;Greek;Europe;Earlydate;G2431/042;print

    Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle
    Can you solve it? Pythagoras's best puzzles