Lucknow, India

Can you solve it? Do you have a snout for numbers?

Published 8 June 2026 · india

Today’s offering is for fans of the number 4. It’s a cute puzzle that offers up its solution in an elegant way. Nose to tail

Today’s offering is for fans of the number 4. It’s a cute puzzle that offers up its solution in an elegant way. Nose to tail There is a number N beginning with 4 such that moving the 4 to the end of it creates a new number that is a quarter of N.

In other words N is of the form 4[…], where […] is a sequence of digits, and N ÷ 4 = […]4 What is the lowest possible value of N? HINT. Suppose that N has two digits. If you cant find a solution, suppose that N has three digits.

Repeat until done. I’ll be back at 5pm UK with the solution. PLEASE NO SPOILERS. Instead discuss snouts. Source: Moscow Mathematical Olympiad 1983, via @mathematicsproblems and Kevin Gately I’ve been setting a puzzle here on alternate Mondays since 2015.

I’m always on the look-out for great puzzles. If you would like to suggest one, email me.

Read full story on TheBriefWire

Loading…