Problem
Balancing Coins ‒ You have 12 coins that look identical; one is counterfeit and lighter.
Using a two-pan balance only two weighings, determine exactly which coin is fake.
Chess-Board Domino ‒ A standard 8 × 8 chessboard has its two opposite corner
squares removed. Can you cover the remaining 62 squares completely with 31 identical 2
× 1 dominoes? Justify your answer.
The Locked Boxes ‒ Three boxes are labelled “Apples,” “Bananas,” and “Apples &
Bananas.” All labels lie. You may open exactly one box and take out one piece of fruit.
How can you relabel every box correctly?
Magic 4’s ‒ Arrange four 4’s and as many mathematical symbols as you like (no
concatenation like 44) to make every integer from 0 to 20. Provide any three examples
(your choice of outputs).
Tri-Colour Triangle ‒ Each side of an equilateral triangle is divided into 4 equal
segments. How many smaller equilateral triangles of any size appear in the resulting grid?
Pass-the-Parcel ‒ A gift is passed clockwise around a circular table with 17 students.
Starting with Alisha, every second person (skip one each time) receives the parcel and
stays in the game; the rest leave the circle. Who gets the gift in the end?
Digit Deletion ‒ Remove one digit from 12 345 so that the remaining four-digit number is
divisible by 9. List all possibilities.
Painted Cube ‒ A solid 4 × 4 × 4 cube is painted on all six faces, then cut into 64 unit
cubes. How many of these little cubes have paint on exactly two faces?
Equal Angles, Unknown Lengths ‒ In ΔABC, point D is on BC so that ∠BAD = ∠DAC.
Prove that AD² = BD × DC without using the angle-bisector length formula—think similar
triangles instead.
One-Line Calendar Trick ‒ Write any date in DD-MM-YYYY format (e.g., 02-09-2025).
Show how to decide, in under 10 seconds and in your head, whether the date falls on a
weekend—even before learning the doomsday algorithm. Explain the logic.
Folding Surprise ‒ A square sheet of paper is folded in half, then in half again (both folds
are perpendicular). A single straight snip through all layers yields a five-pointed star when
unfolded. Sketch or describe the fold positions.
Circle of Cards ‒ Cards numbered 1–100 are placed face-up in a circle. Starting with card
1, you flip it face-down, move clockwise past one card, flip the next card, skip two, flip one,
skip three, flip one, and so on (skip length grows by 1 each time). After you pass card 1
again the process stops. Which cards remain face-up?
The Hidden Square ‒ Without lifting pencil or retracing, draw a 3 × 3 grid of nine squares’
outer edges using exactly one continuous stroke. Is it possible? Argue why/why not with
Eulerian path logic.
Mango Market Mix-Up ‒ Seller A mixes ripe and unripe mangoes in a 3 : 7 ratio and sells
at ₹40 each. Seller B mixes in 7 : 3 ratio at ₹60 each. A customer wants exactly 40
mangoes priced at ₹50 on average. How many should she buy from each seller?
Sneaky Sequence ‒ The sequence 1, 2, 4, 7, 11, … adds successive natural numbers
( +1, +2, +3, +4, …). Which is the smallest term greater than 10 000? Show the reasoning,
not the formula.
Area Swap ‒ Two rectangles have the same perimeter P. One is twice as long as it is
wide; the other is three times as long as it is wide. Which has the greater area? Don’t use
algebraic formulas—compare logically.
Mirror Clock ‒ A faulty digital clock flips its display left-to-right like a mirror. At 15:58 real
time it shows 15:58 (palindrome). What is the next real time that also appears unchanged
in the mirror?
Broken Ruler ‒ A rigid 30 cm ruler is snapped so that one piece is 5 cm longer than the
other. Without measuring, how can you find exactly where the break occurred using only
the two pieces?
Hexagon Coloring ‒ A regular hexagon is to be colored using three colors so that no two
adjacent sides share the same color. How many distinct colorings exist up to rotation?
Explain without Polya’s formula.
Pyramid of Pebbles ‒ Pebbles are stacked to form a square-based pyramid with 5 layers
(5 × 5 on bottom, 4 × 4 above, …, 1 × 1 on top). If you remove every pebble touching
exactly three others, how many remain? Work it out layer-by-layer.