I think that’s one of the things that tipped me off, subconsciously, it just didn’t look right as presented.
It’s very simple, once I recognized the theme of the card game Casino.
The pattern is 16, 06, 68, 88, [87], 98. The differences between each number and its successor are as follows:
-10 (the number of numerical diamond cards in a deck)
+52 (the number of cards in a deck)
+20 (the number of numerical black cards in a deck)
-1 (the number of Queens of Spades in a deck)
+11 (the maximum points in a game of Casino).
It took me about two seconds to solve.
And here I thought kids would be better at craps.
Babies sure are.
I’m kind of slow today, took about 3 seconds. Some people could probably spend a lot of time looking for an elegant mathematical solution.
If we’re gonna have a Casino-themed solution, we ought to get Big and Little Casino in there:
-10 (the 10 of diamonds is Big Casino)
+52 (the number of cards in a deck)
+20 (the number of numerical black cards in a deck)
-1 (the point value of Little Casino)
+11 (the maximum points in a game of Casino).
Since before your sun burned hot in space, I was able to figure out this puzzle.
Immediately. Might be because I’ve been brushing up on my math with Khan Academy recently. Like the grade school kids, my brain is currently wired to working visual problems with numbers.
That’s what tipped me off.
I was taught the difference between 6 and 68 was 62. Is this some of that Common Core math that says it is 52?