And here's a solution

The question was:
How do you add, subtract, multiply and divide 1 2 3 5 9 9 to get 653 ?


653 = (3 + 1) x 2 x 9 x 9 + 5 = 8 x 81 + 5

Here's another one

How do you add, subtract, multiply and divide 1 2 3 5 9 9 to get 653 ?


First correct answer gives a NumberWiz promo code in the inbox.
Address: proctele at gmail.com


The winter weather continues. The trees outside are perfectly still. Either there's no wind or the trees are frozen stiff :-)

This is how you make ...

The question is:
How do you make 727 out of 1 8 9 10 75 100 ?


Here's one answer: 727 = (100 - 9) x 8 - 1 = 91 x 8 - 1 = 728 - 1
The 10 and 75 went unused, which is Ok.


If you want to use all of the numbers, here's another solution:
727 = 8 x 75 + 100 + 10 + 9 + 8 = 600 + 127

How do you make ...

How do you make 727 out of 1 8 9 10 75 100 ?


The first one to send me a correct answer will get a promo code for NumberWiz in return.


Address admin at proctele.se

Terrific days for playing games

These are perfect days for playing great games on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. It's colder than it's been for several generations, so why not just give in and sit before the fireplace for a game of NumberWiz. Of course you can go skiing like I did with my family yesterday. There's enough snow for it, even in the American south. But you can only ski for a few hours and then it's time for After Ski. 
All in all playing games is a better proposition. You can do it anywhere, anytime and for as long as you want. All you need is that sleek Apple device and a handful of good games. 
Enjoy yourself!

The solution to the puzzle

The challenge was to use these numbers: 3 6 8 9 25 75 to get 829. As usual only addition, subtraction, multiplication and division are allowed, and only whole numbers are accepted. Here's one solution:


(25 + 6) x 9 x 3 - 8 = (31 x 27) - 8 = 829

A NumberWiz example

Here's a NumberWiz example:

Use these numbers: 3 6 8 9 25 75 to get 829.


The first correct answer I receive will get one free promo code for NumberWiz. Email your answer to admin at proctele.se and I will reply with a NumberWiz promo code.

Answer will follow tomorrow on this blog.

My research team: the report

I've paid a research team to study the implications of playing NumberWiz, both short term and long term. Here's what they came up with.
They looked into the dangers of spending too much time playing Numberwiz and found that the risk of getting too little exercise is likely to be minor. Only 2% of their sample people have gained more than a kilo after they started playing. Of those 2% no less than 35% actually lost 0.8 kilo two weeks after they started playing. 28% lost as much as 1.5 kilo. The researchers speculate that this may be due to increased energy use in the brain. 98% of the sample showed neither weight increase nor weight loss.
My researchers also found some evidence for their hypothesis that playing NumberWiz may protect you from acquiring Alzheimer's disease. However this must be seen as almost pure speculation, since the subjects haven't been studied for long enough.
The team found ample evidence that playing NumberWiz enhances the IQ score. 71% of the sample increased their IQ by no less than 6 points on average! 12% increased their score by a whopping 23 points on average. The median increase was 8 points.
And that's the end of the report.
Let's not take the above too seriously though. Instead simply enjoy the NumberWiz magic for what it is: Entertainment.

The above report is pure fiction.

Numbers are magic

Number magic can mean a lot of things. One of the magics about numbers is that they are believed to have power. This goes for say, 3, 7 and 13 and some more. 
Numbers are either lucky or unlucky. In Chinese, the numbers 6 and 8 are particularly lucky numbers. The reason is that they sound like some of the most positive words in human language. 6 sounds like happiness, 8 like fortune. That's the reason Chinese speaking countries have acquired country phone codes like these:
86 - China
886 - Taiwan
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_in_Chinese_culture

NumberWiz represents a different sort of number magic: arithmetic. Arithmetic is magic and so are the great practitioners of mental arithmetic. However one doesn't have to be a master to enjoy it. I suspect it's the other way round. Take skiing. Does a good alpine skier enjoy skiing more than a beginner? I doubt it. Rather the skier who is on the steepest learning curve enjoys it the most.


Enjoy NumberWiz and make sure you keep learning.

My addiction is called NumberWiz

I'm addicted to NumberWiz. It started well before the app release, when I was playing it in the development environment. 

The addiction intensified when I started running it on the device itself. It was so easy to just pick up the sleek iPod touch, fondle its soft steely body, pressing the home button and seeing the raven-black glass screen light up. The enigmatic NumberWiz icon begs to be touched and is seen again at startup. An excellent choice of wallpaper for a lock screen.

As you can see I'm not complaining. As a NumberWiz junkie my mind will only get better, and if I start training, so will my body.

Go out and multiply, NumberWiz gamers!

The answer to yesterday's challenge

Challenge: Use these numbers: 3 6 25 50 75 100 to get 952.


((100+6) x 3 x 75 - 50) / 25 = 952


This one was not easy.

Can you solve this?

Here's a nice example:


Use these numbers: 3 6 25 50 75 100 to get 952.


Answer will follow tomorrow on this blog.

World leader reactions to NumberWiz release

There have been several reactions to the NumberWiz app release from world leaders. Here are a few of them:

The US president was among the first to react: "NumberWiz is an exceptional gift to mankind, comparable to the works of Newton, Archimedes or Shakespeare. It will have a decisive influence on our national debt. To my fellow Americans, I promise: I will from now on start each meeting with my advisers with a game of NumberWiz, to check that they are at the very top of their mental abilities. God bless America and the NumberWiz app, for which I switched to iPhone."

The German chancellor commented: "Daily use of NumberWiz will become compulsory for every individual in the German government, from the cleaners of government buildings to the ministers of the Bundesländern and the Federal government. This is the only sure way for us to win future World Cups and come to terms with the unemployment in our country."

The Russian president said: "The modernization of Russia demands that the NumberWiz game be given to each and every Russian student. The strategic skills of our Icehockey team and our military leaders will improve massively and our oil production will go straight through the roof. God bless this application!"

The Swedish minister of Finance commented: "The rate of GNP growth in our country will be closely correlated with the sales figures of the NumberWiz application."

The French president's reaction was tempered: "France will be the European country to prosper most from this application. I will use all my influence to make sure the NumberWiz application will gain widest possible acceptance and ownership rate in France. Our nation depends on it. The NumberWiz writer will be awarded the Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur."

The Swiss minister for finances said: "The NumberWiz application is likely to shift the world's center of financial regulation from Basel to Ekeby in Sweden."

The British PM said: "If we'd had this NumberWiz application earlier, Gordon and Tony wouldn't have had the time to get us into this mess. We must draw the right conclusions and be more alert when the next app from Proctele is released."

The Chinese president commented: "Our export will certainly not suffer from the exponential increase in NumberWiz users. On the contrary, he said, smiling!"

The outgoing Brazilian president Lula said: "I'm going to spend the rest of my life playing NumberWiz on my iPad. I just love this game!"

The above text is entirely fictional.

Chuck Norris NumberWiz Facts

Chuck Norris is an expert NumberWiz player. Here's a very condensed summary of what he has achieved so far:

1. Chuck Norris solved the NumberWiz puzzle even before the clocks appeared on screen 2.
2. Chuck Norris once got the NumberWiz app to agree to use the same number twice. Here's an audio recording of what happened: sound.
3. When Chuck Norris once played NumberWiz, he asked the app to show a solution. The app showed a solution which wasn't exact. Chuck Norris's solution WAS exact.
4. Once when Chuck Norris was playing NumberWiz he computed an answer within two seconds. However the app didn't realize the answer was correct. Chuck Norris got so angry he shook his iPhone and very soon the app realized its mistake and said: sound.

NumberWiz examples

NumberWiz can present quite some challenges. 


Here's an example. How do you apply addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to make the number 390 out of the numbers 3 7 8 9 75 100 ?
A solution: (8-3) x 9 x 7 + 75 = 5 x 67 + 75. Creativity certainly helps.


How then do you make the number 640 out of the numbers 6 7 8 9 9 50 ?
One solution is: ((9x9) - (7-6)) x 8 = 80 x 8 = 640. Less difficult than the previous.

NumberWiz is now in App Store

The NumberWiz app was released to the App Store on Friday December 10. 
If you want to exercise your mental arithmetic skills then NumberWiz is certainly for you.
It works as follows: You pick six numbers out of two stacks of cards. One of the stacks contains all the numbers from 1 to 10, two of each. The other stack contains the numbers 25, 50, 75 and 100. The stacks are shuffled, so you can't select what numbers you get. When you've selected the numbers, you press a button and then the app immediately selects a three-digit number. Now it's up to you to use the four arithmetic operators to arrive at the three-digit result.
It's quite a challenge and you decide for how long you're going to try and find an answer. However after 45 seconds you have the option to ask the app for an answer. I usually press that button to check if the app suggests my solution. 
I've played it a lot myself. It helps to practice and there are tricks you can use, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_calculation
There's a help button in the app, which displays a short explanation of the rules.