Challenger Puzzle #1

+5

Some Equations

As an educator, I have always enjoyed creating my own puzzles.  This makes it so people cannot just look up answers online.  They either solve it or will never know the answer.  Enjoy this puzzle.  I would call this "extreme" in terms of difficulty.  Good luck!


I have invented a mathematical system.  I can always give you more information about my mathematical system, but this should be enough for you to dig in and figure things out!

I.  10 + 110 = 120

II.  1 + 1 = 10

III.  211 * 10 = 1100

IV.  4020 / 1001 = 20

V.  121,310 - 112,220 = 4020

VI.  43,011 - 24,301 = 13,110


Using these equations, solve the following problem:

Let A = 1.  Let B = A + 1.  Let C = B + 1, and so forth.

What is ABCDEFGHIJK - 1?


Hint:  I used Roman numerals just to differentiate from my math system.  They are not part of the problem.

+3
Level 59
May 2, 2023
I have.....no clue.
+8
Level 77
May 2, 2023
You actually have 6!
+1
Level 34
May 3, 2023
lol
+2
Level 67
May 2, 2023
Is ABCDEFGHIJK a base-10 number (i.e. 1234567891011) or is it a number based on your system or something else that we need to work out?
+2
Level 77
May 3, 2023
It’s A x B x C x D x E…
+3
Level 77
May 3, 2023
The calculation could be in my system, but I’d recognize the standard number, too. My system’s number is much better and more satisfying, though. :)
+5
Level 67
May 3, 2023
OK. Is the answer A987654321 (using the base-16 digit convention)?
+2
Level 77
May 3, 2023
Well dang, that was fast! Nicely done!
+2
Level 81
Nov 9, 2023
D'oh! I forgot to subtract the 1 at the end!

I was so happy to have figured it out, thinking it was 10,000,000,000.

Then I looked at the comment thread, saw your answer, and went: "Now how did you get to that answer?"

Then I saw Dimby's response and was even more confused.

Then I went back up and re-read the question. Oh. Yeah. A..K minus one. Oops!

+2
Level 60
May 3, 2023
Shoot. I still haven't gotten remotely close to finishing your Impossible Quiz and now there's another puzzle! Is this number system, by any chance, related to the one in The Impossible Quiz?

My first impression was that V and IV as well as I and II or I and III are directly connected; there's no need to solve the pattern. This doesn't seem to hold, though. Also, bases don't seem to work here (ABCDEFGHIJK is 37713647386641440 from base 36), so I'm stumped so far.

+3
Level 77
May 3, 2023
It’s not… unrelated… ;)
+2
Level 59
Feb 15, 2024
Thanks for the fyi! Izna seems like an interesting critter. I thought it was satire @ first, but i see their intro blog has been deleted or taken down

i dont think its a kal alt all kal does is comeback every few months and see that the site still wont let him write whatever and leaves. also izna is too developed (65 levels!) to be an alt