Miners Rest Primary School

Learning Specialists

Pilgrim's Puzzle Solution

Well, this was the trickiest puzzle of the Family Maths Night evening!

Here is a re-cap of the challenge:

The pilgrim needed to get from the top left corner to the bottom right corner (see photo below) without incurring any tax. Travelling west incurs +2 silver pieces, south incurs x2 pieces, east is -2 and north is ÷2.

There were 2 hints:

  1. For the pilgrim to owe 0 when she arrives at the temple, what must she have owed just before that? What about before that? 
  2. What happens if the pilgrim circles a single block?

Spoiler Alert - The solutions follow.

There is more than one answer. Let's start with Felicity and her dad's solution:

S,S,S,S,W,N,W,S,W,N,N,E,E,S,S,W,W,N,W,S or

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some of the others:

S E N W S S S E E E E S

S,S,S,E,E,E,N,N,W,S,S,S,E,E

S,S,E,E,E,N,N,W,S,S,S,E,E,S


S,S,E,E,E,N,W,W,S,S,E,S,E,E


S,E,E,E,N,W,W,S,S,E,S,E,E,S

 

How would we use the same task but alter it a little for more of a challenge? We could 

  • ask for the shortest route possible
  • how many solutions can you find?
  • find the largest amount of tax the pilgrim would pay (without tracing over their steps).

Well done if you found an answer!

Next week I shall put in another challenge from the night that you could solve over the holidays.

 

Pat Withell

Learning Specialist - Maths