Answer to January 7, 2002 Problem

This week's Problem of the Week is in honor of Elvis Presley's birthday, which of course occurs this week (have you purchased a birthday present yet?).

You must determine the values of A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, and I in the magic square below. The magic sum is equal to Elvis' age when he died (actually, he is still alive -- Click here ).

The nine clues about Elvis' life should be all that you need to solve this magic square. However, it can be solved mathematically with just a little logic. The sum of the three numbers in each row, column, and diagonal must all be the same. In the clues below, the day refers to a number from 1 to 31 -- not the names of the days of the week.

• A. The number of weeks that Elvis' Blue Hawaii album stayed at #1 on the charts.
• B. Elvis' height measured in feet.
• C. The day in August 1977 on which Elvis died.
• D. It was on this day in April of 1957 that Elvis moved in to Graceland.
• E. The number of times that Elvis was nominated for a Grammy Award.
• F. The number of Elvis' top 40 hits that hit #1 (he had 107 top 40 hits).
• G. The day in May 1960 of Elvis' television special, "Welcome Home, Elvis."
• H. Elvis' age when he moved into Graceland.
• I. The day in January 1935 on which Elvis was born.

Extra Credit:
How many times does Elvis sing the word, blue, in the song, Blue Christmas?

Click here if you need the nine numbers