March 4, 2002
Problem of the Week

Wedded Bliss

Please help me wish my son, Michael, and his soon-to-be-bride, Kristine, much wedded bliss by solving the following problem:

    M I K E       
  + K R I S
 -----------
  B L I S S
            

Each distinct letter represents a different digit in the addition problem.

They will be married on March 9, 2002!

Solution to the Problem:
Two of the 16 correct answers are:

   3 7 8 0           
 + 8 9 7 5         
----------         
 1 2 7 5 5          
 
    or
 
  8 7 6 0
+ 6 9 7 3
----------
1 5 7 3 3
           

B must be 1 since that is the most that can be carried from adding two single digit numbers.
E must be 0 since S + E = S.
R must be 9 because you can only carry a 1 from the previous column and R cannot equal 0 (since E = 0).

After Richard Johnson sent in 16 solutions to the problem, I wrote a computer program in C++ to determine if there were any more answers. But the computer yielded only the same 16 solutions. James Alarie also came up with the same 16 solutions. David and Judy Dixon sent in 15 of the solutions.

B E I K L M R S
- - - - - - - -
1 0 4 8 5 6 9 2
1 0 4 8 6 7 9 2
1 0 5 7 4 6 9 2
1 0 5 7 6 8 9 2
1 0 5 8 6 7 9 3
1 0 6 7 2 4 9 3
1 0 6 8 2 3 9 4
1 0 7 5 4 8 9 2
1 0 7 6 2 5 9 3
1 0 7 6 5 8 9 3
1 0 7 8 2 3 9 5
1 0 7 8 3 4 9 5
1 0 8 5 2 6 9 3
1 0 8 6 2 5 9 4
1 0 8 7 2 4 9 5
1 0 8 7 4 6 9 5

The bride, the groom, and the mother of the groom all solved this week's problem:

Correctly solved by:

1. Kristine Kohlroser	Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
2. Michael Pleacher	Portland, Maine
3. Richard K. Johnson *	La Jolla, California
4. Rick Jones *	Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
5. Walt Arrison	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
6. Wobbly Bells	Rockford, Michigan
7. Tori Eads	Winchester, Virginia
8. Izzy Kushner *	Closter, New Jersey
9. ----------	United Kingdom
10. Carol Pleacher	Stephens City, Virginia
11. Jessica Gates	Rockford, Michigan
12. Angela Wolf	----------
13. Elizabeth Emmart	Winchester, Virginia
14. Nick von Keller	Winchester, Virginia
15. Ben Huizenga	----------
16. Matt McMurtry	Arlington, Virginia
17. Brendan Jones	Winchester, Virginia
18. Ellen Sankovich	Winchester, Virginia
19. James Alarie *	University of Michigan -- Flint, Michigan
20. Kelsey Dufendach	Rockford, Michigan
21. George Gaither	Winchester, Virginia
22. Jill Schlueter	Winchester, Virginia
23. Amy Lamport	Rockford, Michigan
24. Adam Peck	----------
25. Jaime Garcia *	Winchester, Virginia
26. Dwyer	----------
27. Luay Almassalha	----------
28. Griffin	----------
29. David and Judy Dixon *	Bennettsville, South Carolina

* Sent in multiple solutions to the problem

Send any comments or questions to: David Pleacher