Sally invited 17 guests to a Christmas hoedown.   She assigned each guest a number from 2 to 18, keeping 1 for herself.   While everyone was dancing, Sally noticed that the sum of each couple's numbers was a perfect square.   What was the number of Sally's partner?

 


Solution to the Problem:

Sally's partner had number 15. The pairings were 1-15, 2-14, 3-13, 4-12, 5-11, 6-10, 7-18, 8-17, and 9-16.


Correctly solved by:

1. K. Sengupta Calcutta, INDIA
2. John Funk Ventura, California
3. Ken Petersen Mountain View High School,
Mountain View, Wyoming
4. Kallie Gross Mountain View High School,
Mountain View, Wyoming
5. David & Judy Dixon Bennettsville, South Carolina
6. Richard K. Johnson La Jolla, California
7. Jamie Campbell ----------
8. Les Walker Ventura, California