# Number puzzle. Can you replace the question mark?

Replace the question mark.

If,

[5 22 5 14 19] 12 16 19 21 [[15 20 23]] = 65

then,

[[8 5 18 20 5]] 9 13 19 14 21 [14 14 5 9] = ?

ZERO (0)

First note that:

We can replace each number on the left-hand side of the two equations with their A1Z26 letter equivalents:

[5 22 5 14 19] 12 16 19 21 [[15 20 23]] = 65
becomes
[E V E N S] L P S U [[O T W]] = 65

[[8 5 18 20 5]] 9 13 19 14 21 [14 14 5 9] = ?
becomes
[[H E R T E]] I M S N U [N N E I] = ?

Then notice that we can:

Anagram each of the three sections (separated by brackets) of each line to form three words:

[SEVEN] PLUS [[TWO]] = 65

[[THREE]] MINUS [NINE] = ?

We now need to work out:

What the different types of brackets mean. Well, if we spot that 65 = 7^2 + 2^4, we can perhaps deduce that the presence of square brackets means we should square whatever number is in them. Effectively we have seven squared plus two squared squared (i.e. 49 + 16), making 65.

From this, we can deduce that we should:

Take three squared squared minus nine squared. Since three squared squared is nine squared, then our answer is 81-81 which is ZERO.

• Good job. Quick 👍 – Prim3numbah Dec 4 '19 at 13:56