The numbers on this triangle are organized based on a sure system. What would the following row be?
In every row n of the triangle, the integers from 1 to n are in alphabetical order. Within the subsequent row the quantity 8 could be added, and since “eight” comes earlier than “five” in alphabetical order, it have to be at first of the row, giving us this sequence:
8 5 4 1 7 6 3 2
(Observe that Scientific American’s editors needed to alter the order on this one from the unique German.)
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This puzzle initially appeared in Spektrum der Wissenschaft and was reproduced with permission.
