benjamin dickman

same Tue solve #2solve

🫸🏻🔥🪲🫷🏻

Redactle | Wikipedia based Puzzle Game The most popular, fully featured, ad-free Redactle game! Daily puzzles with no ads, multiplayer, device sync, smart word matching and more. Your mission is to unveil the title of the redacted Wikipedi...

I solved Redactle #1426 in 30 guesses with an accuracy of 70.0% and a time of 3m53s. Play at redactle.net

good problem!

same tiny #2solve for Monday

Sun #2solve; ululates on the beach

01001000 01001111 01010111 01001100 01010011 00100000 01010011 01010101 01001110 01000010 01000001 01001011 01001001 01001110 01000111

Sat #2solve:
Almost Merlin (...Erlin?) and all that jazz

01001001 01011010 01000001 01010010 01000100 01010011 00100000 01010011 01000001 01011000 01001111 01010000 01001000 01001111 01001110 01001001 01010011 01010100

Big sky with a thin strip of land and some body of water, possibly the Susquehanna River. There are many clouds dispersed discretely but densely.

re:
is this a problem mathematics can fix?

I enjoyed reading the various comments left, too. My view is that the numerics are often being used for a linguistic function (emphasis, juxtaposition, etc) rather than to communicate quantitative truths. And more often than not it's in bad faith!

same but made a = 1/2 to deal w denominators only at the very end!

e.g. this?
bsky.app/profile/benj...

i don't follow how this "trick" was used? i see the final function but what computation was carried out to get there

Ghausst

i(-3+i) = -1 - 3i

x² = 1 shift x to x+3i:
(x+3i)² = 1
x² + 6ix - 10 = 0

change x to ix:
-x² - 6x - 10 = 0

which is the quadratic found earlier, repeatedly (multiplied by -1)

so... the shift can be done by a complex value, too!

using
x² = 9 for x = -3
then changing x to x-i:
x² - 2ix - 10 = 0

gives the right root, but coefficients are not integral

would like to sub ix for x:
-x² + 2x - 10 = 0

but this multiplies roots by -i

SO

instead we can start with desired root multiplied by i, and then use this method.

that is:

same Fri #2solve,

"↘️💋"

Preimage of the kernel? idk who we are asking lol

a classic tho i like my final one the most!!

Opinion | America, We Have a Math Problem

Gotchu!

🎁🔗:
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/26/o...

Examples of Innumeracy I read Innumeracy by John Allen Paulos and would like to share more up-to-date and relevant examples of innumeracy to motivate my grade 8, 9 & 10 students. Are there any websites, blogs, books,...

innumeracy is an interesting topic to broach in mathematics classes; about 12 years ago (with a subsequent edit) I assembled some examples here:
matheducators.stackexchange.com/a/1573/262

Opinion | America, We Have a Math Problem

chanced upon the so-called "People's State of the Union" irl this past Tuesday evening

fascinating to hear, live & up close, from several sitting members of Congress!

separately (h/t coworker):
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/26/o...

unrelated to La Costa Nostra

i texted a colleague to ask for her method and she did the same as you!

yes i threaded such a solution here! :)

these are always fun! for me! and maybe for others!

another??

x^2 + 1 = 0 has a root at i
we can shift this root by -3 by changing x to x+3

(x+3)^2 + 1 = 0

ok one more then reading others

the QF in vertex form for a monic quadratic
(x-h)^2 + k = 0
is
x = h +or- sqrt{-k}

if we get rat'l coefficients we'll clear denominators

we want
h + sqrt{-k} = -3 + sqrt{-1}
so... let's just use h = -3 and k = 1, lol

answer?
(x+3)^2 + 1 = 0

coefficients in Z, ok

alt'ly, i might just set a = 1/2 and b = 3

then quadratic formula says:
x = -3 +or- sqrt{9 - 2c}

so we want 9 - 2c = -1, i.e., 2c = 10; so c = 5

quadratic:
(1/2)x^2 + 3x + 5

you said integer coefficients tho so mult by 2:
x^2 + 6x + 10

alt'ly, knowing conjugate must be another root:

(x - (-3 + i))(x - (-3 - i)) = 0

here, tho, i would expand the LHS using a diff of squares:
( [x+3] - i )( [x+3] + i) = (x+3)^2 - i^2
which is, as above,
x^2 + 6x + 9 + 1

x = -3 + i
x + 3 = i
square:
x^2 + 6x + 9 = -1
x^2 + 6x + 10 = 0

note 1:
squaring introduced another root but idc

note 2:
i learned this from a ninth grader in 2016 :)

maybe they meant 'injective' idk