Some Cryptarithm Puzzles
... also known as alphametics or crypt-arithmetics

Shopping for Christmas? Buy educational toys this year...

Cryptarithm puzzles are fun, challenging puzzles good for anyone from age 10 to 100 or more.  In a cryptarithm puzzle, a normal arithmetic calculation has had all the digits replaced by letters of the alphabet. The aim of the puzzle is to find out what digit each letter represents.

Cryptarithms are sometimes called crypt-arithmetic puzzles (from the words cryptic and arithmetic), or alphametics (from alphabet and arithmetic) or letter arithmetic or verbal arithmetic. The website www.cryptarithmania.com has produced a CD with 4 million cryptarithm puzzles. I've picked out a few from the CD and put them here for your enjoyment. If you want more, you should visit Cryptarithmania and get the CD, or sign up for their free newsletter. In the meantime, scroll down to enjoy the ones I've picked out!

Remember that for each puzzle, these rules apply :
  • Each letter corresponds to a unique digit from 0 to 9 - different letters correspond to different digits.
  • No number in the sum has a leading 0.
  • Each puzzle has a single unique solution

First of all, here's a gadget that gives you a new Cryptarithm puzzle every day. You can add this gadget to your iGoogle home page, or to any web page :

Next, a few math-themed puzzles. This one tells you that if you keep a positive attitude to math, you'll find it a treat!

E A G E R
+ M A T H
T R E A T

If you really get math into your heart, it's like a poem or a beautiful song...

H E A R T
+ M A T H
R H Y M E

Sometimes, to get good at math, you just need to practice and practice until it becomes a habit...


M A T H
+ M A T H
H A B I T

... and finally, when you become mighty at math, you'll find it a lot less stressful!

M I G H T
+ M A T H
H A P P Y

Here's a few tougher puzzles, involving much bigger numbers. This first one reminds me of the story of Mary Poppins...


A L T I T U D E
+ R E M E D I E D

U M B R E L L A

Perhaps a person who fixes bedding material?


C O R R E C T S
+ R E J E C T E D

M A T T R E S S

Life is full of surprises - as this puzzle explains, it's likely that we will enjoy multiple surprises...


M U L T I P L E
+ S U R P R I S E

L I K E L I E R

Well, that's all for now. Remember to visit the site I got these from to get more cryptarithms.