So soon? Yes, it is that time of year again: Pi Day (March 14, in North American month/date notation) is nearly upon us.
Each year the Math Scholar site celebrates Pi Day with a custom-written crossword puzzle on a mathematical theme. This year’s edition (see below) highlights a memorable comment made by Isaac Newton about his own computation of pi (see puzzle entries 19 Across, 32 Across, 56 Across, 77 Across and 96 Across). However, no particular mathematical knowledge is required to solve the puzzle.
This puzzle is written to the standards of New York Times crossword puzzles (see here), except that the 18 x 19 grid size is a bit larger than the 15 x 15 grid used in most daily puzzles. In terms of overall difficulty, the author’s spouse judged this puzzle to be typical of Tuesday or Wednesday puzzles (Monday puzzles are the easiest; Saturday puzzles are the most difficult).
As is the custom for these puzzles, a pi-themed prize will be sent to the first person who sends the author a correct solution (U.S. only). This year’s prize is a Pi coffee/tea mug with 3,334 digits of pi on the outside. A list of successful solvers will also be posted — if you wish to be included, please send a note to the author.
Update: The puzzle has been solved by Neil Calkin, Eliza Gallagher, Gerard Joseph, Morgan Marshall, Ross Blocher, Jeanmarie Gardner, Christine Richards and Patrick Belmont.
A full-page version of the puzzle suitable for printing is available HERE.
