Pick Up Sticks

There are 15 sticks below. Remove six sticks and be left with 10.

There are 25 sticks below. Remove 10 of them and be left with three.

Communicated and solved by Nicole and Michelle Beaupre.

53 Comments

  1. Steven Miller on August 19, 2019 at 11:05 am

    glad to hear

    have you tried any of the riddles? email me at [email protected]



  2. SKIPER on August 19, 2019 at 7:48 am

    Keep up the great work , I read few blog posts on this internet site and I believe that your weblog is really interesting and has got lots of good information.



  3. Steven Miller on May 16, 2015 at 4:33 pm

    I first email hints, and if those don’t work, then solns. My email is SJM1 AT WILLIAMMS.EDU



  4. Abdul Qayyum on May 16, 2015 at 12:07 pm

    I found this tutorial, the best of all. Really appreciateable.,,.,,. Also visit my website,.,.,.

    coolmathgames



  5. Steven Miller on February 21, 2014 at 12:23 pm

    Glad you’re enjoying



  6. Steven Miller on August 29, 2013 at 2:23 pm

    no, they are right

    it is a solution involving reading

    email to you doesn’t work — I’m sjm1 AT williams.edu



  7. Steven Miller on August 27, 2013 at 3:00 am

    I do — I’ll email you the password. If you use these in classes, please let me know how things go, and if there’s anything I can do to help.



  8. Susan on August 26, 2013 at 8:01 pm

    Saw your website, these are great! I would like to use it with my math classes. Do you supply solutions to teachers? Would love a copy of them if you do. Thanks.



  9. Steven Miller on October 18, 2012 at 12:46 am

    email me: sjm1 AT williams.edu



  10. Steven Miller on October 10, 2012 at 2:02 am

    email me at sjm1 AT williams.edu as I don’t want to post the answer /s



  11. spencer on October 9, 2012 at 10:43 pm

    how would you get a r from the problem there are 25 sticks belo. remove 10 of them and be left with three



  12. Steven Miller on September 26, 2012 at 3:33 pm

    thanks, glad you’re enjoying



  13. Ima on September 26, 2012 at 3:21 pm

    Thanks for your marvelous posting! I seriously
    enjoyed reading it, you might be a great author.I will remember to bookmark your blog and will come
    back down the road. I want to encourage one to continue your great posts, have a nice evening!



  14. Steven Miller on July 19, 2012 at 3:16 am

    purehearts: email to you bounced, correct soln



  15. Steven Miller on July 8, 2012 at 3:40 am

    sent a hint //s



  16. Ahmad on July 8, 2012 at 2:55 am

    Email the solution plzzzz



  17. Steven Miller on June 25, 2012 at 2:59 am

    Anonymous: correct



  18. Steven Miller on May 24, 2012 at 1:40 pm

    blah: correct! not posting as this is the soln



  19. Steven Miller on May 15, 2012 at 7:16 pm

    not sure what this means — yes, the people who proposed it were able to do it. //s



  20. iyin on May 15, 2012 at 5:09 pm

    have they done this puzzle



  21. Steven Miller on May 13, 2012 at 10:52 am

    Correct amy!



  22. Steven Miller on May 12, 2012 at 1:46 am

    Great!



  23. salynna on May 11, 2012 at 6:37 pm

    I GOT IT. ;D



  24. Steven Miller on May 3, 2012 at 12:28 am

    Eihunt == correct, not posting as it’s the soln



  25. Steven Miller on April 4, 2012 at 12:50 am

    To “me”: correct, well done. not posting as it’s the soln ..s



  26. Anonymous on April 3, 2012 at 9:12 pm

    Me – For the first one remove 6 sticks to spell the number ten.For the second one remove ten sticks to spell the number 3.



  27. Steven Miller on March 30, 2012 at 2:48 am

    No. //s



  28. Anonymous on March 30, 2012 at 12:36 am

    does it matter what way the sticks are lined up



  29. Steven Miller on March 29, 2012 at 8:17 pm

    xiaomilk: correct, not posting as it’s the soln.



  30. james on March 20, 2012 at 6:24 pm

    nice



  31. Steven Miller on March 14, 2012 at 1:11 am

    Just send a hint.//s



  32. victor on March 13, 2012 at 11:59 pm

    This is very challenging



  33. Steven Miller on March 4, 2012 at 1:59 am

    glad you enjoyed it ..s



  34. jeroen on March 4, 2012 at 1:56 am

    Haha found the answer very good.
    After looking at the first comment i saw it very quickly



  35. Steven Miller on February 6, 2012 at 3:41 am

    To awesome: yes, it has to do with what you think. Email your soln to me at [email protected] and I’ll confirm it if you wish. //s



  36. Steven Miller on January 12, 2012 at 7:19 pm

    glad to hear — sent some info to you. /s



  37. Farryl on January 12, 2012 at 7:01 pm

    Hi. This site is just what I’m looking for to challenge my students (home-education). Can you help us with “Pick Up Sticks?”



  38. Steven Miller on December 13, 2011 at 8:52 pm

    Anonymouns (Submitted on 2011/12/13 at 8:44 pm): correct, and as requested removing your post after reading.



  39. Steven Miller on December 13, 2011 at 8:36 pm

    I’ll send a hint. //s



  40. Sean on December 13, 2011 at 4:22 pm

    Can you email me the solution? It’s driving me crazy…



  41. Steven Miller on December 6, 2011 at 9:27 pm

    These sticks are valuable family heirlooms — grandma will be so upset if they’re broken!



  42. Kareem on December 6, 2011 at 6:59 pm

    break one in half? making it 2 sticks?



  43. Steven Miller on December 1, 2011 at 2:18 pm

    THERE IS A WAY TO REMOVE 6 STICKS AND BE LEFT WITH TEN



  44. Confuese on December 1, 2011 at 11:15 am

    Stick are 15 if we remove 6 there are 9 stick left



  45. Steven Miller on November 18, 2011 at 8:38 pm

    Email me ([email protected]) for a hint if you’d like



  46. Joan on November 18, 2011 at 1:57 pm

    Ghhhhh



  47. Steven Miller on November 14, 2011 at 4:13 pm

    email me at [email protected] for the soln. /s



  48. Heather on November 14, 2011 at 3:58 pm

    what is the solution?



  49. Steven Miller on November 10, 2011 at 2:14 am

    nice idea, but there is another soln….



  50. Soroush on November 10, 2011 at 12:52 am

    It says to remove 6 sticks but it doesn’t say that I can’t put one back… I’m probably wrong…



  51. Steven Miller on November 3, 2011 at 1:48 am

    cameran: correct! I’m not posting as it’s the solution.



  52. Steven Miller on July 7, 2011 at 5:58 pm

    Correct answer posted to the stick problem (not showing it as it gives the answer).



  53. AK on May 10, 2011 at 6:20 pm

    TEN – Removed 6 sticks – left with 10
    THrEE – Removed 10 Sticks – left with 3



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