October 2010
Problem of the Month

Going to St. Ives
from an early nineteenth century Mother Goose Rhyme

As I was going to St. Ives,
I met a man with seven wives,
Every wife had seven sacks,
Every sack had seven cats,
Every cat had seven kits.

Kits, cats, sacks, wives,
How many were going to St. Ives?

Solution to the Problem:

The answer is none.
The verse is the most famous trick question in English literature since, presumably, the man and his wives and felines were coming from St. Ives.
So, only the poet was going to St. Ives!

The total number of kits, cats, sacks, and wives is
7 + 7² + 7³ + 7⁴ = 2,800.
Adding the man to this total, there were 2,801 going away from St. Ives.

Correctly solved by:

1. Rob Mellott	Dolores, Colorado
2. Austin Hale	Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming
3. Hazen Dickerson	Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming
4. Mitchel Anderson	Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming
5. Larissa Giessinger	----------

Send any comments or questions to: David Pleacher