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Copyright 2016
Looking Glass Ventures.
All rights reserved. This book or parts
thereof may not be reproduced in any
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For permissions and additional
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ISBN: 978-1-944931-00-1
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Contents

Note To Reader
Welcome to this little Zen Masters
guide on problem solving. I have tried
to create a small bag of techniques,
strategies, and tricks to help every
student solve a wide assortment of
problems they are likely to encounter
on their middle school journey and
beyond. This is based on my journey
as a student, mathematician, educator,
math coach, mathematics author, and
speaker across countries, colleges, and
schools for the past two decades. This
book is far less about making a student
the ultimate problem-solver, but more
about engendering an interest in
solving problems and evoking a
Watson, the game is afoot! feeling in
every young mind.
This title is intended to be equally
useful and interesting to educators and
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students. It may be browsed casually

on a digital device or pursued in a more
regimented fashion through its online,
auto-graded digital problem companion
at http://edfinity.com. Like all the other
titles in the Zen Masters series, this
guide is available only as an eBook
coupled with its Edfinity digital
companion (effective June 1, 2016).
We, of course, cant promise that this
ebook is the key to unlock supreme
success for the worldwide universe of
math competitions. However, we offer
you:
v Interesting ideas on how to go
about solving problems.
v Thoughts on enjoying the
mathematical insights that well
crafted problems offer.
v Advice on how to keep your
emotions in check when things

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look particularly strange and

unfamiliar. (It sometimes feels
like problem authors are trying
to be sneaky! One needs to
keep ones cool.) This is an
attribute that will actually serve
you well in all aspects of life!
This guide includes a compilation of
practice problems: the more you work
on solving problems, the more
confident youll become. And youll also
start to notice familiar ideas and
themes that you can use to your
advantage.
Like any sport, in starting out it all feels
hard and strange. But the more you
play, the easier it becomes and the
more natural it starts to feel. You begin
to notice recurring ploys and
maneuvers and this makes you extra
clever at the sport. And then, before

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you know it, youre pretty good and

other beginners are looking to you as a
pro!
So, in addition to reading this title,
practice! Try lots of different problems.
Get them right. Get them wrong. Just
keep trying them. The more you
practice, the better you get.
Seriously, it is as simple as that. And
after you get through this title, start
working your way through the 5 topicbased titles in the Zen Masters Middle
School series (Its only up and up from
here!)

James Tanton
January 2016

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Acknowledgements
My deepest thanks and appreciation to
Michael Pearson, Executive Director of
the Mathematical Association of
America, for setting me on the path of
joyous mathematical problem solving
with the MAA Curriculum Inspirations
project, and to Shivram Venkat at
Edfinity for inviting me to extend that
wonderful work to the global community
of younger budding mathematicians. I
am so very honored to be part of the
unique, and truly remarkable, digital
format experience Shivram and Edfinity
have developed for the world.

James Tanton
January, 2016

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Edfinitys Zen Masters Series

Edfinitys Zen Masters series is a
collection of 11 digital titles (6 for
Middle School and 5 for High School)
created for the modern educator and
student. The titles are available only in
digital form and consist of carefully
crafted problem collections designed to
help students master problem solving.
Each title guides students through the
themes of a specific topic (such as
Algebra or Probability), presenting
concise expository content, select
examples illustrating specific problem
solving techniques, and between 150200 problems expertly arranged to help
the user achieve complete mastery.
The volumes are each accompanied
with optional access to an Edfinity
digital companion presenting all the
problems in the title as a self-paced,

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online course with auto-grading and

performance analysis. Educators may
enroll their students to track their
progress, or students/parents may
enroll individually. Access to the guides
provides educators access to rich,
supplemental problem collections for
classroom use.
The Zen Masters Series is designed to
serve broad usage by educators and
students alike, offering substantive
general enrichment, development of
foundational skills in problem solving,
and contest preparation. In addition to
helping students prepare effectively for
local and major international contests,
the problems provide robust attention to
standards and guidelines of the
Common Core State Standards in
Mathematics (USA), GCSE (UK),
Singapores Math curriculum,

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Australian Curriculum, and most other

international syllabi.

ZEN MASTERS MIDDLE SCHOOL

SERIES
8 Tips to Solve Any Problem, by James
Tanton
Counting and Probability, by James
Tanton
Numbers and the Number System, by
James Tanton
Structure, Patterns and Logic, by
James Tanton
Relationships and Equations, by James
Tanton
Geometry, by James Tanton
Solutions Manual for each title by
James Tanton

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ZEN MASTERS HIGH SCHOOL SERIES

Algebra, by David Wells
Geometry, by David Wells
Number Theory, by David Wells
Discrete Mathematics, by David Wells
Advanced Topics, by David Wells
Solutions Manual for each title by David
Wells
Enroll at
http://edfinity.com/ZenSeries/8tips for
online practice with scoring and
complete solutions.

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1.Three Mind Issues To Think

About
MIND ISSUE 1: THE PRESSURE OF
TIME
When doing competition problems
in an actual competition, a clock is
counting down your time. This time
pressure is psychologically very
hard!
Before we start on the problem-solving
strategies, and before you start in the
competition world, we need to think
about three tricky mind issues. How are
you going to handle each of them?

ADVICE: For starters, know that

mathematicians dont ever do
mathematics under a time pressure.

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This idea of having a clock running

while thinking mathematics is very
strange to professionals. Knowing that,
in the big picture of things, people really
dont care how fast you or anyone can
solve problems eases the emotions and
this feeling of pressure.
(Mathematicians can spend days,
weeks, even years trying to solve a
single problem.)
But, in the competition world, the clock
is running, and that pressure snags you
every now and then. The best way to
handle this unpleasant feeling is to:
Take a
Deep
Breath
!

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MIND ISSUE 2: THE PRESSURE TO

BE RIGHT
Mathematics in school is often
about getting the right answer and
one is left with the impression that
answers are always more
important than any clever ideas or
approaches you discover in getting
to those answers. In the
competition world, the focus is on
answers too. Theres a feeling of
pressure to always be right.

ADVICE: Know that mathematicians are

actually much more interested in ideas
and approaches. Answers to questions
are only final details. The process of
getting to answers is what

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mathematicians really care about.

Knowing this can help ease this sense
of pressure.
The best way to handle this tension is:
KNOW THAT SUCCESS IN LIFE IS
NOT ABOUT SCORES, BUT ABOUT
THE THINKING AND THE GOOD
IDEAS YOU COME UP WITH.

Its Not
About
Scores

Reminding yourself of this will ease the

emotional discomfort. And, also, taking
a relaxed attitude about this can
actually help you improve your scores
nonetheless! (Crazy!)

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MIND ISSUE 3: YOUR HUMANESS

Mathematics is very much a human
experience. People think it is all
about procedures and formulas and
mechanics. But mathematics is
invented and discovered by
humans for humans. Competition
problems are invented by humans
too!

ADVICE: Just know that

IT IS OKAY TO HAVE AN
EMOTIONAL REACTION TO A
QUESTION.
You can say, This looks scary or
Why should I care? or Wow! Weird!
or This seems fun or I dont get it! or
anything that is a genuine emotional
reaction. Acknowledge your emotions

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(even mutter your reaction out loud)

and then go back to my first piece of
advice:
Take a
Deep
Breath
!
Remember, you are human and it is
okay to be human while doing
competition problems!

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2.Two Steps In Solving A

Problem
1. The first step in problem solving is
always the same:

BE SURE TO READ THE QUESTION

CAREFULLY.

Take a
Deep
Breath
!

Is the question about the rows or the
columns of the table?
Do we want to find an actual number?
The sum of two numbers?
Which area exactly do we need to find?
Is it the units digit we want, the tens digit, or both?
Are the triangles in the picture important or just
the squares?
Is it the distance we want or the speed?
And so on.

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It is easy to read a question too quickly

and not notice what exactly you are
meant to focus on.
Some people like to underline the
important words in a problem just to
make sure they actually read them. (No
one says you cant write on any
booklets you are handed!).
2. The second step in problem solving
is always the same too:

TRY SOMETHING. ANYTHING!

Just Do
Something!
This step is surprisingly hard for most
people. If a question looks scary dont
forget to take a deep breath.

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Sometimes problems are designed to

look frightening but they are only
looks! Doodling something anything
on a piece of paper or in a book margin
will often get you past the scariness.

Is there a picture or a sketch I can draw?

What does the picture look like upside down? (You
can always turn the competition booklet upside
down if you want!)
The number 165 is mentioned. Umm 165 = 5 33
and 33 = 311 .
Do I know a formula for the area of a triangle?
Do I know anything about triangles with sides of
lengths 3, 4 , and 5 ?
Instead of finding the fiftieth number, can I see
what the fifth one is? The second one?
Can I just guess an answer and see if it is right?
Should the answer be even or odd?
Is one of the choices offered obviously wrong?
Let me write a for Andrews age and b for Bettys
age. Then b a = 5 .
If I make a table, can I see a pattern?

The sorts of questions listed above

represent general strategies you can

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try. Well go through those strategies in

the next section.
But note: Sometimes competition
questions are so strange that it is not
even clear if there is a general strategy
that will work for them. The only thing to
do in these cases
really is to
Just Do
Something!
Here are some
examples to explain what I mean.
Problems 1-5 -solve on Edfinity.

In your attempt to:

Just Do
Something!

You might want to try one or more of

the following specific ploys.

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3.Strategy 1: List All The Things

You Know
Listing the things that you know
about the ideas mentioned in the
problem often helps to get started
with the problem.

What Do
I Know?
This question seems to be about areas of shapes.
Do I know a formula for the area of a circle? Of a
rhombus? Of a triangle?
Do I know when a number is divisible by 3? By 4 ?
By 9 ?
What do I know about the sides of a right triangle?
If 3 4 5 represent the sides of a right triangle,
then so do 6 8 10 and 9 1215 and so on.

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If p is the probability of what I want to happen,

then 1 p is the probability of what I dont want to
happen. Is that easier to think about?

A deck of cards has 52 cards, four suits of 13 cards
each.
There are 5! = 5 4 3 21 = 120 ways to arrange
five different objects in a row. So if two objects are
the same?
In a linear relationship, if one quantity changes by
1unit, then the other quantity changes by m units.
Here m is the slope of the line I see if I graph an
equation for the relationship.
Repeating decimals represent fractions. The
85
number 0.85858585... is .
99
Problems 6-10 -solve on Edfinity.

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4.Strategy 2: Make The Problem

Smaller
To get a feel for the problem try
breaking the problem into smaller
parts, or try solving a smaller version
of the same problem.

Break It
Down

By symmetry I can see I need
only work out the area of this smaller
part and multiply the answer by six.
Maybe I can work out the area of everything
outside of what I want instead.
That looks easier.
Instead of finding the fiftieth number can I first
just try to find the third?
If I make a first move, is the rest of the game the
same problem again?
If I take one step, then the rest of the question is
about five steps, not six.

Problems 11-15 -solve on Edfinity.

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5.Strategy 3: Eliminate Absurd

Answers

You might be able to eliminate some

choices offered to you. And if you
can eliminate all but one choice, that
one option that remains must be the
correct answer! Woohoo!

Remove

Can I say anything about
Absurd
what type of answer to
Answers
expect?
How large or small a number
should I get?
How many zeros should it end with?
Should the answer be even or odd?
Should the graph be straight or curved?
Should the numbers be going up or down?

Problems 16-20 -solve on Edfinity.

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6.Strategy 4: Was The Author

Being Sneaky?
If something in the question stands
out as a bit strange, ask why? The
author may have chosen that item in
the question for a deliberate reason.
See if you can figure out that reason.

Why Does

It Say


That?


Why the number 37 ? Its prime. Does that mean
anything?
Why the number 217 ? It equals 7 31 and 31 is its
only two-digit factor.
Why is the bug walking in a semi-circle? Is it
important that it stays the same distance from a
certain point?
Why do we care about 2s and 5s in this problem?
Is it because 2 5 = 10 and it is easy to tell when a
number is divisible by ten?

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The author said that a card was chosen first and

then a coin was flipped. Does it have to be in that
order?
Does it have to be an equilateral triangle? Does the
problem still seem to work if the angle in the
corner is not 60! ?

Problems 21-25 -solve on Edfinity.

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7.Strategy 5: Draw A Picture

They say that a picture speaks a
thousand words! Drawing a picture
can shed helpful light on what is
happening in the question.

Draw a

Picture


Okay, Ill draw ABC .
Let me just draw a sketch of these two skyscrapers
that are meant to be 500 feet apart.
Let me draw the corner of the building and the
length of the goats leash at that corner.
Ill draw dots for people and see how I can color
three of them to mean on the team.
Instead of writing the square number 25 , let me
draw a five-by-five array of dots.
Let me highlight the diagonal lines in this picture
instead of the vertical ones.

Problems 26-30 -solve on Edfinity.

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8.Strategy 6: Push Things To

The Limit
Sometimes pushing a question to an
extreme can give a hint about how a
problem should work.
Push to
the Limit

Could ALL the people in the

room have the same birthday?
If this process kept going forever, would the
numbers just keep getting bigger?
What if the trains velocity was zero?
What if my Annies age is exactly the same as
Bjorns?
What if the donkeys weight was a billion pounds?
What if the number had only one meaningful
factor? (That is, does this question work for prime
numbers too?)
What if point P was really, really far away? What
if, instead, P is so close to point A that it is on top
of it?
Problems 30-35 -solve on Edfinity.

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9.Strategy 7: Just Work It All Out

Sometimes just laboring through the

problem is really all one can do to
solve it.

Work It

Out

Okay, Ill make a list, starting with
the first and working my way up to the seventh.
Let me make a table and see if I can find a pattern.

Problems 36-40 -solve on Edfinity.

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10.Strategy 8: Work Backwards

Or Guess And Check
Making a guess at an answer and
checking if it works can help solve
the problem either you might be
lucky and guess the right answer, or
by seeing why something doesnt
work you can gain insight as to what
does work.
Work
Backwards

Let me just try option (B) and see if it could work.
The number 1200 is divisible by all the numbers
being asked of me. Could it be the right answer?
I half remember something like this from geometry
class. Does that mean (D) could be right?
Problems 41-45 -solve on Edfinity.

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Have Fun!
One final piece of advice:
If you find yourself getting stuck on
a long, tedious piece of work and it
is not fun. STOP! It is not fun to not
have fun! No competition author
wants you to spend a long time
laboring through something tedious.
Consider rethinking your strategy
and looking for a simpler, more fun,
approach
This final piece of advice really says it
all. Math is delightful and cheery. Do
always let it be fun for you!

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About The Author

JAMES TANTON
Visit http://www.maa.org/mathcompetitions/teachers/curriculuminspirations/james-tanton-biography.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Believing that mathematics really is
accessible to all, James Tanton (PhD,
Mathematics, Princeton 1994) is

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committed to sharing the delight and

beauty of the subject. In 2004 James
founded the St. Marks Institute of
Mathematics, an outreach program
promoting joyful and effective
mathematics education. He worked as
a fulltime high-school teacher at St.
Marks School in Southborough, MA
(2004-2012), and he conducted, and
continues to conduct, mathematics
courses and workshops for
mathematics teachers across the
nation and overseas.
James is the author of Solve This: Math
Activities for Students and Clubs (MAA,
2001), The Encyclopedia of
Mathematics (Facts on File, 2005),
Mathematics Galore! (MAA, 2012),
Geometry: An Interactive Journey to
Mastery (The Great Courses, 2014),
Without Words: Volumes 1 and 2

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(Tarquin 2015), Trigonometry: A Clever

Study Guide (MAA, 2015), and twelve
self-published texts. He is the 2005
recipient of the Beckenbach Book
Prize, the 2006 recipient of the Kidder
Faculty Prize at St. Marks School, and
a 2010 recipient of a Raytheon Math
Hero Award for excellence in school
teaching and currently serves as the
Mathematician-at-Large for the
Mathematical Association of America.
James is the author of Edfinitys Zen
Masters Series For Middle School
Students - a unique collection of digital
titles for the modern educator and
student.

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Edfinity, a division of Looking Glass Ventures,

is an educational technology company
headquartered in Silicon Valley that offers
transformative educational technology solutions
and digital content to educators and students
worldwide. Edfinity works with the worlds
premier academic associations, research
organizations, and educational institutions to
provide equitable access to exceptional
educational content.
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http://edfinity.com
Edfinity is a registered trademark of Looking
Glass Ventures, LLC. All other trademarks are
the property of their respective owners.
Copyright 2016 Looking Glass Ventures, LLC.
All rights reserved 1/16.
ISBN: 978-1-944931-00-1

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