Teach Your Parents KenKen

!
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TEACH YOUR PARENTS

KENKEN is fun! If it wasn’t, you wouldn’t be doing it so much, right? We want you to share the
fun with your parents. (You can teach any other adults you may know who need to stay sharp and
have fun doing it.) We’ve created this little story to help you show anybody how to KENKEN.
Like any puzzle, you start in one place, and by following the rules and using strategy, you get to the
point where you are finished. Think of tic-tac-toe, sudoku, or a crossword puzzle. It’s blank when you
start, but filled with x’s, o’s, numbers or letters when you’re done. What makes KENKEN different is
that you use addition, subtraction, multiplication and division - real math - to finish the puzzle.
Hi!. My name is
Tetsuya Miyamoto.
I’m a Math teacher
from Tokyo, Japan. Let’s start by looking at the two KENKEN puzzles below.
I invented KenKen! One is blank, one is complete. What do you notice about them?
1 6 36 8 9 6 1 36 9 8
1 3 4 2 1 3 2 4
2 2 1 2 2 1
2 1 3 4 3 4 1 2
2 11 2 8 11 2 2 8
4 2 1 3 4 2 3 1
2 2
3 4 2 1 2 1 4 3
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© 2009 www.kenken.com
© 2009
There are 4 rows and 4 columns. The numbers 1 to 4 are in each column and row, but
That makes this is a 4x4 KENKEN puzzle. This means you appear only once.
can only use numbers from 1 to 4 to fill in the squares. That’s the most important rule in KENKEN. In a 4 x 4
Some squares have thicker borders. puzzle, the numbers 1 through 4 can appear only once
in any row or column.
These groups of squares are called “cages”.
There are two cages with the same target number and
There are small numbers in the upper left corner of operation.
some squares.
True. Two cages ask you to produce a target number
These are called “target” numbers.
of 2 using division. That means more than one
There are signs for math operations next to all of them, combination using 1 through 4 will get that answer:
except the 1 in the upper left cage.
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4 divided by 2, or 2 divided by 1. Which one you choose
2 1 4 3
That means you use the operation shown, and numbers depends on the numbers in the neighbor squares.
3 4 2 1
from 1 to 4 inside any cage to get the target number 2 The numbers that produce the target can be 2
as your answer. Cages of only one square don’t need entered in any order.
operations to get the target number. Just fill in the
4 2 3 1 4 2 1 3
cage with that number. (Think of these cages as hints, That’s right. Look at the 36X cage. 3 X 4 X 3 will equal 36
8 2
so always look for them first when you start.)
2 11 just like 4 X 3 X 3 would. The order is determined by the
2 8 11 2
3 4 1 2 need to use each number only once in a row or column.
2 1 3 4
2 1 2 1 2 2
Next, we’ll go through a fresh KENKEN puzzle from start to finish.
1 3 2 4 1 3 4 2
Look for the THINKK™ text that accompanies some steps.
This stands for Teach. Help. Inspire. Nurture. KENKEN. It’s what we’re about!
8 36 9 1 6 9 8 6 36 1
Let’s solve this puzzle with 4
columns and 4 rows.
Every square in the grid will contain
a number 1-4. No number can
repeat within any column or row.
Remember, the small number at the
upper-left corner of a square is the
target number of the that cage.
The squares within a cage must
equal the target number by using
the operation shown.
target number that appears in a cage of a single

A
square is the number to be written in that square.
(THINKK™: These have no operation sign. They’re like
free squares, so fill them in first!)
ut 3 and 4 in the highlighted cages because they are
P
both cages of single squares.
Focus on the red cage. The only combination of two

numbers from 1-4 that will multiple to equal 6 is {2,3,}.
Since 3 is in the same row as the 6x square, 2 must be
placed in the top square and 3 will go in the bottom square.
(THINKK™: numbers that give the target number result
can do so in any order, left to right, right to left, up and
down or down and up!)
The only combination of two numbers from 1-4 that will

add up to 7 is {3,4}
Because we cannot repeat 3 in any column or row, 3
must go in the top square and 4 in the bottom.
Now that the highlighted row has a 2,3, and 4 in use,
the last square must be a 1.
(THINKK™: Even though most of KENKEN requires doing
the math, there comes a time in almost every puzzle
when the process of elimination can come in handy.)
The only combination of two numbers that can divide to

equal 2 while using the number 1 is {1,2}. Place a 2 in
the remaining square.
The bottom row has two open squares that must

subtract to equal 3. The only numbers not used in this
row are {4,1}
4 must go in the left square and 1 must go in the right
square so the columns will not have a repeating
number.
Focus on the red cage. The only combination of

numbers 1-4 that will multiply to equal 6 is {2,3}.
I n order to not repeat a number in any column, 2 must go
in the left square and 3 must go in the right square.
©201
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