Life is A Test 2: Test Harder (Quite A Bit Harder)

by Brony_of_Brody

Rescuing Applejack (With Her Least Favourite School Subject)

Having untied Pinkie, the three of you decide to venture deeper into the cave. It's very winding and rather dull, save for one moment where you travelled back in time and arrived back five minutes before you left, but the thought of rescuing Twilight's friends is the only thing on all three of your minds.

Or at least you think so, you're not quite sure from the way Pinkie seems to be babbling on about how crispy she would have been if you hadn't found her, on a scale of ashes to perfectly cooked tempura. Ashes is, like, a 1 out of 10 here.

As soon as you come out of the cave, you are greeted by the sight of Applejack, suspended unconscious inside some sort of magical cage. An electric magical cage. In the shape of barbed wire. So needless to say she's probably not getting out without help. Not even with Pinkie's electric wire trimmers. The phrase 'electric wire trimmers' has many meanings, and the tool does encompass all of them, but alas, they're just not sharp enough, or electric enough. It looks like some other way must be explored.

By the floor of the cage, however, you see some scratches and indents in the floor that look like some sort of mathematical equation. It truly makes you wants to just put a hoof to the forehead in disbelief, as it's yet another puzzle. Seriously, who keeps giving you such a sporting chance here?

On the floor is the equation abcd x 4 = dcba. Well, there's no denying it's a simple one, at least. However, trying to actually scratch out the answer repels your touch, and to make matters worse, you have frozen in place, along with Twilight. The puzzles glows in the colours of Pinkie's Cutie Mark, indicating it is her who has to solve the puzzle and allow all three of you to rescue Applejack and proceed in your quest. No giving the answers to her: your jaw have frozen in place. That's probably good news for those who can't stand the sound of you (and why would they) but there's no denying it's a bit debilitating now.

So, acting as the little voice in Pinkie's head, where her Maths Degree knowledge ought to be, can you help her free Applejack from the cage?

Author's Note:

1. abcd x 4 = dcba.
2. abcd does not mean a x b x c x d: it means a is the thousands, b is the hundreds, and so on.

PUZZLE: Can you find the 4 digit number that reverses itself as shown above?

Comments

[ANW]

2178*4=8712

[Eclipse_Nova]

the answer is 2178
Solution:
1. Since 'd' forms the thousand digit of the number dbca, 'a' must be either 1 or 2.
2. number 'a' is the single digit from "4 x d" which means 'a' is an even number --> 'a' is 2
3. In accordance to point (2), 'd' is 8.
4. To solve 'b' and 'c', consider these two formulas:
4c + 3 = 10n + b, (n is the tenth)
4b + n = c
5. point (4) results in 'b'=1 and 'c'=7

[Coyotek4]

Phew … finally caught up on all this.

Overall, I like the theming … but give credit where credit is due. Many of these can be found at TED-ED.

Anyway, I'll try to answer future puzzles in a timely manner.

[ANW]

9415992
Actually, it turns out that he is not getting this from Ted-Ed.
They both are using the same source puzzle, just in different ways.
So no, he is not using their riddles.
Just a different form of the original.