The letters, A to L, within this star represent intersections of unique pairings of its 6 lines, and α, β, γ, δ, ε and ζ are sums of intersections defined as:

α = A + D + G + K     β = E + G + J + L    γ = K + J + I + H
δ = L + I + F + B     ε = H + F + C + A    ζ = B + C + D + E

           A α
          / \
  ζ  B---C---D---E  β
      \ /     \ /
       F       G
      / \     / \
  ε  H---I---J---K  γ
          \ /
           L  δ

Assign values from 1 to 12 to each of the locations A to L such that each sum is an element of an arithmetic progression with an arithmetic difference of two (2) but not necessarily as adjacent vertex values.

Secondly, attempt the same task but with a difference of four (4) as the outcome.

And for a tease... can you offer a solution if all such vertex sums are equal, ie, 26?

Note:
Discounting rotations and reflections, more than one possibility exists for each of the first two tasks.

That so many instances occur is amazing.

That I could get one or two results from a Spreadsheet was difficult enough, I'd hate the challenge to have found all that Charlie has exposed.

Posted by brianjn on 2008-06-02 22:14:19