The 9 numbers and 7 Xs of the set (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,X,X,X,X,X,X,X ) were placed in a 4x4 grid to create a matrix as follows:
X 4 8 9
5 6 X 7
1 X X X
3 2 X X
Consider the Xs as black squares in a crossword and evaluate the sum of the sums taken per row: S_r=489+(56+7)+1+32=585.
Same operation per column: S_c= 513+(46+2)+8+97=666
Evaluate the ratio r= S_r/ S_c=585/666= 0.878378...

Your task :
Distribute the 9 non-zero digits and 7 black squares in a 4x4 grid so
that the ratio r, calculated as in the example above will be as close
to the value of pi (=3.14159265…) as possible.

HaPPy Pi day, every Person.

Spent about 45 minutes.  Trying to hit some of Charlie's targets:

9863
xxx1
xx52
7xx4

9863+1+52+7+4=9927
9+7+8+6+5+3124=3159

9927/3159 = 1103/351 = 3.142450142
which is off by .0008574888

I think comparing the absolute difference (rather than % off) makes more sense.  So for comparison, Ady's 22/7 = 3.142857143 is off by .0012644893

Posted by Jer on 2016-03-14 18:01:56