Whenever a caret (^) appears between two digits A and B, A^B appears directly after it. (Example: If a caret was between 3 and 4, then 3481 appears in that order, since 3^4=81) The equals signs are only to help show where A^B appears.
The digits on the marked diagonal sum to a perfect power.
Online link: https://f-puzzles.com/?id=yaxso4d5
For those that don't know, A^B means A multiplied by itself B times, so 3^4=3*3*3*3=81. A perfect power is a number of the form A^B, where B>1 (like a square, cube,...). These include 4,8,9,16,25,27,...
Solution code: Column 7
on 9. June 2021, 15:54 by Vebby
Very nice! Approachable and fun :)
on 8. May 2021, 02:54 by RockyRoer
I liked this a lot. Brainstorming a list of possible powers took a little time, but since there really aren't that many possibilities it was time well spent - and it lead to a pretty straight forward solve. Forgive me or make this hidden if you think it's too much of a spoiler - but as a math teacher, I'd hate to see people shy away from it because they think it's got difficult maths. It's quite approachable. Thanks for making it!
on 4. March 2021, 17:06 by henrypijames
I believe 1 is usually not considered a perfect power - in other words, not only B>1, but A>1 as well.
on 3. March 2021, 19:30 by 28degrees
Added definition of perfect power
on 3. March 2021, 19:19 by henrypijames
I agree: "perfect power" is not a term that everybody knows, especially if English is not their first language. If you've bothered to explain A^B, you should definitely explain perfect power.
on 2. March 2021, 23:55 by Gramor
Very nice puzzle