Head start
Harey and Tortus decided to race from Harey鈥檚 house to school, a distance of a whole number of metres. They each ran at their own steady speed and when Harey reached school, Tortus was over half way there, but still had a two-figure number of metres to go.
The next day they repeated the race, but this time Harey decided to give Tortus a head start equal to the winning margin of the previous day. So Harey walked that number of metres away from his house in the opposite direction to school before the race started. Once again, Harey got to school first, ahead by a two-figure number of metres. The second winning margin had the same pair of digits as the first, but in reverse order.
How far is it from Harey鈥檚 house to the school?
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WIN 拢15 will be awarded to the sender of the first correctanswer opened on Tuesday 31 March. The Editor鈥檚 decision is final. Please send entries to Enigma 1534, 快猫短视频, Lacon House, 84 Theobald鈥檚 Road, London WC1X 8NS, or to enigma@newscientist.com (please include your postal address).
Answer to 1528 Ad hoctagon: The area of the octagon is 140 cm2
The winner Ian Chantrell of Plymouth, UK