A2 Thinking Skills - Problem Solving

Assignment 3 - Question 2

Claddem is a game for two players, played over a number of rounds.

The equipment for playing the game consists of two identical cards (one for each player), 20
numbered tiles, a bag and a scoring rack. One of the cards and the tiles are shown below.

0 0 1 1 2

2 3 3 4 4

5 5 6 6 7

7 8 8 9 9

In each round both players attempt to form three 2-digit numbers on their cards that add up to
150.

At the beginning of a round all the tiles are placed in the bag and the bag is shaken. The players
then take turns to withdraw three tiles at a time from the bag, at random. The players decide what
to do with each set of their three tiles:
• One must be placed on a square on the player’s own card, from where it may not
subsequently be moved.
• One must be given to the other player to be placed by that player later.
• One must be placed on the scoring rack.

After they have both had three turns, each player has three tiles already in place on their card and
three tiles that they have received from the other player. These tiles are now placed on the
remaining squares on the cards, and the player who forms the three 2-digit numbers whose sum
is closer to 150 wins the round.

The number of points scored by the winner of a round is the sum of the six numbers on the tiles
placed on the scoring rack during the round. A player whose three-number sum is exactly 150
also scores a bonus of 10 points. If there is a tie, the player with the highest single 2-digit number
wins.

Doug and Sally are playing a game of Claddem. At the end of the first round the tiles left in the
bag were numbered 4 and 9, and their completed cards were as follows:

5 4 8 7

7 3 5 2

2 0 1 3

Doug’s card Sally’s card

 2

(a) (i) Who won this round? Justify your answer. [1]

(ii) How many points did the winner score? [2]

(a)(i) Doug's total is 147. Sally's total is 152 so Sally wins the round.

(a)(ii) The tiles at the start were ... 0 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9

Doug's card: 5 4 7 3 2 0 ; Sally's card: 8 7 5 2 1 3 ; in the bag: 4 9
So the numbers on the soring rack ... 0 1 6 6 8 9 ... which adds up to 30
So the winner scores 30

Sally has just made the final withdrawal of three tiles from the bag in the second round. She now
has to decide what to do with tiles numbered 0, 2 and 9.

This is how the cards look at present.

7 3 8

6 3

Doug’s card Sally’s card

Doug has given Sally tiles numbered 1, 4 and 6.

Sally has given Doug tiles numbered 2 and 5 so far.
The sum of the numbers on the tiles on the scoring rack so far is 27.

(b) How close to 150 can Sally get if she keeps

(i) the 0 tile? [1]

(ii) the 2 tile? [1]

(iii) the 9 tile? [1]

(c) What must Sally do with these tiles in order to win this round? Explain your answer in detail.
[3]
The trick to solving this question is to remember your basic junior school addition
with place value - units and carrying and then tens. It's important which column
you put the numbers in, not where in the column - for example 86 + 34 will give the
same answer as 84 + 36 ... when you work that out, the rest of the question falls in
to place!

(b)(i) Sally has 1 4 6 and she keeps the 0 ... She has an 8 and 3 in the 10's column so
putting the 4 in the 10's column, she gets 150. The 6 1 and 0 go in the units column
giving 7 so she can score 157.
** She wouldn't use the 1, 6, 0 in the 10's column as they would take her too far
away from 150 ... check to make sure you understand why!
(b)(ii) Sally has 1 4 6 and she keeps the 2 ... Again her best option is to put the 4 in
the 10's column giving her 150. The 6 1 and 2 go in the units column giving 9 so she
can score 159.

(b)(ii) Sally has 1 4 6 and she keeps the 9 ... placing the 9 in the units means that
at least one ten will carry over to the 10's column (she clearly wouldn't put the 9
into the 10's colunm!!) ... this means you now can't assume the 4 is the best number
for the 10's column and must test both 4 and 1 in the 10's column ....
Place 4 in the 10's column and she gets 150, with 1, 6 and 9 in the units column
giving 16 so she scores 166.
Place 1 in the 10's column and she gets 120, with 4, 6 and 9 in the units column
giving 19 so she scores 139.
And 139 is closer to 150 than 166 so the best she can score is 139.

(c) In part (b) we have done the hard work and so working out Doug's possible
scores should be quick and easy!!!

1. Doug already has 2 and 5 and Sally gives him the 0 ....
He would put the 2 and 5 in the 10's column and the 0 in the units column and he
would score 149.
2. Doug already has 2 and 5 and Sally gives him the 2 ....
He would put one 2 and 5 in the 10's column and the other 2 in the units column
and he would score 151.
3. Doug already has 2 and 5 and Sally gives him the 9 ....
He would put the 2 and 5 in the 10's column and the 9 in the units column and he
would score 158.

So to win this round, Sally must give Doug the 9 so that his best score is 158
and she must keep the 0 so that her best score is 157.
(She wouldn't keep the 4 as her best score would only be 158)

(d) What are the numbers on the two tiles that are left in the bag? [3]

This question is surprisingly easy and doesn't rely on parts (b) and (c) to work it ...
and it's worth pointing out now that there are some questions that you can carry on
and answer even if you get stuck on the previous parts .... so don't give up!

What do we know?
The known tiles out of the bag ... 0 2 9 (Sally has just pulled them out) 7 3 6 (on
Doug's card) 8 3 (on Sally's card) 1 4 6 (Doug gave them to Sally) 2 5 (Sally gave
them to Doug) ... putting them in order to make it easier ...
0122334566789
There are 5 tiles on the scoring rack (since Sally hasn't put the last one the rack
yet) and they add up to 27

We can now work out the tiles that might be on the rack and left in the bag ... which
is 0 1 4 5 7 8 9
5 of them must add up to 27 ... play around a bit and it should become clear that the
tiles on the scoring rack must be 1 4 5 8 9
Therefore, the tiles left in the bag are 0 and 7
The maximum amount that can be scored by the winner of a round of Claddem is 58 points.

(e) Explain how it is possible for 58 points to be scored, and give an example of a completed
card that could score 58 points. [3]

Again, this question can be solved even if you get stuck on the previous parts.

There are 6 tiles on the scoring rack at the end of a game.

For a maximum score, the values need to be as high as possible ... 7 7 8 8 9 9
This gives a total of 48. If the winner's total was exactly 150, they get a 10 point
bonus ... which gives 58 points.

So the winning card must add up to 150 but no number can be greater than 6 (the
numbers 7 8 and 9 are out since they are on the scoring rack) and each digit cannot
appear more than twice (since there are also only 2 of each of number).
There are lots of options, but some are ...
64 + 52 + 34 = 150
65 + 64 + 41 = 150
60 + 56 + 34 = 150
60 + 45 + 45 = 150
etc ...