Agnes by Tony Cochran for January 13, 2012

Only to Agnes are straightforward arithmetic questions abstract.

Then again, I think all concrete facts are merely suggestions to the whirling mind of Agnes.

Ah, 60×12=720+4x12=48+720=768. I wish my calculator in my mind would word with numbers better than going slow like that. :( BUT! Still better than Agnes! LOL

Or you could have what’s behind the curtain where Carol Maryl is standing.

Like little miss science.

Well, she asked for “an” exact number. Not “the” exact number. There’s an awful lot of assuming on all sides with our spoken language. And Agnes never fails to find one of the holes. Funny.

Oh, but she will. Someday she’s gonna rule the world.

Jim - LOL

And to all those busy proving they can do the problem…

Working in your head doesn’t have to be the same as on paper.

The easiest way I know to multiply by 12 (or 13 or 11 or even 9) in your head without remembering 12’s tables, or trying to make mental columns line up visually, is to group things in words and consider the 10’s first.

64 × 12 is also 12 64’sthat’s 10 64’s and two more 64’s.

640 and 128. 600 and another 100 plus 40 plus 28.768

More complicated to tell than to practice.

Hey, you own the numbers, and you can group them however you like.

Same here. Read the strip, figured out the answer and then checked the posts to make sure I was right. .Sorry @simpsonfan2 – there’s always math. It hides out there. waiting to pounce. and it always pounces.