The runaway matchstick
✓ With solution
A wrong matchstick equation with just one match in the wrong place. Which one is it, and where does it belong?
This matchstick equation is wrong: 9 + 3 = 17. You may move just one match to a new place, without adding or taking away any match.
Which match do you move, and what is the correct equation?
Show a hint
17 is far too big. Which digit of the answer gets smaller if you take one match away from it?
Show the answer
Answer: 8 + 3 = 11. Take the top match off the 7, which leaves two upright matches: a 1, so the answer becomes 11. Then put that match at the bottom left of the 9, which turns it into an 8: 8 + 3 = 11, which is correct. Notice the number of matches hasn't changed: 20 before and after. And this is the only one-match solution.
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