I’ve recently posted some more challenging puzzles that I’ve named Find the Factors 1 – 10 Challenge, and they definitely are a more challenging puzzle than one of my more traditional level 6 puzzles. As of today, no one has informed me that they have been able to solve either puzzle number 1000 or 1010.

Two years ago I made perhaps my most challenging level 6 puzzle, a 16 × 16 puzzle to commemorate Steve Morris’s birthday. Steve Morris was the very first person to type a comment on my blog, and I have appreciated his encouragement over the years. Steve has solved many kinds of puzzles in his life including some of the toughest I have made, but the puzzle I made for that birthday was no picnic for even him to complete.

This year I’ve made him a challenging puzzle, but it is still a little easier than the other two challenge puzzles I’ve made. If you’ve tried either of those other puzzles without success, still give this one a try. Good luck to you all, and Happy Birthday to Steve Morris! I saved this post number (1019) for you because it uses your birthdate numbers, howbeit out of order.

Print the puzzles or type the solution in this excel file: 10-factors-1019-1027

This is my 1019th post. Here are a few facts about the number 1019.

Prime number 1019 is the sum of the 19 prime numbers from 17 to 97.

• 1019 is a prime number.
• Prime factorization: 1019 is prime.
• The exponent of prime number 1019 is 1. Adding 1 to that exponent we get (1 + 1) = 2. Therefore 1019 has exactly 2 factors.
• Factors of 1019: 1, 1019
• Factor pairs: 1019 = 1 × 1019
• 1019 has no square factors that allow its square root to be simplified. √1019 ≈ 31.921779

How do we know that 1019 is a prime number? If 1019 were not a prime number, then it would be divisible by at least one prime number less than or equal to √1019 ≈ 31.9. Since 1019 cannot be divided evenly by 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29 or 31, we know that 1019 is a prime number.