1559 We Need a Little Christmas Now

Today’s Puzzle:

2020 reminds me of another difficult year, 2001. In December of that year, Angela Lansbury sang We Need a Little Christmas Now with the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. I was able to watch the concert on television, and I remember the feeling the music brought me. What a wonderful gift music is! Yes, in 2020, we need a little Christmas now!

This level 2 puzzle brings a little Christmas now. Write the numbers from 1 to 12 in both the first column and the top row so that the puzzle functions as a type of multiplication table. I’m pretty sure you can figure it out!

Factors of 1559:

  • 1559 is a prime number.
  • Prime factorization: 1559 is prime.
  • 1559 has no exponents greater than 1 in its prime factorization, so √1559 cannot be simplified.
  • The exponent in the prime factorization is 1. Adding one to that exponent we get (1 + 1) = 2. Therefore 1559 has exactly 2 factors.
  • The factors of 1559 are outlined with their factor pair partners in the graphic below.

How do we know that 1559 is a prime number? If 1559 were not a prime number, then it would be divisible by at least one prime number less than or equal to √1559. Since 1559 cannot be divided evenly by 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, or 37, we know that 1559 is a prime number.

More about the number 1559:

1559 is the sum of two consecutive numbers:
780 + 779 = 1559.

1559 is also the difference of two consecutive square numbers:
780² – 779² = 1559.

(Yes, I know, any odd whole number can make a similar claim.)

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