The inspiration for this came from looking at an intriguing magic square in 'The Complete Mike Rogers' published by Magic Inc in 1975. This Reversible Magic Square is on page 24 and is credited to Royal Vale Heath who wrote the book 'Mathemagic'. The square is unusual in that it can be turned upside down and it reads exactly the same and totals 264.
I thought this was a great puzzle or novelty and worth experimenting upon. Therefore I went about adapting it so that I could make it produce a different total when turned upside down, yet still retain the properties of a magic square, thereby it could be used to force two different totals and would therefore appear as an innocent number grid! In this way, my 4 X 4 grid could force two different numbers and anyone who knew about magic squares would be thrown off the scent as two different totals are reached, so it couldn't possibly be a magic square - although it is!
All you need to do is secretly turn the square end for end when you pass it to a second spectator! It makes the totals 265 and 324. It works in every direction (horizontally, vertically, outside corners, centre 4 squares, all four quarters and diagonals) except the centre 4 squares to the left and the centre 4 squares to the right.)
To make the magic square use French Script MT point 72 with Candara point 48 for the number ones, using the capital letter 'I' for this digit, so that it matches the French Script MT font. This produces the dual magic square, as the reversible numbers 1, 6, 8, 9 and 0 are mixed with 7s which appear as 2s when reversed using this particular font.
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Version 2
Alternatively, you can use a calculator-style font, as shown on the right, so that six digits can be used to make up the square, so it appears more varied. It forces the totals 182 and 236 and is the same construction as the square described above.
If you want to see something even more cunning, check out my new Reflections Magic Square.
Created by Chris Wardle. Marketing Rights Reserved.
