Puzzlebomb is a monthly puzzle compendium. Issue 49 of Puzzlebomb, for January 2016, can be found here: Puzzlebomb – Issue 49 – January 2016 The solutions to Issue 49 can be found here: Puzzlebomb – Issue 49 – January 2016 – Solutions Previous issues of Puzzlebomb, and their solutions, can be found at Puzzlebomb.co.uk.
MathsBombe Competition

From the team that brought you the Alan Turing Cryptography competition, Manchester Uni’s maths department are running another schools maths puzzle competition, this time called MathsBombe. Aimed at students up to Year 13 (England and Wales), S6 (Scotland), Year 14 (Northern Ireland), the competition starts on 13th January, and teams of up to 4 can…
Relatively Prime Recap: Season 2, Episode 1: The Lexicon
I’ve been waiting for the new season of Relatively Prime for more than three years. I’ve listened to Chinook, the highlight of Season 1, countless times since then. And finally, finally, it’s arrived in my podcast feed. Woo, and for that matter, hoo!
PhD proposal in maths/engineering higher education
My university is advertising 30 fully funded PhD scholarships for autumn 2016. Basically, there are a list of projects and which ones get funded depends on applications. I am lead on a proposal for a topic in maths/engineering higher education. The description is below, and I would be grateful if you could bring it to…
Particularly mathematical New Years Honours 2016
Once again, it’s time for our traditional trawl through the New Years Honours list for mentions of “mathematics”, hoping that better-informed readers will fill in the people this crude method has missed. I’ve found the following names: Steve Humble (Dr Maths) awarded MBE for services to Education (via Garrod Musto on Twitter); Lynn Churchman of…
The 12 Days of Christmas and Pascal’s Triangle
Reader Marc Chamberlain sent this video in a bit too late to get in our advent calendar, but it’s about the 12 days of Christmas so we’re still cool, right?
Aperiodvent, Day 24: Tree Stump Dodecahedron

Looking for something to do with your Christmas tree, when it gets to twelfth night? Here’s an idea: cut it into a beautiful platonic solid. Follow these step-by-step instructions from Dan Beyer. This the last entry in the Aperiodical Advent Calendar. We hope you’ve enjoyed it, and we wish you and yours a wonderful holiday season. See…