Real life number puzzle

DaveC426913

I just bought lunch at Quizno's. On top of a cabinet, between the cash register and the fountaion drink machine, in essentially the most prominent place in the establishment is this little framed 3" square metal plaque. It's like a little boiler plate off a machine - the lettering is stamped into the metal.


This is what is on the plaque:

It is the numbers 8 through 15 arranged in a seemingly patternless 3x3 grid.

I have no idea what the purpose of this little plaque is. Takers?

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turbo

I see a lot of "33s" there. (8 of 'em)

DaveC426913

Wow. Yeah. That's no coincidence.

DaveC426913

Perhaps the display is not a functional component at all. Perhaps it is aesthetic.


It would appear to be a magic square...

Indeed, Googling "magic square 33" turns it up many times:

ksmith1281

This looks to be what I heard to be called a Magic Square. It is a unique square matrix where the sum of any row, column, and diagonal will equal some constant. From what I know, this is the only requirement of the Magic Square however I have only seen ones where the constant that each row, column, and diagonal sum equals is

Matrix Constant= n(n^2+1)/2.

where n is the dimension of the square matrix (also I think a 2x2 doesn't exist, but 1,3,4,5,...etc does). Since this matrix satisfies the rule of Magic Squares. Then the question I would be curious to ask is what is the significance of this matrix being at Quizno's?

DaveC426913

Two theories:

1] It is a proud display of some manager's child's abilities at either math or machine shop or both.

2] Some manager is a math buff and is just waiting for someone to ask what that plaque is for...

DaveC426913

3] (The winner): It was a gift, as a good luck charm. The manager had no idea of the significance of the numbers until I pointed it out.

dlgoff

Did you ask if the gift was from,
1] some other manager's child's with the abilities at either math or machine shop or both.

2] Some other manager that is a math buff

?

DaveC426913

Well, she said that the person who gave it to her told her that she should put it in a prominent place and aligned with (I dunno, uh...) the Feng Shui of the establishment.

I gathered pretty quickly that there was no math appreciation in the giver here, simply some superstition around magic squares.

dlgoff

OMG. I was hoping for [1]; some smart kid being involved. What a let down.