Puzzle Three: Past Your Prime

Let's take some years in review.

July 01, 2025

My name is Ramsey, but you may call me: The Puzzleboy.

In the months since we began our relationship as Puzzleboy and puzzlereader, some readers have come up with a few pet names for me: The Emperor of Enigmas. The Raja of Riddles. The Main Caesar of Brainteasers. 

But I say: enough! The nicknames are sweet, but let’s just keep it to The Puzzleboy— or, if you must, The Frustratingly Attractive Puzzleboy.

We’re back with a new puzzle. Whether this is your first or your third, you all have an equal shot at immortality in The Puzzleboy Pantheon. So let’s get to this month’s frustratingly confounding challenge!

Puzzles can come from anywhere— even the depths of hell. Or, as I believe “the depths of hell” is commonly known: social media posts.

Here, a young man turns to the Internet for help locating his mad scientist friend.

A tale as old as time.

r/AmIaJerk? • 4 days ago
MiloJKeaton

AITA for abandoning my elderly neighbor in the past?

I (17M) was working on a stupid history project that my next-door neighbor/mad scientist friend (65M) was helping me with. We used his time machine to go check out some famous king or whatever. (Don’t ask me which one. I’m a math guy.) Anyway, we went back in time, he got out, and I tried to hit play on the tape deck, but bro-- the machine is so complicated. I accidentally came back to the present and have no clue when to go back to find him again.

Am I the jerk for abandoning him???

EDIT: Okay, okay, I get it, I’m a jerk. But I’m trying to fix this! I just don’t know what year in the past he got out. I do remember a few things about the number on the thingie before I left:

  • None of the digits repeat.
  • The product of the first and last digits is greater than 7.
  • At least a couple of the digits were back-to-back, like... y’know, next to each other?
  • If you split it into two two-digit numbers, they’re both prime.
  • I think the number ends with an odd digit? That seemed important lol.
  • The sum of the first two digits is equal to the third.

HELP!!!!

⬆️ 3833 ⬇️
💬 387

And so, the task before you is to do what 387 commenters on a fake social media platform could not: pinpoint the year that this next-door neighbor/mad scientist friend (65M) was abandoned in.

To submit your answer, please click this link and fill out the form. You have until 11:59pm ET on July 25th to submit your guess. There is no advantage to being first, so take your time!

NOTE: You are more than welcome to use the comment section of this post, but this is decidedly not the place to submit your answer or share hints. Doing so may result in your disqualification.

Instead, please use this month’s comment section to devise a new, fawning pet name for me. I promise to coquettishly dismiss them (but secretly believe them).

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