Â鶹´«Ã½

MY NEPHEW showed me the following multiplication sums:

2 × 4 = 8 and 3 × 6 = 18

and so I did not notice anything suspicious. But then he wrote down a three-figure number which he claimed was the square of

1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9

and then I smelt a rat becuse the leading digit of his answer was 0.

It turned out that all his calculations were in code: he was using the symbols 0-9 for different digits, but none meant what it usually did. So, working in his system, what is the three-figure answer to 12 × 53?

A £10 book token will be awarded to the sender of the first correct answer opened on Thursday 7 December. The Editor’s decision is final. Please send entries to Enigma 847, Â鶹´«Ã½, King’s Reach Tower, Stamford Street, London SE99 0BB. The winner of Enigma 841 was Jim Deller of Poole, Dorset.

Answer to Enigma 841

Five to four

1) Rangers; 2) City; 3) A v B; B v C; B v R; C v R; C v U