"if a b c are digits, solve ab:c=a*c+b" solved in one minute with no thought: for a in range(10): for b in range(10): for c in range(10): try: if (10.*a+b)/c==a*c+b: print "%i%i:%i=%i*%i+%i" % (a,b,c,a,c,b) except: pass any suggestion for improvement? bye