Kinesys lands with a thud in the middle of a stadium full of cheering digits. Liz checks the navigator: “We were supposed to be on a spa planet. This is… a tournament?”
It’s the final of Numerion’s Biggest Number Championship. Each contestant may write only two digits on the chalkboard, and no symbols: no plus signs, no times signs, no decimal points. The reigning champion has just written 99, and the crowd goes wild.
“Ninety-nine? Trivial,” Dord huffs, folding his arms. “One can do much, much better.” M00N instantly hands him the chalk with a smile: “Then it’s your turn, Dord!” Dord stares at the chalkboard, which suddenly looks very large.
The Riddle
What is the biggest number you can write using only two digits (and no other mathematical symbols)?
Hint
“No other symbols” doesn’t mean the two digits have to sit side by side on the same line.
Solution
The number is 99, that is, 387,420,489.
Writing the second 9 as the exponent of the first uses no extra symbol, and the result is enormously bigger than 99. The reigning champion demands a rematch; Dord grants it, but only after straightening the chalkboard.