Solving the Family Puzzle
Have you ever come across a puzzle that seems tricky at first, but once you break it down, it becomes much easier to solve? Let’s take a look at an interesting puzzle and solve it step by step.
The Family Setup
Imagine there are seven men, and each man has seven wives. At first, this may sound complicated, but let’s simplify it. If each of the seven men has seven wives, then to find the total number of wives, we multiply: 7 men × 7 wives = 49 wives.

Adding the Kids
Next, let’s consider that each couple has seven children. So, each man has seven wives, and each wife has seven children. If we multiply the 7 children by the 7 wives, that gives us 49 children per man.
But remember, there are seven men. So, to find the total number of children, we multiply: 7 men × 49 children = 343 children.
Total Family Members
Now, let’s add up all the family members:
7 men
49 wives
343 children
When we add these up, we get the total number of people: 7 + 49 + 343 = 399 people in total.

Breaking It Down
What seemed like a confusing puzzle at first becomes much clearer when we break it down into smaller parts. By multiplying and adding the numbers step by step, we see that the total family size is 399.

This simple approach shows that even seemingly tough problems can be solved when you take them one step at a time. The answer is 399 people!